In addition to pension claims there were pending before the bureau June 30, 1911, 28 original applications for military bounty land warrants and 4 applications for duplicates of warrants claimed to have been lost or destroyed.

ACT OF FEBRUARY 6, 1907.

From the date of its approval to June 30, 1911, there were 629,605 applications for pension or increase of pension filed under the act of February 6, 1907. Some of them, however, were duplicates of former ones filed by the same persons and did not constitute separate claims. During the last year 55,167 certificates were issued under this law.

The following statement shows the number of certificates issued under this law each year:

Certificates issued under act of February 6, 1907.

Of the above only 21,775 were original allowances or pensions granted to persons never before on the roll.

The following table shows the ages, at the dates the claims were allowed, of the survivors of the Civil War and of the War with Mexico who have been granted pensions under the act of February 6, 1907.

Survivors of Mexican and Civil Wars, by ages.

ACT OF APRIL 19, 1908.

The second section of the act of April 19, 1908, grants pension at the rate of $12 per month to widows of persons who served 90 days or more in the Army or Navy of the United States during the Civil War, and who were honorably discharged, without regard to their pecuniary condition, if they were married prior to June 27, 1890.

The records show that prior to the close of the last fiscal year 88,224 applications were filed under this law and that up to that time 67,801 certificates had been issued thereunder.

While this is the number of certificates that have been issued under this act since its passage the number of widow pensioners now borne on the roll thereunder is very much larger. As the first section of this act increased from $8 to $12 per month the pensions of all widows on the roll under the act of June 27, 1890, the names of all widows on the roll under that law were transferred to the roll under the act of April 19, 1908, immediately after its enactment.

There have not been any widow pensioners borne on the roll under the act of June 27, 1890, since 1908.

TEN YEARS' SUMMARY.

The following table shows the operations of the bureau in the adjudication of pension claims each year for the past 10 years. "No benefit cases" are allowances under one law when the claimants are already in receipt of pension at an equal or higher rate under another law. As two pensions under different laws can not be paid to the same person covering the same period, the applicant in a case of this kind is permitted to elect which pension he will receive.

It should be stated that the number of applications filed during each year is not the exact number of separate or distinct claims filed. It is very frequently found upon an examination of the papers, that a declaration is a duplicate of a former application filed by the same person, and hence it is not considered or adjudicated as a separate claim.

Summary of work for 10 years ending June 30, 1911.

SPECIAL ACTS.

Since 1861 there have been granted by special acts of Congress 35,987 pensions and increases of pensions, of which 22,323 are now on the roll, with an annual face value of $6,611,357. Only a part of this is properly chargeable to special acts, as most of the beneficiaries had been previously pensioned under the general laws at lower rates.

During the third session of the Sixty-first Congress 3,586 persons were included in the special acts passed, at the rates specified in the summary following:

Pensions granted by special act during the third session of the Sixty-first Congress.

Of the above, 235 were granted to persons not in receipt of pensions and 3,351 to persons then receiving smaller pensions.

The annual value of said special-act pensions is $1,100,532, and the annual increase in payment due to the same is $518,736.

The following statement shows the number of pensions and increases of pensions granted by special acts during each Congress since March 4, 1861:

Number of pensions granted by special acts each Congress since March 4, 1861.

CRIMINAL PROSECUTIONS.

There were 59 new cases presented by the bureau to the Department of Justice for prosecution on account of offenses against the pension laws, and indictments were found in 57 cases.

There were 53 cases brought to trial during the year, in 51 of which convictions were secured. Only 3 of these were cases against persons who had rendered military or naval service. At the close of the year there were 109 cases pending in the hands of United States. attorneys.

Two civil suits were instituted; one was disposed of and a judgment for the United States for $538.54 obtained, and one was dismissed by reason of a heavy fine imposed upon the defendant in a criminal case. There were four suits pending in the courts at the close of the year. Money was recovered as follows: From civil suit, $538.54; from refundments, $1,869.40; total, $2,407.94.

BOUNTY-LAND WARRANTS.

During the year three original bounty-land warrants were issued, granting 480 acres of land. Service to give title to bounty land must have been for at least 14 days, or in a battle, prior to March 3, 1855, and if the Regular Army or Navy must have been in some war.

The following statement shows the total number of bounty-land warrants of all classes issued by the bureau (including partial estimate of those issued for service in the Revolutionary War) and the number of acres granted to June 30, 1911:

Bounty-land warrants issued to June 30, 1911.

This bureau has no record of the warrants issued directly from the General Land Office under special acts of Congress or of those issued on account of the Virginia military land grants satisfied by the United States after the cession of the Northwestern Territory, and they are not included in the above table.

SURVIVING OFFICERS OF THE CIVIL WAR AND LENGTH OF SERVICE.

A report has recently been obtained from the pension agencies showing the number of officers of the Civil War who are now on the pension rolls.

Officers who served six months or more during the Civil War, with the rank of each.

In addition to those above given, there are a number of surviving officers of the Civil War on the pension roll who have been granted pensions on account of disabilities contracted by them in service prior to their promotion to the rank of a commissioned officer. Under the general law, the pension is granted as of the rank held at the date of the incurrence of the disability. The number of such officers now on the pension roll who are not included in the above list can not be determined.

In an examination of several hundred thousand claims in this bureau some years ago data was compiled as to the length of service rendered by those who participated in the Civil War, from which the average length of service of the surviving officers may be estimated.

Estimate of the length of service rendered by the survivors of the Civil War now on the pension roll.

PAYMENTS OF PENSION WITHOUT A VOUCHER.

The act making appropriation for the payment of invalid and other pensions of the United States for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1912, and for other purposes, approved March 3, 1911, contains the following provision:

The Commissioner of Pensions is directed to formulate and embrace in his next annual report a simplified plan for the payment of pensions whereby all preliminary vouchers shall be abolished and the only vouchers required shall be attached to or a part of the payment checks, and the commissioner shall further report what, if any, changes in the law are necessary to carry such plan into effect.