Page images
PDF
EPUB

REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF PENSIONS

[blocks in formation]

The Bureau of Pensions was organized as a bureau of the War Department under act of March 2, 1833 (4 Stat. L., 622). It became a bureau of the Interior Department when that department was established by the act of March 3, 1849 (9 Stat. L., 395).

364

REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF PENSIONS.

WASHINGTON, D. C., August 1, 1919.

SIR: I have the honor to submit this annual report of the operations of the Bureau of Pensions for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 1918, and ending June 30, 1919.

GENERAL.

Statistical and financial information, usually sought for by committees and individuals of Congress and those of the public at large who feel an interest in the matters presented, is fully shown in the tables appended hereto. Each exhibit tells its story of the varied activities of the Pension Bureau.

To save others the necessity of making a painstaking search of the tables to procure knowledge of the matters most frequently inquired about, I have caused to be prepared and append herewith a statement of certain items concerning fiscal operations and important facts, as follows:

FISCAL OPERATIONS.

There were paid out the following amounts:

For pensions during the fiscal year:

[blocks in formation]

For the last seven years the total cost for maintenance and expense of the pension system was as follows:

To pensioners in foreign countries:

[blocks in formation]

INTERESTING FACTS AND FIGURES.

The following information regarding matters connected with the payment of pensions is of general interest:

[blocks in formation]

The largest number of Civil War soldiers on the roll was in 1898..
The largest number of Civil War widows on the roll was in 1912..
War of 1812, widows surviving June 30, 1919....
War with Mexico, June 30, 1919:

Survivors..

Widows.

War with Spain:

Total number of original claims allowed by Pension Bureau....
Number on rolls June 30, 1919.......

Changes of post-office addresses of pensioners:

1918..

1919.

Employees at the beginning of the fiscal year:

1918..

1919.

Volumes in military library:

1918..

1919.

Total pieces of mail handled in 1919:

Incoming...

Outgoing..

Inclosures..

Cases acted on under act of Mar. 3, 1899 (division of pension between husband and wife), 1919..

Cases acted on under act of Aug. 8, 1882 (to wife where husband is insane or imprisoned), 1919....

208, 808 271, 391

288,815 293, 244

30, 466

27, 703

18, 412

19, 217

745, 822

304, 373

81

215

2,739

41, 335

28, 251

128, 937

120, 907

1,091 962

1,745

2, 175

716, 321

3, 369, 933

799, 883

429

26

Cases under guardianship, 1919...

Amount of fees paid to attorneys, 1919..

7,263 116, 942

Income, refundments, etc.:

For addresses, certified copies, etc. (act Aug. 24, 1912)..
Refundments to pension appropriations...

Miscellaneous...

Total..

Reimbursements:

$2,153. 70

6.890. 05

3,041. 15

12, 084.90

Amount allowed, expenses of last sickness and burial, for 1918..... $237, 113. 35 Amount allowed, expenses of last sickness and burial, for 1919.. Total number entered on medal-of-honor roll (act Apr. 27, 1916)..........

NEW PENSION LEGISLATION.

ACT OF JULY 16, 1918.

$280, 830. 25

357

On July 16, 1918, there was approved an act to pension widows and minor children of officers and enlisted men who served in the War with Spain, Philippine insurrection, or in China:

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That from and after the passage of this act if any volunteer officer or enlisted man who served ninety days or more in the Army, Navy, or Marine Corps of the United States, during the War with Spain or the Philippine insurrection, between April twenty-first, eighteen hundred and ninety-eight, and July fourth nineteen hundred and two, inclusive, service to be computed from date of enlistment to date of discharge, or any officer or enlisted man of the Regular Establishment who rendered ninety days or more actual military or naval service in the United States Army, Navy, or Marine Corps in the War with Spain or the Philippine insurrection between April twenty-first, eighteen hundred and ninety-eight, and July fourth nineteen hundred and two, inclusive, or as a participant in the Chinese Boxer rebellion campaign between June sixteenth, nineteen hundred, and October first, nineteen hundred, and who has been honorably discharged therefrom, has died or shall hereafter die leaving a widow without means of support other than her daily labor, and an actual net income not exceeding $250 per year, or leaving a minor child or children, under the age of sixteen years, such widow shall upon due proof of her husband's death, without proving his death to be the result of his Army or Navy service, be placed on the pension roll from the date of the filing of her application therefor under this act, at the rate of $12 per month during her widowhood, and shall also be paid $2 per month for each child of such officer or enlisted man under sixteen years of age, and in case of the death or remarriage of the widow, leaving a child or children of such officer or enlisted man under the age of sixteen years, such pension shall be paid such child or children until the age of sixteen: Provided. That in case a minor child is insane, idiotic, or otherwise permanently helpless, the pension shall continue during the life of said child, or during the period of such disability, and shall commence from the date of application therefor after the passage of this act: Provided further, That said widow shall have married said officer or enlisted man previous to the passage of this act: Provided, however, That this act shall not be so construed as to reduce any pension under any act, public or private.

Under this act pensions have already been granted to 992 widows, 72 minors, and 1 helpless child. There are a large number of applications pending in other cases.

« PreviousContinue »