The Taney County republican., 1899-06-22

y
Grants second term and the entire ad-
| ministration of President Hayes.
During President Grants first term
| the total payments on account OF PEN
sions were $116, ,136, ,275; during his sec
ond term, s114 1857, and during Pres
ident Hayes term, 1882 ,4s9. Thus
it appears that the payments in 1898
| 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 so, 1898, the commissioner
reinstated as employees Of the pension
| bureau I39 eX-union soldiers who had
been discharged by former administra-
tons; he promoted 279 eX-union sol
diers and reinstated and promoted "a
| widows and orphans of soldiers
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-
I:ant places in the pension bureau are
eX-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 26 of the 43 medical
examiners, whose duties are defined as
| above, are eX-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 matters pertaining to the or
ganization CT 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 u.
| \. Il. in this department have commend
cd the pension bureau for its cbserv-
ance of the statute which gives prefer
ence to honorably discharged soldiers
of the rebellion.
! There are sos eX-union soldiers in the
employ of the bureau, and practically
all the most important official positions
are held by eN-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 pension application
has started on its round it is first ham
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
referee for his opinion upon the medical
| questions involved. All claims improp-
erly submitted to the boayd of review
are returned to the chief of the proper
division and all rejected cases are SIM
| ilarly treated. Admitted cases, after
medical review, are sent to the ratcrs
| 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 ap-
peals as to fees of attorneys; sends all
notices of rejection of claims and 80
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 it
! is the duty of the board of review to
| furnish copy of the secretary's de-
cision to the claimant or his attorney.
Certain classes of cases gofrom 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 CT claims of the former class COM
ing before this division is small. COM
pared with the large number in which
investigation 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 total
of 41,042 reports of special examiners
submitted during the fiscal year ended
June 80, 1898, only 1,S36 referred to
criminal charges, the remainder relat-
ing to Investigations made as to the
merits OF the claim.
The average number of special exam
ilers in the field during the last fiscal
year was 266. and this force completed
investigation in 15,040 claims. The total
number of reports received from special
examiners during the year was IL ,042;
the total number of depositions taken
was 1s4,091. These figures give some
idea of the amount of work being per-
formed by the pension bureau in its ef-
fort to assist worthy claimants to es-
tablish their right to receive the boun-
ty of this generous government. The
work of the special examination diyi-
sion is auxiliary to that of other d;vi-
sions, and no claim can be investigated
by this division until the papers have
been properly referred from an adtjudi-
eating division with the approval of the
baord of review. accompanied by
statement clearly defining the object
and scope of the investigation to be
made. When the investigation is COM
pleted the claim is returned to the
board of review for its final action.
The duties OF the law division are