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Mr. JOHNSON. Has there been any limitation in the bills we have been passing confining the pensions to the widowhood of the pensioners?

Mr. LANE, of Indiana. There is that limitation in the bills generally; but it is not applicable to this case. The case is an exceedingly meritorious one. This lady nursed through the whole war without compensation, and her health was entirely broken down. She has letters from General Grant, General Sherman, General Meade, and all the commanding officers, recommending her as a most estimable lady of the highest character. The report of physicians is that she will probably not draw the pension six months.

The bill was reported to the Senate without amendment, ordered to a third reading, read the third time, and passed.

MRS. EMERANCE GOULER.

Mr. LANE, of Indiana. I move that the Senate now proceed to the consideration of the bill (S. No. 260) granting a pension to Mrs. Emerance Gouler.

The motion was agreed to; and the bill was read the second time and considered as in Committee of the Whole. By its provisions the Secretary of the Interior will be directed to place the name of Mrs. Emerance Gouler, widow of Charles Gouler, late a private in company F, ninth New Hampshire volunteers, on the pension-roll, at the rate of eight dollars per month, to commence from the passage of the bill and to continue during her widowhood.

Mr. JOHNSON. I ask for the reading of the report in that case.

The Secretary read the following report, which was made by Mr. LANE, of Indiana, on the 10th instant:

The Committee on Pensions, to whom were referred the petition and papers of Emerance Gouler, have bad the same under consideration, and report:

It appears from the evidence in this case that Charles Gouler, the husband of the petitioner, was a private in company F, ninth regiment New Hampshire volunteers, and was admitted to Satterlee United States general hospital, Pennsylvania, on the 28th of May, 1864, suffering from fever. That on the 8th of October following he received a pass from said hospital to leave the premises for a few hours, and that no information was afterward received concerning him until November 29, 1864, when it was stated by soldiers that he had been drowned. Upon an investigation by a coroner over the body of a soldier found in the Delaware river at Pine street wharf, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, October 14, 1864, he was identified by the pass and other papers found on the body.

The committee are of opinion that this is a meritorious case, and that under the circumstances the petitioner should receive a pension. They therefore report a bill for her relief.

Mr. JOHNSON. How came he to be drowned?

Mr. LANE, of Indiana. He was in hospital and received a sick leave to go out a few hours into the city, and never was heard of any more until he was found in the Delaware river and identified by the passes on his person. Nobody can tell how he came into the river. Mr. GRIMES. What was the verdict of the coroner's jury?

Mr. LANE, of Indiana. The verdict of the coroner's jury identified the body as that of the soldier who had left the hospital, and gave his name. He was identified by the passes on

his person.

Mr. JOHNSON. He was not drowned because he was a soldier.

Mr. LANE, of Indiana. He was not drowned because he was a soldier, but he had received his furlough from his commanding officer, in hospital, to go away for a few hours on sick leave. He was clearly in the service of the country; for we have always regarded men on furlough as continuing in the service. These are the facts of the case. The Senate can do with the Dill just as they choose.

Mr. FESSENDEN. This bill ought not to be passed, I think.

Mr. LANE, of Indiana. This is a pension to the widow; we think the man was drowned in the line of his duty.

Mr. FESSENDEN. He might have committed suicide, and in that way deprived the Government willfully cf his services.

Mr. LANE, of Indiana. He was in the service of the country until he was discharged. While he was on furlough he was in the service. He might have got

Mr. FESSENDEN. drunk while on furlough.

Mr. LANE, of Indiana. That may be true. These facts can never be explained further than the report goes. I think it a clear case for a pension. The committee were unanimous, and I believe the committee of the House have also agreed to report a bill in this case.

Mr. VAN WINKLE. I believe that by law where a soldier absent on sick leave or on furlough comes to his death his widow is entitled to a pension. This case differs from that. It was not a case of sick leave or furlough, but it was a mere permission for a convalescent to leave the hospital for a few hours. He did so and did not return. Some eight or ten days after his body was found floating in the Delaware river. The pass and other papers in his possession fully identified him as the man. There were no signs of violence on his body, and it may have been a case of accidental drowning.

Mr. FESSENDEN. Does the Senator from Indiana insist on pushing the bill?

Mr. LANE, of Indiana. I think it is right. I have no interest in pushing it; I do not know any of the parties; but it struck the committee as being a fair case. A soldier is in the service of the country until he is properly discharged. A sick leave or a furlough never discharges the soldier from the service. This man came to his death accidentally by drowning. He was a sick soldier and may have fallen into the water accidentally. We cannot tell how that was. At all events he was a soldier in the service of his country, and we think his widow entitled to a pension. His sickness was in the line of his duty; he had been in the hospital several days. The manner of his drowning can never be proved any more than it is now.

The bill was reported to the Senate, ordered to be engrossed for a third reading, and was read the third time.

Mr. FESSENDEN. I hope the Senate will not pass the bill.

The bill was passed.

SARAH E. WILSON,

Mr. LANE, of Indiana. I move now to take up the bill (S. No. 252) granting a pension to Mrs. Sarah E. Wilson.

The motion was agreed to; and the bill was read the second time, and considered as in Committee of the Whole.

It provides for placing the name of Mrs. Sarah E. Wilson, widow of William H. Wilson, late acting surgeon United States volunteers, on the pension-roll, at the rate of seventeen dollars per month, to commence from the passage of the bill and to continue during her widowhood.

Mr. GRIMES. I should like to hear the report in that case.

