SECOND-OF GRATUITOUS PENSIONS.

Although land bounties were, in fact, a conception of our military policy of nearly two years prior date to that of gratuitous pensions, it would be doing great violence to the rules of analogy to take up the review of our bounty land system on that account, before making a survey of gratuitous pensions, properly so called. Truly they are both gratuitous, in contradistinction to the positive claims of invalids to an equitable remuneration or equivalent for the disabilities they incur in the public service-disqualifying them in different degrees for a livelihood thereafter. But gratuitous pensions, to widows and orphans at least, are more closely allied to invalid pensions, as emanating from them, simply by the transfer or continuance of the same amount of pay after the death of the invalid, though nominally for a limited time, to his widow or orphan children, than are those land bounties which seemed to have been established at first as a gratuity per se, and was not for a long time regarded as even a remote branch of the pension system, as it is now considered in its enlarged sense, since the execution of the bounty land laws was transferred to and incorporated with that of the pension laws proper, in the same office. We shall therefore postpone the review of these laws as part of the pension system, until we have made a brief review of those relating to gratuitous pensions.

Instead of the two heads under which it has been deemed expedient, for brevity and perspicuity, to divide invalid pensions, respective of the mere periods of time, as during the revolution and since the revolution, in which the disabilities occurred, though not entirely irrespective of the distinction between military and naval disabilities, (including those of marines and privateers, militia and volunteers, or other State corps,) it is judged to be called for by various considerations equally conducive to perspicuity and brevity, to dispose of the enormous class of gratuitous pensions under other heads, according to the distinctive characteristics which other circumstances and contingencies arising out of the policy of the government, have imposed upon them, though still not irrespective of those other distinctions above cited, in the cases to which they may apply. The heads which seem to us as promising best to serve the purpose we have in view, of elucidating the policy of our pension system, are the three following:

1st. The gratuitous pensions granted or tendered, by general provisions of law, to officers of the army, in the first instance, and afterwards extended to the naval service, &c.

2d. The gratuitous pensions granted by special or private acts, to individuals (or their representatives) for eminent services, not embraced in the general provisions of law, as the foregoing.

3d. The gratuitous pensions granted to the widows and orphans of invalids and persons slain in battle, or who have died of disabilities incurred in the military or naval service. Although the class of gratuitous pensioners be vastly more numerous than the class of invalid pensioners, particularly those embraced under the third division just described, we do not find the same occasion to dilate upon the contingencies connected with the administration of their claims. We shall therefore do but little more than call attention to the principal acts providing for the beneficiaries of the nation's gratuities, and advert briefly to the policy of the Government in extending its munificence so liberally in this way.

1. Of the gratuitous pensions tendered by general provisions of law, &c.-Gratuitous pensions were tendered, and promised to commissioned officers only, who would enter

* It is not pretended that annuities, as inducements to enter into the service, and to continue therein during the war, were other than obligations of contract, in the strict sense of the terms. But it must be borne in mind that the denomination of gratuitous pensions is applied in the above text to a very large class of pensioners-the greater part of which are strictly gratuitous, while those of the same class and character in other respects, which originated in a promise gratuitously made as a matter of policy, differ but a shade from the gratuities afterwards based upon them, and necessarily assimilate with them, in contradistinction from invalid pensions, based on the inherent obligation of personal disabilities that demand atonement as well as may be, in pecuniary relief, called a pension."

