Hot Springs weekly star. (Hot Springs, S.D.) 1892-1917, 1899-08-11
Work of the Department Explained i'm all
it's Details-Employes. Undcr
Civil Service Rules.

diers in the state. Commissioner
Evans tells first of the people en-
ployed in the bureau.
There 1,141 employees in the depart
ment of which 5G6 are eN.union sol
diers, and of this number 4o2 are draw
The board of review as now organized
is comprised of one chief, two assistant
chiefs, five chiefs of sections and Ito
reviewers. The chief of the board is
Colonel II. ID. Stephenson, who served
during the entire war of the rebellion |
as captain in the Forty-eighth Illinois
and later as colonel in the One Hun.
dred and Fifty-second Illinois infan-
try. He was severely wounded and is
a pensioner for that reason. OF the
ITO reviewers seventy are eX-union SOL
diers. A large proportion of the men
employed on the board of review have
been connected with the pension de-
partment in different capacities for
from twenty to thirty-fiv years.
During the first nine months of the
present fiscal year 61,OOO pension GER
tificates have been issued, divided as
follows: Original under the general
law, 1854; original under the act of
1880, 22,227; increase and reissue, 9,747;
restoration and renewal, 1,157; under
the act of 1880, increase and reissue,
IN GSE. roc&p,n<ion o,,l xo~n,po1 40,
accrued pensions, S,6Gl; duplicates, D.
9G22.
All of the employees of the pension
department are under the protection
of the civil service law. A majority of
them are known to be republicans.
There are about 334 employees who are
known to be democrats.
Commissioner Evans adds the fol-
lowing additional information bearing
upon the subject of Senator Hayward's
letter of inquiry.
"You are no doubt aware of the fact
that order No. 1Gl, which was promul-
gated October 10, 1890, was substan-
tally revoked FLY Assistant Secretary
Bussey on January Z, 1893, in very pos.
tive terms. Under this order all dis
abilities under the act of 1880 were
rated the same as those of service orr
gin. Your attention is also invited to
the act of 1880 with reference to claims
of widows, which grants pensions only
to those who are without other means
of support than their manual labor
In cases of invalid claimants it is held
by the department that disabilities un-
der the act of 1880 are placed by that
act upon a different basis for rating
that those under the general law. I'm
der the general law disabilities are
pensionable without regard to capacity
! to IA support and are graded with.
out reference to this condition, while
disabilities under the act of 1890 are
only pensionable when incapacity to
labor joins with incapacity to earn
a support, and the grades of rating are
dependent upon these two conditions.
The bureau has been extensively criti-
cised for adhearing to this rule, but as
i, my functions are confined strictly to
the execution of the law as 1 find it !
am powerless to grant relief in cases
that do not come within the rule.
ut is very evident that upon a care
full examination of the act of June q,
1890, that in creates conditions which
are not applicable to claims under the
general law and that very much of the
misapprehension and dissatisfaction
with the operations of this bureau
) arise from a want of understanding as
to those conditions.
"Thus a soldier is entitled under the
!. general law to s17 per month for the
loss of an eye, but under the act of
June %, 1880, he receives only Sc per
month, as it does not incapacitate him
from earning subsistence by manual
labor.
. $50 in a case of deafness. A soldier
who is suffering from a degree of deaf
ness emitting him under the general
law to $40 or SIS per month, has no
pensionable status under the act of
1890, as the slight degree of deafness
in question does not i~ncapacitate him
from earning a support by manual
labor. A widow is pensioned under
the general law regardless of her pos
sessions, while under the act of 1880
the employment of an income in en-
cess of the amount she would receive
as pension is a bar to pension under
the act. Now, when these different
conditions arise in the same neighbor-
hood people seldom stop to inquire as
to the law under which application is
made and when a claim is allowed un-
der the general law at a high rate for q
degree of deafness which does not en-.
title to q rating under the new law, ii
necessarily results in criticism Of the
Commissioners. And when Q widow
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