The Secretary read the report made by Mr. KIRKWOOD on the 6th instant. as follows:

The Committee on Pensions, to whom was referred the application of Sarah E. Wilson, have had the same under consideration, and ask leave to submit the following report:

William H. Wilson, the husband of the applicant, was sergeant of company I, eighty-second regiment New York volunteers; that he was a practicing physician and surgeon of good standing in his profession; that at the battle of Bull Run, July 21, 1861, he was detailed to act in his professional capacity on the field: that while so acting he was taken prisoner by the enemy; that he remained in the hands of the enemy as a prisoner until the fall of that year, when he was paroled and returned to his home; that at the battle of Antietam, being still unexchanged, he reported to the proper authorities at Washington in his professional capacity, and was sent to the battlefield to assist in caring for the wounded; that he discharged that duty faithfully and well, and while in the discharge thereof contracted the disease whereof he died March 22, 1863.

The committee report the accompanying bill and recommend its passage.

The bill was reported to the Senate without amendment, ordered to be engrossed for a third reading, read the third time, and passed.

W. II. TINKER AND J. P. M'ELROY. Mr. LANE, of Indiana. I move next to take up the bill (S. No. 76) to grant pensions to Walter H. Tinker and John P. McElroy, of Missouri.

The motion was agreed to.

Mr. LANE, of Indiana. The Committee on Pensions made an adverse report in the case, because it is covered by the provisions of the general law. I move that the bill be indefinitely postponed.

The motion was agreed to.

NICHOLAS HIBNER.

Mr. LANE, of Indiana. I move to take up the bill (S. No. 446) for the relief of Nicholas Hibner, late a private in the sixth regiment Missouri State militia.

The motion was agreed to; and the bill was considered as in Committee of the Whole.

It is to direct the Secretary of the Interior to place the name of Nicholas Hibner, of Caldwell county, Missouri, and late a private in the sixth regiment (cavalry) Missouri State militia, commanded by Colonel Catherwood, upon the list of pensioners at the rate of eight dollars per month, to commence on the passage of this act, and to continue during his natural life.

The bill was reported to the Senate without amendment, ordered to a third reading, read the third time, and passed.

SARAH E. PICKELL.

Mr. LANE, of Indiana. I move to take up House bill No. 458, granting a pension to Sarah E. Pickell.

The motion was agreed to.

Mr. LANE, of Indiana. That bill was reported adversely, and I move that it be indefinitely postponed.

The motion was agreed to.

ADJOURNMENT TO MONDAY.

Mr. GRIMES. I move that when the Senate adjourn to-day, it be to meet on Monday next.

Mr. MORRILL. On that motion I desire to read a communication upon which I may base a motion. I have had addressed to me a communication from certain persons who sign themselves an executive committee of the colored Union League in this city. I have been very much troubled to know what to do with it, but the Senator's motion offers me an opportunity to read it to the Senate, and then I propose to base a motion upon it. It is:

Whereas the 16th of April will be the anniversary of the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia; and whereas we colored citizens of the District are desirous of commemorating the great triumph of free and Christian principles over the wicked power of slavery and treason: Therefore,

Resolved, That we celebrate the said day with appropriate ceremonies.

Resolved, That looking to Congress as the sincere defenders of free and Christian principles, and as our true friends and protector in the trials and dangers with which we are surrounded, we respectfully ask that body to participate in the celebration of the anniversary of our emancipation.

Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be presented to both branches of Congress.

We leave it to your honorable body to decide in what way and manner the said day shall be celebrated. Very respectfully, J. L. HICKMAN,

Executive Committee of the Colored Union League. The 16th of April coming on Monday, I propose to amend the motion of the Senator from Iowa, so that when the Senate adjourns to-day it adjourn to meet on Tuesday next. I submit that amendment in order to test the sense of the Senate on the communication which I have felt it my duty to read to the Senate. I simply bring the communication to the consideration of the Senate in this way with a view to taking the sense of the Senate on the subject. I do not wish to press it unnecessarily.

Several SENATORS. Do not press that. Mr. MORRILL. Very well; I withdraw my amendment.

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The amendment being withdrawn the question is on the motion of the Senator from Iowa, that when the Senate adjourn to-day it be to meet on Monday next.

The motion was agreed to.

ANNIVERSARY OF THE ABOLITION OF SLAVERY.

Mr. MORRILL. I now present to the Senate the communication which I have just read,

and I move that it be referred to the Committee on the District of Columbia.

The motion was agreed to.

DISTRICT SUFFRAGE.

Mr. SPRAGUE. Mr. President, I ask the consent of the Senate, and the indulgence of the honorable chairman of the Committee on the District of Columbia, to elicit an answer to the following question: when is it his intention to press upon the attention of the Senate the bill conferring the right to vote upon the colored men in the District of Columbia? I believe, sir, that in this question there is a solution of the problem of reconstruction, if favorably considered by the Senate. I am in favor of voting, with no restrictions or reservations except the qualification of honest manhood. Educational qualifications may draw to the support of the question the weak and the timid. I am not, I hope, of that class.

While I am absorbed with the conviction that the bonded-warehouse system is detrimental to the interests of the country, and while I know that the delay in relieving the industry of the country from the burden of taxation now embarrasses every trade and our many agricultural and manufacturing interests, I yet am profoundly convinced that this subject is paramount in importance to all others. I therefore hope that the Senator from Maine will without delay ask the attention of the Senate to the House bill granting suffrage to the colored men of the District of Columbia. I shall be glad if he can at this time designate a day when he will move the Senate to the consideration of this important national question, and that he and the Senate will support the House bill granting the right of suffrage to the colored citizens of the District without reservation or restriction of any kind.

When that question is brought before the Senate I shall take an opportunity to show that upon the granting of the privilege of voting to the colored citizens in the southern States

depends the maintenance of the Union, the power of the country, and the permanence of a republican form of government.

