Evening star., 1899-03-09
MUST SUPPORT HIS WIFE
Provisions Of Pension Bill Reesntly En-
acted by Congress.
Those Women Who Marry Pensioners
Hereafter Will Not BE Recipients
of Government bounty.

Commissioner Evans Is highly elated over
the passage of the bill by Congress (now a
law which provides. briefly, that where a
rensioner of the United States willfully
neglects his wife offspring, then the COM
missioner of pensions, upon being satisfied
of the fact. shall take one-haf of such pen
sion due and devote It to their maintenance.
The necessity for such a provision of law
has been pointed out time and again, and
the records of the pension office bear testi-
mony to the number of cases where pen
sioner has deserted his wife and children
and failed to support them. Almost every
day the pension office receives letters from
soldiers wives asking for the whereabouts
of their recreant husbands. Many of these
letters bear pathetic appeals for aid. The
pension Office heretofore has been unable to
dc anything in this matter The pensioner
every quarter drew his check and devoted
it to whatever use he saw fit.
Commissioner Black, in his annual report,
as far back as 1887 urged an amendment to
the law which would authorize the commits
sioner OF pensions to order the payment of
the pension to the wife of pensioner or
to suitable person in behalf of the chill
dren of pensioner In cases where the pen
sioner by his habits demonstrates that he
is an unfit person to receive or disburse
such pension.
Heretofore the law limited the power of
the commissioner very much in this partic-
ular, and he was only authorized to direct
payment to the wife or guardian In cases OF
insanity or other mental infirmity or i'm
prisonment for offenses against the laws.
Provisions of the Recent Act.
The bill, which quietly went through Con-
gress and received the approval of the
President on the Sd of March, was known
by the modest title IAN oct to amend Sec
tion 4766 of the Revise Statutes of the
United States"
This bill provides that where a resident
pensioner Of the United States deserts his
lawful wife for period of over six months,
she being Of good moral character and in
recessitous circumstances. or, if he have no
lawful wife and deserts his legitimate mi
nor child or children under sixteen years Of
age, the commissioner of pensions Is di-
rected. upon satisfactory evidence, to cause
one-half the pension due during the cOntin-
uance of such desertion to be paid.t the
wife or to the legal guardian of the child
or children. The bill contains a proviso that
when soldier or sailor enters into state
home as an inmate One-half of his pension
accruing during his residence therein shall
be paid to his wife or to his minor children
unless the same be inmates Of the same in
stituton.
1t also provides that where the pensioner
becomes an inmate Of a national soldiers
home one-half the pension drawn in his
behalf during his residence there shall be
paid by the treasurer of that institution 10
the pensioners wife or to the legal guar
dian of the minor child or children.
No Pensions for Young Widows
There is another proviso of this law which
is of the greatest importance. 1t provides
that hereafter no pension under any law of
the United States shall be granted. allowed
or paid, to the widow of a soldier sailor
officer, naval or military, marine marine
officer or any other person entitled to
pension under any law of the United States
unless it shall be proved and established
that the marriage of such widow to the SOL
der sailor, etc, was duly and legally con-
tracted and entered into prior to the pas
sage of this act.
The full force of this provision of law
can be understood only by recalling the
large number of young women who marry
soldiers almost in their dotage for the evil
dent purpose of obtaining a pension as a
soldiers widow. Commissioner Evans has
time and again called attention to this
practice, which has cost the government
millions of dollars, and In numerous reports
and recommendations to Congress he has
urged that some provision be enacted to
prohibit such marriages. So that the full
1orce and meaning Of the law which has
Just been enacted Is that no pension will be
granted to the widow of any soldier or
sailor, etc. who married such pensioner af-
ter the approval Of the act, which was
March /, 1899. This law, however does not
apply to the soldiers. sailors ETC. who
served or are now serving in the war be-
tween the United States and SPAIN