12 Stat. 332. 6. No pension shall be paid under this act (a) to any person who has been engaged 8 Jan. 1862 ? 1. in the present rebellion against the government of the United States, or who has in any way given aid and comfort to those engaged in the rebellion. 12 Stat. 566. granted to inva sions. 7. If any officer, non-commissioned officer, musician or private of the army, including 14 July 1862 ? 1. regulars, volunteers and militia, or any officer, warrant or petty officer, musician, seaman, ordinary seaman, flotilla-man, marine, clerk, landsman, pilot or other person in Pensions to be the navy or marine corps, has been, since the 4th day of March 1861, or shall hereafter id soldiers, &c. be disabled, by reason of any wound received or disease contracted while in the service of the United States, and in the line of duty, he shall, upon making due proof of the fact, according to such forms and regulations as are or may be provided by or in pursuance of law, be placed upon the list of invalid pensions of the United States, and be entitled to receive, for the highest rate of disability, such pension as is hereinafter provided in such cases, and for an inferior disability an amount proportionate to the highest disability, to commence as hereinafter provided, and continue during the existence of such disability. The pension for a total disability for officers, non-commissioned officers, Military penmusicians and privates employed in the military service of the United States, whether regulars, volunteers or militia, and in the marine corps, shall be as follows, viz. : Lieutenant-colonel, and all officers of a higher rank, thirty dollars per month; major, twentyfive dollars per month; captain, twenty dollars per month; first lieutenant, seventeen dollars per month; second lieutenant, fifteen dollars per month; and non-commissioned officers, musicians and privates, eight dollars per month. The pension for total dis- Naval pensions. ability for officers, warrant or petty officers, and others employed in the naval service of the United States, shall be as follows, viz.: Captain, commander, surgeon, paymaster and chief engineer, respectively, ranking with commander by law, lieutenant commanding and master commanding, thirty dollars per month; lieutenant, surgeon, paymaster and chief engineer, respectively, ranking with lieutenant by law, and passed assistant surgeon, twenty-five dollars per month; professor of mathematics, master, assistant surgeon, assistant paymaster and chaplain, twenty dollars per month; first assistant engineers and pilots, fifteen dollars per month; passed midshipman, midshipman, captains' and paymasters' clerk, second and third assistant engineer, masters' mate, and all warrant officers, ten dollars per month; all petty officers, and all other persons before named employed in the naval service, eight dollars per month. And all commissioned officers, of either service, shall receive such and only such pension as is herein provided for the rank in which they hold commissions. Ibid. 2. 8. If any officer or other person named in the first section of this act has died since the fourth day of March 1861, or shall hereafter die, by reason of any wound received Pensions to widor disease contracted while in the service of the United States, and in the line of duty, (b) ows and children. his widow, or, if there be no widow, his child or children under sixteen years of age, shall be entitled to receive the same pension as the husband or father would have been entitled to, had he been totally disabled, to commence from the death of the husband or father, and to continue to the widow during her widowhood, or to the child or children until they severally attain the age of sixteen years, and no longer. Ibid. & 3. 9. Where any officer or other person named in the first section of this act shall have died subsequently to the fourth day of March 1861, or shall hereafter die, by reason of Pensions to moany wound received or disease contracted while in the service of the United States, and thers. in the line of duty, and has not left or shall not leave a widow nor legitimate child, but has left or shall leave a mother who was dependent upon him for support, in whole or in part, (c) the mother shall be entitled to receive the same pension as such officer or other person would have been entitled to had he been totally disabled; which pension shall commence from the death of the officer or other person dying as aforesaid: Provided, however, That if such mother shall herself be in receipt of a pension as a widow, in virtue of the provisions of the second section of this act, in that case no pension or allowance shall be granted to her on account of her son, unless she gives up the other pension or allowance: And provided further, That the pension given to a mother on account of her son shall terminate on her remarriage: And provided further, That nothing herein shall be so construed as to entitle the mother of an officer, or other person dying as aforesaid, to more than one pension at the same time, under the provisions of this act. 10. Where any officer or other person named in the first section of this act shall have died subsequently to the fourth day of March 1861, or shall hereafter die, by reason of Pensions to or any wound received or disease contracted while in the service of the United States, and phan sisters. in the line of duty, and has not left or shall not leave a widow nor legitimate child nor mother, but has left or may leave an orphan sister or sisters (d) under sixteen years of age, Ibid. 4. 