Mr. MORRILL. It will be remembered, perhaps, that the Committee on the District of Columbia reported the bill to which allusion is made some weeks ago, and at that time an attempt was made to bring the measure before the Senate, but there were several other measures considered of such importance as to justify, in the judgment of the Senate, their consideration at that time, which necessarily excluded the consideration of this bill. It has been my purpose from that time to the present to embrace the first opportunity to present the subject anew to the Senate, and I will say to my honorable friend from Rhode Island that at an early day I shall endeavor to call up the measure and press it on the consideration of the Senate.

VIRGINIA K. V. MOORE.

Mr. LANE, of Indiana. I move now to take up for consideration the bill (H. R. No. 267) granting a pension to Virginia K. V. Moore. The motion was agreed to; and the bill was considered as in Committee of the Whole.

It directs the Secretary of the Interior to place the name of Virginia K. V. Moore, daughter of Richard D. Moore, deceased, late of company K, seventy-second regiment Illinois volunteers, on the list of invalid pensioners, and pay to her, or her legally appointed guardian, the sum of eight dollars per month from December 3, 1863, the date of the death of Richard D. Moore, until she shall have attained the age of sixteen years.

Mr. FESSENDEN. I should like to know what the precedent is for that.

Mr. LANE. of Indiana. Let the report be read.

The Secretary read the report made by the Committee on Invalid Pensions of the House of Representatives, by which it appeared that

Richard D. Moore entered the service of the United States in 1862, and that he was discharged on the 18th of August, 1863, on the certificate of an Army surgeon, for disability. The certificate sets forth that Moore had disease of the lungs, and that, in the surgeon's opinion, he had that disease at the time he entered the service. Private Moore died at the Sisters of Mercy hospital in Chicago, December 8, 1863, leaving no wife, but one minor child. Virginia K. V. Moore, aged about seven years and five months. By the certificate of Lieutenant Allison, commanding the company of the deceased, it is shown that at the time of entering the service he was in good health, but on or about the 30th of July, 1862, he was taken sick, while in the line of his duty, with chronic diarrhoea, and placed in hospital, and he was discharged in 1863 on account of that sickness for which he went to the hospital in Chicago. By the affidavit of the attending physician of that hospital, it appears that he died of chronic diarrhoea contracted while in the service of the United States, and that he had no other disease at the time of his death. The committee being of the opinion that he died from sickness contracted while in the line of his duty, recommend the passage of the bill granting a pension to his daughter.

Mr. FESSENDEN. Is there any precedent for such an allowance?

In that

Mr. VAN WINKLE. I will explain the case in a moment. It comes to Congress on account of what is undoubtedly a false or mistaken report made by a medical officer of the Army. My own impression, after a very attentive examination of all the evidence in the case, is that it was a mistake on the part of that surgeon, who is since dead, calling this man's disease consumption, or phthisis pulmonaris, as he expressed it, and he said the man was so disabled when he came into the Army. There is a mass of evidence to the contrary. His commanding officer certifies that he was a well man; his neighbors certify that he was a well man. There is a letter written by him while on the march to Vicksburg, which succeeded in the taking of that place, enumerating the hardships which the Army encountered in getting there; and there were some most cruel hardships to which they were subjected. letter he says that when he joined the Army his weight was one hundred and sixty-eight pounds, which is a heavy weight, I should suppose, for a man afflicted with consumption, and that it had by that time been reduced to one hundred and forty-seven pounds. He acquitted himself most nobly at the siege of Vicksburg, as the testimony of his commanding officer shows; but at that time he was attacked with a disease that is mentioned in the papers. He continued there for some time, still suffering from that disease, and was then removed to the Mercy hospital, at Chicago, where he remained until he died. There are among the papers letters from himself, written from that point, in which, although he does not speak directly of his disease, he describes it, so that evidently it was not consumption, but the disease mentioned in the report. The surgeon attending the patients in the hospital of the Sisters of Mercy makes a very distinct affidavit that the man suffered while there, and died, finally, of that disease-chronic diarrhoea.

It seems, from all this testimony, that the Army surgeon, as I have already stated, must have been mistaken. Perhaps it resulted from some confusion about the man. It is that point alone which prevented the Commissioner of Pensions from granting the pension in this case; and I believe there is in the papers a letter from the Commissioner of Pensions recommending the case to the consideration of Congress. They are very strict and very technical at the Pension Office, and we have had before our committee numerous cases where pensions have been refused merely upon a technicality. This is one such, or you may call it a case of conflict of evidence, if you please; but I think that in the absence of a certificate from the surgeon of the corps to which he belonged the

testimony of his commanding officer ought to be taken. He has not only that, but he has the confirmation of the other surgeon of whom I have spoken, and the testimony of his neighbors and friends; and lastly, there is a letter from a gentleman who conversed with the Sisters of Mercy, in charge of the hospital, who told him that that was the disease with which He was afflicted and of which he died.

Mr. FESSENDEN. My question did not go to the matter of the disease. I asked whether there were precedents for granting pensions to children.

Mr. VAN WINKLE. Yes, sir.

Mr. LANE, of Indiana. Under the pension law, pensions are continued to minor children under sixteen years of age. Is that the general

Mr. FESSENDEN.

law?

Mr. LANE, of Indiana. It is. Mr. VAN WINKLE. Where there is no widow.

Mr. LANE, of Indiana. There is no widow here; the proof shows that.

Mr. FESSENDEN. Are they granted to the children of all who are killed or die of disease contracted in the service?

Mr. LANE, of Indiana. Yes, sir; where there is no widow, to minor children up to sixteen years of age. Then the pension stops.

Mr. VAN WINKLE. The pension is divided among them. This man was a remarkably intelligent man; his letters show it; he was for a time a war correspondent of the New York Herald. His wife died before the war, and he seems from the time of her death to have been leading a wandering life.

The bill was reported to the Senate without amendment, ordered to a third reading, read the third time, and passed.

LEWIS W. DIETRICH.

