The National tribune., 1903-07-30
DEPARTMENT NEWS.
p1voRcE-DEcREE OF NULLIrY.

In the pension case of Mary Gembe, as
widow of John A. Gembe, the Pension
Bureau held that the claimant was not
the widow of the soldier. as he had been
regularly divorced from her. Subsequent
Is the children of the soldier-one by the
claimant and one by his second marriage
applied for and were granted pension.
Thereupon the claimant procured de-
cree of court annulling the divorce be
tween herself and the soldier, on the
ground of fraud and lack of jurisdiction
in the granting of the divorce.
On appeal from the refusal of the Pen
sion Bureau to recognize the annulment OF
the divorce it is declared asst Secretary
Miller. June 10, 1909:
1.-The main contention Of this motion Is
Is the same as that embraced in the
first motion, and is TO the effect that
this Department is bound by the last de-
cree of the court. and is not, in law, al
lowed to question ii in any particular; that
the Government erred in paying the pen
sion to the children of the soldier, it be-
ing the duty Of the Government to satisfy
itself as TO the validity of the divorce de-
cree before allowing and paying the chill
dreh's claim. If it did so pay. it did so
at its peril; and if, at some later day,
court of competent jurisdiction should
overturn the divorce decree, the Govern
ment was still responsible for the payment
of the pension to the widow. This mo-
ton, in short, alleges that the Department
is bound TO give fall faith and credit to
this last decree, and is estopped by the
Constitution OF the United States from
evading its binding force and effect.
1.-The full record in the case in which
the decree of nuliity WAS granted has not
been furnished by the claimant. and the
Department might well decline TO review
the case in the absence OF such record,
and dismiss this motion. There are, how
ever enough salient facts OF record in evil
dence whcreon 10 base a sound conclu-
sion as 10 the ISSUE and on which to eff
fectually dispose OF this present motion
and any other motion based on the same
or equivalent grounds.
.'The decree of nullty recites that the
petitioner admits the purpose of her pc
tition TO be to enable her TO apply for a
pension from the United States Govern
ment.' This was not the real purpose OF
the petitioner, as shown by the facts. The
real object of the petitioner is easily de-
terminable. for the facts show that she
had already, in 1856, applied for such a
pension and had been denied status under
the identical decree of divorce in tina,
same court, which she now sought to
have set aside and declared null. And
further. her own son by the soldier, and
daughter Of his by his second wife. did
adjudicated. file their declarations for the
same pension, the basis of their claim be
ing the identical divorce decree. and pen
sion was allowed and paid. The real OBJ
ject Of the petition was, then, to estab
lish status whereby the petitioner could
compel the Government to pay 10 he
that which it had already paid to her owr
son and her former husbands daughter
by reason of a decree of the same cour
granted in 1868. The true object of thii
petitioner was speciously concealed ant
a deliberate fraud perpetrated on th'
court; for had the facts hereinbeforc SCI
forth been known to the equity court it i,
not TO be presumed that it would have sc
Tar stultified itself as to render its decree
whereby it gave the petitioner Status
under which she could mulct the Govern
.ment by compelling double payment-onco
70 her own son by reason of its decree IL
lS6S, and again to her by reason of q
vacating of such decree in 1899 1t is one