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AppEALS IN PENSION AND BOUNTY-LAND CASES.
R D B O RT
ASSISTANT SECRETARY WEBSTER DAVIS
spoºny or ºn ol.
ºrso AI, y EAR ENDED JUNE 30, 1897.


4, 5, 42% f. º ea. “Tº ex .
APPEALS IN PENSION AND BOUNTYLAND CASES.
R E PO RT
ASSISTANT SECRETARY WEBSTER DAVIS
TO THE
SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
FOR THE
FISCAI, YEAR ENDED JUNE 30, 1897.
APPEALS IN PENSION AND BOUNTY-LAND CASES.
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR,
Washington, D. C., October 2, 1897.
SIR: I have the honor to submit my report of the work done in Con-
nection with appeals in pension and bounty-land cases during the fisca
year ended June 30, 1897. & -
This work embraces the adjudication and ultimate decision of appeals
from the adverse action of the Commissioner of Pensions in issues aris-
ing out of pension and bounty-land claims, appeals by attorneys for rec-
ognition and fees in the same class of claims, motions for reconsidera-
tion of departmental decisions, and the necessary correspondence with
attorneys and claimants relative thereto.
Attention is respectfully invited to the following tables, showing the
character and extent of work done during the period referred to:


ORIGINAL APPEAL.S.
TABLE I.—Statement showing disposition of pension and bounty-land claims from July
1, 1896, to June 30, 1897.
| |
r te : Reconsid-
rºl..., º Aºi, ºr
Month. dº º ing the Total. İsion Office Sion Office Sion Office iºn º:
.i. ° month. t iºd. reversed. pending mussed. I posed of.
appeal.
1896
July --------------- 879 130 | 1,009 141 16 '----------- 21 178
August. ----------. 83]. 372 | 1, 203 285 29 |----------. • 75 889.
September......... 814 472 | 1, 286 92 24 ----------- 92 208
October............ 1,078 180 | 1, 258 457 63 |----------- 79 599
November . . . . . . . . . 659 323 982 325 3 38 39 432
December..... -- - - - 550 255 805 180 43 20 33 276
1897.
January ----------- 529 367 896 344 34 46 47 47?
February ... ------. 4.25 259 684 225 31 32 13 301
March ------------- 383 448 831 243 28 51 13 335
April -------------- 496 881 | 1, 377 303 34 18 34 389
May -...--- ** * * - - - - 1,070 586 1,656 345 34 58 20 457
June -------------. 1, 199 782 | 1, 981 144 23 64 8 239
July. -------------. 1,742 ----------|------------------|----------|-----------|--------------------
Total --------|----------. 5,055 - - - - - - - - 3,084 889 327 474 4, 274
4
REPORT OF ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR.
FEE APPEALS.
TABLE II.-Statement showing disposition of appeals relating to attorneyship and fees
from July 1, 1896, to June 30, 1897.

JFee g
Reconsid- Total fee
. Fee Action of Action ered by Fee appeals
Month P. # #: *. Total Pension of Pen- the Pen- appeals disposed
* first da ing the Office sus-sion Office sion Office | dis-, of during
* y g tained. reversed. pending missed. the
of the month. a. l th
month. ppeal. IIl OIllil.
1896.
July --------------- . 36 21 57 18 ||---------- 2 1 21
August ------------ 36 55 91 35 ---------. 12 3 50
September --------. 41 60 101 21 |---------- 9 1 31
October------------ 70 53 123 30 l. ---------|-----------|------- 31
November ... --- - - - 92 46 138 51 1 15 1 68
December---------- 70 50 120 35 1 |----------- 1 36
1897.
January ----------- 84 48 132 79 | 1. 29 . . . . . . . 109
February ---------. 23 32 55 29 - - - - - - - - - - 2 -------- 31
March ------------- 24 61 85 38 i.--------- 9 |- - - - - - - 47
April -------------- 38 57 95 59 |. --------- 8 l 68
May ... ------------- 99 21 120 44 1 16 1 62
June. -------------- 58 33 91 12 l 6 4 23
July --------------- 68 ||----------|-------------------|----------|-----------|--------|-----------
Total --------|----------- 537 -------. 451 5 108 13 577


MOTIONS FOR RECONSIDERATION.
