The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-09-07
BRANDON EXPLAINS PENSION SITUATION Says Current Year Set High
 Record HOW THE MONEY GOES OUT Says Apparent Shortage of Last Quar- ter Is Due to Variation in Num- Der of Pensioners at End
 of Year.
HOW THE MONEY GOES OUT

Gen. J. W. Bush has received from State Auditor W. W. Brandon a state ment of the Confederate pension money paid out during the past year. Ac- cording to the auditors statement the state of Alabama paid the sum of $36O,- 7S3. so the current year in excess of any previous administration and dis bursed the sum of sS4s,ss2 .57 as against s4s2,1S1. 40 which was paid in octo- Der, 1906, and was the largest amount ever paid up to that time. The audi tors statement of the situation is as follows:
 statement of pension fund from Oc- tober l, 1908, to September 30. 1909:
 The sources of revenue and appro- priations are:
 By 1 mill tax fixed by the
 constitution .............. $430, ,3Se 37 Amount appropriated, section
 l995 Of code ............. 400, DOC %
 Total ..................s .ss30,3ss ST Warrants returned and can
 celled .................... 16,593. 20
 lOldl 9o4o,5o6,Of
 Total to be disbursed, $846,982.57.
 Thus 1t would seem that the entire appropriation made by the legislature and fixed by the constitution for this purpose was $s469s2 57 The legisla- ture passed law changing the method of payment from annually to quarter ly and the law regulating this pro- vides that If the amounts appropriated for the said pensioners are not suffi- cient to pay said amounts on the first day of July, of said fiscal year, then the amount on hand for the last quarter shall be divided pro rata, this has been done as follows:
 For the first three quarters of the fiscal year there was paid to pensioners s713, 50, this left a balance for tke last quarter of s1S3, ,s60 o2, which has been proated among the 16.77s pen sioners as provided by law, leaving a balance on hand in the fund of s4o17. ST, to meet the expenses of the boards of pension examiners whose duty it is to sit the month of July. It will be seen, therefore, that under the present administration there was paid for this
  fiscal year to all pensioners the sum of ss42,965 20. and when the boards are paid 1t will place this amount at sS46,9S2.57.
 ''In 1907 under a former administra- tion the old soldiers received the sum of s4s2,1 40. which was the largest amount they had ever before received from the state. So it will be seen that this year they received s3ss.7s2. SC more than under any former administration in any one year.
 Under a former administration, in 1907, pensioners of the first class re- ceived s6 each; pensioners of this class this year received sSs.75, an increase of s2S.75.
 "In 1907 there were 147 pensioners, this year there are for the fourth of 1929.
 Pensioners of the second class for the year 1907 received $50 each; pen sioners of this class this year received, s71 each, an increase fbr each pension CT for this class of s21 each.
 For the year pensioners of the third class received $40 each; for the cur rent year ending they received $56. 80 each, an increase of $16.S 80.
 For the year ending September 30. i907 pensioners of the fourth class re- ceived $50 each; for the year endine- with July payment this year they have received s44. 40 each. an increase of $14. 40 each to the 1475 fourth class pensioners.
 'Knowing that The Age-Herald de- sires to be fair I ask that instead of making editorial comments that the pensions had been decreased they pub fish this statement of facts. which shows that this administration, along with other large appropriations, has paid $36o,7SS.80 more to the old sol diers In one year than has ever been paid in the history of the state. The fact that the last quarters payment was less than the first three quarterly payments grew out of the fact that the balance on hand appropriated was not enough to make the last quarter equal to the first three."
 light on the 'spension question" so much