14 July 1862. No pensions to be paid to disloyal persons. Ibid. § 5. When pensions to commence. Ibid. § 8. Surgeons to be appointed to examine invalids. Ibid. 29. tions to be furnished without charge. who were dependent upon him for support, in whole or in part, such sister or sisters shall be entitled to receive the same pension as such officer or other person would have been entitled to, had he been totally disabled; which pension to said orphan shall commence from the death of the officer or other person dying as aforesaid, and shall continue to the said orphans until they severally arrive at the age of sixteen years, and no longer: Provided, however, That nothing herein shall be so construed as to entitle said orphans to more than one pension at the same time, under the provisions of this act: And provided further, That no moneys shall be paid to the widow or children, or any heirs of any deceased soldier on account of bounty, back pay or pension, who have in any way been engaged in, or who have aided or abetted, the existing rebellion in the United States; but the right of such disloyal widow or children, heir or heirs of such soldier, shall be vested in the loyal heir or heirs of the deceased, if any there be. 11. Pensions which may be granted, in pursuance of the provisions of this act, to persons who may have been or shall be employed in the military or naval service of the United States, shall commence on the day of the discharge of such persons, in all cases in which the application for such provisions [pensions] is filed within one year after the date of said discharge; and in cases in which the application is not filed during said year, pensions granted to persons employed as aforesaid shall commence on the day of the filing of the application. 12. That the commissioner of pensions be and he is hereby empowered to appoint, at his discretion, civil surgeons to make the biennial examinations of pensioners which are or may be required to be made by law, and to examine applicants for invalid pensions, where he shall deem an examination by a surgeon to be appointed by him necessary; and the fees for each of such examinations, and the requisite certificate thereof, shall be one dollar and fifty cents, which fees shall be paid to the surgeon by the person examined, for which he shall take a receipt, and forward the same to the pension office; and upon the allowance of the claim of the person examined, the commissioner of pensions shall furnish to such person an order on the pension agent of his state for the amount of the surgeon's fees. 13. The commissioner of pensions, on application made to him, in person or by letter, Printed instruc- by any claimants or applicants for pension, bounty or other allowance required by law to be adjusted and paid by the pension office, shall furnish such claimants, free of all expense or charge to them, all such printed instructions and forms as may be necessary in establishing and obtaining said claim. And in case such claim is prosecuted by an agent or attorney of such claimant or applicant, on the issue of a certificate of pension, or the granting of a bounty or allowance, the commissioner of pensions shall forthwith notify the applicant or claimant, that such certificate has been issued or allowance made, and the amount thereof. Ibid. 10. Bounty and pen- service. 14. The pilots, engineers, sailors and crews upon the gunboats and war vessels of the United States, who have not been regularly mustered into the service of the United States, shall be entitled to the same bounty allowed to persons of corresponding rank mustered into the in the naval service, provided they continue in service to the close of the present war; and all persons serving as aforesaid, who have been or may be wounded or incapacitated for service, shall be entitled to receive for such disability the pension allowed by the provisions of this act, to those of like rank; and each and every such person shall receive pay according to corresponding rank in the naval service: Provided, That no person receiving pension or bounty under the provisions of this act, shall receive either pension or bounty for any other service in the present war. Ibid. § 11. Pensions to wid 15. The widows and heirs of all persons described in the last preceding section who have been or may be employed as aforesaid, or who have been or may be killed in ows and heirs of battle, or of those who have died or shall die of wounds received while so employed, shall be paid the bounty and pension allowed by the provisions of this act, according to rank, as provided in the last preceding section. such persons. 16 July 1862 1. 12 Stat. 625. 16. The masters serving on board of gunboats employed in the service of the United States, shall be entitled to all the benefits, including bounty and pension, provided for Extended to mas- in an act entitled "An act to grant pensions,” passed during the present session of ters of gunboats. congress; and the widows, mothers and heirs of such officers shall be entitled to all the benefits of said act. 4 July 1864 1. 13 Stat. 387. Biennial exami nations of pensioners. 17. The biennial examinations of pensioners required by an act approved March 3d 1859, (b) may be made by one surgeon only, provided he is a surgeon of the army or navy, or an examining surgeon duly appointed by the commissioner of pensions; nor shall the biennial certificate of two unappointed civil surgeons be accepted in any case, except upon satisfactory evidence that an examination by a commissioned or duly appointed surgeon is impracticable. (a) Supra 5. be refunded. 18. All fees paid to examining surgeons for biennial examinations, or for examina- 4 July 1864 ₹ 2. tions specially ordered, as provided by the 8th section of the act to grant pensions, Fees of examinapproved July 14th 1862, (a) shall be refunded by the agent for paying pensions in the ing surgeons to district within which the pensioner or claimant resides, out of any money appropriated for the payment of pensions, under such regulations as the commissioner of pensions may prescribe. sions. Ibid. 3. 