1. To whom made-Continued.

(a) In case of imprisoned pensioner.

Payment under authority of the act of Congress approved August 8, 1882 (now amended section 4766, Revised Statutes), to a wife or to the guardian of minor children of an invalid pensioner who is in penal confinement for violation of the laws is not such a payment as requires the possession or production of a certificate by the beneficiary; and payment may be made to such widow or guardian upon his or her properly executed voucher showing that the invalid pensioner is alive and in penal confinement, and that she or minor child is dependent upon him. Edward Willson (Asst. Sec. Reynolds), 8 P. D., 87.

(b) To inmates of Soldiers' Home.

While a pensioner is an inmate of a Soldiers' National Home, although he may be absent without leave, his pension should be paid to the treasurer of the institution. Milton L. Woodworth (Sec. Kirkwood), 8 P. D. (0. s.), 158.

Assignments of pension certificate to National Soldiers' Home only authorize payment for the time soldier was an inmate thereof. Atty. Gen. Devens, 16 Op., 374.

(c) In case of minor's pension.

There is no authority of law for the division of a pension or allowance of a pro rata share of pension, in the case of two or more minors who are jointly entitled thereto, to either of them. Minors of Joseph Seibold (Sec. Delano), 8 L. B. P., 395.

2. Fraudulent impersonation of pensioner.

The fact that pension was paid to one who fraudulently impersonated the pensioner, who had left his pension certificate in the custody of such person on leaving the city, and had been unable to recover it after several requests, does not bar payment to the pensioner for the time his pension was thus wrongfully retained by the other. William Ross (Sec. Teller), 14 P. D. (0. s.), 154.

3. On forged indorsement.

Where a pension agent draws a check on the United States Treasurer to the order of the pensioner, and mails it to the address of the latter, it is a payment of the pension within section 4765, Revised Statutes; and sections 4766 and 4770, Revised Statutes, have no application to a case where payment of a check so issued was made on a forged indorsement thereon of such pensioner's name, but the question of the liability of the drawee in making such payment is not for this

3. On forged indorsement-Continued.

Department to decide. However, the banks to whom the money was paid are probably liable to refund the same. Diana Haskell and Alexander Neff (Sec. Chandler), 3 P. D. (o. s.), 205.

4. From what fund paid under special act.

Payments of Revolutionary war pensions allowed by special acts, which make no specific appropriation for payment of such allowance, may be made out of the general appropriation for Revolutionary pensions for the current year in which allowed. Atty. Gen. Berrien, 2 Op., 343.

5. Misappropriation by attorney.

Where a pension check was sent by direction of the beneficiary to her attorney, the Government is not liable for the misappropriation by said attorney of the proceeds of such check. Ellen Pettit (Asst. Sec. Hawkins), 2 P. D., 205.

6. On order of Commissioner in lieu of new certificate.

An order made by the Commissioner of Pensions, being within his general jurisdiction, and certified to the pension agent instead of a new certificate, is obligatory on the pension agent. Edward Willson (Asst. Sec. Reynolds), 8 P. D., 87. See also GUARDIANS; NONRESIDENTS; RETIRED OFFICERS.

PAYMENTS.

See ACCRUED PENSION; ARREARS; GUARDIANS; MINORS; NONRESIDENTS; REDUCTION; SUSPENSION.

The act of August 7, 1882, providing that the open and notorious adulterous cohabitation of a widow, who is a pensioner, shall operate to terminate her pension is akin to a penal statute, and as such its terms must be literally enforced. Sarah E. West (Asst. Sec. Bussey), 3 P. D., 115.

Overruled: 7 P. D., 207.

PENDING CLAIM.

The Attorney-General of the United States has decided that the signing of the certificate by the Secretary of the Interior is essential to the establishment of the pension. (No particular decision by the Attorney-General is cited.) Jesse, heir of Susan McCoy (Sec. Cox), 7 L. B. P., 12.

A claim must be regarded as pending within the meaning of section 46983, Revised Statutes, until it is definitively and affirmatively acted upon by the Pension Office. Bernard Augustin (Actg. Sec. Cowen), 3 P. D. (0. s.), 58.

The pensioner having died, the widow, although she has no right to set up any new claim on behalf of the husband, may apply for the correction of an error in the adjudication of a claim made by the husband during his lifetime. She has the same right that he would have if living. Isaac S. Warmoth (Asst. Sec. Bussey), 3 P. D., 324.

See also ACCRUED PENSION; DECLARATIONS.

PENSION.

1. Is a gratuity, not a claim or account.

2. Is in no sense compensation, pay, or salary.

3. Allowance to seamen not a.

4. Half pay is a.

5. Continuance of, to a dependent father.

1. Is a gratuity, not a claim or account.

Pensions are gratuities, not claims or accounts, within the meaning of the statute; yet when these are once placed on the pension roll they become claims to semiannual payments, which, if not asserted within six years, can not be audited without the authority of Congress. Atty. Gen. Mason, 4 Op., 366.

