Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1896-05-07
Act Of Mercy to Old Soldiers and Their
Wives and Families.
justification of the Law Recurring
Pensioners to Pay u Notary and
Mail Their Vouchers.

1ections urged may appear to be reasonably
wen taken, assuming the reasons set forth
TO be based on facts and the premises cor
rectly stated. But a careful inquiry shows
otherwise
when this repeal legislation was first
suggested" said well-known tension Off
cal today, ut was submitted to and care
fully considered by benevolent people, who,
IN we" or the entire situation concerning
'He methods OF pension payments and in
FesuSatlon of the data of the pension Office,
gave 1t their unqualified approval The
matter was duly considered in all its de-
talls by the most prominent leaders of the
Gfand Army Of the Republic and upon
their Endorsement the House and Senate
committees on invalid pensions made
further and searching investigation into
the 1acts, with the result that, with the ap-
proVal OF the Secretary of the Interior and
the commissioner of pensions, the repeal OF
existing law was accomplished without dis
sent IN either branch of Congress, and free
from party division of any character.
assistant Secretary Reynolds. who is
charged with supervisory powers concern
ing pension affairs, states follows in his
oinclal report for the fiscal year ending
June 80, 1885:
Secretary ReynOIds' Recommendation
In my last report l stated as follows
Il also believe it important that power
should be conferred by law upon the COM
missioner of pensions to order that where
a soldier in receipt OF pension unlaw fully
abandors his family and neglects to pro-
vide for them, such pension, or a part
thefeoF, might be paid TO his wife, or tC
some one in trust for his helpless. mino.
children under reasonable age: and | sup-
SeSt that such legislation be recommended
10 congress, thereby applying the law &c
the case of father that is now applicable
uiluer IKE circumstances, to the mother
rat n-i,1
Since has deepened my conviction 10 the
Importance CT legislation In this direction
ana L am further convinced that some
means should be provided through APP
pfoprlatc legislation for securing and
protecting the pension money for the COM
Tort and benefit Of the pensioner or his
family in these cases where the gift be-
slowed by generous nation is Squandered
through drunkenness or other forms of
wee. or where through weakness or in
competency the penSoner is defrauded of
the nations bounty through the schemes of
wicked and designing persons about the
time of each quarterly pay day.
In the investigation which l have given
thls subject, various remedies have been
suggested, among which may be mentioned
that Of dscontInuing all personal pay
hlents by checks at the pension agencies.
aId requiring such Payments TO be made
by mall, thus lodging the pension check
with the pensioner at his home, where, I'M
DER the influence OF friends or family. this
CLASS NOull De aDlS TO resist the teDlpt3-
tons through which the weak are en-
trapped. In addition to this, it is also sug-
gested that such individuals needing the
protection indicated should be placed I'M
der the care OF guardians or committees,
duly appointed, TO manage this fund Tor
thtlr benefit
Checks Mailed to Homes.
Secretary Reynolds views We're heartily
approved and supplemented by Judge Loeb
other officials of long service in the pen
sion bureau. Congress repealed the exist
ing law, and pensioners are now required
to execute their vouchers before legally
constituted certifying officers, which IouCh-
ers. when delivered to the pension agent or
transmitted by mai, are settled by draft
on the tt, asurer or various SubtreaSurers
OF the United States, ana the check duly
mdIied to the addresses OF all pensioners.
The pension Office is daily aValauched
with letters from every section of the coun-
try begging the commiSs oBer to take some
steps which viii secure to wife and chill
dren the benefit OF per sion money sGUan-
dered by diSSolute husbands. Appeals in
this behalf come from benevolent people
ministers of the gospel and laymen, mar
rating in affecting terms the hardships en-
tailed upon SUITE ring families through dis
sipat,nS the pension by those Incorporate
pensioners VITO receive personal payment
at the agencies. To all these appeals the
commits sioner is forced regIetfuliy TO reply
that he possesses no authority to divert
payment of pension, ally part thereof,
from the pensioner to any other person, I'M
less such persioner be the inmate of a
peniteltiary, or insane or san!e, and a
guardian shall nave been appointed on his
person and estate by a court of competent
jurisdiction. Suggestion, however, is made
that the wife or some one in her behalf APP
ply to the probate court for appointment
of guarC ian, where a clear case of OBJ
lquity or incompetency car be shown.
The statement that the whole 96s,il7
pensioners on the rolls are touched by the
new law is wholly incorrect. Statistics
show that less than 1900 execute their
vouchers and receivn per ;onal payment at
the a2enGies, whereas over 100000 living
beyond the cities where pension agencies
are located execute their vouchers before
local certifying officers, or fourtn-clas SIS
postmastcrs, and are paid by checks mailed
to their addresses.
I'm fact, the cessation of personal pay
mentS at the agencies is matter of real
economy, pecunari-y and morally. Those
who have observed the long line of thou
sands upor thousands of pensioners con-
gregatinG before dawn, four times a year,
in the neghborhood of the agencies at the
large cities, awaiting their slow turn until
nig6tfall or longer, exposed to all sorts of
weather, women with babes at breast and
children clinging around them, widows
with their two witnesses required to testify
..
many going hungered throughout the en-
tire day, fakirs and suspicious characters
lowering around like vultures to feed on
their prey, ribald men in various stages of
intoxication-a very Babel Of tongues and
terror of conditions-can well appreciate
the merit of a change which brings by post
to the home of each the envelope contain
ing the government check, thus relieving
the pensiOner, male and female, not only
from the est and suffering, in large ma
jority of instances, of attending one or per-
haps two or more days for personal pay
ment, but also from exposure to the ele-
mentS and the revelation to the public eye
OF their pos sible poverty ard distress.
Giving the Wife Some Chance.
again, when the check is received 1T
the pensioners home, where better innu-
ences than elsewhere may reasonably be
supposed to obtain, and temptation to go
astray is not SO imminent, who can doubt
that the pension money will be dispensed
more strictly In accordance with the inten-
ton Of Congress that the bounty Of the
government shall be used to supply either
to the disabled soldier and his family? The
wife is present when the check is received,
and her persuasion will naturally turn her
husband away from his possible desire to
drink, but If he must drink, he will prob
ably be satisfied to take a few dollars for
that purpose and leave the remainder to
his family, rather than dissipate it all at
the bar rooms and gaming tables.
THE soldiers who complain are either
misguided or misinformed, the only hard
ship being that, in some cases, embarrass.