APPENDIXES.

APPENDIX A.

A BILL (S. 1241) to amend certain sections of the Revised Statutes of the United States relating to pensions, and certain laws enacted since the revision of the statutes, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled. That section forty-six hundred and ninety-three, title fifty-seven, of the Revised Statutes of the United States be, and is hereby, amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 4693. The persons entitled as beneficiaries under the provisions of forty-six hundred and ninety-two are as follows:

"First. Any officer of the Army, including regulars, volunteers, and militia, or any officer in the Navy or Marine Corps, or any enlisted man, however employed, in the military or naval service of the United States or in the Marine Corps, whether regularly mustered or not, disabled by reason of any wound or injury received or disease contracted while in the service of the United States and in line of duty.

"Second. The officers and enlisted men of the Missouri State Militia and the Missouri Provisional Enrolled Militia, disabled by reason of any wound or injury received or disease contracted in the line of duty, while such militia was co-operating with United States forces.

"Third. The officers and enlisted men of the Missouri Home Guards and other irregular organizations called into the service by the generals commanding the Western Department or the Department of the Missouri, whenever the service performed shall be that prescribed by the act entitled 'An act to secure to the officers and men actually employed in the Western Department or the Department of the Missouri their pay, bounty, and pension,' approved March twenty-fifth, eighteen hundred and sixtytwo, and shall be shown by the records on file in the Office of the Third Auditor of the Treasury, or in that of the Adjutant-General of the Army.

"Fourth. The officers and men of the Revenue Marine, disabled by wound or injury received while in the performance of the duties prescribed in chapter three, title thirty-four of the Revised Statutes. And the rate of pension for total disability shall be, in the case of commissioned officers, that prescribed by existing laws for their relative rank in the Navy, and be paid as naval pensions are paid; and in the case of all others that prescribed for enlisted men in the Army.

"Fifth. Any master serving on a gunboat, or any pilot, engineer, sailor, or other person, whether regularly mustered or not, serving upon any gunboat or armed war-vessel of the United States, disabled by any wound or injury received, or otherwise incapacitated, while in the line of duty, for procuring his subsistence by manual labor: Provided, That the person serving and disabled on any gunboat or armed war-vessel shall have been at the time in the immediate employ of the United States Govern

ment.

"Sixth. Any person, not an enlisted soldier in the Army, serving for the time being as a scout under the orders of any officer of the United States, or as an employee of the Quartermaster's Department with United States forces in the field, or as a member of the militia of any State, under orders of an officer of the United States, or who volunteered for the time being to serve with any regularly organized military or naval force of the United States, or who otherwise volunteered and rendered service in any engagement with rebels or Indians, disabled in consequence of wounds or injury received in the line of duty in such temporary service. But no claim of a State militiaman, or non-enlisted person, provided for in this paragraph, on account of disability from wounds or injury received in battle with rebels or Indians, while temporarily rendering service, shall be valid unless the application shall be filed on or before the first day of July, eighteen hundred and eighty six.

"Seventh. Any acting assistant or contract surgeon, disabled by any wound or injury received or disease contracted in the line of duty, while actually performing

the duties of an assistant surgeon or acting assistant surgeon with any military force in the field, or in transitu, or on duty in a hospital.

"Eighth. Any provost-marshal, deputy provost-marshal, or enrolling officer, disabled by reason of any wound or injury received in the discharge of his duty to proeure a subsistence by manual labor.

"Ninth. Any female who shall have acted as a nurse or hospital attendant in the Army or Navy for the space of ninety days during the war of the rebellion shall receive a pension at the rate of eight dollars per month; or if, while acting as such nurse, she shall have contracted disability which still continues, she shall receive a pension at the same rate as a private soldier for like degree of disability, to commence on the passage of this act."

That section forty-six hundred and ninety-four be, and is hereby, amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 4694. No person shall be entitled to a pension by reason of wounds or injury received or disease contracted in the service of the United States subsequent to the twenty-seventh day of July, eighteen hundred and sixty-eight, unless the person who was wounded or injured or contracted the disease was in the line of duty; and, if in the military service, was at the time actually in the field, or on the march, or at some post, station of duty, fort, or garrison, or en route, by direction of competent authority, to some post, station of duty, fort, or garrison; or, if in the naval service, was at the time borne on the books of some ship or other vessel of the United States, at sea or in harbor, actually in commission, or was at some naval station, or on his way, by direction of competent authority, to the United States, or to some other vessel or naval station or hospital."

That section forty-six hundred and ninety-six be, and is hereby, amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 4696. Every commissioned officer of the Army, Navy, or Marine Corps shall receive such, and only such, pension as is provided in the preceding section for the rank he held at the time he received the injury or contracted the disease which resulted in the disability on account of which he may be entitled to a pension; and any commission or Presidential appointment, regularly issued to such person, shall be taken to determine his rank from and after the date as given in the body of the commission or appointment conferring said rank: Provided, That the person commissioned was not disabled for military duty, and that he did not willfully neglect or refuse to be mustered."