Mr. LANE, of Indiana. I move now to take up the bill (H. R. No. 444) granting pension to Lewis W. Dietrich.

The motion was agreed to; and the bill was considered as in Committee of the Whole.

It directs the Secretary of the Interior to second lieutenant of company E, thirtieth regiplace the name of Lewis W. Dietrich, late a ment United States colored troops, on the pension-list, and to pay him a pension at the rate of fifteen dollars per month.

Mr. LANE, of Indiana. Let the report in this case be read; I have forgotten the circum

stances.

The Secretary read the report made by the which it appeared that Lieutenant Dietrich, House Committee on Invalid Pensions, by while on duty in the field in front of Petersburg, and while in the act of cleaning his pistol, on the 11th of October, 1864, was severely wounded in the hand by its accidental discharge, and that subsequently, from the nature of the wound, it became necessary to submit to disability he was honorably discharged the an amputation of his hand, and by reason of service. The committee, believing that the wound of Lieutenant Dietrich was an incident of the service in which he was engaged, regarded him as entitled to a pension.

The bill was reported to the Senate without amendment, ordered to a third reading, read the third time, and passed.

ELIZABETH YORK.

On motion of Mr. LANE, of Indiana, the bill (H. R. No. 448) granting a pension to Mrs. Elizabeth York, widow of Shubal York, late surgeon in the fifty-fourth regiment Illinois infantry volunteers, was considered as in Committee of the Whole.

The bill provides for placing the name of Elizabeth York, widow of Shubal York, late a surgeon in the fifty-fourth regiment Illinois volunteer infantry, on the pension-rolls, at the rate of twenty-five dollars per month, to commence from and after the passage of this act, and to continue during her widowhood.

Mr. GRIMES. Let the report be read. The Secretary read the report made by the Committee on Invalid Pensions of the House

of Representatives, from which it appeared that during Surgeon York's service, on the 28th of March, 1864, he was shot and killed at Charlestown, Coles county, Illinois, by disloyal citizens of that vicinity, he being at the time on a journey from his home to rejoin his regiment, he being in no respect in fault, but his death being caused by a wanton and unprovoked attack upon him and other soldiers by rebel citizens in that locality.

The bill was reported to the Senate without amendment, ordered to a third reading, read the third time, and passed.

BETSEY NASH.

On motion of Mr. LANE, of Indiana, the bill (H. R. No. 445) for the relief of the legal representatives of Betsey Nash, was considered as in Committee of the Whole.

The bill proposes to extend the provisions of the act of Congress, approved March 3, 1837, for the relief of Betsey Nash, to her legal representatives, and the amount appropriated by that act is directed to be paid to them; but the sum paid by virtue of this act is not to exceed the amount due Betsey Nash at the time of her death.

Mr. FESSENDEN. I understand that there have been adverse reports in this case.

Mr. LANE, of Indiana. The bill comes from the House of Representatives; I do not know that it has ever been in the Senate.

Mr. FESSENDEN. I understand that it has been reported on adversely heretofore.

Mr. GRIMES. I do not see any reason why the pension should be extended to the legal representatives.

Mr. LANE, of Indiana. If there is any objection to the bill I am willing to let it lie

over.

Mr. FESSENDEN. I think it had better lie over.

Mr. LANE, of Indiana. The committee thought that the report made in the House of Representatives was satisfactory.

Mr. VAN WINKLE. It does not appear that there has been adverse report. any Mr. LANE, of Indiana. I move that the bill be postponed for the present.

The motion was agreed to.

THOMAS HURLY.

Mr. LANE, of Indiana. I move to take up the bill (H. R. No. 25) for the relief of Thomas Hurly.

The motion was agreed to; and the bill was considered as in Committee of the Whole. The Secretary of the Interior is directed by the bill to place the name of Thomas Hurly, late a private of company K, eighth Tennessee cavalry, upon the pension-rolls, at the rate of twenty dollars per month, from and after the passage of this act, and to continue during his natural life.

Mr. GRIMES. Let the report be read. The Secretary read the report of the House Committee on Invalid Pensions, by which it appeared that Thomas Hurly while in the line of his duty was taken prisoner by the enemy at Bull's Gap, East Tennessee, was paroled and sent to Camp Chase, Ohio, from which place a furlough of thirty days was granted him to visit his home at Binghamton, New York. He was very weak and feeble from starvation and confinement at Danville prison. While on the Cleveland and Erie railroad being unable to obtain a seat he felt faint and upon the platform of the car to get some fresh air, when feeling still faint and attempting to sit down he fell from the platform and was run over by the cars, in consequence of which accident his legs were amputated, March 7. 1865, and he was mustered out of service July 17, 1865. The committee deem his case an eminently just one, and report a bill for his

Went

relief.

on a visit. I know of a case in my own State
where an officer, and a very meritorious one,
had leave of absence to go to New Orleans, and
on the way he was drowned; the vessel was
blown up or burst her boilers or something of
that kind; and a pension was denied I suppose
that must be the general rule, and for that rea-
son this special bill is introduced.

Mr. LANE, of Indiana. Yes, sir.
Mr. FESSENDEN. If this is to be passed,
I suppose there will be a great many other
cases of a similar description. I know that was
a very severe case because the man left a family.

Mr. LANE, of Indiana. We have a bill which
the Senator from West Virginia will call up in
lough, so that we shall have no more special
a few minutes to apply to all cases of a fur-
legislation on this subject, but a general law.
and all others of this description come under
Mr. FESSENDEN. Why not let this case
that general law?

Mr. LANE, of Indiana. This bill has already passed the House of Representatives and will go into operation sooner.

The bill was reported to the Senate without amendment, ordered to a third reading, read the third time, and passed.

ANN SHEEHEY.

On motion of Mr. LANE, of Indiana, the Senate, as in Committee of the Whole, proceeded to consider the bill (H. R. No. 461) granting a pension to Ann Sheehey.

