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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.

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That if any officer or other person named in the first section of this act has died since the fourth day of March, eighteen hundred and sixty-one, or shall hereafter die, by reason of any wound received or disease contracted while in the service of the United States, and in the line of duty, his widow, or, if there be no widow, his child or children under six

teen years of age, shall be entitled to receive the same pension as

the husband or father would have been entitled to had he been totally disabled, to commence from the death of the husband or father, and to continue to the widow during her widowhood, or to the child or children until they severally attain to the age of sixteen years, and no longer.

SEO. 4. And be it further enacted, That... And provided, further, That no moneys shall be paid to the widow or children, or any heirs of any deceased soldier, on account of bounty, back pay or pension, who have in any way been engaged in, or who have aided or abetted, the existing rebellion in the United States; but the right of such disloyal widow or children, heir or heirs of such soldier, shall be vested in the loyal heir or heirs of the deceased, if any there be. Sections six and seven, regulate fees for procuring pensions, etc., and prescribe penalties for over-charge.

SEC. 10. And be it further enacted, That the pilots, engineers, sailors and crews upon the gunboats and war vessels of the United States, who have not been regularly mustered into the service of the United States, shall be entitled to the same bounty allowed to persons of corresponding rank in the naval service, provided they continue in service to the close of the present war; and all persons serving as aforesaid, who have been or may be wounded or incapacitated for service, shall be entitled to receive for such disability the pension allowed by the provisions of this act, to those of like rank, and each and every such person shall receive pay according to corresponding rank in the naval service: Provided, That no person receiving pension or bounty under the provisions of this act shall receive either pension or bounty for any other service in the present war.

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SEC. 11. And be it further enacted, That the widows and heirs of all persons described in the last preceding section who have been or may be employed as aforesaid, or who have been or may be killed in battle, or of those who have died or shall die of wounds received while so employed, shall be paid the bounty and pension allowed by the provisions of this act, according to rank, as provided in the last preceding section.

The entire act will be found on pages 28 to 32.

A joint resolution of Congress, approved July 16, 1862, extends the benefits of the foregoing act to the masters serving on the gunboats of the United States, as follows:

JOINT RESOLUTION to grant Pensions to Masters and other Officers upon the Gunboats in the service of the United States.

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the masters serving on board of gunboats employed in the service of the United States shall be entitled to all the benefits, including bounty and pension, provided for in an act entitled "an act to grant pensions," passed during the present session of Congress, and the widows, mothers and heirs of such officers shall be entitled to all the benefits of said act.

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.

The act of January 13, 1813, grants half-pay to the widows and orphans of officers, only.

The first act making general provision for the widows and orphans of officers, seamen and marines, who served in the navy proper, and on board privateers, was that of March 4, 1814, which was amended by act of March 3, 1817, and the second section of the act of April 16, 1818. These acts all related to the war of 1812, except that of March 3, 1817, which acts retrospectively and prospectively.

The pensions to widows of persons who served in the navy proper, were continued by sundry acts, in periods of five years, until by act of June 3, 1858, when they

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were renewed to widows during life or widowhood, and to orphans until sixteen years of age.

The pensions to widows of privateers were continued by various acts until 1839, when they were permitted to expire by limitation-the privateer pension fund being exhausted.

Pensions were granted to the widows and orphans of sea-fencibles who served in the war of 1812, by act of April 16, 1816, and of those who died since April 20, 1818, by act of July 4, 1836. These pensions are also renewed by act of June 3, 1858.

The act of March 3, 1817, explains what kinds of disability will entitle to a pension. It relates to past and future cases.

The act of June 30, 1834, grants pensions to the widows of officers, seamen and marines who died in the naval service since January 1, 1824, or may die after the passage of the act.

The act of March 3, 1837, made general provision for the widows and orphans of persons who died in the naval service; but this act is no longer in force.

The act of August 23, 1842, repeals the act of March 3, 1837, and provides that pensions shall be regulated by the pay in the navy as it existed on the first day of January, 1835.

By the special act of June 15, 1844, pensions are allowed to widows and orphans of persons lost in the United States schooner Grampus, and the date of the loss of the vessel fixed, for pension purposes.

A rule of evidence is established by the act of May 7, 1846.

Pensions were renewed for five years to such widows and children as were then receiving them, by act of Au

WIDOWS AND ORPHANS-NAVAL-REGULATIONS AND FORMS.

gust 11, 1848; and the same act grants half-pay for five years to the widows and children of engineers, firemen and coal-heavers.

The act of June 3, 1858, extends for life, to widows, and until the age of sixteen years, to orphans, the halfpay, granted by any acts of Congress.

By act of August 1, 1856, the time of the loss of the sloop Albany and brig Porpoise, was determined, for pension purposes; and by act of July 24, 1861, the time of the loss of the sloop Levant was also fixed, for like purposes.

No law exists granting pensions to the widows or orphans of persons dying in the revenue cutter service, even though such revenue cutter be co-operating with the navy proper.

The act of July 14, 1862, makes provision for pensions to the widows and orphans of persons dying in the naval service, in the war of 1861.

SECTION II.

REGULATIONS AND FORMS FOR OBTAINING PENSIONS FOR WIDOWS AND ORPHANS IN NAVY CASES.

PENSION OFFICE, May 23, 1853.

Sir For your information I inclose a form of application for widow's navy pension, together with a printed sheet exhibiting the description of evidence furnished to this office under the general order of the 17th February, 1851, in every case of disability or death in the naval service.

In all claims for widow's pension, or a renewal thereof, it must be shown by evidence, accompanying the application, or already on file, that the husband lost his life while in the naval service, by reason of wounds or injuries received, casualty incurred, or disease contracted in the line of duty. In cases of a date subsequent to

WIDOWS AND ORPHANS-NAVAL-REGULATIONS AND FORMS.

that of the general order, such evidence may generally be found here; but if of prior date must, if practicable, be furnished by the certificates of medical or other commissioned officers of the navy, cognizant of the facts. If, after using due diligence, such certificates can not be obtained, the applicant can then present such other testimony as would be taken in a court of justice.

The usual legal proof of marriage must be produced, accompanied by a statement of the names and ages of all children of the parties, whether the fruit of their own or of former marriage. This last is to be desired, not only as a security to the Government, but as facilitating any future claim on the part of the children.

The widowhood and identity of the applicant should be stated in the memorial, and certified by the officiating magistrate or established by the affidavit of credible witnesses; and all evidence (excepting the certificates of naval officers), must be given by affidavit before a magistrate, whose official character must be certified by the clerk of the county in which he acts, under his seal of office.

Applications for orphans' navy pension may be made in the following cases:

1. Death of mother before the father.

2. Death of mother since the father, but without having received the benefit of the pension laws.

3. Death or intermarriage of their mother, since having received such benefit.

In the first and second cases, the same testimony would be required as in widow's applications, together with legal proof of the names and ages of the children.

In the third case, the latter only.

Orphans' applications can be made by the legally appointed guardian, in any form embracing a statement of facts. Claims of arrearages of pension may be paid to the orphans themselves, if adults, or to an administrator, for the sole and exclusive use and benefit of the children of the deceased parties.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

LOREN P. WALDO, Commissioner.

Form of Application for Widow's Navy Pension.

TO THE COMMISSIONER OF PENSIONS:

The memorial of the undersigned [widow's name], the widow of [husband's