TABLE III.-Statement showing disposition of motions for reconsideration from July 1,
1896, to June 30, 1897.
Motions &
Motions
†† for recon- Motions Motions Motions Ill ; for
Month ending on sideration Total for recon- for recon- for recon- reconsider-
g I) the first filed dur- &l, Jº a º º sideration ati on dis
& ing the overruled. sustained. dismissed. :-
"...the month. posed of.
1896
July ---------------. 28 ------------ 28 5 1 1 7
August ------------ 21 13 34 11 1 ------------ 12
September ... - - - - - - - 22 7 29 14 I.----------- 3 17
October ------------ 12 7 19 11 2 |------------ 13
November.--------. 6 23 29 9 |------------------------ 9
December -- - - - - - - - - 20 6 26 15 I 1 17
1897. -
Qanuary------------ 9 11 20 I1 4 ------------ 15
February----------- 5 8 13 6 4 ------------ 10
March-------------- 3 41 44 6 ------------|------------ 6
April.-------------- 38 40 78 34 3 |------------ 37
May---------------. 41 48 89 14 6 |----------- : 20
June --------------- 69 66 135 52 6 3 61
July---------------- 74 || -----------|--------|------------|------------|------------|------------
Total.--------------------- 270 -------- 188 28 8 224


REPORT OF ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR. 5
RECAPITULATION.
ORIGINAL APPEALS.
Appeals pending July 1, 1896, as appears by actual count. -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 961
Appeals filed from July 1, 1896, to June 30, 1897 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 5,055
Total.---------------------------------------------------------------- 6,016
Appeals wherein Pension Office was sustained - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 3,084
Appeals wherein Pension Office was reversed - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 389
Appeals reconsidered by Pension Office pending appeal. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 327
Appeals dismissed --------------------------------------------------- 474
Total.---------------------------------------------------------------- 4, 274
Appeals pending July 1, 1897. -----------------------------------. ---- 1,742
FEE APPEALS.
Fee appeals pending July 1, 1896, as appears by actual count - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 108
Fee appeals filed from July 1, 1896, to June 30, 1897 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 537
Total.----------, ------------- ---------------------------------------- 645
Fee appeals wherein Pension Office was sustained. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ---. 451
Fee appeals wherein Pension Office was reversed. -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 5
Fee appeals reconsidered by Pension Office pending appeal . . . . . . . . . . . 108
Fee appeals dismissed ----------------------------------------------- 13
Total --------------------------------------------------------------- 577
Fee appeals pending July 1, 1897. --- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 68
MOTIONS IPOIR RECONSIDICRATION.
Motions for reconsideration pending July 1, 1896. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 28
Motions for reconsideration filed from July 1, 1896, to June 30, 1897 - - - - - - - - - 270
Total.---------------------------------------------------------------- 298
Motions for reconsideration overruled . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . - - - - - - - - - - - 188
Motions for reconsideration sustained - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 28
Motions for reconsideration dismissed. -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 8
Total ---------------------------------------------------------------- 224
Motions for reconsideration pending July 1, 1897. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 74
CORRESPONDENCE,
Letters referred to the Commissioner of Pensions. -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 10,364
Letters sent-------------------------------------------------------------. -- 11,660
SUPPLEMENTAL STATEMENT.
In addition to the tables showing the work for the last fiscal year, I
beg to submit the following supplemental information:
ORIGINAL APPEALS.
Pending on July 1, 1897 -----------------------...----------------------------. 1,742
Filed during July, 1897. ------------------------------------------------- 754
Filed during August, 1897. -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 489
Filed during September, 1897. -- - - - - - - - - - - - - . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 884.
— 2, 127
Total. ---------------------------------------------------------------. 3, 869
During this period, total number of appeals disposed of. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,035
Pending on October 2, 1897. --------------...-------------...---------.... 2,834
6 REPORT OF ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR.
FEE APPEALS.