By the bill the Secretary of the Interior is directed to place the name of Ann Sheehey, of Boston, Massachusetts, on the roll of invalid pensions, and pay or cause to be paid to her the sum of eight dollars per month during her widowhood; and the proper accounting officers of the Treasury are directed to settle and adjust the accounts of John Sheehey, late a private in company D, twenty-eighth Massachusetts volunteers, and pay to Ann Sheehey the amount that may be found to have been due him on the 38 day of July, 1863, the date of his death.

The Secretary read the report of the House Committee on Invalid Pensions, from which it appears that Ann Sheehey is the step-mother of John Sheehey, late a private of company D, twenty-eighth Massachusetts volunteers. Ann married the father of John in 1850, at which time John was but six years of age, when she took charge of him and discharged all the duties to him of a mother. In 1857 the father of John died, leaving him entirely dependent on his step-mother for support. On the 22d of November, 1861, he enlisted in the twentyeighth Massachusetts volunteers, and about this time the step-mother and all the family became dependent on the son. On July 3, 1863, he was killed while in the line of duty at the battle of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, leaving no relative in this country. The committee believe that the duties performed by Ann Sheehey of a mother come within the reason of the law granting pensions to mothers dependent upon sons killed in service, and therefore recommend the passage of the bill. Mr. FESSENDEN. I ask if the committee

design to extend all these cases to the step

mother. Has that been usual?

Mr. LANE, of Indiana. It has never been done before; it is a departure from the rule; but the circumstances appeared so peculiar that we thought it an appropriate case.

Mr. FESSENDEN. There are a great many other peculiar circumstances.

Mr. LANE, of Indiana. She took this boy when he was six years old and raised and supported him until he got large enough to go into the Army. He went into the Army and was killed. Before his entering the Army her health failed entirely, and he supported her up to the time he entered the service. He was killed in the service; and although she is a step-mother I do not see why the law should not be made to apply to her. She performed all the duties of a mother for some fifteen years in raising him. The papers show him to have been a

health failed until he was killed, and the simple question is, whether we shall put a stepmother on the same footing that his real mother would have been put. His real mother would have been embraced, but the step-mother is not, in the present law.

Mr. SHERMAN. I do not want to reject one of these cases, but this is extending the principle very far, and the argument would apply just as strongly in case this woman had been an aunt or even a person not connected by blood or marriage. We have never extended pensions so far as this and I am disinclined to enter on this principle.

Mr. FESSENDEN. I think the bill had ate. We can settle it better then than now, at better be passed over and settled in a full Sen

any rate.

Mr. LANE, of Indiana. I move that the bill be laid aside for the present. It does introduce a new principle, no doubt.

The motion was agreed to.

MRS. ANNA G. GASTON.

On motion of Mr. LANE, of Indiana, the bill (S. No. 261) for the relief of Mrs. Anna G. Gaston was read the second time, and considered as in Committee of the Whole.

It directs the Secretary of the Interior to place upon the pension-roll the name of Mrs. Anna G. Gaston, of the city of Washington, widow of Albert G. Gaston, deceased, late a lieutenant in the sixteenth regiment of Virginia volunteers, from the date of the discharge of her husband from the military service of the United States on account of disability arising from disease contracted in the service until the date of his death, namely, from the 5th of May, 1863, to the 7th of February, 1865, and to cause to be paid to her a pension at the rate of seventeen dollars per month for that term, without prejudice to the pension heretofore allowed her by the Commissioner of Pensions.

Mr. GRIMES. Let the report be read. The Secretary read the following report, made by Mr. VAN WINKLE, from the Committee on Pensions, on the 11th of April:

The Committee on Pensions, to whom was referred the petition of Mrs Anna G. Gaston, of the city of Washington, District of Columbia, widow of Albert G. Gaston, late a lieutenant in the sixteenth regiment of Virginia volunteers, respectfully report;

That the petitioner has been placed upon the pension-roll, and has drawn and is still drawing a pension of seventeen dollars per month since the 7th day of February, in the year 1865, but that her husband 1863, for disability arising from severe disease conwas honorably discharged on the 5th day of May, tracted in the service and in the line of duty, and the petitioner prays that she may be allowed a pension at the above rate from the time of her husband's discharge until his death. The tenth section of the supplementary pension act of 1864 provides, in substance, that if any person entitled to an invalid pension under the act of 1862 shall die while his application for such pension is pending, leaving a widow entitled to receive a pension by reason of his service and death, the pension to such widow shall commence from the date at which the decedent's invalid pension would have commenced had he survived. It appears from the testimony filed with the petition that the decedent, from the time of his discharge until his death, remained at his home in this city in a low and almost helpless state, but that he nevertheless initiated measures to obtain his pension by the employment of an agent to prepare the necessary papers and bring them to him for his signature, and as he was growing worse from day to day, manifested great solicitude and anxiety on the subject. The papers were not prepared by the agent, and consequently no application for his pension was made by the decedent.

The committee, believing that this case is clearly within the spirit, if not the letter, of the said tenth section of the aet of 1864, inasmuch as the decedent's preparations to make his application were in progress at the time of his death, and he unable, from the rapid progress of his disease, to give the matter his personal superintendence, or otherwise hasten it, respectfully recommend the passage of the accompanying bill.

Mr. FESSENDEN. I think the Senator from Indiana had better consent to lay that bill aside. It also establishes a new rule entirely.

