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cohabitation for a fixed period of time up to the date of the soldier's death should give rise to a conclusive presumption for pensionable purposes, that the wife thus cohabiting is the legal widow of the soldier to the exclusion of any other.

Lands for the loyal.-Secretary Lane's plan to furnish land and homes to our soldiers and sailors who fought in the world war is in keeping with the former policy of the Government. For service in wars prior to 1855 the Pension Bureau issued land warrants to 798,701 applicants, embracing 68,793,870 acres.

Monthly payment of pensions.-There seems to be a general demand among soldiers and soldiers' widows for the monthly payment of pensions. The need of payments at shorter periods than quarterly is patent to everybody. An estimate has recently been furnished the Committee on Invalid Pensions in the House of Representatives showing that for the current year an additional appropriation of $175,000 would cover the expensé involved in the change. From February 1, 1913, when the system of paying pensions through a disbursing office in the bureau was established to take the place of the agency system, to June 30, 1919, there was paid out in pensions a total of $1,140,433,323.10 without a single item being disallowed by the officers of the Treasury for improper payment. At the beginning of the period the force employed in paying pensions numbered 275, the pensioners on the roll, 837,000; at its close, 163 and 624,427 respectively.

Pension Bureau work.-The Pension Bureau has by years of study, training, and experience built up an efficient system of handling pension claims. It has a highly skilled corps of examiners, who by training, study, long experience, and knowledge of the various pension laws and decisions, have become expert in determining the rights of claimants to pension. It also has a highly competent, technical, and experienced corps of medical examiners who pass upon all medical questions arising in a claim, and a field force whose duties are to investigate doubtful or difficult claims and those in which criminal features are involved. The bureau has equipment and electrical machinery for preparing and mailing millions of checks each year. This equipment and machinery is operated by highly skilled employees.

Should Congress provide for civil-service retirement, the monthly payment of pensions, and the transfer of the compensation feature of the Bureau of War Risk Insurance to the Bureau of Pensions, this bureau could easily assimilate and dispose of the additional work entailed at a minimum outlay for clerk hire and other necessary expenses.

Age of employees.-The following statement shows the number, ages, etc., of employees in the Pension Bureau on the 1st day of

July, 1919, considered especially with reference to civil-service retirement:

Number in classified civil service..

Age of oldest employee --

Number over 80 years of age.

Number between 65 and 80 years of age..

Based on age of 65, number eligible for retirement_.
Percentage of all employees eligible for retirement_
Average age of all employees July 1, 1919----.

874

88

26

266

292

33.4

58

Metal boxes for the files.-In former reports statements have been made showing the superiority of metal boxes for the files over the leather strap heretofore used. The metal boxes cost about 64 cents as against 80 cents for a strap, and the life of a box is indefinite, whereas a strap only lasts a few years. A total of 23,500 boxes have been purchased, and it is estimated that 56,462 more boxes would be sufficient in which to place all the files.

PATENT OFFICE.

During the first half of the year, owing to war conditions, there was a noticeable falling off in the number of applications for patents filed. After January 1, 1919, however, a steady increase in the number of applications became noticeable, and at the end of the year the receipts were fully normal. During the year a total of 75,657 applications for patents, including reissues, designs, trade-marks, labels, and prints were filed. This was 2,350 more than were received during the preceding year ending June 30, 1918, and 5,882 less than for the year ending June 30, 1914, when the receipts reached the maximum number in the history of the office. During the year 8,354 applications were forfeited for failure to pay the final fee, but this number is less by 1,159 than that of the previous year. The total number of patents granted and trade-marks, prints, and labels registered was 43,353. This was 2,725 less than in the preceding year and 10,124 less than in the year 1916. The receipts of the office for the year were $2,113,350.17, being an increase of $9,689.61 over the preceding year.

BUREAU OF EDUCATION.

Statistics. During the year a representative of the Bureau of Education has visited 12 States for the promotion of the bureau's plan to secure the cooperation of State departments in the adoption of a uniform system of compiling and reporting statistics. The plan is to give recognition to State departments as the center from which all educational reports come, and from which all authentic data concerning educational institutions, public and private, may be obtained. As a result of this plan:

1. Comparable statistics for all States will be secured and made available by the Bureau of Education.

2. Local school officers will be relieved of the duty of making numerous reports in different forms.

3. The State department of education will gain in prestige and recognition as the head of the entire educational system of the State.

Correspondence.-First-class mail matter received by the Bureau of Education during the year amounted to 227,958 pieces, an increase of 65,479 from the number received in 1918. These numbers include both the Washington and field offices.

Library. The library continued to acquire new additions of publications as they were issued and also added material of earlier date. Among the most unique and comprehensive collections acquired is that of textbooks used in elementary and secondary schools of the Argentine Republic and Brazil. The library has secured nearly all of the new European books on education published by friendly nations during and since the war. In addition to educational bibliographies compiled and circulated, a series of leaflets were issued, monthly records of current educational publications, and the 1918-19 sections of the Educational Directory revised.