Pending on July 1, 1897 ----------------------------------------------------- 68
Filed during July, 1897- - - - - - - - - - - - - - ------------------------------------ 40
Riled during August, 1897 ----------------------------------------------- 15
Filed during September, 1897. ------------------------------------------- 59
. — 114
Total.----------------------------------------------------------------- 182
During this period, total number of fee appeals disposed of........ ---...---. 66
Pending on October 2, 1897 -----------------------------------. -------- 116
MOTIONS FOR RECONSIDERATION,
Pending on July 1, 1897 ----------------------------------------------------- 74
Filed during July, 1897. ------------------------------------------------- 123
Filed during August, 1897 ----------------------------------------------- 27
Filed during September, 1897. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ------------------------- 93
— 243
Total.------------------------------, ---------------------------------- 317
During this period, total number of motions for reconsideration disposed of... 117
Pending on October 2, 1897 -------------------------------------------. 200
CORRESPONDENCE.
Letters referred to the Commissioner of Pensions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,979
Letters sent ---------------------------------------------------------------- 4, 179
THE WORK.
It will be observed that since I assumed the duties of Assistant Sec-
retary the number of appeals in pension cases has greatly increased.
Of original appeals alone, there were filed during July 754, during Au-
gust 489, and during September, up to the present date inclusive, 884.
This great expansion of the business has entailed upon the working
force a most exacting demand for indefatigable labor, which has been
cheerfully and intelligently rendered by all concerned.
CLAIMS UNDER SECOND SECTION OF ACT OF JUNE 27, 1890.
My attention was early called to the necessity for a modification of
the rules governing the adjudication of this class of claims. It was
represented that the rules in use, on account of technicalities, necessi-
£ated an uneconomical distribution of the clerical force of the Pension
Bureau, and in other ways rendered the administration of the law diffi.
cult and embarrassing.
After a careful examination of the various enactments of law that go
to make up the pension system I became fully satisfied that it was not
the intention of Congress to hedge their administration with the difficul-
ties and pitfalls of any system of special pleading, the technicalities and
refinements of which may tend to a practical defeat of the benevolent
aid intended to be extended to the soldiers of the Republic.
After a thorough consideration of the whole matter, I formulated
and published a few simple rules, intended to furnish a safe, speedy,
REPORT OF ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR. 7
and uniform system of adjudicating claims that arise under the second
section of the act of June 27, 1890. A practical application of these
rules has resulted in the gratifying assurance that they are well adapted
to the accomplishment of the end in view.
IMPORTANT DECISIONS,
Some of the decisions which I have been called upon to make are of
sufficient general importance to deserve passing notice in this report.
|PAYMENT TO GUARDIANS OF PENSIONERS.
Among these is the opinion in the case of Edward W. Moore, late
private Fourteenth Independent Battery, Ohio Light Artillery, certifi-
cate numbered 132169. (No. 28, advance sheets, 9 P. D.)
In this case I gave a departmental construction to that portion of the
act of August 8, 1882, which provides that “payment to persons labor-
ing under legal disabilities may be made to the guardians of such
persons,” etc., and held that these words are not mandatory, but per-
missive. The law declares that the pension shall inure wholly to the
benefit of the pensioner. (Sec. 4747, Rev. Stat.) The Commissioner of
Pensions, as the officer legally designated to carry into effect the
pension laws, is the person who is to see to it that the law shall be
carried into effect and that the pension shall inure wholly to the
benefit of the pensioner. The mere fact that a guardian or committee
has been appointed under a proceeding in a State court does not of
itself confer any authority upon such guardian to receive payment of
the pension of his ward. The word “guardian,” as used in the acts of
Congress, is merely the designation of the person to whom the money
granted may be paid for the use and benefit of the pensioner. (United
States v. Hall, 98 U. S., 343.) He receives the pension payment not
by virtue of any authority conferred by the State court to do so, but
solely by virtue of the Federal law, which permits the Commissioner of
Pensions to authorize payment over to him of the funds of a pensioner
under legal disability, if thereby the use and benefit be better secured
to the pensioner.