19. Declarations of pension claimants shall be made before a court of record, or before some officer thereof having custody of its seal, said officer being hereby fully Declarations of authorized and empowered to administer and certify any oath or affirmation relating to claimants of penany pension or application therefor: Provided, That the commissioner of pensions may designate, in localities more than twenty-five miles distant from any place at which such a court is holden, persons duly qualified to administer oaths, before whom declarations may be made and testimony taken. Ibid. 4. frauds. Ibid. ? 6. 20. Section twelve of the act to grant pensions, approved July 14th 1862, is hereby repealed; and the commissioner of pensions is authorized and empowered to detail, Investigation of from time to time, clerks in his office to investigate suspected attempts at fraud on the attempted government through the pension office, and to aid in prosecuting any persons so offending, with such additional compensation as is customary in cases of special service. 21. No pension claim now on file, unless prosecuted to a successful issue within three years from the passage of this act, and no claim hereafter filed, not thus prosecuted to Limitation of a successful issue within five years from the date of such filing, shall be admitted, pension claims. without satisfactory record evidence from the war department to establish the same; and in every case in which a claim for pension shall have been filed for more than three years after the discharge or decease of the party on whose account the claim is made, the pension, if allowed, shall commence from the date of filing the last paper in said case by the party prosecuting the same. (b) 22. On the remarriage of any widow receiving a pension, such pension shall terminate, and shall not be renewed should she again become a widow. Ibid. 7. Ibid. 8. boards. Ibid. 9: 23. Examining surgeons, duly appointed by the commissioner of pensions, may be required by him, from time to time, as he shall deem for the interests of the govern- Special examinament, to make special examinations of pensioners on the rolls of their respective tions. districts, and such examinations shall have precedence over previous examinations, whether special or biennial. But when injustice is alleged to have been done by any Examining examination so ordered, the commissioner of pensions may, at his discretion, select a board of three duly appointed examining surgeons, who shall meet at a place to be designated by him, and shall review such cases as may be ordered before them on appeal from any special examination as aforesaid; and the decision of such board shall be final on the question so submitted thereto. The compensation of all such surgeons Compensation. shall not exceed that which has been customarily allowed in such cases, and shall be paid out of any appropriations made for the payment of pensions, in the same manner as the ordinary fees of appointed surgeons are or may be authorized to be paid. 24. Those persons, not enlisted soldiers in the army, who volunteered for the time being to serve with any regularly organized military or naval force of the United Pensions to volStates, or where persons otherwise volunteered and rendered service in any engagement unteers, their widows, &c. with rebels or Indians, since the 4th day of March 1861, shall, if they have been disabled in consequence of wounds received in battle, in such temporary service, be entitled to the same benefits of the pension laws as those who have been regularly mustered into the United States service. And the widows or other dependants of any such persons as may have been killed in the temporary service aforesaid, shall be entitled to pensions in the same manner as they would have been, had such persons been regularly mustered; Provided, That no claim under this section shall be valid, unless Limitation. presented and prosecuted to a successful issue within three years from and after the passage of this act.(c) All such claims shall be adjudicated under such special rules and regulations as the commissioner of pensions may prescribe most effectually to guard against fraud. Ibid. 10. &c., to be enti tled. 25. If any person entitled to an invalid pension, under the provisions of the act granting pensions, approved July 14th 1862, has died, or shall hereafter die, while an on death of apapplication for such pension is pending, and having a widow or dependant relative plicant, widow, entitled to receive a pension by reason of his service and death, as provided in said act, then the pension to such widow or other person shall commence from the date at which the decedent's invalid pension would have commenced, had he survived, subject to the conditions of this act, and the act to which this is amendatory. 26. All enlisted soldiers in the army who shall have become disabled in the service, (a) Supra 12. (b) See infra 39. Ibid. § 11. (c) Extended for five years from the 4 July 1867, by act 27 July 1868 11. 15 Stat. 237. 4 July 1864. Pensions to enlisted men, not mustered into the service. Ibid. 12. Fees of pension agents and attor neys. Ibid. 13. Penalty for demanding greater compensation. 3 March 1865 2. 13 Stat. 499. Acting assistant and contract sur geons to be entitled to pensions. Ibid. ? 