The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1899-06-17

| nuS NAiotNu
ways will with the present system and
established practice, and il cannot be
remedied without radical change of sys-
TEN.
During President Grants first term,
| from 1869 to 1872, there were allowed
in all 71.462 claims of the war of the
rebellion. During his second term,
from 1873 to 1876, there were allowed
! 47.350 claims, and during President
HAYES term, from 1877 to 1880, 39,945
claims were allowed.
1t will be seen that the number Of
allowances for the fiscal year 1898 was
greater than the number of allowances
for the entire four years of President
Grants second term and the entire adj
ministration of President Hayes.
During President Grants first term
the total payments on account OF pen
sions were SIG, 136,275; during his sec
ond term, $i14. 1857, and during Pres
-ident Hayes term, $l45.322, 4S0. Thus
il appears that the payments in 1895
were largely in excess of the amount
paid during either the first or second
administrations of President Grant,
and almost as much as was paid during
the entire four years of President
Hayes administration.
Up to June 30. 1898, the commissioner
reinstated as employees of the pension
bureau 1880 ex-union soldiers who had
been discharged by former administra-
tons; he promoted 279 eX-union sol
diers and reinstated and promoted Ga
xyi1nxyS nd nr,hono IF anl1iars 4
The commissioner and both deputy
commissioners, the medical referee,
chief board of review, and nine of the
chiefs Of divisions in the pension bu-
reau, and most of the chiefs of sections
and other clerks filling the most impor-
tant places in the pension bureau are
cX-union soldiers; in fact, the entire
organization of the bureau is controlled
by men who served in the union army
during the civil war.
The medical division of this bureau,
under the supervision Of the medical
referee, is charged with the duty of
passing upon all medical questions aris-
ing in the adjudication of claims, and
fixing the rates of pension in invalid
claims.
In the organization of this division
the medical referee, one of the two
qualified surgeons, one of the two prin-
cipal examiners and 20 of the - medical
examiners, whose duties are defined as
above. are eN-union soldiers or sailors,
the chief of this division having been
granted "A medal of honor by congress
for conspicuous gallantry in action.
In all t.,r t,,i, N; o., hn
ganization of the different divisions of
the bureau, in appointments and pro-
motions, the eX-union soldier always
has the preference, other things being
equal, and the commanders of the &.
\. r. in this department have commend
ed the pension bureau for its observ-
ance of the statute which gives prefer
cnce to honorably discharged soldiers
of the rebellion.
There are So eX-unon soldiers i'm the
employ of the bureau, and practically
all the most important official positions
are held by cX-union soldiers.
There are many bureaus in the PEN
sion Office. and each one has an impor-
tant part to play in the granting of
pension. After a pension application
has started on its round it is first han
died by the board of review.
The board of review, as Indicated by
its name, is charged with reviewing all
cases from the adjudicating divisions
before final action is taken. After a
finding upon the law and the facts,
cases in which medical action is re-
quired are forwarded to- the medical
L.; >
questions involved. All claims improp-
erly submitted to the board of review
are returned to the chief of the proper
division and all rejected cases are sim
ilarly treated Admitted eases, after
medical review, are sent TO the raters
for completion of the brief and the is
suance of certificate.
In addition to the duty of taking final
action upon the evidence submitted in
claims for pension, the board of review
settles all questions in regard to APP
peals as to fees of attorneys sends all
notices of rejection of claims and 30
days notice of intention to drop pen
sioners from the rolls, and has charge
of all matters relating to cases appealed
to the secretary of the interior. After
n case has been decided on appeal il
is the duty of the board of review to-
furnish n copy of the secretary's de-
cision to the claimant or his attorney.
Certain classes of cases go from the
board Of review to the special examina-
ton division, which division is charged
with the double duty of investigating
cases in which fraud seems to be appar-
ent and in obtaining evidence in those
cases in which the claimant is unable to
supply the necessary proof. The num-
Der of claims of the former class COM
ing before this division is small, com
pared with the large number i'm which
Is made solely for the pur-
pose of assisting the claimant to obtain
adequate proof. This will be better IL
Illustrated by the fact that out of n total
Of 41.042 reports of special examiners
submitted during the fiscal year ended
June 30, 1898, only 1886 referred to
charges, the remainder relat-
ing to Investigations made rs to the
merits of the claim.
The erroneous impression prevails
the country that reference