Evening star., 1897-04-30
Important Action Taken by the
Commissioner of Pensions.
TO FACILITATE THE OFFICE WORK
Much MoneyExpected to Be Saved
to the Government.
FEWER LETTERS TO WRITE

The commissioner of pensions today is
sued an order revoking orders 2O6 and go.
This action will greatly interest every SEN
ator and representative and every attorney
practicing before the pension office, while
at the same time 1t is believed it will con-
tribute largely to the efficiency of the Of
flee by simplifying work.
Order 206 was issued by Acting Commits
sioner Murphy April &C. 1893. and order 229
by Commissioner Loughren June 10, 1898
These orders follow:
Order No. 2OG.
The Secretary's order Of April 10, 1892
touching congressional calls for status
having been revoked, It is ordered that
hereafter all congressional calls for status
in cases where the claimant is bona fide
resident in the district in which the repre-
sentative resides, or, if a senator, resident
of the state represented by him, shall be
promptly answered. Provided, That status
shall not be furnished oftener than once
IN every ninety days. These answers shall
be, as far as practicable, by letter. and not
by card or circular, and in all cases a du-
plfcate of the answer shall be filed in the
case, with proper Endorsement on said du-
phcate, showing the name of the congress-
man to whom status is given and the date
of the same.
The senator or representative in order
be required to state in the call-slip that
the claimant is a bona fide resident of his
congressional district (or state If a sena-
tori. and that the call is not made at the
1nstiSation or request of any pension At
torney or claim agent
Order No. 229:
In the preparation of testimony in SUP
port OF claims in pension cases all state
n'ents anectlng the particular case, and not
merely formal, must be written or pre-
pared to be typewriter, in the presence of
the witness, and from his oral declarations
then made to the person who then reduces
the testimony to writing, or then prepares
tne same TO be typewfitten. And such tes-
timony must embody a statement hy The
witness that such testimony was all writ
ten, or prepared for typewriting (as the
case may be-, In his presence. and only
from his oral statements then made; stat
ing elso the time, place and person, when,
where and to whom he made such oral
statements, and that in making the same
he did not use and was not aided or
prompted by any written OR printed state
ment or recital prepared dictated by
any otEer person; and not attached as an
exhibit to his testimony.
Any needless delay in the preparation of
such testimony after suon oral statement
by the witness, or in forwarding the same
to this bureau. and any material alteration
or erasure will be cause for rejecting such
testimony.
The first of these orders it is said has
not been regarded by senators or repre-
sentatives. 1t was issued in order to re-
strict members of Congress from too fire.
quent calls for the status of pension claims.
but members of Congress have continued
to call for such information as regularly
as they did before. The order is now re-
Voked SO that senators and representativ
may understand that they are to have the
widest scope in their dealings with the
bureau and in return for this concession
it is proposed at the bureau to inaugura te
new system of giving them information.
which, it is believed, will save to that
branch of the government many thousands
of dollars per annum and by simplifying
work permit the more rapid adjudication of
just pension claims. In the past every
inquiry received by the bureau from a
senator or representative asking for the
status of certain case has received a
special reply, either written in longhand
or by the typewriter. The enormous work
that this has entailed is seen when it is
known that almost half of the force of the
office is constantly engaged in giving the
status of claims to congressman and 9TH
ers. 1t frequently happens that soldier
who wishes to advance his pension claim
will apply not only to the two senators
and all the representatives in his state
but will write to other members of Con-
gress who are especially prominent in
Grand Army circles, asking them to in
quire of the pension bureau regarding his
case.
Their idea. is that such inquiries will
show the interest taken in the matter by
be that his case will be advance Every
one of these letters requires that a clerk
should look up the status of the case, and
that a personal reply should be sent
Three-fourths of these personal replies are
In effect that no new evidence of the origin
OF the disability claimed has been filed, and
that without it the bureau can do nothing
more in the case. Now the pension Office
will have printed circulars to indicate the
work of a typewriter informing those who
make inquiry regarding the status of cases
about which they ask, and in this way il
is thought that three -fourths Of all the
letters received by the bureau may be an
swered satisfactorily, and in that way will
come an immense saving of labor In
mary cases congressman have lists Of PEN
sion cases and ask their status every sixty
days.
Order No. 222o, it Is said, is REGARDED as
extremely annoying to attorneys prosecut-
ing claims. as well to the claimants,
while 1t Is not believed that it results in
correcting any Hrongdoing