1 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF PENSIONS DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, BUREAU OF PENSIONS, Washington, D. C. SIR: I have the honor to submit report of the operations of the Bureau of Pensions for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1929. The greater portion of the period covered was under a previous administration, my induction into the office and duties of Commissioner of Pensions dating from May 24, 1929. BUREAU OF PENSIONS The functions of the Bureau of Pensions are two-fold-the execution of the laws granting pensions arising out of service with the United States military and naval forces, and the administration of the laws providing for the retirement of civil-service employees. The annual report of its pension activities affords further manifestation of the expression in practical terms of a grateful Nation's sense of an obligation which can never be fully measured nor discharged. The story of the timely and well-deserved aid which has helped to lessen the burden of impaired health and of advancing years of armed defenders, and to take care in some measure of their widows and orphans, can not be told by the statistics which must be given to set forth the results of the bureau's activities. The first national pension law was passed by the Continental Congress on August 26, 1776, 54 days after the signing of the Declaration of Independence. The pension system, thus begun, fostered by subsequent legislation, was extended under the divided jurisdiction of the Congress, the War Department, the Navy Department, the United States courts, and the Treasury Department. In 1833 the office of Commissioner of Pensions was created and in 1849 the Pension Office became a bureau of the Department of the Interior, whose Secretary was given supervisory and appellate power over the acts of the Commissioner of Pensions. Although pensions and land bounties were granted to soldiers and widows of the War of the Revolution, the War of 1812, and the War with Mexico, it remained for the great Civil War to give full swing to pension activities, which have been largely increased by obligations due to Indian Wars, the War with Spain, the Philippine insurrection, and miscellaneous services, particularly in the Regular Establishment. Under the pension system, which has steadily grown in the multiplicity of its laws and the ever-increasing generosity of their provisions, there have been issued approximately 7,000,000 pension certificates of all classes under which nearly $8,000,000,000 have been disbursed. Under the land bounty laws, which provided for land grants for service rendered prior to March 3, 1855, the Pension Bureau issued land warrants for 69,000,000 acres of the public domain. As a priceless by-product of the pension and bounty land systems, there are in the files of the Pension Bureau millions of claims containing the biographies of the men who gave themselves to the service of their country in the stress of its several wars-life histories fraught with stories of heroism and devotion, of privation, suffering, and death. Here, in interesting and fascinating details, are portrayed the lives of patriots and their associates-their lineage, aspirations, and achievements as well as their afflictions, needs, and frailties. Here are recorded and made available to posterity the deeds of patriotic Americans who gave generously to the Nation and thus earned its benediction, which can not be adequately expressed in mere words and in gratuities. During the fiscal year ended June 30, 1929, the total disbursements for pensions amounted to $229,889,986.48, an increase over the previous year of $924,313.99. Despite a decrease in the number of pensioners from 491,194 to 477,915, this high level of expenditures for 1929 was maintained largely by reason of new legislation increasing from $30 to $40 per month the pension of Civil War widows of attained age of 75 years. Under the stimulus of the more liberal rates of pension provided by the act of May 1, 1926, for Spanish war service and by the act of March 3, 1927, for Indian war service, claims were filed and established under these laws in such numbers, that, although expenditures for Civil War pensioners in 1929 decreased $5,074,886.51, those for war with Spain pensions increased $6,171,285.01, and those for Indian war pensions increased $494,590.92. An increase of $506,913.29 for Regular Establishment pensions was also registered. On June 30, 1929, there were 59,945 Civil War soldiers on the roll, a decrease for the year of 14,985; also 181,235 Civil War widows, a decrease of 16,699. As most of these pensioners are well advanced in years, there is bound to be a steady annual decrease in their numbers. The number of Spanish war soldiers on the roll was 178,804, an increase of 14,096 for the year. As 155,004 of these veterans are receiving less than $50 per month, they may be looked upon as potential claimants for increase of pension. Of the 414,000 soldiers who served in the war with Spain, there are many who have not yet applied for pension. It is a reasonable assumption that the peak has not yet been reached in the number of Spanish war pensioners nor in the amount of disbursements to this class. CIVIL-SERVICE RETIREMENTS In so far as the administration of the laws for the retirement of civil-service employees is concerned, an increase in the number of annuitants is noted, the total number on the roll at the close of the fiscal year being 16,501. The disbursements from the "civil-service retirement and disability fund" were $16,072,472.42, an increase of $1,310,855.67 over the previous year. Of the amount disbursed $12,005,048.88 were paid to civil-service employees retired for age or disability and $4,067,423.54 were returned to employees leaving the service before becoming eligible for retirement on annuity, such employees being entitled under the law to a return of deductions of salary with accrued interest at the rate of 4 per cent per annum compounded on June 30 of each fiscal year. On June 30, 1929, the "civil-service retirement and disability fund" amounted to $119,525,394.86. FISCAL OPERATIONS Comparison of amounts paid out for the fiscal years 1928 and 1929: For pensions during the fiscal year: 1928. 