The National tribune., 1900-10-18

such statement, by reason of insanity or
death, the facts may be established by
the testimony of other persons. 1t is ap-
parent, therefore, that the failure of the
applicant to 'allege' the actual causes, or
all the causes. of his inability to earn q
support by manual labor in any case is not
fatal to his claim, and that the fact that
he is not disabled in Il pcnsionable degree
from the causes alleged Is not good
ground for rejecting his claim if it appear
that he is so disabled from other causes
not alleged.
For reasons above stated the ground
on which this soldiers application was e.
jected is held to be untenab,e."
| MARRIAGE AND DINORCE-PRE-
| SUMPTION.-In the case of the widow
of Charles Germain, U. s. Navy. it is h ID
asst Sec Campbell, Sept. Ii. 1900 that
a divorce between sailor and his first wife,
from whom he was separated about hye
years before the war, should be presumed.
Sailor first married claimant i'll 1871. Sub
sequently. in 1888, he had a second cere-
mony performed on ground of absence of
legal proofs of the first marriage. The
first wife died shortly before the sailor,
and members of her family testified to her
never having secured n divorce or hear
| ing of the sailor securing Il divorce. As
to this evidence the decision says:
This testimony amounts to nothing
more than n declaration on the part of
the witnesses that they did not know
whether the sailor had obtained Il divorce
! from his first wife or not. This is neCeS-
I'sariiy the effect of the testimony, for the
reason that the sailor may have instituted
suit in some other State in which notice
may have been served by publication. Be
sides, it certainly is not shown that the
first wife did not at any time receive NO.
tice of divorce proceedings on the part
of the sailor.
''The record of the case being silent,
therefore, in respect TO divorce, 1t is per-
tinent to inquire what the law determines
in such cases. 1t may be assumed as
principle of well-nigh universal applica
ton that the presumption of innocence
and legality obtains as TO all proven mar
riages, and that, i'll cases where one party
has been shown to have married twice,
the presumption of the validity of both
marriages obtains. until the contrary is
shown by competent proof. Where sec
ond marriage is shown the legal presump-
ton at once arises that the first marriage
had been dissolved either by death or di
vorce at the time the second was con-
tracted.
"In the case at bar there is no proof,
other than the statement of the claimant,
that she was married in New Orleans in
1871, but it is abundantly shown that
from that year she lived with the sailor
as his wife near Meridian, Miss, until his
death in 1897, and that the parties repre-
sented themselves to be man and wife
and were so regarded by the people of
the neighborhood. This is sufficient in
law to raise the presumption that a mar
riage ceremony had been performed. 1t
is also shown by record evidence that
they were married in 1888. 1t does not
devolve upon the claimant in this case to
show that any former marriage of the
sailor had been dissolved by death or di-
vorCe, but her marriage is presumed to be
legal until it is shown by competent proof
that his former marriage had not been
dissolved.
This principle is recognized by the De
partment in the case of Jennette Burton
@ 2. D., 81, wherein it is announced that
the burde> of proof against the validity
OF the ceremonial marriage does not rest
upon the widow. but upon the parties who
attack the validity of such ceremonial
marriage, and the presumption of law
fayOrs innocence of the latter marriage un.
til the contrary is proved
"It appears that the sailor separated
from his wife before the civil war, for
what reason does not appear, and that
the first wife changed her residence n
number of times subsequent to the separa-
ton. 1t may be that sailor instituted di-
vorce proceedings against her in some
other State, in which service may have
been perfected by publication. In such
proceeding he may have obtained a di
vorce without even the personal knowl-
edge of the first wife. 1t is, therefore,
impossible that the witnesses sworn by
the Special Examiner could know wheth-
er or not divorce had been obtained"
ACCRUED PENSION - r Z NJ :
BURSEMENT.-It is held by the Conn
troller of the Treasury tAug. 10, 1900
that where an invalid pensioner dies leav-
ing a widow or children under 10. and said
| widow or children die without having re-
ceived the accrued pension, reimbursement
may be collected from the accrued pension
| by the person paying or responsible for
the expenses of last illness and burial of
the pensioner, he having left no assets
sufficient to cover such expenses.