That section forty-six hundred and ninety-eight and one-half be, and is hereby, amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 46984. Except in cases of permanent, specific disabilities, causing structural change, no increase of pension shall be allowed to commence prior to the date of the examining surgeon's certificate establishing the same; and in this, as well as all other cases, the certificate of an examining surgeon, or board of examining surgeons, shall be subject to the approval of the Commissioner of Pensions; and in such cases of permanent disability the increase of pension shall commence from the date when the application therefor shall have been filed."

That section forty-seven hundred and thirteen be, and is hereby, amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 4713. In all cases in which the cause of disability or death originated in the service prior to the fourth day of March, eighteen hundred and sixty-one, and an application for pension shall not have been filed within three years from the discharge or death of the person on whose account the claim is made, or within three years of the termination of a pension previously granted on account of the service and death of the same person, the pension shall commence from the date of filing, by the party prosecuting the claim, the formal application for the same. But no claim allowed prior to the sixth day of June, eighteen hundred and sixty-six, and no claim filed prior to the fourth day of March, eighteen hundred and sixty-one, shall be affected by anything herein contained."

That section forty-seven hundred and eighteen, title fifty-seven, of the Revised Statutes of the United States be, and the same is hereby, amended to read as follows: "SEC. 4718. If any invalid pensioner has died, or shall hereafter die, or if any person entitled to an invalid pension, having an application therefor pending, has died, or shall hereafter die, the accrued pension due to the date of death in such case shall be paid to the relative or relatives of such person in the following order of precedence, namely: First, his widow; second, his child or children under sixteen years of age; third, his mother; fourth, his father; fifth, his orphan brothers and sisters under sixteen years of age. Such accrued pension shall not be considered as a part of the assets of the deceased, nor liable to be applied to the payment of the debts of said estate in any case whatever, but shall inure to the sole and exclusive benefit of the person or persons who are herein declared to be entitled to the same. If no person survives who is entitled as aforesaid to receive such accrued pension, no payment whatsoever of the same shall be made or allowed, except so much as may be necessary to reimburse

the person or persons who bore the expenses of the last sickness (that is, the immediate attack which ends in death) and the burial of the deceased pensioner, where he did not leave sufficient assets to meet such expenses, which facts shall be adjudicated by the Commissioner of Pensions, under such rules and regulations as he may prescribe, who shall direct the payment of the sum found to be due, by the pension agent, to the person found entitled: Provided, That if any pensioner dies after having executed a voucher to the proper pension agent, as required by law and the rules and regulations of the Pension Office, containing a receipt for the pension then due, signed and executed by the pensioner, then and in that case the payment shall be completed by the pension agent to the person entitled, or to the legal representative of such pensioner."

That section forty-seven hundred and nineteen be, and is hereby, amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 4719. The failure of any pensioner to claim his or her pension for three years after the same shall have become due shall be deemed presumptive evidence that such pension has legally terminated by reason of the pensioner's death, remarriage, recovery from the disability, or otherwise, and the pensioner's name shall be stricken from the list of pensioners, subject to the right of restoration to the same on a new application by the pensioner, or, if the pensioner is dead, by the widow or minor children entitled to receive the accrued pension, accompanied by evidence satisfactorily accounting for the failure to claim such pension, and by medical or other satisfactory evidence, in cases of invalids, as to the continuance of the disability, unless the same was absolutely permanent in a disabling degree; and such restoration shall take effect from the date of the last payment."

That section forty-seven hundred and twenty-nine be, and is hereby, amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 4729. If any person referred to in section forty-seven hundred and twentyeight has died, or shall hereafter die, by reason of any injury received or disease contracted under the conditions therein stated, his widow shall be entitled to receive half the monthly pay to which the deceased was entitled at the date of his death; and in case of her death or marriage, the child or children under sixteen years of age shall be entitled to the pension. But the rate of pension herein allowed shall be governed by the pay of the Navy as it existed in January, eighteen hundred and thirty-five; and the pension of the widow of a chief engineer shall be the same as that of a widow of a lieutenant in the Navy; the pension of the widow of a first assistant engineer shall be the same as that of the widow of a lieutenant of marines; the pension of the widow of a second or third assistant engineer shall be the same as that of a widow of a forward officer; the pension of the widow of a firemen or coal-heaver shall be the same as that of the widow of a seaman. But the rate of pension prescribed by this and the preceding section shall be increased from and after the twenty-fifth day of July, eighteen hundred and sixty-six, in accordance with the provisions of section fortyseven hundred and twelve of this title; and the widow of an engineer, fireman, or coal-heaver shall not be entitled to any pension by reason of the death of her husband if his death was prior to the thirty-first day of August, eighteen hundred and fortytwo."

That the limitations imposed in title fifty-seven of the Revised Statutes which are now in force, and those imposed by the acts of Congress approved January twentyfifth and March third, eighteen hundred and seventy-nine, relating to pensions, shall be construed as applicable to all the amendments provided in this act, except in such cases where it may be specifically provided otherwise.

SEC. 2. That the act entitled "An act amending the pension law so as to remove the disability of those who, having participated in the rebellion, have, since its termination, enlisted in the Army of the United States and become disabled," approved March third, eighteen hundred and seventy-seven, shall be construed to apply to those who, under like conditions, have enlisted in the Navy or Marine Corps of the United States.

