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Show THE PENSION AT SIXTY-TWO. Some years ago President Roosovolt. issued a. famous order to tho effect that veterans of tho war of the Rebellion Re-bellion who had' reached the ago of sixty-two years wcro thereby presumed pre-sumed to be disqualified for manual labor aud wore entitled to tho government govern-ment pension. A good many disputed tho lcgalit3' of this order, aud it was opposed for quite a while until Congress Con-gress ratified it by tho enactment of a statulo to tho same effect. Tho uncertaint3' about that order, the fact that it was issued after a good many of tho veterans had passed tho ago of 8ixt3-two, aud since the enactment enact-ment of Congross ratif3-ing the order was made at a timo u good man3 years subsequent to tho time whou largo numbers of tho veterans had passed the ago of sLty-two, and since the rulo of tho pensiou bureau is tbat tho applicant appli-cant docs not got his pension until he makes his application, and then ouhy from tho. timo at which he makes it, thoro is a good deal of confusion about tho practicnl working of this law providing pro-viding for pensions of voterans who reach tho ago of sixty-two. Tt. would soom that tho intont of tho Executivo and of Congross was that surviving voterans of that war should reccivo thoir pension on arriving at tho ago of sixty-two. But a good many had passed that age before auvthing of this kind came up; and a good mau3" others oth-ers who had not paid much attention to tho mutter, lot the application drift on, thus losing considerable pension timo. SLnco, however, it was tho in-tout in-tout of tho executive order and of Congress that veterans of tho war should obtain thoir pensiou from and after their arrival at tho age of sixtj'-two sixtj'-two years, thou tho law should bo mado clear on that point, and the timo that has elapsod. should not. be coustrued against thoso veterans. To mako good the intent of Congress, therefore, it would soem as though tho law should be amended to include tho pension pn3r-tnonts pn3r-tnonts from and after the age of sixty-two sixty-two years; that is. those who applied for ponsious some time subsoquout to their arrival at that, ago should still be paid from that age. This is in exact, accord with tho genoral theory of tho ponbiou law. In the matter of application for pension on account of disability, the pension payment is made from and after the time that the Usability arose. So iu this case the ago of sixt3-two is counted tho age of disability and, therefore, all should bo paid alike from that ago. To shut veterans off and eliminate a considerable con-siderable portion of the time which tho govornmont has accepted as tho proper period from which pensions should bo paid, seems a little liko sharp practice. prac-tice. If the veteran did uot keep his eye explicitly ou this mattor aud apply at tho first instance, he is deprived of somewhat of his rights. And thoso who mado toe early application so as lo cover the greatest extent of time, nro at an advantage as compared with Ihoso who were uot so alert, nor so swift to get in their applications. The Government, Gov-ernment, -howovor, in its laro-minded way of dealing with the peusioucrs, should not. tako advantage of small matters liko this, but should put all the veterans on an cnuality by paying to all alike the pension that is considered con-sidered to be their due from and nftor tho ago of 6ixty-two. It equalizes in other details, aud why not in this 7 Wo suggest that tho member of Cou-grcss Cou-grcss in either branch who will first move to correct this inequality oud to accord to the veterans thoir fair nud equal rights under tho concession that tho ago of sixty-two is tho age of disability, disa-bility, will recoivo much praiso from thoso who survive of t he veterans of t.ho Union army, nud who desire nothing more than that all should be accorded just, and equal treatment. |