Evening star., 1900-07-24
interpretation blythe Secretary Of the
slnsrior.
COMMISSIONER EVANS INSTRUCTIONS
Rejected Wdovs' Claims to Be
Reogened.
DISABILITY OF VETERANS

Thousands Of pensioners throughout the
| country, not to mention the thousands
more who have hopes along that line, will
| read with interest the official rulings Of the
| Interior Department and the commissioner
| of pensions. upon the act Of May o last
| This is an amendment of the act of June
| q, 1890, the same which has provoked so
| much discussion because of its alleged
| abuse. costing the government hundreds Of
| thousands Of dollars
Under the amendment section now reads
| as follows:
'Sec. 2. That all persons who served
ninety days or more in the military or naval
| service Of the United States during the
| late war Of the rebellion and who have
been honorably discharged therefrom. and
| who are now or who may hereafter be sur-
| fering from any mental or physical disabil-
| ity or disabilities of a permanent character,
not the result of their own vicious habits,
which so fncapacftates them from the per-
formance Of manual labor as to render them
| unable to earn a support shall upon MAX
ing due proof of the fact, according to such
rules and regulations as the Secretary of
the interior may provide. be placed upon
| the list of invalid pensioners of the United
States and be entitled to receive a pension
not exceeding $12 per month and not less
than W per month. proportioned to the de-
gree of inability to earn a support: and in
determining such inability each and every
irtlrmity shall be duly considered, and the
aggregate of the disabilities .hown be
rated, and such pension shall commence
from the date of the filing of the appica-
ton in the bureau of pensions, after the
passage of this act, upon proof that the
disability or disabilities then existed, and
snail continue during the existence of the
same.
Provided. That persons who are now re-
ceiVing pensions under existing laws or
whose claims are pending in the bureau OF
fn
missioner OF pensions in such form as he
may prescribe, showing themselves entitled
thereto. receive the benefits of this act:
and nothing herein contained shall be so
construed as to prevent any pensioner
thereunder from prosecuting his claim and
receiving mis- pension under any other gen.
eral or special act
Provided. however, That no person shall
receive more than one pension for the same
period: And provided further That rank in
the service shall not be considered in an
pications filed under this act
Immediately after the passage of the bill
.he question aroSe-as to what the interpre-
| tation of the Commissioner of pensions
would be. That official, however did not
undertake to give expression of his views
on the subject. but sent 1t forthwith to the
Secretary of the Interior. with the request
that the department issue instructions re-
5pecting proper administration of the
same. After quoting the law in full the
Secretary says:
The Secretnry's Interpretation.
In legal effect no change in meaning is
wrought in section . by it's amendment, the
| only purpose of (which was to remove any
| remote justification for varying or diverse
constructions of fhe section by the same or
succeeding officers Of the pension bureau,
such as were REPRESENTED to have occurred
in the past. Citing attention now to that
portion of the section which. in the original
and amended foSHls. is expressed in some
what different 9words 1t is clearly COM
manded tha: each and every mental or
physical infirmitye Of permanent char
acter not the result sef applicants own
vicious habits shall be duly considered and
his right to a pension and the rate thereof
shall be determined by the degree to which
| all or these infirmities, whether minor or
| serious when considered together render
| him unable to earn a support by manual
| labor
| Widows Pension.
The change in section 3 is In the clause
| a widow without other means of support
than her daily labor which by the amend
ment is made to read "a widow without
means of support other than her daily la
Dor and an actual net income not exceed
| ing $50 per year This change was made
| IN conformity with the following recon-
| mendation made by the President in his
| last annual message to the Congress:
| The Grand Army of the Republic at
| its national encampment he'd at Philadel-
| phta had brought to my attention and to
| that of the Congress the wisdom and JUS
tice of modification of the third section
| OF the act of June u, 1850, which provides
| pensions for the widows of officers and
! enlisted men who served ninety days or
| more during the war of the rebellion, and
were honorably discharged. provided that
! such widows are without other means of
| support than their daily labor and were
married to the soldier. sailor or marine on
account of whose service they claim per-
| sion prior to the date of the act.
| hplI ipp nf tha 6arNa ri ont
| Is that If the widows income, aside from
| her daily labor. does not exceed in amount
what her pension would be, to wit, s93
per annum, she would be deemed to be
| without other means of support than her
! daily labor and would be entitled to a
! pension under this act while If the widows
| income, Independent of the amount re-
| ceived by her as the result of her daily
| labor. exceeds s98 she would not be pen
| sionable under the act. l amsadvised by
the CO mmissiorer of pensions that the
amount of the income allowed before title
| to pension would be barred has varied
| widely under different administrations of
| the pension office. as well as during diff
| ferent periods of the same administration,
| and has been the cause of just complaint
| and criticism.
| with the approval of the Secretary
| of the Interior the commissioner of PEN
sions recommends that in order to make
| the practice at all times uniform and to
| do justice to the dependent widow the
| amount of income allowed independent of
|
| be less than $3.50 per annum. and he urges
that the Congress shall so amend the act
as to permit the pension office to grant
pensionable status to widows under the
I terms of the third section Of the act of
June 27. 1880. whose income, aside from
the proceeds of daily labor. is not in ex-
cess of $3.50 per annum ] believe this to be
a simple act of justice, and heartily recon-
| mend It, a..
mo discretion$or, Judgment can now be
exercised by theApffssrs of the pension bu-
reau in determining what income, other
than from her daily labor. may be pos
sessed by a wafowithout disqualifying
her Gtfr from reeeiAaa pension don under this
$50 per annumI she is not thereby dis
but esseeds ,Ias that sum I'M her
| statute.
| You will cause-alE applications for PEN
| sion under this section. heretofore rejected,
to be examined, andefn each instance where
| the conditions shown, If still continuing,
bring the applicant within the terms of this
section as amended. you will notify the ap
| plicant Of that fact and will transmit to
| her a suitable blank application, simple
In its arrangement and easily understood,
uDon which sha NAV give the neceSsary in