Pensions are a provision, made by the general government, for the officers and privates of the army and navy disabled in the service of the country. They peril their lives for the protection of the public, and it has always been regarded as just that a support, proportioned to the extent of injury received, should be given to them, or to those dependent on them in case of their death. It is properly a continuance of pay in consideration of the services rendered. It does not often amount to a full support, and is graduated by the amount each received, according to rank. A COMMISSIONER OF PENSIONS
 
Was appointed and placed at the head of a bureau, at first in the War Department, but afterward transferred to the care of the Secretary of the Interior. It is a Pension Office, in fact. This commissioner is appointed by the President and Senate in the same manner as other important officers. It is his duty to carry into effect the pension laws. He is authorized to appoint pension agents in all the States and Territories, who receive and distribute the money due to pensioners in their several districts, the agents receiving from the government a percentage for their services.
There has always been a large number on the list. At first they were the disabled soldiers and sailors of the Revolutionary War; then of the War of 1812 with England, followed in 1846 by the Mexican War. But all these were few compared with the number disabled in the Civil War. The amount[340] appropriated by Congress for the year 1873-4, for pensions was $30,480,000. The law carefully protects the pensions against frauds and forbids its attachment by any legal process whatever. The nation is grateful to its brave defenders.
The proper officials to whom all applications should be made, by letter or petition, in Washington, are, by a soldier having his discharge, to the Paymaster General; when the discharge paper is lost, to the Second Auditor of the Treasury; when by those who represent a deceased person, to the second Auditor of the Treasury; when for commutation of rations, to the same officer; when for pensions, or any matter connected with pensions, to the Commissioner of Pensions.
Instructions have been prepared for all applicants, by the Commissioner of Pensions for the purpose of preventing fraud or misunderstanding. They are, in substance:
INSTRUCTIONS.
 
By the act of Congress approved July 14th, 1862, and amendatory acts, pensions are granted as follows:
1. Invalids, disabled in the military or naval service of the United States, in the line of duty.
2. Widows of persons who have been killed or have died in the military or naval service of the United States.
3. Children under sixteen, of the classes of persons on account of whose death widows are entitled; provided said widows have died, or have remarried.
4. Mothers of all classes of persons on account of whose death widows are entitled, provided said mothers were dependent on the deceased for support and no minor child survived.
5. Fathers, the same as mothers, in case of the death of the latter.
6. Brothers and sisters, under sixteen, provided they were dependent for support upon the person on account of whose decease they claim.
The First Section of the Act of July 14th, 1862, showing the rates of pension to the several classes and grades, is as follows:
[341]
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, That if any officer, non-commissioned officer, musician, or private of the army, including regulars, volunteers, militia, or any officer, warrant, or petty officer, musician, seaman, ordinary seaman, flotillaman, marine, clerk, landsman, pilot, or other person in the navy or marine corps, has been, since the fourth day of March, eighteen hundred and sixty-one, or shall hereafter 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, musicians 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, twenty-five 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 disability 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,[342] master, assistant surgeon, assistant paymaster, and chaplain, twenty dollars per month; first assistant engineer and pilots, fifteen dollars per month; passed midshipman, midshipman, captain’s, and paymaster’s clerk, second and third assistant engineers, master’s 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.
Act of July 4, 1864.
 
Various supplementary Acts have been passed by the Act of July 14, 1862, modifying in some particulars the provisions of previous legislation.
By the Act of July 4, 1864, it is provided that biennial examinations will hereafter be made by one surgeon only, if he is regularly appointed, or holds a surgeon’s commission in the army. Examinations by unappointed civil surgeons will not be accepted, unless it can be shown that an examination by a commissioned or duly appointed surgeon is impracticable.
Increased Pensions in Certain Cases.—A pension of twenty-five dollars per month is granted to those having lost both hands or both eyes in the military service of the United States, in the line of duty, and twenty dollars per month to those who, under the same conditions, shall have lost both feet, if such parties were entitled to a lower rate of pension under the act of 1862. This higher pension will date only from the 4th day of July, 1864, in case of pensioners already enrolled, or of applicants discharged prior to that date.
Evidence of Muster-in.—In accordance with the 11th Section of the Act of July 4, 1864, evidence of the muster-in of the soldier will not be required in any case, but there must be positive record evidence of service. Evidence of muster-in in the case of commissioned officers is still required.
Act of June 6, 1866.
 
The Supplementary Pension Act, approved June six, eighteen[343] hundred and sixty-six, provides increased rates of pensions over those granted by the Act of July fourteen, eighteen hundred and sixty-two, in the following cases, viz.:
1. Twenty-five dollars per month to all those invalids entitled, under the Act of July fourteen, eighteen hundred and sixty-two, to a lower rate of pension, on account of service rendered since March four, eighteen hundred and sixty-one, “who shall have lost the sight of 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.”
2. Twenty dollars per month to those invalids who, being entitled under like conditions to a lower rate of pension, “shall have lost both feet, or one hand and one 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.”
3. Fifteen dollars per month to those invalids who, under like conditions, “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.”
In order to obtain the benefits of the foregoing provisions, pensioners already enrolled will file an application in accordance with form F, appended hereto. Proof in addition to that on file with the previous application need not be forwarded, except as shall be specially required in each case, after the application is received. The applicant need only be examined by a pension surgeon when expressly required, on due notice from this office. Applicants not already pensioned, who believe themselves entitled to the benefit of the foregoing provisions, will specifically set forth such claim in their declarations, carefully stating the nature of the disability on account of which such higher rate of pension is claimed. The declaration must be made before some officer of a court of record, or before a[344] pension notary designated by this office, as provided by the third section of the act of July four, eighteen hundred and sixty-four.
The above specified increased rates of pension will be allowed only to those disabled since the fourth day of March, eighteen hundred and sixty-one, and will date only from the sixth day of June, eighteen hundred and sixty-six.
Teamsters, Artificers, and other Enlisted Men,—not embraced in the terms of the Act of July fourteen, eighteen hundred and sixty-two, or of Acts supplementary thereto, are, by the tenth section of the Act of June six, eighteen hundred and sixty-six, included in the administration of the pension laws, in the class of non-commissioned officers and privates.
Minor Children to be Pensioned, in Certain Cases, instead of the Widow.—The eleventh section provides that when any widow, entitled to a pension under previous Acts, has abandoned the care of a child or children of her deceased husband, under sixteen years of age, “or is an unsuitable person, by reason of immoral conduct, to have the custody of the same,” the pension shall be paid to the duly authorized guardian of such child or children, while under the age of sixteen years, and not to the widow. The proper proof in such case, as provided by this section, is the certificate of the judge of any court having probate jurisdiction, “that satisfactory evidence has been produced before such court” to the effect above indicated. In presenting an application under this section, the guardians of the minor child or children will make a declaration in accordance with the appended form G.
Pensions Granted to Dependent Fathers and to Dependent Orphan Brothers.—By the twelfth section the provisions of the Act of July fourteen, eighteen hundred and sixty-two, are extended so as to include the dependent brother or brothers of a deceased officer, soldier or seaman, and the dependent father of such deceased persons, under like limitations as apply in the case of dependent sisters and mothers; but not more than one pension is granted on account of the same person, or to[345] more than one of said classes. The forms prescribed for the latter cases may be used, with obvious variations, in applications made by dependent fathers or on behalf of dependent brothers.
Limitations as to Number and Date of Pensions.—The thirteenth section declares that but one pension shall be granted to any person at the same time; and that when application is not made within three years after the death or discharge of the party on whose account a pension is claimed, such pension, if allowed, “shall commence from the date of filing the last paper in sai............