4. Widows and children of cer to be entitled to pensions. whether they shall have been regularly mustered in or not, shall be entitled to the same benefits of the pension laws as those who have been regularly mustered into the United States service; and the widows or other dependants, entitled to pensions by law, as prescribed by the act of July 14th 1862, of any such soldier who may have been killed, or shall have died, or shall hereafter die, by reason of any wound received or disease contracted while in said service, and in the line of duty, shall be entitled to the same pension as though such soldier had been regularly mustered into the service. 27. The fees of agents and attorneys for making out and causing to be executed the papers necessary to establish a claim for a pension, bounty and other allowance before the pension office, under this act, shall not exceed the following rates: (a) for making out and causing to be duly executed a declaration by the applicant, with the necessary affidavits, and forwarding the same to the pension office, with the requisite correspondence, ten dollars; which sum shall be received by such agent or attorney in full for all services in obtaining such pension, and shall not be demanded or received, in whole or in part, until such pension shall be obtained; and the 6th and 7th sections of an act entitled "An act to grant pensions," approved July 14th 1862, are hereby repealed.(b) 28. Any agent or attorney who shall, directly or indirectly, demand or receive any greater compensation, for his services under this act, than is prescribed in the preceding section of this act, or who shall contract or agree to prosecute any claim for a pension, bounty or other allowance, under this act, on the condition that he shall receive a per centum upon any portion of the amount of such claim, or who shall wrongfully withhold from a pensioner or other claimant the whole or any part of the pension or claim allowed and due to such pensioner or claimant, shall be deemed guilty of a high misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof shall, for every such offence, be fined not exceeding three hundred dollars, or imprisoned at hard labor not exceeding two years, or both, according to the circumstances and aggravations of the offence. 29. Acting assistant or contract surgeons disabled by any wound received or disease contracted while actually performing the duties of assistant surgeons or acting assistant surgeons, with any military forces in the field or in transitu, shall be entitled to the benefits of the pension laws, in the same manner as if they had actually been mustered into the service with the rank of "assistant surgeon ;" and the widows, minor children or the dependants of acting assistant surgeons dying while performing the duty aforesaid, shall in like manner be entitled to the same benefits of the pension laws, as if the deceased had been actually mustered into the service as assistant surgeons. 30. If any officer or other person named in the first section of an act entitled "An act to grant pensions," approved July 14th 1862, (c) has died, since the 4th day of March 1861, or shall hereafter die, by reason of any wound received or disease contracted while tain officers, &c., in the service of the United States, and in the line of duty, (d) his widow, or if there be no widow, or in case of her death or marriage, without payment to her of any part of the pension hereinafter mentioned, his child or children, under sixteen years of age, shall be entitled to receive the same pension as the husband or father would have been entitled to under said act, had he been totally disabled, to commence from the death of the husband or father, and to continue to the widow during her widowhood, or to the child or children until they severally attain to the age of sixteen years, and no longer: Provided, That when such pension has been, or shall hereafter be, paid to the widow, such child or children shall only be entitled to receive the pension, to commence from the death or marriage of such widow and [to] continue as aforesaid: Provided further, That nothing herein contained shall be construed to repeal or modify the 10th section of an act entitled "An act supplementary to 'An act to grant pensions,' approved July 14th 1862," approved July 4th 1864; and said section is hereby declared to be in full force and effect in all cases arising under this act, to which said section is applicable, saving and excepting such cases as are embraced in the preceding proviso. 6 June 1866 1. 14 Stat. 56. tain disabilities increased. 31. All persons by law entitled to a less pension than hereinafter specified, who, while in the military or naval service and in line of duty, shall have lost the sight of Pensions for cer- both eyes, or who shall have lost both hands, or been permanently and totally disabled in the same, or otherwise so permanently and totally disabled as to render them utterly helpless, or so nearly so as to require the constant personal aid and attendance of another person, shall be entitled to a pension of twenty-five dollars per month; and all persons who, under like circumstances, shall have lost both feet, or one hand and one (a) This section is constitutional. United States v. Fairchilds, 16 Am. L. R. 306. United States v. Marks, 10 Int. R. Rec. 42. (b) See United States v. Marks, 10 Int. R. Rec. 42. (c) Supra 7. (d) By resolution of 12 April 1866, this is to extend to any enlisted man or any other person entitled by law to bounty, who has been or may be discharged by reason of a wound received while actually in service under military orders, not at the time on furlough or leave of absence, nor engaged in any unlawful or unauthorized act or pursuit. 