and continue in the army of the revolution to the end of the war; being an extra allowance of half pay for seven years after the war, as an additional inducement over and above the ordinary pay and emoluments of the army, for their continuance in the service throughout the anticipated straits of the revolution, a policy which it has not been found necessary to resort to in subsequent wars:-(See resolution of the 15th May, 1778, [2,] p. 3;) the same was afterwards extended to the same officers of the army for life:-(See resolution of the 21st October, 1780, [7,] p. 7;) also, certain gratuitous allowances as pensions were granted, for life, to officers of the hospital department and medical staff of the revolution:-(See resolution of the 17th January, 1781, [8,] p. 7;) and the same, respectively, for life, under the aforesaid resolutions, were changed to five years' full pay, called "COMMUTATION," at the option of those who thought proper to accept it. (See the resolution of the 22d March, 1783.) And again, the same half pay for life, or commutation full pay for five years, at the election of the parties, were affirmed, and extended to commissioned officers retiring as supernumeraries under former resolves. (See resolution of the 8th March, 1785, [14,] p. 11.) And, at an interval of more than thirty years, gratuitous pensions were granted and extended, to all commissioned officers of the army and navy, and to non-commissioned officers, musicians, soldiers, seamen, and marines, and also to officers of the hospital department and medical staff, of the revolutionary war, who were then living and in INDIGENT CIRCUMSTANCES, standing in need of the bounty of their country: that is, at the time of the passage of the act:(See the act of the 18th March, 1818, [65,] p. 125; which said act was afterwards amended by the acts of the 1st May, 1820, and 1st March, 1823. The next phase of these progressive enactments was that of May 15, 1828, [96,] p. 150, which gave to all surviving officers of the revolutionary army full pay for life. And, finally, all surviving officers of the army and navy, of the revolution, with the non-commissioned officers, musicians, soldiers, seamen, and marines, were granted full pay for life, by the act of the 7th June, 1832, [129,] p. 169; which act has been variously modified, and extended to widows, by subsequent acts, as will be presently noticed, with others, under the appropriate head of "gratuitous pensions to widows," &c.

2. Of gratuitous pensions granted by special acts to individuals for eminent services, &c.-It is well known that it constituted a conspicuous part of the policy of the United States to bestow gratuitous pensions on eminent worthies of the revolution, foreigners and others, not actually forming part, in all instances, of the military or naval service proper; and yet, many of those who were in either service, or their heirs, received honorary pensions by private acts, independent of the general provisions of law applicable to those embraced under the foregoing division, but which did not extend beyond revolutionary services. Some special provisions, however, of this kind of gratuity, have been made in remuneration of distinguished exploits since the revolution. The illustrations of this part of the policy of our pension system, consisting chiefly of private acts, did not receive so much attention in the body of this compilation, as should have been betowed on them.*

*To supply the deficiency above alluded to, in some degree, and to aid the attempt at such general illustration here proposed, we subjoin the acts in behalf of Frederick William de Steuben; the sons of Warren and Mercer; (see [24,] p. 40, for that in behalf of the heirs of De Neufville;) the daughters of Count De Grasse; and Milly, an Indian woman of the Creek nation, truly the second Pocahontas. The inquirer can pursue the illustration of this policy in other instances, which are very rare, in the reward of modern prowess and patriotism.

CHAP. 43. An act for finally adjusting and satisfying the claims of Frederick William de Steuben. APPROVED, JUNE 4, 1790.

SEC. 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That in order to make full and adequate compensation

4-INTRO.

3. Of gratuitous pensons to widows and orphans of invalids, &c.-As we have just said in our first remarks under this article on gratuitous pensions, those that are granted to widows and orphans of persons slain in battle, or of invalids who have died of disability incurred in the line of duty, are most nearly allied to invalid pensions, as emanating from them, though not identical with them; and this remark applies with equal justice to the pensions of widows and orphans of officers of either the military or the naval service, although not so early extended to the latter as the former. Indeed, widows and orphans, being the natural and civil dependents of their husbands

to Frederick William de Steuben, for the sacrifices and eminent services made and rendered to the United States, during the late war, there be paid to the said Frederick William de Steuben, an annuity of two thousand five hundred dollars, during life, to commence on the first day of January last; to be paid in quarterly payments, at the treasury of the United States; which said annuity shall be considered in full discharge of all claims and demands whatever of the said Frederick William de Steuben against the United States.

CHAP. 173. An act providing an annual allowance for the education of Hugh Mercer. APPROVED, MARCH 2, 1793.

SEC. 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the annual allowance to be made for the education of Hugh Mercer, son of the late General Mercer, pursuant to the resolution of the former Congress, of the date of the eighth of April, one thousand seven hundred and seventy-seven,* shall be four hundred dollars, from the time for which he has been last paid, until his education shall be finished, or he shall arrive at the age of twenty-one years. And that the Comptroller of the Treasury be authorized to revise and settle the account of the said Hugh Mercer, for his pension to the present time; the balance of which, as also the annual allowances aforesaid, as they shall become due, shall be paid to his guardian, at the Treasury.