Mr. VAN WINKLE. During my connection with the Pension Committee there have certainly been all the time cases where a party has been deprived of a pension simply by some technicality, or because as in this case for some reason he was not just in time. This man was

Mr. FESSENDEN. I shall not make any opposition to the bill; I do not wish to do so; but I have always understood that the rule was imperative not to grant pensions to soldiers or officers who met with an accident while away good young man; he supported her when her in the service and contracted a disease from

lying on the ground and exposure, and lay an invalid on his bed. During the interval that elapsed from his being honorably discharged from the service as disabled and the time of his death, he was very sick indeed, scarcely able to help himself. During that time, however, he endeavored to have an application made to the Pension Office. He employed an agent to prepare his papers, but that agent it seems moved away, or for some reason could not be found. He was greatly solicitous about it, and sent his wife and others to find the agent. They could not learn where he went except that he had gone to the State of Connecticut, they did not know to what particular place. The party was doing all he could to have his application entered at the Pension Office, and perhaps if he had lived three days longer the application might have been filed there, and then the widow would have been entitled to the pension for the whole time. The case is very clear. The Commissioner of Pensions has allowed the widow a pension dating from his death, and the law as quoted in the report is express that where the application is pending at the time of the death the pension relates back to the time of the disability. If, as we consider, this is a debt which we owe to these soldiers, we ought not to take advantage of what could not have been their negligence under the circum

stances.

Mr. FESSENDEN. How much time does it cover?

Mr. GRIMES. I understand the Senator to lay down the rule that this is justice to all. Then why not change your law and make it so? Why say that this particular woman shall be entitled to a pension for these two years that elapsed before the application was actually perfected, when you do not make the same allowance to soldiers who happen to be remote from this place, and who have greater disadvantages in securing pensions than these people? Mr. VAN WINKLE. The Senator does not understand the case. This widow applied for a pension and received it from the date of her husband's death. If he had made the application during his lifetime, the law would have made her pension commence from the date of his disability. If the agent had done his duty he might have filed the papers in ten days. They are perfectly clear, so that the pension was at once granted by the Commissioner upon them. The proof of marriage and everything else is complete.

Mr. GRIMES. I have no doubt there are ten thousand cases, and more too, in the United States, where there is more or less time, one year or two or three years, between the period when the person who rendered the service dies and the time when the widow or surviving heirs make their application. As I understand it, we settle, in this instance, if we pass this bill, a rule by which we are to be governed in the future, that in such cases as that we shall pay pension between the time at which the parties might have applied and the time at which they did actually apply and secure the pension.

Mr. VAN WINKLE. There is a law that in certain cases an application must be made|| within three years, or otherwise the pension commences only from the time the proof is completed. That is intended, of course, as a safeguard to induce people to come forward at the proper time. But here the party endeavored to make his application. He was a poor sick man, lying on his bed, utterly helpless. He brought his case so near completion that a day or two might have completed it, or it might have been done if this agent had returned to the city before his death. If, as I said before, we consider that this is at all a debt which we owe to these men-and I consider it so to whatever extent the law gives it to them-I do not think we ought to take advantage of a little lapse of time in this way, when the party himself was not and could not have been in fault. If it had been a case of voluntary delay; if he had made no effort to have his application

presented, then I should have nothing to say in favor of the claim.

Mr. GRIMES. I am not speaking now in regard to this case particularly; but if we are to be governed by those humane motives to which the Senator from West Virginia alludes, I want to have the principle apply to other cases as well as this particular one, and I want the Senator, as a member of the Committee on Pensions, to allow other soldiers or the widows of other soldiers to recover their pensions between the time that they may claim that they attempted to secure their pensions and the time they actually did secure them. We give to this woman three or four hundred dollars, as I understand it, by this bill; that is a mere bagatelle; but we settle a principle that we must be governed by in the future, contrary to the precedent that has hitherto existed and by which we have been governed before. I do not understand that the Senator from West Virginia controverts that fact; but simply upon the ground that this deceased soldier made an attempt to secure his pension but was unsuccessful, we are to make the allowance. Is the Senator prepared to say that whenever a case shall be presented here where the widow claims that her deceased husband has attempted to secure a pension and has failed in being able to do it, she shall be allowed, as in this instance? Here is a man from my State; he applies; he has not got the requisite testimony; he has just as meritorious a case as this; a man who has suffered and bled in the service; he employs an agent; the agent is not competent to transact the business; he sends on his papers, and the papers are found to be defective; whose fault is it? Does not that present just as much merit as this case? While they are making that effort to secure a pension, but are refused, the man dies. If we settle this rule for this case in the way that it is proposed by the Committee on Pensions to settle it, would not that person from my State be entitled to a pension between the time that the man made the abor tive attempt to secure the pension and the time his widow actually did secure it? Certainly, according to the principle contended for here.

Mr. VAN WINKLE. The cases are not similar. In this case a particular application is made for which the proofs must be perfected or no pension will be allowed. The widow subsequently makes application, the proofs are perfected, and the pension allowed, showing that this man most certainly would have got his pension if his application had been made and he had survived until it was disposed of at the Pension Office. The Senator is also mistaken in supposing that I put this upon humane grounds. There are such cases that come before us occasionally, and I am happy to know that they have been responded to when they come distinctly on that ground. But I mentioned the sickness of the man as showing his inability to do more than he did do; that while he was taking steps to have his application made, and was prevented giving it his personal supervision, he died, and simply because he died a few days sooner his widow is to lose the compensation that the law intended for her, as I think. If every case was to be decided, when it comes here, strictly according to law, there would be nothing that I know of for the Pension Committee to do. All, or pretty much all, the cases that come before us are exceptional cases, and we have to examine the testimony, and generally speaking, where we believe there has been no laches, no neglect, no misconduct, nothing wrong on the part of the applicant, but there is only a technical difficulty or something of this kind, where the time has expired a little too soon, the committee have been in the habit of reporting and both Houses of passing such bills. I think this addresses itself not to the humanity, but to the sense of justice of the Senate.

