in the hands of the Secretary of the Treasury. In 1835 its administration was transferred to the Secretary of War. Until 1833 the Pension Bureau had been an office under the Secretary of War, created by executive order.

Pensions were also paid from the Navy pension fund, which from 1799 to 1832 was administered by a commission composed of the Secretary of the Navy, the Secretary of the Treasury, and the Secretary of War. In 1832 the management of this fund passed into the hands of the Secretary of the Navy.

On March 2, 1833 (4 Stat. L., 668), an appropriation act was approved providing for the appointment, until the expiration of the next Congress, of a Commissioner of Pensions, "to execute, under the direction of the Secretary of War, such duties in relation to the various pension laws as may be prescribed by the President of the United States." An act of March 3, 1835 (4 Stat. L., 779), continued the office of Commissioner of Pensions for a further term of two years. Further legislation continued the office from time to time until an act of January 19, 1849 (9 Stat. L., 341), gave it a permanent status.

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By the act of March 4, 1840 (5 Stat. L., 369), that part of the pension work theretofore transacted in the Navy Department was transferred to the office of the Commissioner of Pensions, and the Commissioner was directed to execute under the direction of the Secretary of War and the Secretary of the Navy such duties in relation to the various pension laws as may be prescribed by the President."

With the establishment of the Department of the Interior by the act of March 3, 1849 (5 Stat. L., 395), the Pension Office became a bureau in that department, the Secretary of the Interior having been given supervisory and appellate power over the acts of the Commissioner of Pensions, and this is the present legal status of the Bureau of Pensions.

CHAPTER II

ACTIVITIES

The present functions of the Bureau of Pensions are:

1. The receipt, examination, and adjudication of claims and the payment of pensions provided for by laws enacted by Congress granting pensions on account of service in the Army and Navy rendered wholly prior to October 6, 1917, and on and after February 9, 1922 ;

2. The settlement of claims for the division of pensions under the act of March 3, 1899;

3. The settlement of claims for accrued pensions of deceased claimants and for the reimbursement of expenses of the last sickness and burial of deceased claimants;

4. The adjudication of claims arising out of bounty-land warrants based upon military or naval service rendered prior to March 3, 1855;

5. The adjudication of claims and the payment of pensions granted by special acts of Congress; and

6. The administration of the act providing for the retirement of civil service employees.

Administration of Military and Naval Pension Acts. Owing to the multiplicity of acts providing for the granting of pensions for service with the United States military and naval forces and for disabilities incurred during such service, and for the widows, children, and other dependents of service men, some of which were enacted in the early years and are still on the statute books, the interpretation and application of these acts are attended with much difficulty. At present there are about twenty octavo printed volumes of opinions of the Secretary of the Interior determining questions that have arisen in pension cases.

The activities of the bureau with regard to the handling of military and naval pension claims consist of dating, recording, jacket

ing, and numbering claims and accompanying papers; examining and adjudicating the cases; issuing certificates when pensions are granted; and periodically paying the pensions. The bureau also takes action upon questions concerning the eligibility of attorneys to act in pension cases, regulates their fees, and prescribes their discipline.

The military and naval pension claims which come under the bureau's administration are either for original pensions, for the reissue of pensions, or for increased pensions; for the division of pension where a pension payment is made to more than one party under the act of March 3, 1899; for accrued pensions and reimbursement of funeral expenses on account of deceased claimants; and for bounty-land grants. The administration of special pension acts and the payment of pensions to Medal-of-Honor men also come within the scope of the bureau's activities.

Pension claims are submitted to the Bureau of Pensions on forms supplied by the latter, usually through attorneys, by service men and army nurses, by widows, minors, and dependents of service men, (1) on account of disability or death in the regular establishment and in the World War prior to October 6, 1917; (2) on account of disability, death, or service in the War of 1812, the War with Mexico, certain Indian wars, the Civil War, the War with Spain, the Philippine insurrection, and the China relief expedition.

