PENSION 



4575 



PENSION 



dered in the army or navy. It is a theory of 

 government that those who offer their lives for 

 the protection of the nation should be cared for 

 at the expense of all the people if during their 

 sacrificing sen-ice they suffer permanent loss of 

 health or bodily injury from which there is no 

 recovery. In case of death while in service 

 those left dependent are entitled to help, as a 

 matter of simple justice. 



United States. Revolutionary Period. The 

 first disability pensions (granted to disabled 

 soldiers) followed the Revolutionary War; the 

 first general pension bill was passed in 1792. 

 Various acts of Congress enlarged the terms of 

 the pension law, allowing a larger number of 

 claimants, as they became aged, to receive 

 benefits. In 1818 appeared the first service 

 pension for the survivors of that war. It was 

 provided that all who had served to the end of 

 the war, or for a period of nine months during 

 any part of the conflict, should receive a pen- 

 sion, if found in needy circumstances. In 1832 

 it was enacted that all who had served two 

 years in that war should receive full-pay pen- 

 sion for life, and proportional pensions were 

 provided for all who had served less than two 

 years but for more than six months. In 1836 

 pensions were granted to widows of Revolution- 

 ary War soldiers, but for only a period of five 

 years, and conditioned on the fact that the 

 marriage was prior to the last service and that 

 said sen-ice was for a period of at least six 

 months. In 1853, all limitations as to time of 

 marriage were swept away. Esther S. Damon, 

 the last widow entitled to a pension under this 

 provision of the law, died at Plymouth Union, 

 Vt., in 1906, one hundred t \\rnty- three years 

 after the close of the Revolutionary War. The 

 total amount in pensions paid by the United 

 States on account of the War of the Revolution 

 was about $70,000,000. 



Between the Revolution and War oj Seces- 

 sion. The pension regulations for the War of 

 1812, the Indian wan, and th \\ a r with 

 ico, 1846-1848, passed through similar his- 

 toric stages. Service pensions were granted in 

 1871 on account of the War of 1812, and en- 

 larged in 1878. The pension rolls for 1916 con- 



c names of 115 soldiers' widows <>: 

 War of 1812; the United States has disbursed 

 as pensions on account of that war nearly $46,- 

 000,000. Service pensions have been grot 

 on account of the various Indian wars. 



final stage of pensions on account of the 

 M. xican War of 1840 was reached in 1881. 

 th provisions were rendered more liberal l.y 



successive enactments, the last being that of 

 1912, which provided that all soldiers and sail- 

 ors who served sixty days in that war and were 

 honorably discharged should receive $30 per 

 month. In 1916 the pension rolls contained the 

 names of 513 sun-ivors and soldiers' widows of 

 that war, and the United States has paid out in 

 pensions on account of 'it about $48,000,000. 



War of Secession. The pension disburse- 

 ments of the United States on account of the 

 War of Secession, 1861-1865, have been on a 

 scale hitherto unknown in history. The first 

 general disability pension law on account of 

 that war was enacted in 1862. Its provisions 

 were enlarged, becoming more and more liberal, 

 until in 1890 the first sen-ice pension law was 

 passed. It was, however, of a restricted nature ; 

 it provided that all who had sen-ed ninety days 

 in the war and were suffering any disability of a 

 permanent character which incapacitated them 

 from manual labor should be entitled to a pen- 

 sion, varying in amount from $6 to $12 per 

 month. The provisions of this act were ren- 

 dered more liberal by various laws until in 1912 

 it was enacted that all War of Secession sur- 

 vivors, whether disabled or not, who had sen-ed 

 ninety days, should receive pensions, van-ing 

 with the age of the sun-ivor. The United 

 States has paid out on account of that war, up 

 to 1917, $4,765,075,020. 



In 1917 the total number of names on the 

 pension rolls of the United States was 673,111. 

 of whom about one-half were widows or de- 

 pendents. This number includes 28,101 pen- 

 sioners of the Spanish- American War. 



Rates of Pensions. The amounts paid per 

 month for total disability, incident to actual 

 service, range from $30 to $8. The former 

 amount is paid to lieutenant-colonels in tin- 

 army and captains in the navy, and to all those 

 of higher rank; lower officers receive $25, $20, 

 $15 and $10, while onlusted men receive $8. 



War of the Nations. When the United States 

 red the war against Germany in 1917 a sub- 

 stitute for a pension system was adopted in 

 behalf of soldiers who should be engaged in 

 Kuropr Th< government insured the soldi- 

 a maximum of $10,000, ot a yearly cost of $7.58 

 to $8.40 per $1,000; only father, mother, bro< 

 sister or wife could be a beneficiary. 



Th< liur, au of Pension*. The mass of detail 

 ssarily connected with the pension business 

 is cared for in a special Bureau of Pea*: 

 established in connection with the Depart i 

 of the Interior. This bureau requires the .- 

 ices of about 2,000 clerks. Pension bills arc 



