GRANT OF LANDS TO THE UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA.

JANUARY 28, 1907.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union and ordered to be printed.

Mr. MCGUIRE, from the Committee on the Territories, submitted the following

REPORT.

[To accompany H. R. 25013.]

The Committee on the Territories, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 25013) granting to the regents of the University of Oklahoma section No. 36, in township No. 9 north, of range No. 3 west of the Indian meridian, in Cleveland County, Okla., having had the same under consideration, report it back to the House with the recommendation that it do pass.

The proposed legislation was first presented in the form of H. R.

11589.

This bill (H. R. 11589) was referred to the honorable Secretary of the Interior, who, by letter under date of February 21, 1906, reported thereon and, inclosing letter of date February 17, 1906, from the honorable Commissioner of the General Land Office, suggested certain amendments to the bill, making the same conform to the local laws of the Territory of Oklahoma, and, to meet the suggestions of the honorable Secretary of the Interior, Mr. McGuire introduced into the House of Representatives a bill (H. R. 25013) granting to the regents of the University of Oklahoma section 36, in township No. 9 north, of range No. 3 west of the Indian meridian, in Cleveland County, Okla. The Secretary of the Interior and the Commissioner of the General Land Office state that, with the amendments suggested by the Commissioner, no reason is known why the proposed legislation should not be enacted. It is believed that the bill (H. R. 25013) fully covers the suggestions of the Department.

Section 36 is a part of the lands reserved by the Congress to be granted to the State of Oklahoma for common school purposes. The University of the Territory of Oklahoma is a Territorial institution, corresponding to the State universities of the States. It has had a wonderful growth and development and much to do toward educating

the youth of the State. It now has an enrollment in its various departments of something over five hundred, and is in every way for its age a very creditable institution of learning.

The section of land proposed to be granted to the university lies in close proximity to the institution, and similar grants have been made by the Congress to other institutions in the Territory.

Your committee believes that the grant of this section of land to this institution will be of more benefit to the educational interests of the State than to hold the same reserved for common school purposes, and therefore recommend the passage of H. R. 25013.

PENSIONS TO CERTAIN ENLISTED MEN, SOLDIERS, AND OFFICERS WHO SERVED IN THE CIVIL WAR AND THE WAR WITH MEXICO.

JANUARY 29, 1907.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union and ordered to be printed.

Messrs. SULLOWAY and LOUDENSLAGER, from the Committee on Invalid Pensions and the Committee on Pensions, sitting as one committee, submitted the following

REPORT.

[To accompany S. 976.]

The Committee on Invalid Pensions and Committee on Pensions, sitting as one committee by authority of the House, having had under consideration the bill (S. 976) granting pensions to certain enlisted men, soldiers, and officers who served in the civil war and the war with Mexico, respect fully report as follows:

Said bill is accompanied by Senate Report No. 2210, first session, and from the same the following statement of facts is taken and made a part of this report:

Under the rules of the Pension Bureau the fact that the soldier has reached the age of 62 years is regarded as presumptive evidence that he is disabled onehalf in ability to perform manual labor. The effect of this rule is to insure to any soldier who has reached that age the sum of $6 per month, under the provisions of the act of June 27, 1890. It may be said, therefore, that we have in effect a general-service pension law, allowing $6 per month to all survivors of the civil war who have reached the age of 62 years.

The act of January 29, 1887, gave a service pension of $8 per month to soldiers of the war with Mexico who had reached the age of 62 years and had served sixty days, which amount was increased to $12 per month by act of January 5, 1893; and a bill recommending an increase to $20 per month is now on the Senate Calendar.

By act of date July 27, 1892, service pensions were granted to survivors of the Indian wars, known as the Black Hawk, Creek, Cherokee, and Seminole wars, at $8 per month. This act required but thirty days' service, and included such other officers and soldiers as may have been recommended by resolution of Congress for any specific service, although their term of service may have been less than thirty days.

It is the opinion of your committee that the time has arrived when the Government should consider more liberally the claims of those aged veterans, who, as the years advance, find themselves growing less able to earn their support. The great number of special pension bills constantly on the calendars of both Houses of Congress, growing greater each year, is a constant reminder of this enfeebled condition of the older veterans of the civil war.

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It is now forty-one years since the close of the civil war. No war since the Revolution has called for such heroic service, no war has involved equal hardships, and no war can be compared with it in importance to the life of the nation. That its soldiers should be treated with solicitude and care equal to those of any other war can not be denied; that they should be treated with greater consideration than the soldiers of any war since the Revolution, considering the character of the struggle and all it meant to the country, may well be conceded.

The following shows the period which elapsed after each war before a general service pension was provided for the soldiers of such war:

REVOLUTION.

(a) March 18, 1818, thirty-five years after the termination of the Revolution, was the first act. Beneficiaries under this act must have been in indigent circumstances and need of assistance.

(b) May 15, 1828, forty-five years after war, general pension was granted to all who served to end of the war.

(c) June 7, 1832, forty-nine years after the war, the pension provisions were extended to all who served not less than six months.

WAR OF 1812.

(a) February 14, 1871, fifty-six years after the close of the war. This act required sixty days' service.

(b) March 9, 1878, sixty-three years after the close, this period was reduced to fourteen days.

