The National tribune., 1900-09-06
;$ '"; ::ss: % orders SEARS, R0EBUcK & CO., ,me, CHICAGO.

of stimulating and encouraging and justi-
| flying criticism upon the Pension Bureau,
| that can possibly be imagined"
Continuing, the Honorable Commission
er testified:
I'VE have about 4,510 Medical Examin-
ers scattered all over the country, learned
men and skilled In their profession. honest,
and able, and they make a diagnosis Of
their cases such as can be acted on readily
by the division of the Bureau organized
for acting on these ratings. Others will
make diagnosis by saying: For disease
of the heart, $50 month; for deafness,
$50; for disease Of the eye, $50; for disease
of the rectum, $50; for disease of the liver,
$50 All this in the case of one man. That
may be a claim under the act of 1890,
while the maximum pension under that
act can only be SIP a month. II it were
a claim under the general law for total
incapacity to perform manual labor it
would only be $50 month. On the face
OF these Medical Examiners reports are
shown combined disabilities to the amount
Of S2i3 a month in one case. On the same
page of my report, page SO, there is an
other exhibit showing that the combined
disabilities are rated by these medical men
at $50 a month, and another at S126
month.
$50 that the local Medical Examiners,
, by putting ratings into their reports, do
in fixing the disability"
DIFFICULTIES IN THE ADMINISTRATION"
The observation of the Chairman of the
Senate Pension Committee: 1T was evil
dent that, while the laws are broad and
generous, much difficulty has arisen in their
administration" seems to have been fully
justified. The Congress in the appropria-
ton bills provides for ratings by the Med
ical Boards, who are face to face with the
claimant and who professionally make up
judgment as to his condition, while the
Pension Bureau wholly ignores and re-
fuses to consider these ratings, holding
that 'the local Medical Examiners, by
putting ratings into their reports, do not
guide the medical men in fixing disability"
This raises a question Of paramount au-
thority, about which there can be no
doubt. In our days of service we were
not permitted an analysis of orders. An
order, once issued by lawful authority,
was to be Obeyed and never questioned,
lead where it might. If medical boards
are not to make ratings in obedience to
the law, il they are simply to record "a
diagnosis" to be acted upon by the medi-
cal officers of the Bureau, we submit there
should be uniformity Of practice and that
lncompetents may speedily give place to
! Learned men and skilled in their profess
sion." There is too much at stake on the
part Of the thousands Of aged veterans
who only seek for justice from the Gov
ernment they love, to warrant the hope
on the part of fair-minded men that com
plaints' will cease under these conditions.
The old soldier obeyed the law with a
whole-hearted steadfaStness that made
him invincible in time of war and the
chivalrous defender Of the right in time
of peace. The finer sensibilities of his
young manhood may not be so active now,
but he still maintains his respect for and
cheerfully yields a dignified obedience to
the law At the December meeting of the
National Committee on Pensions it was
decided to ask the Congress to so amend
the act of June q, 1890, as to give legal
effect to the action Of the Philadelphia
Encampment A bill was prepared and
delivered to Senator Gallinger amending
Sections and Of the act. We quote in
part:
"Sec. 2. That all persons who served
80 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 may hereafter be suffering
from any mental or physical disability, or
disabilities of permanent character, not
the result Of their own vicious habits,
which SO incapacitates them from the per-
formance of manual labor as to render
them unable to earn support, shall, upon
making the proof of the fact according
to such rules and regulations as the Sec
retary of the Interior may provide, be
placed upon the list of invalid pension
ers of the United States, and be entitled
to receive pension not exceeding $12
per month. and not less than Sc per month,
propOrtioned to the inability to earn a sup
port; and in determining such inability
each and every infrmity shall be duly
considered, and the aggregate Of the dis
abilities shown be rated, and such pension
shall commence from the date of the filing
of the application in the Pension Office,
after the passage of this act, upon proof
that the disability or disabilities then ex-
listed, and shall continue during the exist
ence of the same.
''Sec. 3. That II any officer or enlisted
man who served 80 days or more in the
army or navy of the United States during
the late war of the rebellion, and who
was honorably discharged, has died, or
shall hereafter die. leaving widow with