The National tribune., 1899-08-24
DEPARTMENT NEWS.

DEPARTMENT NEWS.
Deeslcas, Rsngs, etc. Of Interest to Soldiers and Sailor
and Their Heirs.
DIVORCE AND REMARRIAGE.-In the
pension case of the widow of Charles W
RosSer, under the act of June 27, 1890, 1t Is
held assistant Secretary Davis, July IA,
1S99) that, Notwithstanding that the
parties were first married before June q
1890, their subsequent divorce terminated
that marriage, which may not be regarded
as revived or renewed by their second
marriage, which occurred after june 26,
1890. The decision says: "The decree
OF divorce by court of competent Jurls-
diction absolutely and completely abro-
gated, annulled, wiped out and destroyed
the previous matrimonial relation existing
between the appellant and the soldier, and
relegated each of them to the legal status
of single, unmarried persons from and after
the date of its rendition. This appellant
was then free to marry again whomsoever
she pleased, and was, in the eye of the law,
as much SINGLE unmarried woman as If
she never had been married, and if the
soldier had died prior to her second mar
riage to him she could have set up no valid
claim whatever to be considered his widow.
The second marriage of the appellant and
the soldier on July Is, 1896, was sepa-
rate, distinct, and independent contract,
and bore no relation to and was in no possi-
bic manner or way connected with their
former matrimonial union, and the present
status of this appellant as the widow of the
soldier, and all her rights as such, both
legal and pensionable, rest solely and alone
upon said second marriage and are de-
rived therefrom. Since said second mar
riage was consummated long after the
passage of the act of June 81, 1890, it is
too manifest for argument that she has, by
fhn frrr Nf <I,a rrl <,f
said act, no title whatever to pension there
under as the soldiers widow"
PENSION APPLICATION-EXEC
In, the case of George w. HOfmann,
Spanish war soldier, it is held assistant
Secretary Davis, July Ia, 1S99,) that IAN
application for pension executed on the
day of the applicants discharge from the
service is null and void" confirming
former decision (Wm. II. Walcott, March
%. 1S99.) that "a declaration for pension
executed prior to the date when the right
to pension accrued is null and void."- The
decision says the gist of the former decision
was not that a soldier can not make a
valid application for pension prior to his
discharge, but that no person, whether
soldier, widow, minor child, or dependent
relative, can execute valid application
prior to the date at which his or her right
to pension accrueS. In other words, it
was held that a paper purporting to be a
CidiLH lOI ptilSiOll. executed Dy a person
who had, at the time, no right to pension,
but who merely expected to have such a
right at some future time, was a nullity;
and that a valid declaration for pension
can be made only by one who has PEN
sionable status.
IF this view is correct (of which I think
there can he no doubt then the declara-
ton executed by Hof,nann on Dec. 6, 1898,
was invalid for the reason that he did not
acquire a pensionable status until Dec. z,
1898. 1t may be true, as alleged (although
there is no proof Of the fact, that he had
received his certificate of discharge; never
theless, he was constructively In the service
during the whole OF that day, and received
pay for the same. AS he could not receive
pay as soldier and pension at the same
time, it follows that the right to pension
did not accrue until the right to pay ceased,
which was at the expiration of Dec 9, or
the beginning of Dec. z. In the matter of
soldiers pay and pensions, the Govern
ment takes no note of fractions of day.
being free to act as he pleased, without
hindrance on the part of any military
officer etc, is entirely irrelevent to the
issue. So far as the execution of decla-
ration for pension is concerned, he was as
free from hindrance on the part of the mill
discharge as he was afterwards. 1t was
matter with which the military authorities
had nothing to do. The question is not
whether he was at liberty to execute such
paper if he desired, but whether the paper
was Of any legal effect"
The foregoing decision is illustrative of
the inconsistencies which continually crop
out in the official judgments of the De-
partment. The decision says that the
question is whether the paper was of any
legal effect" when executed, and the answer
is found in a long line of decisions and the
settled practice of the Department that an
application is Of no legal effect whatever
reau. Thousands Of old soldiers whose
pension applications were executed and
mailed before July 1, 1880, found to their
sorrow that because the papers did not
reach the Pension Bureau till
after July 80, they were denied the benefit
Of the arrears.l law, because the applications
were of no legal effect as such till filed.
Even where unusual delays of mail or
other accidents were responsible, the ap-
plications were, nevertheless, held of no
legal effect till actually filed. Yet the
present decision holds the applications null
and void when filed because of no legal
effect when executed.
There is nothing in the pension laws
the execution and even filing
Of an application for pension while the
claimant is yet in the service; but it is pro-
vided that mo pension shall be aLo,ced or
paid to any officer, non-cOmmiSSiOned
officer, or private in the Army, Navy, or
Marine Corps of the United States, either
on the active or Retired List" and SO the
pension may not in any event commence
prior to the claimants actual discharge,
and may not include any period a day
even, for which the claimant was paid as a
soldier or sailor. Invalid pension title
under the general law springs from dis
ability incurred in line of duty, not from
the discharge from the SERVICE though the
actual payment of the pension may not be
made except for a period subsequent to
Pension title and "pensionable
status" should not be confounded.
True, valid claim for Widows pension
can not be filed till the wife is a widow:
the soldiers early demise may not be thus
anticipated. Nor may the children nor
the parents of the soldier file valid claims
for pension as such in advance of the SOL
dier's death. But here is not mere abb
sence of 'pensionable status" but total
absence of pension title. A remarked
widow has no "pensionable status" after
remarriage, and yet under the general law
she is entitled to pension for the period of
widoWhood, and may apply therefor after
remarriage and after "pensionable status"
has terminated. Even if Hofmann's ap-
plication had been filed the very day of his
discharge. it would still be valid claim
under the law, subject only to the provision
already referred to, which would have
deferred the date of commencement of
pension to the day following date of filing.
The application as seen was not, however,
actually filed till two days after discharge,