The National tribune., 1899-07-06

unable to dress himself, hope to obtain en-
ployment that will remunerate him with
even the scantiest means of existence? A
soldier in his condition would be pension
general law, if not S72 per month, no mat
ter what his mental status might be. The
pension laws generally deal with the physl.
| cal, not mental, conditions. 1t is true that
insanity may produce pensionable status
but the reason for such a provision lies IN
the fact that mental incapacity results IN
| physical inability. Any degree OF mental
impairment which does not work result
| ing incapacity for the intelligent perform
ance of manual labor is not regarded IN
estimating the rights of an applicant under
| any pension law.
There are two other statutes which deal
| with physical conditions defined to be total
and permanent helplessness. The act of
June 1S, 1874, provides pension OF $50 per
month for such pensioners under the gen.
eral law as have been, by total blindness,
| the loss of both hands or both feet, or any
other injury, rendered permanently and
| totally helpless, requiring the regular per-
sonal aid and attendance of another person.
| In an application seeking the benefits of
| this statute no degree of mental ability or
power of intellectual achievement would
work any detriment to the status of the
beneficiary. The same criticism is true of
any case arising under the act of March a,
1890, which provides pension of S72 per
month by reason of condition of total and
permanent helplessness, resulting from in
juries received or disease contracted in the
service.
by constituting the acts of June IS, 1874,
and March 4, 1890, in pari materia with the
act of June y, 1890, as to the use of the
term 'helplessness' or helpless can not
escape the conviction that it is used i'll the
same sense in all of them; that is, that said
term primarily signifies a condition of
physical impairment 1t will be remem-
bered that this is a general-law claim under
section 4702, Revised Statutes, and the
provision in the act of June q, 1890, re-
lating to the continuance of minors pen
sion under the general law is an amendment
of said section and is to be construed with it
as one statute. AS the law now stands,
therefore, as embodied in the two above
mentioned acts, and in section 1902, Re-
vised Statutes, physical helplessness.
other conditions being present, may give
rise to a pensionable status regardless of
mental conditions.
"The act of June 81, 1890, in the case of
minors, provides for the continuation of the
pension where there is shown to be degree
of permanent helplessness resulting from
Iinsanity, idiocy, or from any other cause.
The provision is. That in case a minor
child is insane, idiotic, or otherwise per-
manently helpless, etc. Here are three
separate and distinct sources of helpless
produce pensionable status. The first
two are mental conditions; the last is purely
physical one. Unless the phrase 'or
otherwise permanently helpless is sense
less and meaningless, it has reference to a
condition resulting from physical causes.
The phrase is placed in juxtaposition with
the words insane and 'idiotic,' not by way
of opposition, but by contrast. The plain
and obvious meaning of the statute is that
helpless minor may be entitled to a con-
tinuance of his pension by total insanity or
total idiocy, or by reason of total helpless
ness resulting from purely physical causes,
without regard to his mental condition. If
it be incumbent upon an applicant, not
only to show physical helplessness, but
also to establish mental unsoundness, then
purely physical condition would never
play any material part in obtaining the con-
tinuance of a minors pension.
after a careful consideration of all the
papers in the case, / am led to the con-
clusion that the action of rejection was
erroneous, and, for reasons hereinbefore
mentioned, the same is reversed, with in
structions that the claim be readjudicated
in accordance with this opinion"