Mr. GRIMES. I think the Senator is mistaken in saying that the Senate has been in the habit of passing such bills. I served for some years on the Committe on Pensions, and

I never knew any such bill as this to pass, and I think I could with safety appeal to the President of the body, who was chairman of that committee, to say that no such bill ever did pass founded on such a principle.

Mr. VAN WINKLE. I mean to say that they propose bills where the party does not bring himself quite within the law, so that the Commissioner can grant a pension.

Mr. GRIMES. Of course I agree with the Senator from West Virginia that if we adhered strictly to the law there would be no necessity for the Committee on Pensions; but then there are certain rules by which that committee has been governed, and one of those rules is that pensions shall not be allowed between the time when the party makes application for a pension and the time when it shall be granted.

Mr. VAN WINKLE. This bill is founded on a law precisely contrary to what the Senator now states. The law provides that if the application is made at a certain time, the pension shall relate back to the time of the disability. This bill is to give the benefit of that provision to this widow.

Mr. GRIMES. I am quite well satisfied that this bill establishes too important a principle for us to pass it now in so thin a Senate, a principle that, as I understand it, will involve the taking of millions of dollars out of the Treasury. I desire that the bill be laid over until we can examine it more fully.

Mr. LANE, of Indiana. You will bear me witness, Mr. President, that the rule of the Pension Committee, and in both Houses of Congress, has been variable. Sometimes the pension under special law is made to revert back to the time of disability, and sometimes only to the passage of the act. We have, during this session, in our committees, resolved to make the pensions always commence from the passage of the act, and not go back. But under the present law, where a pension is applied for in the Pension Office, and it is granted, it relates back to the filing of the application. This is a very peculiar case. The man was sick, unable to attend to his business, utterly prostrate, dying; and in that condition he sent his wife to employ an agent to file his claim for a pension. He had his neighbors running to try to get up his papers, he lying prostrate, sick all the time, worrying about his papers; and before he could get the papers presented by the agent, he died.

The Commissioner of Pensions, in a letter to the committee, recommends this as an especially meritorious case, coming within the spirit but not the letter of the law. He was unable to make his application from disease and sickness. The case the gentleman from Iowa puts might be a little different; the neglect might have been voluntary; there might have been no good reason for it; but I am free to say that when the delay is explained satisfactorily to my mind, as the delay in this case, I shall without the slightest hesitation, vote for the pension.

Mr. FESSENDEN. I think the Senator had better let this go over if he has other bills, because the Senate is very thin now.

Mr. LANE, of Indiana. I move that this bill be laid aside for the present.

The motion was agreed to. MARINE HOSPITALS AND REVENUE CUTTERS. Mr. CHANDLER. I submit the following report from a committee of conference, and ask that it may be acted upon now:

The committee of conference on the disagreeing votes of the two Houses on the amendments to the bill (H. R. No. 184) to authorize the sale of marine hospitals and of revenue cutters having met, after full and free conference have agreed to recommend, and do recommend, to their respective Houses as follows:

That the Senate recede from their first, second, and third amendments.

That the House of Representatives recede from their disagreement to the fourth amendment to the Senate and agree to the same with an amendment, as follows:

Strike out all after the word "provided," in line twelve of said bill, down to the word "where," in line seventeen, and insert the following: "That the hospitals at Cleveland, Ohio, and Port

land, Maine, shall not be sold or leased, nor shall
any hospital be sold or leased."
Z. CHANDLER,
JOHN SHERMAN,
Managers on the part of the Senate.
E. B. WASHBURNE,
B. EGGLESTON,
J. M. HUMPHREY,
Managers on the part of the House.
The report was concurred in.

OBITUARY ADDRESSES ON SENATOR FOOT. Mr. POLAND submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Printing:

Resolved, That there be published, in pamphlet form, for the use of the Senate, six thousand copies of the addresses made by members of the Senate and members of the House of Representatives upon the occasion of the announcement of the death of Hon. Solomon Foot, and that Rev. Dr. Sunderland be reguested to furnish a copy of the sermon delivered by him at the funeral of Senator Foot, to be published with said addresses.

CATTLE PLAGUE.

Mr. POLAND. I offer the following resolution, and ask for its present consideration:

Resolved, That the Secretary of the Interior be requested to inform the Senate whether he has any information that the rinderpest or cattle plague,

which has been so destructive on the eastern continent, has appeared in any part of the United States, and whether in his judgment any further measures can be adopted to prevent the introduction or spread of such disease in this country, and if he has information what remedies and what course of treatment are advisable.

There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the resolution.

Mr. GRIMES. It seems to me that should be addressed to the chief of the Bureau of Agriculture.

Mr. POLAND. I understand that the Bureau of Agriculture is a part of the Department

of the Interior.

Mr. GRIMES. No, sir; it is a perfectly independent Department.

Mr. POLAND. The resolution in the first place was directed to that Department; but I supposed it was more appropriate to have it directed to the Department of the Interior. I will modify the resolution so as to direct it to the Commissioner of the Department of Agri

culture.

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Mr. POLAND. I understand that some information on this subject is in the possession of the Department which ought to go before

the country.

The resolution, as modified, was adopted.

HOUSE BILL REFERRED.

The joint resolution from the House of Representatives (H. R. No. 46) for the relief of Martha McCook, was read twice by its title, and referred to the Committee on Pensions.

AMENDMENT OF PENSION LAWS.

On motion of Mr. VAN WINKLE, the Senate, as in Committee of the Whole, proceeded to consider the bill (H. R. No. 363) supplementary to the several acts relating to pensions. The first section of this bill proposed to repeal section five of an act entitled "An act supplementary to an act entitled 'An act to grant pensions, approved July 14, 1862," approved July 4, 1864, and section three of an act entitled "An act supplementary to the several acts relating to pensions," approved March 3, 1865, and to substitute the following in lieu thereof:

That from and after the passage of this act all perOns now by law entitled to a less pension than hereinafter specified, 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, in the military or naval service and in the line of duty, 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 foot, or been totally and permanently disabled in the same, 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, shall be entitled to a pension of fifteen dollars per month.

