They should, in my opinion, receive immediate attention.
The number of pensioners added to the rolls during the fiscal year ended
June 30, 1888, is 60,252, and increase of pensions was granted in 45,716
cases. The names of 15,730 pensioners were dropped from the rolls during
the year from various causes, and at the close of the year the number of
persons of all classes receiving pensions was 452,557. Of these there
were 806 survivors of the War of 1812, 10,787 widows of those who served
in that war, 16,060 soldiers of the Mexican War, and 5,104 widows of
said soldiers.
One hundred and two different rates of pensions are paid to these
beneficiaries, ranging from $2 to $416.66 per month.
The amount paid for pensions during the fiscal year was $78,775,861.92,
being an increase over the preceding year of $5,308,280.22. The expenses
attending the maintenance and operation of the Pension Bureau during
that period was $3,262,524.67, making the entire expenditures of the
Bureau $82,038,386.57, being 21-1/2 per cent of the gross income and
nearly 31 per cent of the total expenditures of the Government during
the year.
I am thoroughly convinced that our general pension laws should be
revised and adjusted to meet as far as possible, in the light of our
experience, all meritorious cases. The fact that 102 different rates of
pensions are paid can not, in my opinion, be made consistent with
justice to the pensioners or to the Government; and the numerous private
pension bills that are passed, predicated upon the imperfection of
general laws, while they increase in many cases existing inequality and
injustice, lend additional force to the recommendation for a revision of
the general laws on this subject.
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