| Show GRA JD ARMYS COMMANDER EX AINS HIS PtNSHON PLAtt A Court of Appeals that Would Remedy the Defects of the Present Complicated SystemAbsurdities of the Methods Now in Use Watortown N T May 3 The men who came out of the war that saved the Union with damaged bodies and shattered health the widows and orphans or-phans of thoso who fell In the fratricidal fratri-cidal strife and all who are dependent upon the pension system for their means of JlvJn as well as every patriotic and Justiceloving American arc Interested In the proposed Court of It affords me much pnslon Appeals pleasure to explain this plan to your readers through the Columns of The Tribune It appoars that there are some 13000 appealed cases 01 rejected pension applications ap-plications pending at the present lime This proves clearly that the work oC tho PensJn oince under the present system Is greatly congested and needs a remedy Heretofore such appeals have been heard by a tribunal so constituted con-stituted that Its decisions could not possess the character of judicial determination de-termination An appeal Is now taken from tho Commissioner of Pensions to tho Secretary Sec-retary of the Department of the Interior In-terior 3iy that odic fat the papers arc referred to an assistant secretary who refers the matter to the chief of a division I di-vision composed of clerks some of whom are empoyed In the Pension ofllco and are driaUed for such duties by the Commissioner These olerks make reports on the cases given lo them which reports aro forwarded lo the chief of the division I who transmits trans-mits them to the assistant secretary by whom the appeals are formally decided de-cided If the Commissioner be overruled he I I may aslc that the case he reviewed by the Secretary cf the Interior in person per-son It Is obvious that this procedure Is not Judicial and the system is plainly complicated in the extreme It is not to be expected that a rc vlowirg tribunal composed largely of Clerks appointed by the Secretary of the Interior on the nomination of the Commissioner or Pcnslons would have the necessary independence required for the adjudication of questions in elvlng a review ct the acts of their superiors In authority Clerics holding subordinate positions In a bureau and depending on its chief for their tenure et ofllce would naturally bo disposed Ito I-to affirm his decisions Moreover in i view of the fact that 107919 pension claims WOT tejected during the past year It must In assumed that the great mass of those eases arc disposed of by the clerks in the Pension ollice The appeals taken are inferred to clerks composing the board of pet slon appeals so that in practice one group of clerks In the department reviews re-views the acts of other clerks all subordinate sub-ordinate to the same chief Whatever may be said of tho administrative ad rr = I 1 I vantage of this system of revision and It is not my purpose to criticise It as a convenient method for the dispatch I I dis-patch of business T am persuaded that all will agree with mi In allrmlng that the essential requirements of a Judicial determination of questions of law and fact are not found in a tribunal trib-unal GO organized Tho present practice Is objectionable both because of the lack of Independent i Independ-ent reviewers and because they do probably cannot under their complicated I com-plicated system review until after I I meritorious claimants may reasonably = f I bu supposed to have died from old J acre rH d14abi1ltfvq There u Is a widespread conviction among tln veterans of the Civil war that a I court of competent Jurisdiction and authority a court composed oC judges IIC learning ability and char actor should bi > established to hear and decide appeals from the decisions of the Commissioner of Pensions Such a tribunal would likewise command the respect of all citizens and secure forUm for-Um administration of the pension laws the liiigst measure of public confidence confi-dence Under similar circumstances the Court of Claims was established forth for-th purpose of affoullng those who made demands upon tho Government an opportunity to be heard by a court while the public Interests were always + guarded bv 1 ihe presence of the Atlor neyGeneral According to trustworthy computations computa-tions there are now living a million of men who bore arms In the Union > armies during the War of the Rebellion Rebel-lion and probably not less than 5UOHOO widows and orphan children of de ceised soldiers all of whom are entitled en-titled to be l heard In i court if they or I any of them feel aggrieved by a decision de-cision or the Commissioner of Pensions Pen-sions rejecting a claim for a pension i or for an Increase of pension Jf the public creditors of the Nation have been justly given a court for the adjudication ad-judication of their claims a like recognition I rec-ognition is I surely I due to the surviving veterans of the Civil war and to the I widows and orphans of their deceased I comrades I The bill provides for a codification and revision of the pension laws by I tho proposed court thereby securing I prompt action by a competent body of jurists anti saving the large expenditure 1 expendi-ture very much greater under tho code commission bill that hag passed the Senate and Is pending In the House than the gross salaries an 1 expenses of the permanent establishment I establish-ment of the proposed court that otherwise other-wise would be Incurred by the appointment appoint-ment of a commission to perform that duty dutI I have submitted the proposed bill to many oC the leading jurists of the country and without exception they have strongly fj oivd this proposed Pension Court of Appeals bill ALBERT D SHAW CommanderInChief G A R I I I n J |
