The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1911-10-16
HAS PLAN TO SAVE
MANY MILLIONS
Commissioner Davenport De-
vises Simpler Scheme for
Payment Of Pensions.
WILL DISCARD VOUCHERS
During Past Year SI5z,325,l6o
Was Paid to Soldiers or
Survivors.

Washington October ia saving.
estimated at 100000 annually To
the pensioners of the United States
and eventually about s1SO.oO0 a year
| to the government, is contemplated by
aimplified plan for the paymcn. of
pensions without vouchers. which Com.
| missioner Of Pensions j. l. Daveuport
| submitted to the Secretary of the In
terror in his annual report made pub
| lie to-day. During the year, sl57,325,-
| $50 was paid as pensions. a decrease
| of S3.i9S,l5i from last year. bringing
up the total amount paid in pens. IONS
since the foundation OF the govern
ment to s4.oS0.3sl.730. There were rs :
1856 names dropped from the rolls and
1920 added. leaving net loss of u.s.
eS5 pensioners. and making the total
number at the end of the year S92,-
0sS. the smallest since 1892 Methods
! OF economy resulted in decrease of
the cost Of administration by $l40,54G
to s2.617.127. the lowest since 1852
Requires Aact of Congress.
Commissioner Davenport's plan,
l
| Congress, and which will require the
| passage of law by that body to
! carry 1t into effect, would greatly sim
f! plity the methods of paying pensions,
/ result In the mailing OF pension checks
! on the date upon which the pension
falls due, eliminate the cost to the
pensioners in large majority of
cases of the execution of pension
| vouchers, which varies from 81 to So
Z Nan vel al ~ til l.
/ tent the work in drawing and mailing
of pension checks and eliminate the
I sending OF 100000 letters yearly
| through the mails saving about $780,
/ 600 thereby.
| The plan contelnplates payment d.
rect by checks, mailed to the last ad-
| dress OF the pensioner Cooperation
! from the Post-Osce Department in
delivering the letters containing the
/ checks would be required. Besides, the
Endorsement on the back of these
checks, the government would require,
under this plan. certifcation by two
! witnesses as to the identity OF the
J person obtaining the money.
| In few Instances. Commissioner
Davenport said. vouchers still would
| be required. Where pensioners were
! laboring under legal disabilities. he
would require voucher of the guar
.
minor children, voucher would be re-
quired under the Davenport plan.
Is Seeking Fraud.
i Commissioner Davenport told of his
efforts TO ascertain the truthfulness
OF reports In the press and elsewhere
that the pension roll was honeycomb-
cd with fraud. He sent field men from
pensioncr 10 pensloner in the Wash
| ington agency. and is now doing the
ca In, he. D<,,iIJ
view of ascertaining the presence of
| fraud.
Out of total of 47.1s1 pensioners
| seen and questioned, only twenty six
| cases of improper pensioning were re-
vealed. Five widows names were
/! dropped from the roll. one on the
i ground that she was not the legal
! widow OF a soldier. The names of
two invalid pensioners were dropped
because 1t was shown that they de-
serted from former service and re-
ceived bounties for enlistment Two
! persons were arrested on charges of
, being bogus special examiners. and
I two others We're reported as wanted.
| On Pension Roll.
/ The number OF soldiers and sailors
on the pension roll at the close OF the
fiscal year was 570.O5o; dependents
and widows. 321,643. and army nurses,
'2vo. were OsS,oof Survivors OIL
| the Civil War S5,243 having died dur
| Ing the year. 1t Is believed that only
+, about 80 per cent. of the estimated
/ 2,e1S.365 individuals in the United
States service during the Civil War,
are now living, the death rate of tho
! survivors being now slightly in excess
| OF per cent. yearly. The average
age of survivors is now about seventy
| years.
During the year the last pensioner
of the Revolutionary War died. She
| was Mrs. Phoebe NJ Palmeter pen
stoned By special act OF Congress
as the daughter of Jonathan Wooley,
F: who served in New Hampshire COM
4 pany. She died at Brookheld, ~ Y,
| April 20, 1911, aged ninety years.
Mrs. britannia w. kennon, of
! Washington, D. c., u great grand
/ daughter of Martha Washington, who
died during the year, drew a pension
as widow longer probably than any
other person in the history of the
Pension Office, having received $50 a
IN nth, almost siXtyseven years. Mrs
F.. llennon was the widow of the captain
+, of the United States ship Princeton,
/ who was killed February %, 1874, by
the bursting of a cannon on that yes
sci. on which occasion two members
OF President Tylers Cabinet were
+, killed.
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