OCR Text |
Show .A Century of Federal Pensions mi .A Centuruj f . j Fe deral fftl . ' ; j Fensa o n ! I -.V"i X- J 1 ...' : ' 1 ' i' , . . ' r - 'i..r I ; , :vMA,J The Pension Buildiruq r8!m,3 I.' " ( 1 By ELMO SCOTT WATf0N J jj; J' " ""V If I ( '3 t''e mns'; exi-jsive thing j i xj v J I W W I No' " ls not a TRr metaI' nor If"' 1 1 v " -J? M VA a '"'ecl""s stone. Dor any of the I l j 11 n A If V-V 7 other things which we common- 1 f K i 1 1 rfi A if WV1 'y tl,l,lk of w,'on adjectives I fe'V V'"f " I A g ' i 1 , 3 'J I "expensive" or "costly" are ap- f " I ' '-i I S ttiPi The Inost expensive thing In fe ? v1 I vs'T --- r j f CMlJ the world Is war! I , .-'.') S;R 1 f For war, while it Is in prog- I ' J p $ S $7 9, ross, not only exacts a fearful I A "V " v f toll of lives, careers and money, jf - ' I SV" - " ' but long after the last gun has been fired and -- ' 1 V the battle Hags have been furled, a nation en- fir ". - 1 gaged In It continues to pay and pay and pay! ' , r " ' - v 1 JameS MorUTOe The occasion for these reflections upon the 1 4 i- ( costs of war Is the fact that March 12 of this -JZ "N, 1 series of pension acts In favor of the widows year marks the one hundredth anniversary of 1 rXS'' " jl of soldiers of the Eevolution, restricted at first the establishment of the United States pension siruS'fe. to those who had married before the close of the bureau and during that Institution's career of mmnmmmmm,mm Revolution. These grew more liberal later until nearly a century, It was the medium through UTOVer VleVelarLCL pensions were granted to all widows, regardless which there were paid out staggering sums of of the date of marriage. Out of these pensions, money In pensions to veterans, their widows and fovfnment life (converted) insurance. The and similar ones for wi(Jowg Qf veterms of jater their dependents. And these staggering sums toJLal amount paid on these items is $1,670,157,- warSi grew many abuses of fte pension sygtem were only a small part of the actual expense of for it became a practice for young women to the wars in which Uncle Sum has been engaged. AIany thousands of claims have been filed un- marry aged veterans in order to benefit by a Here are the latest available figures on the der the law providing monthly payment of term government pension after the death of their hus-amounts hus-amounts of pensions paid out from 1790 to 1932, insurance and government life Insurance for total bands. but as will be seen later in this article even nnd Permanent disability, and relief was being The pension rolls of the Revolution had scarce-tliese scarce-tliese figures do not tell all the story: Siven in 20,195 cases on June 30, 1932. ly grown to their peak when the United States War of revolution t , The disability allowance plan, which went into became engaged in another war the War of War of ism2 1 6 ' 20 3 ' ? 2 S ' 4 o " July 1030' provides monthly PaymeDts 1812-to add to its list of veterans and depend- imllnn wars B3!5S7!996SS t0 veterans Permanently disabled to the extent ents drawing pensions. And the same thing was War wlih Mexico go! 1 39 1 28. 2 9 of 25 per cent or more. evon though their dis- repeated later at Intervals of two decades with civil war 7,600,'32i!525.34 ability was not incurred in or as a result of the Mexican war and the Civil war Tbe first War with Spain 636,513,689.71 their terms of service. Another new relief law law pensioning soldiers of the Civil war was a nodular establishment 102,912,871.61 provides for the pensioning of emergency offl- disability pension act of July 14 186' which unH,,infl i'??Ss cers who are 30 per cent or more disabled or in- provided for the disabled survivors, for the Ld 16'513'4"5 54 capacitated as a result of their World war serv- widows, orphan children and dependent members Total $S,636,4S7,623.19 lce on the sarae basis as retired officers of the of those who died because of wounds received or , ,, ' regular army. disease contracted while In the service of the It will be noticed that unbelievably small fig- The history of pensions for veterans of Amer- United States and In line of duty. Rates for ores are cited for the World war pensioners, lean wars goes back to the earliest days of the total disability ranged from $8 to $30 a month Obviously this does not include the vast sums republic. On June 20, 1776, even before the according to rank, and these same rates were' that have been paid out in one form or another Declaration of Independence had been adopted, applied to the widows of the soldiers Successive By ELMO SCOTT WATf 0N 'l '( 13 the most exi-slve thlnj V V 1 In tlie worlJ? W 1 l '0' 't ls nt a rar metal, noi ' a l"'ec'us stone, nor any of the other things which we common- d" 1 ly think of when the adjectives W j "expensive" or "costly" are ap- Il 'r'ie "10St expensive thing In 3ny? I tl10 world Is war! tcjS'& I,,or wnr' while it Is In prog-S prog-S ross, not only exacts a fearful toll of lives, careers and money, but long after the last gun has been fired and the battle Hags have been furled, a nation engaged en-gaged In It continues to pay and pay and pay! The occasion for these reflections upon the costs of war Is the fact that March 12 of