The National tribune., 1900-09-06

own nolle IL means feaIh ana nhNNiHtNt hHu cost-
YOU nothing 70 try VII" tc day, Reneneer this -
considered and his right 10 a pension and
the rate thereof shall be determined by the
degree TO which all of these inHrnities,
whether minor or serious, when considered
together, render HIM unable TO earn sup
port by manual labor.
The Honorable Secretary says Of the
provisions of section ) as to widows: mo
discretion or judgment can now be exer-
cised by the officers of the Pension Bu-
reau in determining what income, other
than from her daily labor, may he pos
Sessed by q widow without disqualifying
her from receiving pension under TINS
section. If such income does not exceed
$3.50 per anuum she is not thereby dis
qualified, but if it exceeds that sum he,
disqualification is made absolute by the
statute. You will cause all applications
for pensions under this section, hereto
fore rejected, to be examined and in each
instance where the conditions show, If
still continuing, bring the applicant with
in the terms of this section as amended,
you will notify the applicant of that fact.
and will transmit to her suitable blank
application, simple in its arrangement and
easily understood, upon which she may
give the necessary information as L"
whether she continues u widow and with
out means of support other than her daily
labor and an actual net income not ex-
ceeding $3.50 per year. When this addI-
tional information is received ii will he
considered, and il il satisfactorily meets
the requirements OF section 3. as amended.
a pension will be allowed accordingly
A PAINFUL SURPRISE.
1t will be entirely within the limits of
conservative statement to say that when
the instructions" to which the Honorable
Secretary attached his signature reached
the National Pension Committee, and the
first copy came from prominent and
reputable attorney of Washington city. it,.
terms gave painful surprise. The words
In legal effect no change in meaning is
wrought in section by this amendment.
seemed ominous. They were not under
stood then nor are they now. If no change
has been wrought, why wait from May .
to June 80 and then issue two pages OF
supplemental instructions" under the
amended second section2 Why not early
IN May have said, 1.-The amendment makes
no change in the meaning and effect of
section =; you will therefore continue as
heretofore instructedY When the .distin-
guiShed Chairman of the Pension Com
mittee of the Senate, in submitting the
voluminous report heretofore referred To,
made use of the words we again quote,
broad and generous, much difficulty has
arisen in their administration because of
the abstruse phraseOiOgy of some of their
provisions, and the necessity for certain
amendments was apparent, he must have
referred to the Act of June q, 1890, III
general, and section = in particular. On
that very day, Dec. II, 1899, he reported
from the Committee on Pensions that
identical bill tafterward amended by add
ing two words in the third sectioni, which
was read the first and second times By
unanimous consent. In the discussion of
this bill when it was reported for pas
sage Jan. Z, 1900, this Honorable SEN
| ator made this statement Congressional
Record, page 113J: The other amend
| ment, which seems to be fair, is that in
estimating disabilities the Pension Bureau
| shall aggregate minor disabilities so as 10
| give a soldier under that act a pension
| able status. The Commissioner of Pen
| sions says that that is the practice of the
| Bureau at the present time. ! have taken
| occasion in the report | made on the sub
| ject to say that if that be so, then there
| can be no objection to enacting it into
law. The proposition is (the Senator from
Wisconsin, Mr.. Spooner, asks me to repeat
| it, that in estimating the disability of u
| soldier, if he have three or four or five
minor diseases, they shall be aggregated
| that is, il one disability entities hm 10
| 81 month, another to 81 and another to
| So these three disabilities may he aggre.
gated so as TO give him the minimum un,
der this law, which is So per month. As
| said moment ago, the Commissioner
| of Pensions says that the present prac
| ticc of the Bureau is to aggregate thes.
| disabilities, and the proposed change in the
law is to specifically state that that shall
| be done"
| The honorable member of the House
| m Invalid " hn ra
ported the bill to the House of Repre-
sentatives in Committee of the Whole
| May 2, 1900 Qeport No. 1883, referring
| to section =, says: 1T also guarantees
| by u provision which is absolutely man
datory, that each and every infirmity
shall be duly considered and the aggregat,
of the disabilities shown be rated" This
makes it impossible in the execution of Tho
proposed legislation, if enacted into law
to ignore any disability under the pro
| vision of the law arbitrarily. They shall
not only all be considered, but shall al
be aggregated, /. e., added together, anC
the sum total shall be the rate of pension
| to which the claimant shall be entitled
not exceeding, however, So per month
PECULIAR PRACTICES OF THE PENSION
| BUREAU.
Here are plain statements, not to b,
misunderstood, uttered By two public Of
UtldiS WHO Hdu given lNe SUBJECT caielu
consideration, both unquestionably ami
mated by deep-seated purpose to end
so f2- as legislation could end, discussion
of .ke meaning and legal effect of a Fed
eral statute. They evidently entertained
ut least, reasonable doubts as TO the prac
tice of the Pension Bureau under tn,
act of June 27, 1890. If they did not
why this emphatic and particular en-
forcemcnt of the principle Of 'aggregatin,
disabilities" even to an illustration of tn,
arthmetical process 20 be employed.
plus = plus equal .? The Honorabl,
Commissioner of Pensions on the 9TH o.
July issued Order No. 372, addressed t,
Chiefs of Divisions. The first paragraph
reads: I'm adjudicating claims filed un
der section , of the act of June u, 1880
or under said section as amended by ac
of May 9, 1900, the greatest care must b,
exercised to see that each and every men
tai or physical intirmity of permanen
character, not due 10 applicants owl
vicious habits, is duly considered and tha
the rate OF pension to which applicant i.
entitled be determined by the degree t,
which all these intrmities, whether mino
or serious, when considered together, ren
der applicant unable to earn a support b.
manual labor" 1t is not within our prov
nce to suggest the mental processes to b,
employed by Chiefs of Divisions in arriy
ing at fair conclusions. but the rule sug
gested by the Honorable Chairman of tn,
Senate Pension Committee and fOrcibl,
rcstated by the honorable gentleman VIII,