The National tribune., 1906-04-05
WRITING TO THE PENSION Blu.
REAU.
Information Of Much Value to All WHO
Send Letters.

Editor National Tribune: For the
respOndence with the Pension Bureau,
relating to claims for pension, I SUBJ
nit the following:
Every communication addressed to
the Commissioner OF Pensions is re-
ceived in the Mail Division OF the Blu
reau. and it is the duty Of the clerks
In that Division to open, stamp date
of receipt and transmit same to the
Division to which it belongs.
Upon receipt OF claim for pension
it is sent to the Law Division for the
purpose OF determining whether 1t Is
legally drawn. then to the Record Dr.
vision. where 1t Is given q number,
sons and all papers referring to same
will carry this number until certifl-
cate for pension shall be issued. When
a certificate is issued 1t is given what
Is termed a certificate number, and all
future claims for increase and papers
relating to same will carry this num-
Der. The Record Division numbers the
claim. and enters on its records the
name Of the soldier and the company
and regiment. together with the State
to which the same Is credited, except
soldiers Of the Regular Army, who are
not credited to any particular State,
after which the claim Is sent to the
proper Division.
When a claim reaches the Adjudicat-
ing Division 1t is filed by its number,
in numerical order, by the file clerk,
and this clerk can find any claim In
his division at once, simply by going
to the file-case containing that num-
Der and drawing the claim from the
files. and placing slip In It's stead,
showing where the papers are 10 be
taken by him; this is done 30 that
papers in every claim can be located
quickly.
During the % working days of Feb
ruary 900 letters were received in the
Mail Division that did not contain eth
which they referred. These letters had
to be returned to the writer's with q
request to supply this data, so that
the papers could be forwarded by the
Mail Division to the Division in which
the claim is filed.
letters on March, after supplying the
data asked for, said: "Your Bureau
needs reorganization. II you keep no
records Of disposition of claims. There
must be too many aged and mediocre
heads Of Divisions. Get young men,"
1t is not an infrequent occurrence to
have one OF these letters which we
have sent back for the data which Is
lacking. and without which we cannot
forward it to its proper Division, re-
turned with a statement that the in
formation asked for has been furnished
several times. and must be here on
file, il we will only look for 1t.
communication relating to a claim
for pension can be sent direct from
the Mail Division to the Division to
which the claim belongs, IL the num-
Der Of claim Cor certificate), name of
soldier, letter of company. number of
regiment and State to which the or
ganizatiOn is credited, is given by the
writer. II only name and number are
given we cannot tell In what Division
the claim belongs, SO must make q brief
and send 1t with the papers to the Rec
ord Division, where service will be sup
to the proper Division. Again. IL only
name and service be given. we could
send 1t to the Division, but the file
clerk could not find 1t without the
number, so we have to brief Il and
send 1t to the Record Division to sup
ply the number.
The number OF communications that
have to be briefed and sent to the Rec
ord Division Is largely In excess OF
those that have to be returned to the
writer, thus making quite an additional
amount Of work In the Mail and Rec
ord Divisions. and delaying the trans
initial OF these papers from the Mail
Division to the Division to which they
belong.
A careful perusal Of the above should
make It plain to every one communt-
eating with the Bureau Of Pensions
that by giving. In every communication
a blank for increase. the original. or
certificate number. the name OF the
soldier. letter OF company, number OF
regiment and the State to which his