The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1904-03-30
SENATE GETS
SOME FIGURES
Also a Copy of the President S
Pension Order.
AGE AN IMPORTANT FACTOR
PROBABLE COST OF THE EN-
LARGED PENSIONS.
AGE AN IMPORTANT FACTOF

IAIASHINGTON, March 29.-The sec
wv rotary Of the interior today sent
to the senate a communication
III response TO Senator Overman's res
olution directing the secretary to fur
nlSh TO the senate copy of the order
issued by the department. enlarging
the pension act of June q. 1890. and
amendments as 10 the disabilities Of
applicants for pensions, and 10 report
by what amount the order will in
crease pensions annually.
In the course of his communication
he says:
Disability. partial or complete, to
perform manual labor. is the sole
measure Of the right to pension un-
der this act Of June %, 1890. The
element of manual labor is fundamen-
tai. If. in adjudication of a pension
claim, it shall be determined that the
applicants reasonable disabilities rem
der him wholly incapacitated for man
ual labor, his pension rating viii be
raised accordingly, even though the ap-
plicant may be then occupied with dis
tinguished usefulness in some field of
! intellectual endeavor.
Senility Presumable.
Not only does the act itself provide
that each and every infrmity shall be
duly considered but the decisions un-
der it uniformly recognize the prin-
ciple that liabilities due to Senility
alone are pensionable.
ITO this fact, together with the
growing importance of age conditions,
is due in considerable measure the ne
cessity for action on the line of this
order specifically defining, as far as
practicable. ratings from the best OBJ
tainable data for inhrmities due to
senility-
The order in question merely lays
down, as a convenient rule of decis-
! ion, and unrebuttable presumption of
fact, that one who is otherwise entitled
| and is 81 years OF age is partially dis
abled from earning a livelihood by his
hands; that one who is 90 is more
disabled for manual work; that one
who is SIS is In a still greater degree
incapable of earning a support by man.
ual labor. and that one of 20 is COM
pietely disabled in this regard. Ger
tainly such presumption is justified
by general experience in actual life.
Age Always Considered.
when it is understood that in the
a0judications under this act age has
I always been considered a factor with
other disabilities; and. when it is fur
! Their considered that for more than ten
years there has been an established
rating, the maximum allowed by law,
/ based solely on the age of 65 years.
il viii be apparent how largely prob
J lematical must be any estimate of in
/ crease Of expenditures under the order
of March Is. 1904
The acting commissioner of pen
sions estimates that the order of March
10. 1904. will result in an increased ex-
penditure of s5.4 ,O00''
Secretary Hitchcock's letter Is ac-
companied by a letter from Acting
Commissioner of Pensions Davenport.
who says Commissioned Wares order
| does not enlarge, but simply CONSTITUTES
the pension act of June q, 1890. and
its amendments.
Probable Increase.
Mr.. Davenport says: THE amount
the order will increase pensions an
nually, and particularly when the
| same shall become fully operative. can
be only roughly estimated. There are
| supposed to be living today about S75.-
I 600 X-UniOn soldiers of the Civil war.
OF these there are pensioned under the
act of July ia. 1862. known as the gem
| eral law, about 265, coo, and under the
act of June p, 1880 about 42S.0OO ag-
gregating $4,000. which. deducted from
/ the whole number of survivors. leaves
/ 1872, 600 who have not applied for pen
= siOns. To state definitely how many OF
this number failed to serve the re-
! quired ninety day and receive final
I honorable discharge would be impOs-
7 sible. One-fourth seems q fair esti-
mate. and reduces the number to 1885,
! 500. To say that 10000 of these have
/ reached the age of 81 and will apply,
III.
{ $4,000 are placed ON the rolls at ST
a month. or $72 a year. the output for
I pensions viii be increased S5,40O, 600 an
/ nually.
The pension roll is diminishing rap
/ idly owing to deaths of benefciaries.
I and in all probability this decease will
/ Offset any gains caused by claims OF
/ soldiers who have reached the age
| OF So and upwards"