The National tribune., 1898-08-04
PENSION POINTERS.
Inquiries Answered and Sug-
gestiOns Made.

| Ian communications for this column should
| he accompanied by the true name and correct
| will be marked as may he desired. No attention
| will be given to anonymous inquiries. If no re-
| ply Is printed within three weeks, write again
| W. II. B., Bloomfield, Iowa-Even il
an applicant for invalid pension under
| the act Of June q, 1880, dies before the
| official medical xaminatiOn is had, his
| claim can nevertheless be completed by
| his widow or children under 16. The
| attorneys rights are preserved.
W. X. c., St. Joseph, MO.-The Com
missioner OF Pensions has no authority tC
reduce a rate OF pension to suit the con-
venience or wishes OF the pensioner.
j. l.. H., Rawson, O.-The Special Ex-
animation Division of the Pension Bureau
has for some years past been nOtOTiOUSly
in arrears with the work assigned to it.
There has been well-founded suspicion
among claimants that this branch Of the
Pension Bureau is used as a sort of bury
ing ground. The remedy seems to be for
claimants to let their Senators and Repre-
SentatiVeS III Congress hear from them iii
such a way that something Will be done
to remove the delay complained of.
u, w. W, Macon, MO.-N hen a test
examina ton is ordered i'll pension case,
after all the proofs required have been
filed, final action should ordinarily be had
within a month or six weeks after the
examination.
q. W. g., Cleveland, O.-You are mis-
taken as to- the provisions OF the act of
July IS, 1882. The request for the change
of an order for examination to another
board should be made by the claimant,
not by his attorney.
Mrs NJ A. c., Kellogg, Idaho.-An
honorable discharge from the United
States military or naval service, Regular
or volunteer, is not equivalent to natu-
ralization. 1t simply takes the place OF
the first papers" The final papers are
still necessary.
5. NJ, Boston, Mass.-Under present
rules a claim for increase on pensioned
disability will not be ad!udicated within
six months after a prior adI adicatiOn-
rejection or allowance. Application may
be made at any time. The year rule you
refer to, Instituted by Commissioner
Evans, has been Overruled and set aside
by the Secretary of the Interior.
j. B., New Haven, Conn. "A claim for
invalid pension under the act of June 27
1880 made by an invalid pensiOner draw
ing under the general law, is not a claim
for increase in u technical sense, and If
the claim be granted, the rating there
under dates from the filing of the claim
n. j., Sanville, Na.-There is no fixed
time within which a pension case is
acted upon after the official medical ex-
animation is had. 1t may be six months
or more. Both the claimant and the
attorney are notified OF the decision in the
case.
F., West Cornwall, Conn.-The s24 rat
ing is allowed only where the disa BILE
ment is officially regarded as equivalent
in degree to the loss OF a hand or foot.
F.. h., Jaburg, n. Y.-NidOws are pen
siOnable under the general law irrespect-
i've OF date of marriage, If the death
cause of the soldier can be shown to have
originated in the service, whether or not
he was himself penSioned for the same.
Il
erroneous statements about pension mat
ters that frequently are current in the
press.
Pittsburg, 74.-When pension claim is
rejected the claimant may ask recon-
of the Commissioner of Pen
sions, submitting additional testimony.
or he may take an appeal to the Secretary
of the Interior. You will do well To plOy
a competent attorney to conduct the
prosecution Of your claim.
w. Ii. F.-A claim for increase of PEN
sion on penSioned disability is hardly
likely to receive favorable consideration if
presented to Congress for the enactment
of a special law. A claim for increase on
disability not covered by the pension GER
tificate will have the same chance before
Congress as an original claim.
f. G.. r., Erin, n. Y.-The examination |
of the papers III pension claim by the |
claimant or his attorney is so hampered |
and restricted by the present Commits |
sioner of Pensions as To be of little prac-
ticable benefit. About the only papers
that the claimant his attorney can
really personally examine at the Pension
Bureau are the official reports OF medical
examinations.
Albuquerque No. 64.-The soldiers pen
sion is never continued to- his widow"
after his death. She is entitled to draw
his pension that was unpaid up to- the
date of his death, but beyond that she is
entitled nnIpSS she PStd hlISh
title to widows penoion under either the