WAR WITH MEXICO.

(a) January 29, 1887, thirty-nine years after the close of the war. This act required sixty days' service and applied to those who were 62 years of age or disabled or dependent.

INDIAN WARS.

(a) July 27, 1892, fifty years after the close of the wars. This act applies to those who served thirty days in the Black Hawk, Creek, Cherokee, and Seminole wars.

(b) July 27, 1902, a law was passed extending the provisions of the above law to other Indian wars.

It will thus be seen that the first act for service pension for services rendered in the Revolutionary war was passed thirty-five years after the termination of said war; that the first service pension pertaining to the war of 1812 was passed fifty-six years after the close of that war; that the first general law granting service pensions to Mexican war soldiers was enacted thirty-nine years after the close of the war with Mexico.

It will also be observed that the first act in relation to the war of 1812 required only sixty days' service and the next one only fourteen days' service; that the first act in reference to the war with Mexico required but sixty days' service; that the Indian-wars pension law required but thirty days' service; that the law of June 27, 1890, in reference to the civil war, requires ninety days' service, so that it will be seen that both in reference to time elapsing after the close of the war in which the soldiers were engaged, to the length of service necessary to entitle any one of them to the benefits of the law, and to the amount received under any service-pension law or order the soldiers of other wars have in some respects been treated with greater consideration than those of the civil war.

The spirit of all pension laws is that no soldier who honorably served his country in time of great need or peril should be abandoned by that country at an advanced period in life or when by reason of wounds or injuries received in line of duty he is unable to care for himself.

The judgment to Congress as expressed by the law granting service pensions to soldiers of the war with Mexico, the judgment of the Executive and Interior Department in applying order No. 78, of March 15, 1904, and legislation reeommended by this Congress, coincide in making the age of 62 years a proper period to entitle a claimant to the benefits of a general service pension, and inasmuch as under the present law the claimant would now receive the sum

of $12 per month upon showing total disability to perform manual labor, we have not attempted to change the law in that respect. Our observation justifies us in assuming that after the lapse of eight additional years the pensioner will, as a rule, have declined in physical or mental ability to an extent which would require an additional sum for his support. And this presumption will apply with added force after he shall have attained the age of 75 years.

Your committee therefore are of the opinion that the bill should be so amended that any soldier who has served for ninety days, has been honorably discharged, and who shall have reached the age of 62 years shall receive a pension of $12 per month, to be increased to $15 per month when he shall have reached the age of 70 years, and to $20 per month after he has reached the age of 75 years.

Th probable number of beneficiaries under this act and the increase in cost are shown in the following letter from the honorable Commissioner of Pensions: DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR,

BUREAU OF PENSIONS, Washington, March 28, 1906.

MY DEAR SENATOR: I have the honor to acknowledge receipt of your letter of the 21st instant, requesting information as to the probable number of beneficiaries and the probable amount of increase to the pension roll that would be caused by the passage of a bill granting $12 per month to all soldiers who served ninety days in the civil war and who have reached the age of 62 years; to be increased to $15 per month when they have reached the age of 70 years, and to $20 per month when they have reached the age of 75 years.

Th number of civil-war soldiers on the roll June 30, 1905, receiving less than $12 per month on that date, who will be between the ages of 62 and 70 years on June 30, 1906, is estimated at 148,000.

Of this number 37,000 are receiving $6 per month, 66,000 are receiving $8 per month, and 44,400 are receiving $10 per month. The proposed bill grants them $12 per month, and the annual increase to these pensioners would be as follows, viz:

37,000 would receive an increase of $72 per year, or.. 66, 600 would receive an increase of $48 per year, or44, 400 would receive an increase of $24 per year, or.

$2,664, 000 3, 196, 800 1,065, 600

6,926, 400

Of the 230,000 civil-war soldiers pensioned at $12 per month, and the 21.000 who are pensioned at $14 per month, it is believed that about 53,000 are between 70 and 75 years of age, and therefore would take $15 under the bill. Of this number

48,000 would receive an increase of $36 per year, or__ 5,000 would receive an increase of $12 per year, or

$1,728, 000 60,000

1,788, 000

Of the number of soldiers pensioned at rates between $12 and $20 per month, it is believed that 30,000 will be over 75 years of age on. June 30, 1906. The increase to the roll caused by granting them $20 per month would be about $2,000,000 per year.

Referring to your question as to what extent such an act would increase the pension appropriation on account of the pensioners now on the rolls, it would seem that an additional appropriation of $10,714,400 per year would be required to pay the increased rate provided by the bill to the soldiers now on the pension roll.

From an estimate made by the War Department in 1896 it would appear that on June 30, 1906, there will be 782,722 survivors of the civil war, and as the number of pensioners on the rolls at that date will not be over 675,000, there will then be over 100,000 survivors of the civil war not yet pensioned.

This uncertain factor should be taken into account in preparing any estimates as to the number of beneficiaries and the cost of enactment of legisaltion, but it is manifestly impossible for this Bureau to state even approximately how many of these soldiers would apply for original pension under the bill, and equally impossible to estimate the additional cost that would be produced by such application. It is safe to say that under the terms of the bill at least one-third of the unknown army' "would file applications during the coming

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