The Mena weekly star., 1907-11-28
ID AID SOLDIERS WIDOWS
4 General Increase in Pensions Is Proposed by Senator Warner
 and Others.
GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS FAVOR PLAN
Would Have Warner Bill Amended so That New Application Would Not be Necessary to Secure the In- crease-Corporal Tanner Also Has Plan of Relief.

Washington, Nov. 26.-Congress will devote special attention this win ter to the widows of soldiers of the Civil war. Liberal pension legisla- tion was enacted last winter for the surviving soldiers of that war The McCumber service pension act was all that the old soldiers wanted and, The next step is to give the widows of soldiers liberal treatment. Practi- cally all of the republican leaders are in favor of such legislation, but there may be division of opinion as to the exact form the law shall take
 Senator Warner of Missouri pro- poses to introduce bill the first day of the session lifting the pensions of all widows up to SIP per month. Most of them now receive only sS. A wid- ow whose husband died from wounds or disease contracted in the army is entitled to SIP month. All other widows receiving $S. Senator Warner believes that a widow is a widow, no matter what caused her husbands death. and that all are en- titled to the same treatment
 Officials of the pension bureau are In favor of the Warner bill with an amendment that shall work automat. ically. In other words, they want the $S widows lifted to SIP without re quiring them to make new applica. tions. They want the law to read that on and after It's passage the vari' ous pension agents of the country without application or further notice, shall. upon their own motion, list all $S widows in the SIP class.
 Such provision would protect all widows and would save the govern ment vast amount of work" said Assistant Secretary of the Interior Wilson, who has charge of the gov ernment's pension business.
 If the law were not made auto matic and widows were compelled to put in new applications for increases many of them would be cheated out of the money they were entitled to because they would neglect filing their applications. The hardship would fall on the most ignorant ones and on those who live in remote sec tions of the country, and these are the very ones the government should seek to protect. It is a tremendous lob for the bureau to handle a hali million or more applications. This was demonstrated in handling appli cations under the McCumber act. The bureau is still away behind in its work and will not catch up for al least three months or more. This work of widows pensions could all be averted by requiring the pension agents to lift all $S widows pensions to SIP on their own motion and with out applications. hope that such a provision is inserted
 Corporal Tanner, who Is a friend ol the widows himself, has a scheme which goes Senator Warner one pet' ter. The Tanner proposition IS te mass an age pension law for widows inc same as has been passed for the surviving soldiers, giving them the same rate to pay Such law would give 62-year-old widows SIP. 7o-year old widows s15 and 75-year-old wid- ows s2O per month. Corporal Tan ner believes that soldiers widow IS entitled to as much as an old soldier and says he will urge his scheme with great diligence.