CHAP. 20. An act authorizing the payment of certain sums of money to the daughters of the late Count de Grasse.

APPROVED, JANUARY 15, 1798.

SEC. 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That in consideration of the important services rendered to the United States by the late Count de Grasse, there be paid, annually, in quarter payments, during five years, from the time of passing this act, out of any moneys in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, the sum of four hundred dollars to each of the four daughters of the said Count de Grasse, namely, Amelia de Grasse, Adelaide de Grasse, Melanie de Grasse, and Silvie de Grasse, if they shall, respectively, so long live.

CHAP. 154. An act granting a pension to "Milly," an Indian woman of the Creek nation.

APPROVED, JUNE 17, 1844.

SEC. 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Secretary of War be, and he is hereby, authorized and directed to pay to Milly, an Indian woman of the Creek nation, and a daughter of the prophet Francis, a pension, at the rate of ninety-six dollars per annum, payable semi-annually during her natural life, as a testimonial of the gratitude and bounty of the United States for the humanity displayed by her in the war of one thousand eight hundred and seventeen, and one thousand eight hundred and eighteen, in saving the life of an American citizen, who was a prisoner in the hands of her people and about to be put to death by them; the said pension to commence and take effect from the fourth day of September, one thousand eight hundred and forty-three.

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That the Secretary of War be, and he is hereby, authorized and directed to procure, and transmit to the said Milly, a medal, with appropriate devices impressed thereon, of the value of not exceeding twenty dollars, as an additional testimonial of the gratitude of the United States.

* In Congress, April 8, 1777: Resolved, That the eldest son of General Warren, and the youngest son of General Mercer, be educated, from this time, at the expense of the United States.

and fathers whilst living, might therefore be considered as justly entitled to the continuance, nay the inheritance, of the right, virtually as a vested right, of pension, at the 'death of their said natural and civil protectors. But, inasmuch as they were not identical with the parties disabled, nor considered as the heir or inheritors of the vested right of pension, and as it was deemed to require the action of Congress to recognize their right, and to prescribe at their option the amount of pension they might award them, such pensions could not be regarded in any other light than gratuities, as we have styled those of the other two foregoing divisions, which, although gratuitous, were based on little less equitable grounds. Accordingly, at a somewhat advanced period of the revolution, the same amount of half pay that had been promised but two years before, to commissioned officers who should continue in the army to the end of the war, was, for the like term of seven years, granted to the widows and orphans of those officers who had died, or might die, of wounds received in the service.-(See the resolution of August 24th, 1780, p. 6.) And to obviate all difficulty in securing the payment of said pensions to certain. widows, the 1st section of the act of the 27th March, 1792, p. 26, made ample provision to insure its being done. The like provision of five years, half pay was promised two years thereafter, to the widows and children of commissioned officers of the army who might die of wounds they might receive in the service that might ensue under the provisions of the act of the 5th March, 1792, p. 24, making more effectual provision for the protection of the frontier of the United States. (See the act of 7th June, 1794, p. 31.) And after this period the like half pay was, from time to time, gradually extended, for five years, to the widows and children of militia officers, (see act of 14th March, 1798, p. 45;) and then to the widows and children of officers and soldiers of volunteers and militia, who died of wounds received in the campaign of the Wabash, (see act of 10th April, 1812, p. 87,) until at length the principle of equal right embraced the widows and orphans of officers and soldiers of the militia, rangers, seafencibles, and volunteers, as also the widows and orphans of non-commissioned officers, musicians, and privates of the regular army, who died or were killed in the late war of 1812.-(See the acts of the 2d August, 1813, p. 101; the 16th April, 1816, p. 110; and the 4th July, 1836, p. 202.) The particulars above alluded to, in all respects, and in regard to the widows and orphans of those who incurred like disability in the naval, marine, and privateer service of the United States, may be more minutely referred to, by aid of the analytical tables appended to this introduction, and the Alphabetical Index at the end of the volume.

