186 



CONGEESS. (PENSIONS.) 



nine vears after the termination of such wars em- 

 braced persons who were quite advanced in age, as- 

 sumed to be comparatively few in number, and whose 

 circumstances, dependence, and disabilities were 

 clearly defined, ana could be quite easily fixed. 



The other laws referred to, appear to have been 

 passed at a time so remote from the military service 

 of the persons which they embraced, that their ex- 

 treme age alone was deemed to supply a presumption 

 of dependency and need. 



The number of enlistments in the Ecvolutionary 

 War is stated to be 309,791, and in the War of 1812, 

 576,622 ; but it is estimated that on account of re- 

 peated re-enlistments the number of individuals en- 

 gaged in these wars did not exceed one half of the 

 number represented by these figures. In the war with 

 Mexico, the number of enlistments is reported to bo 

 112j230, which represents a greater proportion of in- 

 dividuals engaged than the reported enlistments in the 

 two previous wars. 



The number of pensions granted under all laws to 

 soldiers of the Revolution, is given at 62,069 ; to sol- 

 diers of the War of 1812 and their widows, 60,178; 

 and to soldiers of the Mexican War and their widows 

 up to June 30, 1885, 7,619. The latter pensions were 

 granted to the soldiers of a war involving much hard- 

 ship, for disabilities incurred as a result of such serv- 

 ice ; and it was not till within the last month that 

 the few remaining survivors were awarded a service 

 pension. 



The War of the Rebellion terminated nearly twenty- 

 two years a<*o ; the number of men furnished for its 

 prosecution is stated to be 2,772,408. No correspond- 

 ing number of statutes have ever been passed to cover 

 every kind of injury or disability incurred in the 

 military service of any war. Under these statutes, 

 561,576 pensions have been granted from the year 

 1861 to June 30, 1886, and more than 2,600 pensioners 

 have been added to the rolls by private acts passed 

 to meet cases, many of them of questionable merit, 

 which the general laws did not cover. 



On the 1st day of July, 1886, 365,763 pensioners of 

 all classes were upon the pension-rolls, of whom, 

 305,605 were survivors of the war of the rebellion, 

 and their widows and dependents. For the year end- 

 ing June 30, 1887, $75,OOOjOOO have been appropriated 

 for the payment of pensions, and the amount ex- 

 pended for that purpose from 1861 to July 1, 1886, is 

 $808.624,811.51. 



While annually paying out such a vast sum for pen- 

 sions already granted, it is now proposed, by the bill 

 under consideration, to award a service pension to the 

 soldiers of all wars in which the United States has 

 been engaged, including, of course, the War of the 

 Rebellion, and to pay those entitled to the benefits of 

 the act the sum of $12 per month. 



So far as it relates to the soldiers of the late Civil 

 War, the bounty it affords them is given thirteen years 

 earlier than it has been furnished to the soldiers of 

 any other war, and before a large majority of its bene- 

 ficiaries have advanced in age beyond the strength 

 and vigor of the prime of life. 



It exacts only a military or naval service of three 

 months without any requirement of actual engagement 

 with an enemy in battle, and without a subjection to 

 any of the actual dangers of war. 



The pension it awards is allowed to enlisted men 

 who have not suffered the least injury, disability, 

 loss, or damage of any kind, incurred in or in any de- 

 gree referable to their military service, including those 

 who never reached the front at all, and those dis- 

 charged from rendezvous at the close of the war, if 

 discharged three months after enlistment. Under the 

 last call of the President for troops in December, 1864, 

 11,303 men were furnished who were thus discharged. 



The section allowing this pension does, however, 

 require, besides a service of three months and an hon- 

 orable discharge, that those seeking the benefit of the 

 act shall be such as "are now or may hereafter be 

 suffering from mental or physical disability, not the 



result of their own vicious habits or gross carelessness, 

 which incapacitates them for the performance of labor 

 in such a degree as to render them unable to earn a 

 support, and who are dependent upon their daily labor 

 for support." 



It provides further that such persons shall, upon 

 making proof of the fact, " be placed on the list of in- 

 valid pensioners of the United States, and be entitled 

 to receive for such total inability to procure their sub- 

 sistence by daily labor, twelve dollars per month ; 

 and such pension shall commence from the date of the 

 filing of the application in the Pension-Office, upon 

 proof that the disability then existed, and continue 

 during the existence of the same in the degree herein 

 provided : Provided. That persons who are now re- 

 ceiving pensions under existing laws, or whose claims 

 are pending in the Pension-Office, may, by application 

 to the Commissioner of Pensions, in such form as he 

 may prescribe, receive the benefit of this act." 



It is manifestly of the utmost importance that stat- 

 utes which like pension laws should be liberally ad- 

 ministered as measures of benevolence in behalf of 

 worthy beneficiaries, should admit of no uncertainty 

 as to their general objects and consequences. 



Upon a careful consideration of the language of the 

 section of this bill above given, it seems to me to be 

 so uncertain and liable to such conflicting construc- 

 tions, and to be subject to such unjust and mischiev- 

 ous application, as to alone furnish sufficient ground 

 for disapproving the proposed legislation. 



Persons seeking to obtain the pension provided by 

 this section must be now or hereafter 



1. " Suffering from mental or physical disability." 



2. Such disability must not be " the result of their 

 own vicious habits or gross carelessness." 



3. Such disability must be such as " incapacitates 

 them for the performance of labor in such a degree as 

 to render them unable to earn a support." 



4. They must be " dependent upon their daily labor 

 for support." 



5. Upon proof of these conditions thev shall "bo 



E laced on the lists of invalid pensioners of the United 

 tates, and be entitled to receive for such total in- 

 ability to procure their subsistence by daily labor 

 twelve dollars per month." 



It is not probable that the words last quoted. " such 

 total inability to procure their subsistence by daily 

 labor," at all qualify the conditions prescribed in the 

 preceding language of the section. The " total ina- 

 bility " spoken of must be ''such" inability that 

 is, the inability already described and constituted by 

 the conditions already detailed in the previous parts 

 of the section. 



It thus becomes important to consider the meaning 

 and the scope of these last-mentioned conditions. 



The mental and physical disability spoken of has 

 a distinct meaning in the practice of the Pension Bu- 

 reau, and includes every impairment of bodily or 

 mental strength and vigor. For such disabilities 

 there are now paid one hundred and thirty-one differ- 

 ent rates of pension, ranging from $1 to $100 per 

 month. 



The disability must not be the result of the appli- 

 cant's " vicious habits or gross carelessness." Prac- 

 tically this provision is not important. The attempt 

 of the Government to escape the payment of a pension 

 on such a plea, would of course, in a very large ma- 

 jority of instances, and regardless of the merits of the 

 case, prove a failure. There would be that strange 

 but nearly universal willingness to help the individ- 

 ual as between him and the public treasury, which 

 goes very far to insure a state of proof in favor of the 

 claimant. 



The disability of applicants must be such as to " in- 

 capacitate them for the performance of labor in such 

 a degree as to render them unable to earn a support." 



It will be observed that there is no limitation or 

 definition of the incapacitating injury or ailment it- 

 self. It need only be such a degree of disability from 

 any cause as renders the claimant unable to earn a 