1929 For fees and expenses of examining surgeons: 1928_ 1929 For field and special examinations: 1928_ 1929_ $228, 965, 672 229, 889, 986 The total cost for maintenance and expense of the pension system for the last five years was as follows: (The above figures do not include amounts paid out for fees and expenses of examining surgeons and for special examinations.) Number of employees for pension work carried on the pay roll at the beginning of each of the following fiscal years: Active claims in files June 30, 1928__ Claims received during the year. Claims disposed of during the year. 42, 589 135, 708 137, 015 41, 282 Largest number of Civil War soldiers on the roll was in 1898. Income, refundments, etc.: For addresses, certified copies, etc. (act Aug. 24, 1912) Total... Amounts allowed as reimbursement for expenses of last sickness and burial of deceased pensioners in 1929. CIVIL WAR CLAIMS AND PENSIONS 745, 822 304, 373 $2, 156. 58 19, 865. 37 194.00 22, 215. 95 112, 627.82 Of the 2,213,365 soldiers who served in the Civil War but 59,945 were in receipt of pension on June 30, 1929. Of these 24,946 were in receipt of $65 per month; 28,237, $72 per month, because so nearly helpless or blind as to need the aid and attendance of another person; and 5,957, $90 per month by reason of a condition of total helplessness or blindness. During the fiscal year 15,089 Civil War veterans died, or 20 per cent of the 74,929 on the roll at the beginning of the fiscal year 1929. Pensions aggregating $57,095,811.76 were paid to Civil War veterans in the fiscal year ended June 30, 1929. There were before the bureau for consideration in the past fiscal year 10,945 claims of soldiers on account of Civil War service, of which 8,853 were disposed of, leaving 2,490 claims in the files awaiting responses to outstanding calls. Practically all of these claims were for increase of pension based on conditions of total helplessness or blindness, or such a degree of helplessness or blindness as to necessitate the aid and attendance of another person. The number of claims of widows and minor children of Civil War soldiers before the bureau for consideration were 18,900, of which 16,151 were disposed of, leaving 2,749 active claims on file, in which calls had been made for proof necessary to establish title to pension. On June 30, 1929, there were on the pension roll 181,235 widows and minor children of Civil War soldiers as against 197,934 at the beginning of the year, a net loss to this class of 16,699. The gains to the roll were 6,035 and the losses 22,734, of which 22,429 were due to deaths. There were 126 Civil War widows dropped from the roll because of remarriage. The death rate of Civil War widow pensioners was slightly over 11 per cent for the year. The disbursements for pensions to widows and minor children of Civil War veterans in the past fiscal year amounted to $86,474,399.92. Of the self-sacrificing women who volunteered and served as nurses during the Civil War, caring for the sick and wounded in regimental, post, camp, and general hospitals, the pension roll shows that only 39 are now living. Each receives $50 per month pension under the provisions of the act of July 3, 1926. SPANISH WAR CLAIMS AND PENSIONS At the close of the fiscal year 178,804 Spanish War veterans were on the pension roll as against 164,708 at the beginning of the year, a gain of 14,096. The disbursements for pensions to soldiers of the war with Spain in the past fiscal year amounted to $65,292,617.82 as against $59,908,097.53 for the year 1928, exceeding for the first time the payments to the veterans of the Civil War. Of the veterans on the roll at the close of the fiscal year 42,049 were in receipt of $20 per month; 39,283, $25 per month; 41,806, $30 per month; 30,863, $40 per month; 21,897, $50 per month; and 1,733, $72 per month, the rate for such condition of helplessness as necessitates aid and attendance of another person. On June 30, 1929, there were 28,643 widows, minor children, and dependents of Spanish War soldiers on the roll as against 26,195 on June 30, 1928, a gain of 2,448. The disbursements to this class of pensioners in the past fiscal year amounted to $11,383,879.97 as against $10,615,696.56 in the previous year. Of the female nurses who cared for the sick and wounded in the war with Spain 414 are in receipt of pension and $169,206.49 were paid to them in the past year. During the year 94,941 claims of Spanish War veterans were before the bureau for consideration, of which 74,494 were disposed of, leaving 20,447 active claims awaiting compliance with requirements necessary to their adjudication. There were also 8,503 claims of widows, minor children, and dependents of Spanish War soldiers before the bureau for consideration, of which 4,552 were disposed of, leaving 3,951 active claims awaiting receipt of necessary proofs to establish title to pension. OTHER CLASSES OF CLAIMS AND PENSIONS In addition to the claims arising out of the Civil War and the war with Spain, 43,564 claims were before the bureau for settlement under laws other than those granting pension on account of Civil War and Spanish War service. Of these 16,056 were based on disability or death claimed as the result of diseases or injuries originating in the line of duty in the military or naval service. As claims based on disease contracted or personal injury suffered in the military or naval service since July 2, 1921, must be presented for adjudication by the Pension Bureau, the filings of claims of this class are on the increase. Under the Indian Wars service act of March 3, 1927, there were 5,089 before the bureau for consideration. For settlement of claims under the act of March 2, 1895, for the accrued pension due at date of death of pensioner, the bureau had before it for consideration 11,710 cases, and for determination of amounts due for reimbursement of expenses of last sickness and burial of deceased pensioners, 4,001 claims. It also had before it for action 730 claims filed by deserted wives and children of soldier pensioners for one-half of the pensions paid; 126, on account of longevity service in the United States Navy; and 5,845 cases in which pension had been authorized by special acts of Congress. Of these miscellaneous classes of claims, 11,645 were in the active files at the close of the fiscal year, awaiting responses to outstanding calls for information necessary to their final settlement. For service-connected disabilities there was paid during the past fiscal year the sum of $3,655,087.62 to 14,758 soldier pensioners; and for death of soldiers due to service disabilities 3,699 widows, 75394-29-2 |