More need not be said here in relation to the subject of gratuitous pensions, except a passing remark contrasting the whole policy and equity of gratuitous pensions with that of invalid pensions, which cannot fail to strike the attention of all reflecting minds, viz: that, whilst justice to those who have been disabled in the service of their country, so as to impair their capacity to provide for their support, only entitled them to be pensioned in proportion to their disability, from as low as one-eighth part of their half pay, and proportionably more through every gradation of increase to seven-eighths of their balf pay, up to full pension or half pay only, for complete disability, yet the gratuitous pensions allowed to those who have not incurred any disability is never less than half pay, but very often is full pay for an ordinary life time, or a large sum in the lump.

Lists of army and navy pay, which govern the rates of invalid pensions in the respective branches of the service, and the pensions of widows and orphans based upon them, will be found inserted at the end of the APPENDIX, for the information of claimants. Gratuitous pensions, other than widows and orphans', are governed by the sense of justice in enacting specific laws for the benefit and relief of the claimants.

THIRD-OF BOUNTY LANDS.

Our bounty land system has been very irregular and immethodical in its provisions, and no less so in its administration. Whether we regard the variety of objects in view, the different departments and offices in which its details have been administered, or the diversity of its legal provisions and the unavoidable contrariety of executive regulations in carrying the same into execution, we cannot but admire the success with which its great purposes are accomplished, notwithstanding; and that, too, without interference with the "donations" and "reservations," the "pre-emption rights" and the "public and private land sales" of our general land system at large. We cannot be expected to go into a survey of all these complications here, as it would involve a general survey of the whole land system of the United States, which has already been given in the work of the senior editor on the Treasury Department, (vol. 2, chap. 11, p. 192,) to which we must refer, and particularly to the matters embraced at pp. 195, 217, and 233, to the end. But to pass the subject over without some generalities approaching an imperfect outline, would hardly be excusable or consistent with the outline we have just been endeavoring to give of the pension system proper, to be more fully illustrated in the sequel of this introduction.

As a matter of mere policy, the master stroke of our wise and patriotic fathers of the revolution, was the "land bounty;" and the entire foundation of it, in its commencement, seems to have been a purely political policy. We allude to the policy of holding out the reward of land bounties to the foreigners and disaffected in the ranks of the enemy in our revolutionary struggle to make joint cause with us;* though, through the

To illustrate the policy above adverted to, we subjoin the two leading measures of Congress awarding land bounties to foreigners, and Canadian refugees, though the whole subject was disposed of in the Department of State, before the General Land Office was established in the Treasury, in 1812, and, of course, before a bounty land bureau was established in the War Department in 1813, afterwards transferred to the Pension Office, and. consequently, never reached this office in any form.

Bounties to foreign deserters.

IN CONGRESS AUGUST 14, 1776.

The committee appointed to devise a plan for encouraging the Hessians, and other foreigners, to quit the British service, brought in a report, which was taken into consideration; whereupon Congress came to the following resolution:

Whereas it has been the wise policy of these States to extend the protection of their laws to all those who should settle among them, of whatever nation or religion they might be, and to admit them to a participation of the benefits of civil and religious freedom, and the benevolence of this practice, as well as its salutary effects, have rendered it worthy of being continued in future times:

And whereas his Britannic majesty, in order to destroy our freedom and happiness, has commenced against us a cruel and unprovoked war; and unable to engage Britons sufficient to execute his sanguinary measures, has applied for aid to foreign princes, who are in the habit of selling the blood of their people for money, and from them has procured and transported hither considerable numbers of foreigners. And it is conceived that such foreigners, if apprized of the practice of these States, would choose to accept of lands, liberty, safety, and a communion of good laws and mild government, in a country where many of their friends and relations are already happily settled, rather than continue exposed to the toils and dangers of a long and bloody war, waged against a people guilty of no other crime than that of refusing to exchange freedom for slavery; and that they will do this the more especially, when they reflect that after they have violated every christian and moral precept, by invading and attempting to destroy those who have never injured them or their country, their only reward, if they escape death and captivity, will be a return to the despotism of their prince, to be by him again sold to the drudgery of some other enemy to the rights of mankind.

And whereas the parliament of Great Britain have thought fit, by a late act, not only to invite our troops to desert our service, but to direct a compulsion of our people, taken at sea, to serve against their country:

Resolved, therefore, That these States will receive all such foreigners who shall leave the armies of his Britannic majesty in America, and shall choose to become members of