The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-08-14

make ample provision for pensionIng sol
diers of this war and their DEPENDENTS
They come under the laws passed July "A,
1852 and March g. 1878, while dependents
strangely enough, are eligible under the
1875 was amendatory of the act of July
H. 1862 and as it now reads provides that
any person of several classes in the midi
tary service of the United States since
March 4, 1861, or who has ooeu or is dis
abled subsequent to date, slan upon
making due proof of the fact. according
to such forms and regulations as are or
may be provided in pursuance Of law, be
placed on the list of invalid pensioners
of the United States and be entitled 10
receive. for a total disability or a perma-
nent specific disability. certain amounts
according to his ratings.
These ratings have long been establish
ed by the pension office. ana are toer-
ably familiar 10 most of the veterans Of
the late war. The loss of h1th hands.
for instance, entities one to a pension Of
500 month, while a total disability in
both hands entities the soldier 20 ST. a
month. And the list is graduated TO as
low as $6 a month for the loss of great
toe and 81 for the loss of any other toe
Loss Of sight Of one EYE is worth a pen
sion Of $l2 a month, white the loss of the
month. The widow of a private or non
commissioned officer since July 25. 1856. is
entitled 10 a pension of $l2 n month This
is the amount in all probability that the
pension bureau viii award TO Mrs Hook
for the death of her husband,
The act of June q, 1890, that proved
such a harvest fer the soldiers of the re-
bellion, starts off with section about
dependent parents which Is general in its
character, and WILL therefore, do duty for
the dependents of soldiers in the Spanish
war, but ii has a provision that such pen
slons must begin from the date Of fling
applications Dependent parents are en-
titled to pension under its provisions
when they show that The solder left no
widow or minor children, and thar they
as applicants, have been left without sup
port.
The list of seventy-two claims referred
to does got include claims based on the
destruction of the Maine, in Havana har-
Dor, but the government already has the
official records in many Instances for their
prompt consideration. The complete re-
cords, however, of tie killed, woundd aud
sick in the different armies can hardly be
made up for months. Gen. Shafter has re-
ported that there were twenty three Of
hcers killed and eighty wounded al Santi-
ago. that 2)8 enlisted men We're killed and
120S were wounded. These records furnish
no basis for the granting of pensions, and
while they contain the best Information
that Gen. Shafter had it is known in not
a few instances that these records are err
roneous. For instance, Capt Theodore
Mosher of the Twenty-second Infantry
was severely wounded, but his name Is
not on the list at all. The names of two
other officers are on the list as killed, when
they are known to be alive, There were sew
en- more killed and wounded in the Second
f4I,et Pc
ter's record showed. The officials al the war
department are convinced that the final
records of casualties at Santiago viii be
greater by fully geo than the lists already
received.
BY the system the war department. en-
forces, three lists are made of the condi-
ton of a regiment after a battle. Each
regiment or independent battery must
make these reports. One copy is forwarded
by the colonel 10 his immediate command
er one copy goes direct to the adjutaut
general, and a third copy he retains him
self. Gen. Shafter reports that there are
81 missing at Santiago, and some might
believe that these men were Killed. In the
course of three or four months the war
department expects to account for nearly
all Of them. Some were woundedand stray
ed away to hospitals out Of their own d.
visions. They viii eventually appear for
their army pay, but must first be identified,
which is rather tedious process in the
army. Thus il will be readily recognized
what a lengthy task 1t is to straighten out
the official records in the war department,
affecting even the 10000 or more men VINO
were engaged at Santiago.
If the government had only to pay pen
slons for the killed and seriously wounded
at Santiago, the cost would not be COM
paratiyely great The number of claims
would probably not exceed l. 900 or 800.
Those who read the pension reports at the
capitol, thirty years after the civil war,
know that very many of the claims there
are for disabilities originating in fevers
under the hot Southern sun. The same is
true of the claims before the pension bu-
reau. So, if the war ceases at once, as It
promises to do, there will be little surprise
If the list of pensions growing out of this
war comprises eventually 10000, or even
$1,000 names. No man can safely conject-
ure how many of the cases of fever that
Gen. Shafter is reporting 10 the war de-
partment will seriously affect the future
health of the patients, or how many of the
cases of typhoid at Camp Alger will Ill
timately cost the government much more
than the mere matter Of medical attend
ance.