Compared to the generosity with which it rewards itself, Congress doles out most scanty recompense even to the Government’s most faithful and long-suffering servants. Nevertheless, that it does not neglect or ignore them altogether, the annals of the Pension Bureau accurately attest.
The first Act promising pensions to those disabled by war, was passed in the next month after the Declaration of Independence, August 26, 1776. On September 16, 1776, specified grants of land were promised to those who should enter the service, and continue to its close; and in case of their death, to their heirs.
Under these early enactments, the mode prescribed by law, to decide who were entitled to pensions, was to leave the State Legislatures to decide who should justly receive pensions. Having decided, the State Legislatures paid the pensioners, and were reimbursed by the general Government.
Afterward, this method gave way to another, requiring the Judges of district, and circuit-courts, to decide the equity of the demand, and to pay it, as had formerly been done, by the Legislatures of the several States. These payments were not made, however, until after the lists reported by the Judges had been verified by comparison with the rolls on file in the War Department, when they were reported by the Secretary of War to Congress, and placed on the pension-lists, by a resolution of that body. This mode was found to be too slow in detecting frauds, and February 25, 1793, an Act was passed, prescribing rules to be observed by the courts in the investigation of claims, and providing that the evidence upon which the decision was based should accompany the report. This Act prevailed, with slight modifications, until March 3, 1819, when an Act was passed, authorizing the Secretary of War to place on the pension-rolls, without reporting the lists to Congress.
This authority was exercised by the Secretary of War, until March 2, 1833, when a distinct Bureau of the Government was established for the adjustment of pension claims. It was provided for in the section of a bill, which made an appropriation for the civil and diplomatic expense of the Government, for the year. This section said: “A Commissioner of Pensions shall be appointed by the President and the Senate, who shall receive a salary of twenty-five hundred dollars, which is hereby appropriated.” This office was perpetuated for many years by biennial enactments, the last providing that it should continue until further legislation on the subject.
Since the passage of the first Act, by the old Congress in 1776, there have been over four hundred distinct Acts relating to pensions for military and naval services, and for bounty-land rewarding such services, enacted by Congress. Instead of the small pension-lists transmitted by the courts of the country, through the Secretary of War to Congress, the tens of thousands of pension-claims, presented to the Government, under the various laws which relate to them, now require the constant services of more than three hundred clerks in the Pension Bureau, supervised by the Commissioner of Pensions.
It is the dual duty of this Bureau, to protect private interests, and to secure the enforcement of the law. The claims are infinite and often conflicting; the provisions of law manifold; and people unfamiliar with the immense demand upon such an office, sneer or smile, or weep over the length of the “red-tape” routine, through which its cases are so often “long drawn out.” Persons waiting outside the Bureau, can not comprehend the requirements or exigencies of a business demanding the employment of so large a force of actors, or touching the springs of so many public and private interests. Says one who knows: “Far better the delays of red tape, than the inextricable confusion, and total inability to transact business, which would be the inevitable result of a business system less minute and stringent.”
The Pension Bureau is divided into four divisions, viz: the Mail Division, the Judicial, the Financial, and the Miscellaneous.
The Mail Division is charged with the receiving, reading, distributing to the proper desks, all the mail. Every original application, every piece of additional evidence, every communication, of whatever nature, is stamped with the date of receipt, and, with the exception of letters of inquiry, they are entered on the records, which show from whom received, when received, and to whom delivered.
“It requires careful examination of the papers, a thorough knowledge of the office, and the closest analysis, to determine the proper destination of each communication. Many writers are obscure, many misstate their business, through ignorance or carelessness, and to quickly comprehend the import of all papers, requires a keen eye and a ready mind.