The bureau numbers, records, and jackets all claims and accompanying declarations and other papers upon their receipt. It examines the claims to determine their validity and the pensionable status of the claimants. The adjudication of the claims involves the determination of questions of fact and of law, necessitating examination of the claims and all accompanying papers and often requiring the taking of testimony in the field, the searching of records of the War and Navy departments, and correspondence with claimants, their attorneys, and others having knowledge of facts to be ascertained. In the case of claimants for invalid pensions, medical examinations are made by physicians selected by the bureau to ascertain the nature and degree of disability.

In the case of pensions that are allowed, the bureau determines the pension rates, and issues pension certificates to the claimants,

and enrolls the pensioners for pension payments. Permanent files are kept of all claims, whether pensions are granted or not.

The bureau makes payments according to the pension roll, each pensioner receiving a pension check monthly. The checks are prepared, sealed, and addressed by the use of electrical machinery.

Pensions granted under special acts of Congress and those granted to Medal-of-Honor men are not adjudicated by the Bureau of Pensions, such cases being merely numbered, recorded, jacketed, and filed; but certificates for the pensions are issued and payments made as in other pension cases.

It is also a function of the Bureau of Pensions, as prescribed in a joint resolution of May 29, 1830, to report to Congress cases of pension claims coming to the bureau's attention, which, although meritorious, cannot be allowed under existing pension acts. The Commissioner of Pensions suspends payment of pensions under special acts whenever he has satisfactory evidence that frauds were perpetrated in obtaining such special enactment, until their repeal is considered by Congress.

Administration of Civil Service Retirement Act. A very important enactment which affected the Bureau of Pensions was the act approved May 22, 1920 (41 Stat. L., 614), which relates to the retirement of Civil Service employees. This act as construed and amended by the acts of February 14, 1922 (42 Stat. L., 364), March 27, 1922 (42 Stat. L., 470), June 17, 1922 (42 Stat. L., 651), and September 22, 1922 (42 Stat. L., 1047), provides for the retirement of employees in the classified civil service of the United States, and includes superintendents of national cemeteries, employees of the Architect of the Capitol, the Library of Congress, and the National Botanic Garden, excepting persons appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate. It also applies to certain charwomen, laborers, and other employees whether classified or unclassified, all regular annual employees of the municipal government of the District of Columbia, appointed directly by the commissioners or by other competent authority, including per diem employees whose services are continuous, and public-school employees, excepting school officers and teachers, but not includ

ing members of the police and fire departments. Postmasters and certain lighthouse service employees are excluded.

Under the term "all employees in the classified civil service" are included, "all persons who have been heretofore or who may hereafter be given a competitive status in the classified civil service, with or without competitive examination, by legislative enactment, or under Civil Service rules promulgated by the President or by Executive order covering groups of employees with their positions into the competitive classified service or authorizing the appointment of individuals to positions within such service."

The President has power to extend the provisions of the act by Executive Order, upon recommendation of the Civil Service Commission, to include any employee or group of employees in the civil service of the United States not classified at the time of the passage of the act, and to exclude in his discretion, any employee or group of employees in the classified civil service whose tenure of employment is intermittent or of uncertain duration.

Persons who become eligible for retirement because of age are compulsorily retired on an annuity, except that in certain cases they may be retained in active service for a longer period. Persons totally disabled while in the service may be retired if they have served at least fifteen years. The annual retirement pay allowed ranges from $180 to $720 according to length of service and salary received before retirement.

Employees who have reached the age of 70 years and have rendered at least fifteen years' service, continuous or otherwise, are eligible for retirement; except that mechanics, city and rural letter carriers, and post office clerks are eligible at the age of 65 years and railway postal clerks at 62 years. Those who have served not less than fifteen years, and who before reaching the retirement age, become totally disabled by reason of disease or injury not due to vicious habits, intemperance, or wilful misconduct, may be retired under certain conditions. Special provision is made by the act of September 22, 1922, for the retirement of persons 55 years of age or over, who are involuntarily separated from the service before reaching the retirement age.

The annuities depend upon the length of service and the average annual pay received for the last ten years of service. Annuitants