this year marks the one hundredth anniversary of the establishment of the United States pension bureau and during that Institution's career of nearly a century, it was the medium through which there were paid out staggering sums of money In pensions to veterans, their widows and their dependents. And these staggering sums were only a small part of the actual expense of the wars in which Uncle Sum has been engaged. Here are the latest available figures on the amounts of pensions paid out from 1790 to 1932, but as will be seen later in this article even these figures do not tell all the story: War of revolution 70,000,000.00 War of 1812 46,203,720.40 Indian wars 53, 587, 996. SS War with Mexico 60,139,128.29 Civil war 7,600,321,525.34 War with Spain 686,513,689.71 UoKular establishment 102,912,871.61 World war " 295,265.42 Unclassified 16,513,425.54 Total $S,636,4S7,623.19 series of pension acts In favor of the widows of soldiers of the Revolution, restricted at first to those who had married before the close of the Revolution. These grew more liberal later until pensions were granted to all widows, regardless of the date of marriase. Out of these nensions. government life (converted) insurance. The total amount paid on these items Is $1,670,157,-409. $1,670,157,-409. Many thousands of claims have been filed under un-der the law providing monthly payment of term insurance and government life Insurance for total and permanent disability, and relief was being given In 20,195 cases on June 30, 1932. The disability allowance plan, which went into effect July 1, 1930, provides monthly payments to veterans permanently disabled to the extent of 25 per cent or more, even though their disability dis-ability was not incurred in or as a result of their terms of service. Another new relief law provides for the pensioning of emergency officers offi-cers who are 30 per cent or more disabled or incapacitated in-capacitated as a result of their World war service serv-ice on the same basis as retired officers of the regular army. The history of pensions for veterans of American Amer-ican wars goes back to the earliest days of the republic. On June 20, 1776, even before the Declaration of Independence had been adopted, the Continental congress appointed a committee to "Consider what provision ought to be made for such as are wounded or disabled in the land or sea service." This committee made a prompt report, and on August 26, 1776, the first national pension act In America was passed by the Continental congress. con-gress. That part of the law fixing the amount was as follows: "That every commissioned officer, offi-cer, non-commissioned officer, and private soldier who shall lose a limb In any engagement, or be so disabled in the service of the United States of America as to render him incapable afterwards after-wards of getting a livelihood, shall receive, during dur-ing his life or the continuance of such disability, disabil-ity, the one-half of his monthly pay from and after the time that his pay as an officer or soldier ceases." It will be noticed that unbelievably small figures fig-ures are cited for the World war pensioners. Obviously this docs not include the vast sums that have been paid out in one form or another to these veterans and the explanation is that there was a different sot-up for compensating those who served tn this conflict. Since the close of the World war the government gov-ernment has paid out approximately $0,3.1S,-10S.733 $0,3.1S,-10S.733 on account of relief of World war veterans vet-erans and their dependents an average of about ? ir1, "00,000 annually. Some of this money was paid In Insurance premiums by the Veterans themselves, hut the greater portion came from the treasury. Appropriations made by congress for the financing of veterans' relief in the fiscal year 1933 total $927,S 10,000. laws, beginning July 4, 1S64, and culminating in the recent act which increased the pensions of Civil war widows more than seventy-five years old, have increased the rates, setting fixed rates for various kinds of disability. The Civil war changed a number of things as regards the pension treatment of war veterans. In the first place, the veterans of that war were numerically of large political importance. They were able to make their influence felt in Washington; Wash-ington; consequently the march of pension legislation leg-islation quickened after the close of the war. Seven forms of relief have been provided and all are in operation. They are: Adjusted service compensation, medical care and treatment, disability dis-ability compensation, United States Insurance, term insurance paid for permanent and total disability, disability allowances, and emergency officers' retirement pay. The passage of the arrears act in 1879 added greatly to the burden of debt which Uncle Sam bears because of the wars In which he has engaged. en-gaged. This act provided that all pensions which had been granted or might hereafter be granted should date from the time of disability, provided application were made before January 1, 1880. The effect of that law Is shown by the fact that the total sum paid for pensions jumped from 3532,000,000 in 1S79 