I hold that when a probate court or other appropriate tribunal has
passed upon the question of the legal disability of a citizen of the State,
by virtue of the law of which such court acts, and has appointed a guard-
ian for such citizen, the Government of the United States is not bound
thereby, for the State can only exercise authority over persons and
things falling within its own jurisdiction. The subject of pensions is
exclusively one of Federal jurisdiction, nor can any State pass laws or
authorize courts to regulate any proceeding having reference to the
allowance or payment of pensions; it is powerless to bestow upon its
fiduciary or agent any power not possessed by itself. As was held in
Waite's Case (United States court for northern district of Iowa, gen-
eral division, June term, 1897), the Government of the United States
8 REPORT OF ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR.
has created the pension system now in force; and the whole thereof, in
substance and in form of procedure, is without the plane of State con-
trol. In operations of the Government of the United States, in con-
nection with the pension system, the laws of the United States are not
only paramount and Supreme, but touching the subject-matter the juris-
diction of the United States is absolute, and the matter wholly within
Federal control. And since the only thing to be considered is the ben-
efit of the pensioner, clearly the Government may make avail of the
benevolent guardianship of the State courts over all pensioners under
legal disabilities to secure to their best use the provision of the Gov-
ernment for their benefit, and may refuse the aid of such guardian
When he ceases to transmit unimpaired to the pensioner the benefits
conferred upon him by the pension laws, even directing personal pay-
ment to such pensioner (See act of August 8, 1882), when it is necessary
so to do to secure to him his rights.
AGE AS A FACTOR IN DISABILITY UNDER ACT OF JUNE 27, 1890.
In the case of Francis Frank (No. 32, advance sheets, 9 P. D.), I held,
on July 7, 1897, that a claimant who has attained the age of 65 years
shall be deemed entitled to at least the minimum rate of pension under
said act, unless the evidence discloses an unusual vigor and ability for
the performance of manual labor in One of that age. I was the more
impelled to this holding, because I found, upon examination, that all
pension statutes wherein age is taken into consideration deal liberally
with this disabling cause. In retirements from the Army the age of 62
is fixed as of itself sufficient reason for cessation of the active duties
of an officer; and the act of January 29, 1887, fixed the same age (62)
as entitling a soldier or sailor of the Mexican war to the rate of pension
therein provided, independent of any disability. In Rinkel’s Case (8
P. D., 30), my predecessor in office had already held that the mere alle-
gation in a declaration that the claimant was 75 years old would of
itself be a sufficient allegation of disability, and further, that where
disabilities have been alleged that indicate semility as a pathological
result, such a declaration would be held good without allegation or
statement as to age. Age alone is a more or less uncertain basis for
determining title; some men are senile at 50, while others are compara-
tively vigorous at a later age. It was my desire to at least approxi-
mate a just and equitable rule, and actuated by that motive I held as
herein set forth.
REVENUE CUTTERS IN THE MEXICAN WAR.
William F. Rogers, who was an officer on the revenue-cutter Forward
during the war with Mexico, and who had been a pensioner by certifi-
cate (numbered 6641, Mexican war, under the provisions of the act of
January 29, 1887), was dropped from the rolls on June 16, 1897, by virtue
of a decision rendered June 22, 1895, in a claim under the act of June
REPORT OF ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR, 9
27, 1890, holding that “those who served in the revenue marine on
vessels which cooperated, by direction of the President, with the Navy,
as provided in section 2757, Revised Statutes, were not in the Navy or
the naval establishment of the United States, and are not pensionable
under said act, nor their widows nor minor children.” -
An appeal having been taken from this action of dropping, I held
that the action was improper, and directed that the name be restored
to the roll.
The act of January 29, 1887, confers title to pension upon “the surviv-
ing officers and enlisted men, including marines, militia, and volunteers,
of the military and naval services of the United States, who, being
duly enlisted, actually served 60 days with the Army or Navy of the
United States in Mexico # * * in the war with that nation, or
were actually engaged in a battle in said war,” etc.
Section 2757 of the Revised Statutes (act of March 2, 1799), provides
that “the revenue cutters shall, whenever the President so directs,
cooperate with the Navy, during which time they shall be under the
direction of the Secretary of the Navy, and the expense thereof shall
be defrayed by the Navy Department.” Section 2, paragraph 1, of
article 2 of the Constitution of the United States provides that “the
President shall be Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy of the
|United States, and of the militia of the several States when called into
the actual service of the United States.”
The record shows that the revenue cutter on which this officer
served was, by order of the President, under the power conferred upon
him by the act of March 2, 1799, in active cooperation with the Navy
of the United States in the prosecution of the war with Mexico from
June 30, 1846, to April 30, 1847, the date of withdrawal of said revenue
cutter from said cooperation; and that the officers and enlisted men,
including the pensioner, were repeatedly in action with the enemy
under the immediate direction and orders of officers of the Navy, and
performed gallant and important service, which was properly acknowl-
edged in the report of Commodore M. C. Perry to Commodore Conner,
United States Navy.