Pensions are not claims or accounts, but gratuities, and are not subject to the laws governing the former, nor within the rule established by Chief Justice Marshall in ex parte Randolph, 2 Brock., 447. Catherine Harris (Sec. Delano), 2 P. D. (0. s.), 256.

Pension is a gratuity, not a debt, and claims for are to be settled according to the law in force at the time of adjudication. Adrian Marseilles (Sec. Schurz), 4 P. D. (o. s.), 337.

A pension is a gratuity, intended as an aid to those who incurred disabilities arising either from disease or from wounds that were due to the service and line of duty. W. H. Brokenshaw (Asst. Sec. Hawkins), 1 P. D., 194.

2. Is in no sense compensation, pay, or salary.

Pension is in no sense "compensation," "pay," or "salary," nor is a pensioner who is wrongfully receiving pension a "delinquent," nor such pension received a "balance due,” nor arrears of such pension "arrears," within the meaning of section 4716, Revised Statutes, and neither said section nor section 4734, Revised Statutes, has any application to such pension. Cyrus Pike (Asst. Sec. Hawkins), 2 P. D., 65.

3. Allowance to seamen not a.

An allowance made to a seaman under the act of March 2, 1867, is not a "pension" within the meaning of section 4715, Revised Statutes, and may be received in addition to pension under the general law or under the act of June 27, 1890, but can not, in such case, exceed one-fourth the amount of the pension. John Spencer (Asst. Sec. Bussey), 6 P. D., 167. Overruled in part: s. c. following.

The allowances granted by section 4756 and 4757, Revised Statutes, are "pensions;" but they may be received at the rates provided in said sections, notwithstanding the provis ions of section 4715, Revised Statutes, or of the act of June 27, 1890, as to double pension. Overruling in part the former decision, 6 P. D., 167. s. c. (Asst. Sec. Reynolds), 7 P. D., 152.

(In a note to this decision as published it is stated the Assistant AttorneyGeneral for the Interior Department submitted, on January 29, 1894, an opinion relative to non-resident aliens under the provisions of the act of March 1, 1893 (27 Stat. 523), in which he held that an "allowance" under section 4756, Revised Statutes, is a “pension” within the meaning of said act.)

4. Half pay is a.

The half pay allowed under antebellum laws is, to all intents and purposes, "pension." Minor of Bernhard Barr (Sec. Browning), 6 L. B. P., 441.

5. Continuance of, to a dependent father.

Pension to a dependent father can not be paid except during such period as the evidence may show it to be actually necessary as a means of adequate subsistence. David Rees (Asst. Sec. Muldrow), 2 P. D., 307.

See also ACCRUED PENSION; COMMENCEMENT; NAVY PENSIONS; RETIRED Officer.

Bonds of.

PENSION AGENTS.

As a rule, the bond of a pension agent should not be changed during his tenure of office, but changes may be permitted. Instructions in re R. M. Kelly, pension agent (Sec. Delano), 9 L. B. P., 408.

See also REIMBURSEMENT (Overpayments).

PENSION CHECK.

The receipt by a pensioner of a check for the amount due him on his pension, which was indorsed but not transferred by him in his lifetime, is not payment. The amount so due is accordingly "accrued pension,' and is payable to those only who are entitled thereto under such section. Atty. Gen. Garland, 19 Op., 1.

PENSION MONEY.

When pension money gets safely into a pensioner's hands, the law exerts no further control over it, nor over pensioner's use of it and if the same be employed in purchasing real estate or other taxable property the investment would stand on precisely the same footing as other property of a similar character, and would be subject to seizure and sale, and to be taxed. Communication to L. R. Smith (Asst. Sec. Bussey), 5 P. D., 120.

PERMANENT SPECIFIC DISABILITY.

See DISABILITY.

PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVES.

See CONSTRUCTION OF LAWS.

PHYSICIANS.

See CERTIFICATES (Of Examination); EVIDENCE; MEDICAL REFEREE.

PLATTSBURG.

See BOUNTY LAND (Service).

POST.

In general language, a "post" is any place where an officer or soldier is posted, i. e., stationed on duty; while "fort" and "garrison" have a more limited significance, the latter being the station of an organized body of troops, or that body itself. Martha M. Frisby (Asst. Sec. Bussey), 3 P. D., 344. See also MILITARY POST.

POSTMASTER.

See DISLOYALTY; NOTARY PUBLIC.

POWER OF ATTORNEY.

See ATTORNEYS; FEE CONTRACT; INSANE PERSONS.