to $36,000,000 In 1880, the greatest increase in any one year in the history of our pension system. From time to time during the course of the pension history of the country various Presidents have attempted to stem the tide of pension pav- On June 30, 1931, the veterans administration was set up, the old pension bureau was absorbed in It and all veterans' activities and operation of homes for veterans are now concentrated in this federal organization which Is headed by Brig. Gen. Frank T. Hiues as administrator. , " After the Constitution had been adopted and the new government had been organized, it continued con-tinued for a time the pensions which had been previously granted and assumed their payment. Soon, however, a strong demand arose for a new pension law, and on March 23, 1792, the first pension law passed by the new government went into effect Later there grew a demand for a pension law not based upon disability incurred in the service and In his annual message to congress on December De-cember 2, 1S17, President Monroe recommended such a law. A bill was passed by the house on December 24, as a sort of a Christmas present to the veterans of the Revolution, passed by the senate Immediately afterwards and approved by President Monroe on March 18, ISIS. The loose wording of this law, however, made frauds easy and the grant of pensions became a public scandal. A law passed In 1S20 reouired The adjusted compensation law, changed by the act of 1931, made it possible that compensation compensa-tion certificates, maturing in 20 years, should be available to all below the rank of captain who had served In the military service more than 60 days. At maturity these certificates will vary in value from $lo0 to $1,595, depending on the length of the veterans' service, and meantime money may be borrowed on them. Certificates issued up to March 1, 1931, totaled 3.49S.370, nnd had a total maturity value of $3,52S, 022,777. Loans made upon them approximated about $213,000,000 during the same period. Under the hospitalization plan all veterans are entitled to free treatment of hospital nature either in or out of government hospitals, 51 hospitals being operated in 1931, five more being be-ing built and ten more authorized by congress. The cost of operating these Institutions and caring car-ing for the patients is In excess of ?4o0,000,000 to January 1, 1931. The government relief program includes death and disability compensation, disabled emercency officers' retirement pay and disability allowance which have cost $2.205,213,69 up to July 1, 1932. Another relief activity is the grant of low-cost insurance against death or permanent disability in any multiple of ?otX) from 51,000 to S10.000 to ny healthy veteran who has previously applied for or has been eligible to apply for annually renewable war-time Insurance or United States ments. Outstanding in this effort was President Grover Cleveland. A bill to establish service pensions for persons in dependent circumstances was vetoed by President Cleveland In 18S6 A similar bill was passed June 27, 1890, providing that all persons who had served 90 days In the war and who were suffering from any mental or physical disability of a permanent character which incapacitated them from performing manual man-ual labor might receive pensions ranging from $6 to 12 a month, according to the degree of disability. Widows of soldiers who served 90 days who were dependent upon their daily labor for support could receive $8 a month. The most carefully worked out attempt to forestall fore-stall the expensive and sometimes wasteful results re-sults of the pension system was made when we entered the World war. It was the first time that our government had ever tried to find a svs tern at the outbreak of a war to deal with disabled dis-abled veterans In some manner other than bv pensioning them. After the war, too, efforts were made to prevent pre-vent the beginning of a pension system by giving giv-ing the veteran some government assistance In establishing himself. What the result has been in the long-drawnout dispute over bonus legislation legisla-tion and other matters connected with veterans' compensation Is too well known from recent events to require further comment in this artlcla by Western Newspaper Union.) all pensioners already on the rolls and future applicants to file a statement of property as proof of their alleged dependence upon government govern-ment bounty for a livelihood. As a result, the names of many pensioners were stricken from the rolls. In the early days of the Republic, pensions were distributed by the secretaries of war and navy. But on March 12, 1S33, a commission of pensions was set up under the direction of the secretary of war. In 1S40 the pensions disbursed dis-bursed by the secretary of the navy were also placed under the administration of the commission commis-sion of pensions, which in the same year was transferred to the department of Interior and became be-came the pensions bureau. There it remained until 1931 when the United States veterans' administration ad-ministration was established and absorbed the pensions bureau. In 1S36 there began the enactment of a long |