New-York tribune., 1907-06-06
PENSIONERS CUT OFF.
DECREASE 900 Il DAY.
Bureau Ruling Remoues Many
"Ninety-DGy" Men from Rolls.
EFrom The Tribune Bpreap

IFrom The Tribune Bureaul
washington, June 5.-Civil War veterans are
being removed from the federal pension rolls at
the rate Of nearly two hundred day Death is
removing the veterans at the rate of about 1oO
day, but ruling made on March 81 is adding
fifty day to the number of removals these he
ing men who have been receiving pensions but
have been found not entitled to them. according
10 the ruling Of that date. This ruling removes
from the rolls all pensioners who enlisted for
ninety DAYS and were on furlough part of that
time so that their terms of actual service aggre
gated less than the ninety days stipulated bv
the service pension laws. This ruling is calling
forth many vigorous protests from former PEN
soners. but il is held to be in accordance with
the provisions Of the law, which only Congress
can change. Most OF the men affected by the
recent ruling enlisted in the first days Of the
war and large majority of them were mem
bers Of the 1st. I'd, 3d. 4th, 5th and 9Th Illinois
Volunteers and the Seth Illinois, known as the
Mechanics Fusiliers"
The ruling is, however, sweeping in its eff
fects, and it deprives a great many pensioners.
including numerous Ohio veterans who have
hitherto enjoyed undisputed possession of pen
sions. of their monthly stipend The ruling is
based on q clause which declares that a soldier
10 be eligible for pension must have served in
the Civil War" for ninety days. it being held
that they must have been engaged in actual
service for that period.
The Mechanics Fusiliers many Of whose MEM
bers have been drawing pensions for years, has
been discovered to have been regiment enlist
ed primarily for the purpose of serving as skilled
workmen. When they were ready TO be mus
tered in and discovered that they were to re-
ceive only the regular soldiers pay they pro-
tested asserting that special pay had been
promised 10 them when they enlisted Because
OF this misrepresentation or misunderstanding
the War Department ordered that they be mus
teerd IN and Immediately mustered out again
IN order 10 clear the matter up and such action
was taken. both fOrmalities taking place on the
same day. January 2S 1862 The papers in the
case showed many inaccuracies as TO date and
as consequence many of these men have been
drawing pensions.
RULING OF FAR REACHING EFFECT
In the case of the six regiments from Illinois
investigation has shown that many Of the men
were originally Confederate soldiers who were
captured early in the and held prisoners for
e time at Louisville, KY, and later at Rock
Island III. These men finally enlisted IN the
Union army an agreement that they should
not be sent South, but TO the Western border
Their enlistment stipulated that it was for
frontier service and it is held that they did
not serve ninety days in the Civil War" This
IS the regulation that has proved more sweeping
than would appear on its face and probably more
sweeping than was expected by the department..
IY-Oa
men VINO did not actually serve the full time.
The call for the three-year men was issued be-
fore the ninety days expired, and in many cases
the ninety-day men were not sent to the front
because 1t was not considered worth while 10
take them so far from hone for such a short
term OF service. These men, as consequence.
received furloughs when they had served seventy
or eighty days, and were allowed 10 return to
their homes. In due course Of time they were
mustered out, the time between enlistment and
mastering out being IN all cases greater than
ninety days and IN most cases four months but
the time Of actual service was. of course less
than ninety days.
The question involved has been raised many
times before, but all previous rulings have been
that the time Of service from the time OF
enlistment until the time Of discharge or muster
ing out The present ruling made by Assistant
Secretary Jesse Z. Wilson and approved by the
Secretary of the Interior. does not follow these
precedents- The ruling, coming just at the time
OF the granting Of the service pensions under the
law enacted by the recent Congress, offers an
opportunity 10 re-eXarnine great numbers OF
claims. not only new applicants but old pen
sioners applying for the advance provided by
that law must again submit their papers II
IS these papers which are being pronounced de-
fective. with the result that names are being
stricken from the rolls az the rate of fifty a day
Ohio veterans OF the twenty-five regiments
first TO enlist, though not under consideration
when the ruling made Will suffer more Sc
Verely than any other remnant Of the army. The
papers Of men from all these regiments are being
held up in great numbers. The great mass OF
them have the defect of a furlough period which
will prove fatal. The system followed is to in
form the pensioner Of the defect discovered, CIV
Ing him specified time to bring proof that the
defect is not actual In the face of inability TO
produce this proof the name is dropped.