Evening star., 1933-06-07
Widows Pensions.


There is so much confusion resulting
from the wholesale reorganization OF
the pension system that even the au-
thorities yersed in such matters are be-
wildered and unable, IN many cases 10
estimate the direct result Of the drastic
reductions which go into effect next
July. But. as in the case OF the reveal
tions concerning the extent OF the re-
ductions to the actually combat-disabied
veterans of the World War, the reali-
zation OF what the pension reductions
will mean to some Of the widows OF of-
Ncers and men who served In former
wars is startling. The reverberations re-
sulting from such knowledge, when 1t
becomes general, will be heard for some
time to come.
As the Army and Navy Journal has
pointed out, the new regulations Will
do a great injustice to many widows
of officers and men of the regular serV-
ice unless remedial steps are taken.
The widows OF distinguished officers OF
long service, for instance, have hao
their monthly pensions reduced from
$40 TO sl5-and as these widows are
the survivors of veterans OF the Span
fsh-American and other wars OF the
more distant past, the reductions nave
come to them in advanced age. Many
of them are more than seventy years
old. II they enjoy an independent
income of more than thousand dol
lars a year, they are wiped of the
pension list entirely.
One of the elements that makes this
reduction peculiarly unjust Is Its con-
trast with the compensation which
generous Government plans for the
widows of men cf the Conservation
Corus. These have all been covered
under the benefits of the United States
employees compensation act. When
member of the Conservation Corps Is
killed by being struck on the head by
a falling limb of tree, for instance,
his widow will receive monthly beneflt
of about s45 as long as she lives or
until she remarries. But the Wloows
of the men and officers who served in
the Spanish American War, the Philip
pine Insurrection or the Boxer Rebel
Non. or all three, will receive SIS
month in place OF the $50 month they
were formerly receiving. The member
of the Conservation Corps who dies as
the result of an attack of Rocky Noun
tain spotted fever, suffered after the
bite of a tick, will leave to his widow
pension of s45 a month. But the
iwidows of the men and officers who
tperished aboard the Akron will now re-
ceive a fiat pension of S22 month,
iregardless Of rank, with eight dollars
additional for one child and four dollars
for each additional child. A widow with
three children whose husband died
Hhen the Akron crashed will receive
rension of $38 a month. This will COM
spare with the $45 month to be re-
ceived by the widow with no children
Mho survives the member Of the Con-
Bervation Corps who died in the woods.
There are other ineQuities and in
kuualities that will doubtless become ap-
e,srent when the full effects OF the pen
sion cuts are known. They will not be
lrectified, of course, by reducing the
spension of the Compensation Corps
swidow to the level Of the pensions re-
sneived by the widows Of the Akron VIC
fims, nor by reducing all of them to
the level of the SIS received by widows
bef Spanish War veterans. And to in
acresse the pensions is to cost more
money and knock the administration S
budget balancing plans askew, just as
the removal OF inequities in veterans
compensation have disarranged these
klans.
But injustices to these widows must
be removed. Some Of them can be re-
moved by a more thorough re-examina-
kion of the effect of the orders. But II
D obvious that too many dollars have
been counted as saved" which came
from the widows and orphans Of men tC
whom the Government owes debt
Ehis Government cannot expect to bal
knce its budget at the expense OF wild
tpws and orphans.