The second section of the bill declares that any pledge, mortgage, sale, assignment, or asfer of any right, claim, or interest in any 33TH CONG. 1ST SESS.-No. 122.

pension which has been, or may hereafter be granted, shall be void and of no effect; and any person acting as attorney to receive and receipt for money for and in behalf of any person entitled to a pension shall, before receiv ing the money, take and subscribe an oath, to be filed with the pension agent, and by him to be transmitted, with the vouchers now required by law, to the proper accounting officer of the Treasury, that he has no interest in the money by any pledge, mortgage, sale, assignment, or transfer, and that he does not know or believe that the same has been so disposed of to any person; and any person who shall falsely take this oath shall be guilty of perjury, and on conviction, shall be liable to the pains and penalties of perjury.

The third section provides that any person who shall present or cause to be presented at any pension agency any power of attorney or other paper required as a voucher in drawing a pension, which paper shall bear a date subsequently to that on which it was actually signed or executed, shall be deemed guilty of high misdemeanor, and shall, on conviction thereof, be punished by a fine not exceeding $500, or by imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years, or by both, at the discretion of the court before whom the conviction shall be had.

The fourth section repeals section one of an act entitled "An act supplementary to the several acts relating to pensions," approved March 3, 1865.

The fifth section provides that if any person entitled to an invalid pension has died since March 4, 1861, or shall hereafter die while an application for such pension is pending, and after the proof has been completed, leaving no widow and no minor child under sixteen years of age, his 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 death.

The sixth section provides that 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 of duty, after the date of the commission, and before being mustered, such officer or 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; but this section is not to apply to any officer who shall have willfully neglected or refused to be so mustered.

absent on sick leave, and enlisted men absent According to the seventh section, officers on sick furlough, are to be regarded in the administration of the pension laws in the same manner as if they were in the field or hospital.

The eighth section provides that the period of service of all persons entitled to the benefits of the pension laws, or on account of whose sion, shall be construed to extend to the time death any person may become entitled to a penof disbanding the organization to which such persons belonged, or until their actual discharge for other cause than the expiration of the service of such organization.

The ninth section declares that enlisted men employed as teamsters, wagoners, artificers, hospital stewards, farriers, saddlers, and all other enlisted men, however employed in the service of the Army or Navy, not specifically mentioned in the first section of an act entitled "An act to grant pensions," approved July 14, 1862, shall be regarded, in the administration of the pension laws, as non-commissioned officers or privates.

The tenth section provides that if any officer, soldier, or seaman shall have died of wounds received or of disease contracted in the line of duty in the military or naval service of the United States, leaving a widow and a child or children under the age of sixteen years, and it shall ing probate jurisdiction, that satisfactory evibe duly certified under seal, by any court hav

dence has been produced before such court that the widow 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, then no pension shall be allowed to such widow until the minor child or children shall have become sixteen years of age, any previous enactment to the contrary notwithstanding; and the minor child or children shall be pensioned in the same manner as if no widow had survived the officer, soldier, or seaman, and such pension may be paid to the regularly authorized guardian of such minor or minors.

The Committee on Pensions reported the bill with various amendments. The first amendment of the committee was in section one, line twelve, after the word "persons," to strike out the word "now;" and in line twelve, after the word "who," to insert "while in the military or naval service and in the line of duty."

Mr. VAN WINKLE. The word "now" is proposed to be stricken out as superfluous; at any rate, if laws are hereafter passed including another class of persons in the pension laws, we should have to reenact all these provisions with reference to them. The amendment in line twelve, to insert the words "while in the military or naval service, and in the line of duty," is a mere transposition of words, which depends upon the next amendment in the fifteenth and sixteenth lines, striking out the same words. It may be passed by, therefore, until the next amendment is considered.

I will state to the Senate that the sections of acts proposed to be repealed are those which grant to a man who has lost both feet a pension of twenty dollars a month; where he has lost both hands or both eyes, twenty-five dollars a month; and where he has lost one hand and one foot, twenty dollars a month. The provisions in relation to those disabilities are incorporated in this bill in perhaps a better form. The committee of the Senate has gone further, and placed in the same classes other disabilities which are equal to the disabilities named. I ask the Secretary to read the next amendment with reference to the words that are

transposed.

The Secretary read the amendment, in section one, line fifteen, to strike out the words "in the military or naval service, and in the line of duty," and to insert "", '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.

Mr. VAN WINKLE. Various petitions have been presented to Congress asking that particular provision might be made for those who lost one hand or one arm. This brought the subject to the consideration of the committee, and they came to the conclusion that there were disabilities which were equal to even the severest of those now mentioned in the present law as it now stands, which ought to be included. For instance, a case was related to the opposite side of the Chamber of a soldier us by a member of the commitee who sits on now in hospital at Louisville. He was shot through the throat, or somewhere in that region, and is unable to swallow anything but liquids, and is also unable to feed himself. We thought that was a case, as presented to us, certainly equal to the loss of both hands or both legs.

The provisions of this section, including the amendments of the Senate committee, are offered in lieu of propositions that have been made to increase the rate of pensions generally. The committees of both Houses, and I believe with the approbation of the Cominissioner of Pensions and the Secretary of the Interior, have thought that this was the best way to do justice to all. I ask the attention of the Senate to this subject. They will perceive that we come to a second class of disabilities who receive a lower rate of pension, and that there are included in that class those whose disability goes to a certain extent; and so of a third class. By our rules I presume we are required to take up each amendment as it stands. I propose, therefore, to take the vote on the amendment just read, which, as the

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