Publications. During the year the bureau has had printed a greater number of documents than in any other similar period of its history. One million five hundred and five thousand four hundred and forty-eight of these were distributed by the mailing division, and, in addition, 1,396,518 mimeograph letters were sent out. Bulletins on all the important phases of education were published and distributed; leaflets on secondary and higher education, circulars, reading courses, and lessons were distributed. School Life, a bureau publication issued twice a month, has a circulation of 20,000. School Service, another bureau publication distributed semimonthly during the early part of the year with a circulation of 583,000, was discontinued on May 1.

Educational surveys.-A number of educational surveys were carried on during the year, among which are the following: A study of the educational system, elementary, secondary, and higher, in the State of Alabama; a study of consolidation in Mount Joy Township, Pa.; survey of Belle County, Tex.; survey of the following cities: Memphis, Tenn.; Columbia, S. C.; Passaic, N. J. All of these were made at the request of the school officials concerned with the administration of the schools surveyed.

Activities of the divisions of the bureau.-Besides engaging in the educational survey of Alabama, the Division of Higher Education passed upon the eligibility for accrediting by the United States Naval Academy of 473 institutions; prepared statistical reports con140922°-INT 1919-VOL 1-8

cerning higher institutions; represented the bureau at meetings and conferences on higher education; organized a series of conferences for the preparation of a course of study in agricultural education. The members of the division were intimately connected with the entertainment of the British Educational Mission and assisted in planning their itinerary to visit institutions in the United States.

Under the direction of the Rural Division, important conferences were held on rural education at Stevens Point, Wis., Daytona, Fla., and Oklahoma City, Okla. Conferences were attended by persons prominently identified with public affairs, and the bureau's program for rural school improvement was set forth. Members cooperated with States and institutions in several additional conferences and educational campaigns. The educational section of the Department of the Interior Exposition, held in the spring of 1919, was under the direction of this division.

Studies have been made as follows: Rural education in Nebraska; standardization of rural schools in the United States; the administration and supervision of village schools; principles of school legislation; status of rural teachers in Nebraska; certification of teachers in the United States; teachers' salaries; consolidation of schools in the United States. Members of the division participated in the educational survey of the State of Alabama, and made a survey of Mount Joy Township, Pa.

The Division in City School Administration participated in three educational surveys; prepared a bulletin on the phonic method of teaching reading; made studies on the causes of failure and non-promotion, and prepared and distributed circulars concerning educational legislation.

In the kindergarten section, leaflets were prepared on kindergarten promotion and assistance given in the campaign for kindergartens in Texas. This division also assisted the War Department in selecting equipment of kindergartens in the Government schools. The specialists in industries and home making and agricultural and commercial education participated in conferences and prepared bulletins and circulars; assisted in several surveys and cooperated with other organizations such as the Food Administration and the Young Men's Christian Association-in educational work.

The specialist in school hygiene and physical education cooperated with the Public Health Service and the Child Health Organization in the preparation of a health education series; assisted in surveys made by the bureau, and advised with county and State school boards concerning buildings. Studies were made on physical education in normal schools, janitor service in the city schools, and similar subjects.

The School Garden Army continued its work of organizing the school children of the country to cultivate gardens. Over 5,000,000 manuals and leaflets concerning garden instruction were distributed. Moving-picture films were shown to over 300,000 persons. At the end of the fiscal year, 1,813,352 children were enrolled in 2,125 cities of the United States. The total value of products for the year is estimated at $48,000,000.

The Division for School Board Service registered 20,000 highgrade teachers during the year and made 15,000 nominations to school boards.

A Division of Educational Extension was maintained in the bureau for six months with an allotment of $50,000 from the President's fund for national security and defense. Particular attention was given to Americanization work through the distribution of material concerning courses for teaching emigrants, books on the teaching of English, and the like.

By means of a cooperative agreement by the Secretary of the Interior and the American Nationalization Committee of New York, the regular work of the Bureau for Americanization was enlarged. One section was maintained in Washington and one in New York. As a result of the work done through this division, the importance of Americanization has been emphasized and the problem clarified; important laws have been enacted, Americanization societies organized, and the cooperation of a number of organizations and activities secured.

Alaska.-During the year the field force of the Bureau of Education in Alaska cooperated with the Public Health Service in an effort to furnish relief to the natives during the influenza epidemic. Nurses and doctors were sent from Washington State to cooperate with the bureau's physicians and nurses, all of whom were placed at the disposal of the governor and rendered zealous service in the native villages. People of the Territory and the Red Cross cooperated. The bureau continued the policy of encouraging the establishment of cooperative enterprises in native villages. By the congressional appropriation of $75,000, the medical work of the bureau among the natives of Alaska was continued during the year. Physicians and nurses were employed and several hospitals erected in which native girls are trained for nurses. The superintendent of education for Alaska has assumed charge of the work of taking the 1920 census for Alaska.

War work. All of the divisions of the bureau continued to do a large amount of war work until the armistice was signed and after. They have cooperated with the War Industries Board in passing on applications for promotion to direct school buildings and issue bonds.

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