Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 15.djvu/267

FORTIETH CONGRESS. Sess. II. Ch. 264. 1868. 235

July 27, 1868.

CHAP. CCLXIV. —-An Act relating ta Pensions. July 27, 1866.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the laws granting pensions to the hereinafter-mentioned dependent relatives of deceased persons hav- ing neither widow or child entitled to pensions under existing laws, shall be so construed as to give precedence to such relatives in the following order, namely : First, mothers ; secondly, fathers; thirdly, orphan brothers and sisters under sixteen years of age, who shall be pensioned jointly if there be more than one: Provided, That if, in any case, the said persons shall have left both father and mother who were dependent upon them, then on the death of the mother the father shall become entitled to a pension commencing nom and alter the death of the mother; and upon the death of the mother and father the dependent brothers and sisters under sixteen years of age shall jointly become entitled to such pension until they attain the age of sixteen years, respectively, commencing from and after the death of the party who, preceding them, would have been entitled to the same: And provided further, That no pension heretofore S. awarded shall be affected by anything herein contained.

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That no person shall be entitled to a pension by reason of wounds received, or disease contracted, in the service of the United States, subsequently to the passage of this act, unless the person who was wounded or contracted disease was in the line of duty; and, if in the military service, was at the time actually in the field, or on the march, or at some post, fort, or garrison; or if in the naval service was at the time borne on the books of some ship, or other vessel of the United States, at sea or in harbor, actually in commission, or was on his way, by direction of competent authority, to the United States, or to some other vessel or naval station.

Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That so much of the acts approved April sixth, eighteen hundred and thirty-eight, and August twenty-third, of eighteen hundred and forty-two, as requires that pensions remaining un- claimed for fourteen months after the same have become due, shall be adjusted at the office of the third auditor, is hereby repealed; and the Failure of any pensioner to claim his or her pension for a period of three years after the same shall have become due, shall be deemed presumptive evidence that such pension has legally terminated by reason of the pensioner’s death, remarriage, recovery from disability, or otherwise, and the pensioner’s name shall be stricken from the rolls, subject to the right of restoration to the same on a new application, with evidence satisfactorily accounting for the failure to claim such pension.

Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That if any officer, soldier, seaman, or enlisted man has died since the fourth day of March, eighteen Children by hundred and sixty-one, or shall hereafter die, leaving a widow entitled to a pension, and a child or children under sixteen years of age by a former wife, each of said children shall be entitled to receive two dollars per month, to commence from the death of their father and continue until they severally attain the age of sixteen years, to be paid to the guardian of such child or children for their use and benefit: Provided, however, have pension of That in all eases where such widow is charged with the care, custody, and maintenance ot such child or children, the said sum of two dollars per month for each of said children shall be paid to her for and during the time she is, or may have been, so charged with the care, custody, and maintenance of such child or children, subject to the same conditions, provisions, and limitations as if they were her own children by her said deceased husband.

Sec. 5. And be further enacted, That in all cases where an increased pension has been or may hereafter be granted to any widow or guardian of the children under sixteen years of age of a deceased soldier or sailor under an act entitled "An act increasing the pensions of widows, and for

Precedence of payments of pensions to dependent relatives of deceased persons. Proviso. Former pensions not affected hereby. Pensions to be granted for wounds received or diseases contracted only in line of duty, &c. Repeal of parts of 1888, ch. 56.
Vol. v. p. 225. 1842, ch. 189, § 3.
Vol. v. p. 521.}} The failure to claim pension for three years to raise the presumption that pension has legally terminated, &c. Children by former wife of any soldier, &c. dying since March 4, 1861, and leaving widow entitled to a pension, to have pension of $2 a month; to be paid to widow, when, &c. {{USStatSidenote|R|Widow or guardian not to be deprived of increased pen-