14 Stat. 352. And by resolution of 26 July 1866, to every case in which a commissioned officer actually entered on duty, but by reason of being killed in battle. captured by the enemy, or other cause beyond his control, and without fault or neglect of his own, was not mustered within 30 days. 14 Stat. 368. foot, or been totally and permanently disabled in the same, or otherwise so disabled as to be incapacitated for performing any manual labor, but not so much so as to require constant personal aid and attention, shall be entitled to a pension of twenty dollars per month; and all persons who, under like circumstances, shall have lost one hand or one foot, or been totally and permanently disabled in the same, or otherwise so disabled as to render their inability to perform manual labor equivalent to the loss of a hand or a foot, shall be entitled to a pension of fifteen dollars per month. 6 June 1866, Ibid. 26. 32. If any person entitled to a pension has died since March 4th 1861, or shall hereafter die, while an application for such pension is pending, leaving no widow and no Rights of heirs. child under sixteen years of age, his or her heirs or legal representatives shall be entitled to receive the accrued pension to which the applicant would have been entitled had the certificate been issued before his or her death. (a) Ibid. 7. 33. In all cases when a commission shall have been regularly issued to any person in the military or naval service, who shall have died or been disabled while in the line officers dying of duty, after the date of such commission, and before being mustered, such officer or before muster. other person entitled to a pension for such death or disability, by existing laws, shall receive a pension corresponding to his rank, as determined by such commission, the same as if he had been mustered: Provided, That this section shall not apply to any officer who shall have wilfully neglected or refused to be so mustered. Ibid. ? 8. 34. Officers absent on sick leave, and enlisted men absent on sick furlough, shall be regarded, in the administration of the pension laws, in the same manner as if they were Absentees on in the field or hospital. leave, &c. Ibid. 9. Computation of 35. The period of service of all persons entitled to the benefits of the pension laws, or on account of whose death any person may become entitled to a pension, shall be construed to extend to the time of disbanding the organization to which such persons service. belonged, or until their actual discharge, for other cause than the expiration of the service of such organization. 36. Enlisted men employed as teamsters, wagoners, artificers, hospital stewards, Ibid. 10. farriers, saddlers and all other enlisted men, however employed in the service of the To include all army or navy, not specifically mentioned in the first section of an act entitled "An act enlisted men, to grant pensions," approved July 14, 1862, shall be regarded, in the administration of ployed. the pension laws, as non-commissioned officers or privates. however emi pension for child 37. If any officer, soldier or seaman shall have died of wounds received or of disease Ibid. 11. contracted in the line of duty, in the military or naval service of the United States, When widow not leaving a widow and a child or children under the age of sixteen years, and it shall be to be entitled to duly certified under seal, by any court having probate jurisdiction, that satisfactory ren. evidence has been produced before such court, that the widow aforesaid has abandoned the care of such child or children, or is an unsuitable person, by reason of immoral conduct, to have the custody of the same, or on presentation of satisfactory evidence thereof to the commissioner of pensions, then no pension shall be allowed to such widow until said child or children shall have severally become sixteen years of age, any previous enactment to the contrary notwithstanding; and the child or children aforesaid shall be pensioned in the same manner as if no widow had survived the said officer, soldier or seaman, and such pension may be paid to the regularly authorized guardian of such child or children.(b) Ibid. 12. 38. That section four of an act entitled "An act to grant pensions," approved July 4, 1862, (c) is hereby so amended, that the provisions thereof shall apply to and include Orphan brothers, the orphan brother or brothers, as well as sister or sisters, under sixteen years of age, and fathers. and the father as well as mother of a deceased officer or other person named in section one of the above entitled act, who were dependant upon him for support in whole or in part, subject to the same limitations and restrictions. Ibid. 13. 39. Nothing in this or any other act shall be so construed as to repeal or modify the sixth section of an act entitled "An act supplementary to 'An act to grant pensions,' Limitation of approved July 14th 1862," approved July 4th 1864, (d) or to entitle a person to receive claims. more than one pension at the same time. And in every case in which a claim for pension shall not have been filed within three years after the discharge or decease of the party on whose account the claim is made, the pension, if allowed, shall commence from the date of filing the last paper in said case by the party prosecuting the same. Ibid. ¿ 14. 40. That the 14th section of an act entitled "An act supplementary to an act entitled 'An act to grant pensions,' approved July 14th 1862," approved July 4th 1864, be Proof of marriage and the same is hereby repealed; and the widows and children of colored soldiers of colored sol· and sailors who have been or may be hereafter killed, or who have died or may hereafter die of wounds received or of disease contracted in the military or naval service of (a) So amended by act 27 July 1868, 29. 15 Stat. 236. (b) So amended by act 27 July 1868, 8. 15 Stat. 236. (c) See supra 10. (d) See supra 21. diers. VOL. II.-32 |