SEC. 3. That the act entitled "An act to increase the pensions of certain pensioned soldiers and sailors who have lost both their hands or both their feet, or the sight of both eyes, in the service of the country," approved June seventeenth, eighteen hundred and seventy-eight, be, and the same is hereby, amended to read as follows:

"That all persons who, while in the military or naval service of the United States, and in the line of duty, shall have been so permanently and totally disabled as to require the regular personal aid and attendance of another person, by the loss of the sight of both eyes, or by the loss of the sight of one eye, the sight of the other having been previously lost, or by the loss of both hands, or by the loss of both feet, or by any other injury resulting in total and permanent helplessness, shall be entitled to a pension of seventy-two dollars a month: Provided, That the increase of pension shall not be granted by reason of any of the injuries herein specified unless the same have resulted in permanent total helplessness requiring the regular personal aid and attendance of another person: And provided further, That the pension herein provided shall

commence June seventeenth, eighteen hundred and seventy-eight, if the disability existed in the degree herein set forth; otherwise the pension shall commence as provided byexisting law."

SEC. 4. That the act entitled "An act to restore pensions in certain cases," approved June ninth, eighteen hundred and eighty, shall be construed so as to include within its provisions all officers and enlisted men of the Army, and their widows and minor children.

SEC. 5. That any officer, non-commissioned officer, musician, or private of the Regular Army, on the peace establishment, disabled subsequent to seventeen hundred and ninety, and prior to the fifth day of March, eighteen hundred and sixty-one, by reason of wound or injury received or disease contracted in line of duty, while actually in the field or on the march, or at some post, station of duty, fort, or garrison, or en route, by direction of competent authority, to some post, station of duty, fort, or garrison, and who has been honorably discharged, shall be entitled to a pension proportionate to his disability, and not exceeding for total disability half the pay of his rank at the date he received such wound or injury or contracted such disease.

SEC. 6. That if any one of the commissioned officers mentioned in the preceding section shall, while in the service of the United States, die by reason of any wound received in actual service, and leave a widow, or if no widow, a child or children under sixteen years of age, such widow, or, if there is no widow, such child or children, shall be entitled to and receive half the monthly pay to which the deceased was entitled at the time of his death. Upon the death or remarriage of any such widow her pension shall cease, and the title shall then vest in the minor child or children of the soldier under sixteen years of age.

SEC. 7. That any officer, non-commissioned officer, musician, or private of the Regular Army, or of the militia, volunteers, rangers, or sea fencibles who were received into the service of the United States, disabled by reason of wound or injury received or disease contracted in line of duty, in actual service, in the war of eighteen hundred and twelve with Great Britain, the Mexican, or any of the Indian wars in which the United States was engaged subsequent to seventeen hundred and ninety, and prior to the fifth day of March, eighteen hundred and sixty-one, or in marching to or returning from such service with the organization in which he served, and who received an honorable discharge, shall be entitled to a pension proportionate to his disability, and not exceeding for total disability half the pay of his rank at the date he received such wound or injury or contracted such disease: Provided, That the Secretary of War shall, at the request of the Secretary of the Interior, in any given class of cases arising under this section, determine the question of the existence of a state of war, and the period of duration and territorial limits thereof.

SEC. 8. That no pension provided for by the three preceding sections shall exceed half the pay of a lieutenant-colonel at the date he received such wound or injury or contracted such disease. But the pension prescribed by the said sections shall be increased from and after the twenty-fifth of July, eighteen hundred and sixty-six, in accordance with the provisions of section forty-seven hundred and twelve, and be subject to the provisions and limitations of section forty-seven hundred and thirteen of the Revised Statutes.

SEC. 9. That for the purpose of settling accounts now existing, or which may hereafter exist, between the agents for paying pensions and the United States, a commission is hereby created, to consist of the Third Auditor and the Second Comptroller of the Treasury and the Commissioner of Pensions, the said commission to have the power and authority to direct the settlement of such accounts as are defined in the following section.

SEC. 10. That whenever it shall be made to appear that a payment of pension has been made by any agent for paying pensions to any person not entitled by law to receive the same, and it shall further appear that the said agent made such payment in the manner and form prescribed by the laws regulating the payment of pensions, or if a payment has been or shall hereafter be made to any person not entitled by law to receive the same, by means of misdirection or misinformation communicated of ficially by the Pension Office, or if in any case an erroneous or improper payment of pension has been or shall hereafter be made, then the commission created by the preceding section shall have full power to inquire into and determine the equities of the case as between the said pension agent and the United States; and if in their judg ment the pension agent has used reasonable precaution and discretion, and complied with the laws and the instructions of the Commissioner of Pensions relating to the payment of pensions, then the said commission, or a majority thereof, may certify that fact and their judgment thereon, and the same shall be final as to the personal liability of the said pension agent. The proceedings in such cases shall be filed with the accounting officers of the Treasury charged with the settlement and custody of the accounts of pension agents: Provided, That in all cases governed by this act and the preceding section in which payment is made on account of Navy pensions, the Fourth Auditor of the Treasury shall, in place of the Third Auditor, with the same