I held that from June 30, 1846, to April 30, 1847, the revenue cutter
Forward, under actual provision of law and by virtue of the Presi-
dent's order, became part and parcel of the naval establishment of the
United States, under direction of the Secretary of the Navy, and hence
during that period ceased to be a part of the Treasury establishment,
the jurisdiction of the Secretary of the Treasury over that vessel and
her officers and men having been temporarily ousted by operation of
the act of March 2, 1799; and that the officers and enlisted men of that
cutter thereby became, by merger, subject, and were subjected, to the
orders of the commodore commanding the Navy on that station, and
amenable to the rules and Articles of War in the practice then in
operation.
10 REPORT OF ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR.
To hold otherwise, by the severe and technical construction that
under no circumstances nor operation of law can a revenue-marine
vessel, temporarily or otherwise, be transferred to the naval establish-
ment so as to confer title to pension thereunder, would be to wrest
from a most deserving and comparatively small class that measure of
honor, credit, and recognition provided by the lawmaking power for
those who imperil life in the war service of the country.
GILPIN’s BATTALION, MISSOURI VOLUNTEERS.
The claim of Martineau Winters, widow of William McK. Winters,
of the said battalion, was rejected on the ground that service in that
organization is not pensionable under the act of January 29, 1887,
granting pension to the soldiers and sailors of the Mexican war and
to their widows. This rejection was based upon a decision in the case
of Anton Brunz, rendered by Assistant Secretary Reynolds (8 P.D., 344),
holding that Gilpin's Battalion Missouri Infantry, was called into service
during the war with Mexico for the purpose of protecting the United
States trains on the Santa Fe route, and to punish the Indians who had
attacked those trains; and as the service of Brunz in said command
was all rendered at Fort Leavenworth, Mo., on the Santa Fe road, and
not in Mexico, on the coasts thereof, or en route thereto, he is not pen-
sionable under act of January 29, 1887, as a survivor of the Mexican war.
For reasons that appear in my opinion in the Martineau Winters
case, I addressed an inquiry to the Secretary of War intended to elicit
the military status of Gilpin's Battalion of Missouri Infantry in con-
nection with the United States forces serving in Mexico. p
That Department, in an exhaustive and clear statement, showed that
the military status of this battalion differed in nowise from that of
any other volunteer organization that was in active service during the
Mexican war. Its duty was that of keeping open a line of communi-
cation with the Army of the United States in Mexican territory, and
this duty had a direct and important connection with the military
operations of that Army.
As early as 1847, Mr. Marcy, then Secretary of War, in construing
the act of Congress of May 13, 1846, relative to the giving of bounty
land to certain troops, declared his construction of that act to be that
“the volunteers who were mustered into service under that act (which
authorized the President to accept 50,000 volunteers), and who went to
the place where their services were required by the Government,
whether it was in Mexico, or on the Indian frontier, or in Florida, are
entitled to bounty lands, in the same manner and under the same condi-
tions as if the company to which they belonged had been ordered to
Mexico.” *
It was evident that when the Brunz decision was made the Depart-
ment was laboring under grave misapprehension of the facts, in con-
&
REPORT OF ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR. 11
sidering and denying the pensionable status of those officers and
enlisted men who served in said battalion. I therefore held that the
officers and enlisted men of Gilpin's Battalion of Missouri Volun-
teers, who are shown by the record to have served with that organiza-
tion for sixty days or more and were honorably discharged, actually
served with the Army of the United States in Mexico, on the frontier
thereof, and also en route thereto, in the war with that nation, and, as
inferentially shown in the report from the War Department, were
engaged in battle, it not being obnoxious to the other provisions and
limitations of the act of January 29, 1887, have title to pension under
Said act. -
I desire to call attention to the necessity for additional room for the
accommodation of the Division of Pension Affairs. There are but
three rooms available for the use of the twenty-seven members of this
division. This overcrowded condition of the working rooms is unsani-
tary as well as inconvenient, and I recommend that additional room be
provided.
Very respectfully, e
- WEBSTER DAVIs,
Assistant Secretary.
Hon. C. N. BLISS,
Secretary of the Interior.
C
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGA
Illinºiſil
iii.
O7418.59
15