Invalid pensioners of the United States who served in the army or navy of the United States to the credit of this commonwealth in the war with Spain, which for the purposes of this chapter is defined as having begun on the fifteenth day of February in the year eighteen hundred and ninety-eight and as having ended on the twelfth day of August in said year; or who served in the regular army or navy of the United States during said war, having been appointed or having enlisted in said army while a citizen of this commonwealth, having a residence and actually residing therein;

Soldiers mustered into the military service of the United States as part of the quota of this commonwealth called for service on the Mexican border in the year nineteen hundred and sixteen, and who are in receipt of pension or compensation from the United States for disability or illness incurred in such service, which for the purposes of this chapter shall be deemed to have begun on the nineteenth day of June in the year nineteen hundred and sixteen, and as having ended on the third day of February in the year nineteen hundred and seventeen, having been mustered into such service while an inhabitant of a city or town in this commonwealth and actually residing therein;

Any soldier, sailor, or nurse who served in the army or navy of the United States in the war with Germany, which for the purposes of this chapter shall be defined as having begun on the third day of February, nineteen hundred and seventeen, and as having ended on the eleventh day of November in the year nineteen hundred and eighteen: provided, that such soldier, sailor, or nurse, receives a pension or compensation from the United States government for disability incurred in such service, and was mustered into such service while an inhabitant of a city or town in the commonwealth and actually residing therein; and provided, further, that such soldier, sailor, or nurse was honorably discharged from such service by reason of illness or disability incurred therein.

Second Class.

Dependent relatives of invalid pensioners and of soldiers or sailors who served in the manner and under the limitations described for such service under class one who did not die in the service above defined and who were honorably discharged therefrom, as follows:

The wives and widowed mothers of invalid pensioners who served in the civil war, and the widows and widowed mothers of soldiers or sailors dying in such service or after honorable discharge therefrom.

The widows and widowed mothers of soldiers or sailors who served in the war with Spain dying in such service or dying after their honorable discharge therefrom, or dying while in receipt of a pension from the United States or of state aid from this commonwealth, and the wife and widowed mother of any invalid pensioner of the Spanish war service.

The widow and children under sixteen years of age of any person who incurred disability during service on the Mexican border as defined in class one and has died from such disability, either while in the service or after an honorable discharge therefrom: provided, that only such children whose birth occurred prior to said discharge or to the first day of January nineteen hundred and eighteen may receive state aid under this chapter.

The dependent widow, dependent widowed mother and dependent children up to the age of sixteen of any soldier, sailor, or nurse who died while in such service during the German war as defined in class one, or who shall die after an honorable discharge from such service from injuries received or disabilities or illness incurred therein, or any child dependent by reason of physical or mental incapacity; provided, that the children were in being prior to his or her discharge or prior to the termination of said war as herein defined, or any person who stood to him or her in the relationship of a parent for five years prior to such service.

There shall also be included in this class the crippled or otherwise helpless children, whether minors or adults, of soldiers or sailors who served in either the civil war or the war with Spain, provided, that such children are in receipt of a pension from the United States.

Third Class.

Dependent wives, and children up to sixteen years of age, widows and widowed mothers of soldiers, sailors, and nurses, entitled to state aid as defined in class one of this section, who appear on the rolls of their regiments or companies in the office of the adjutant general to be missing or to have been captured by the enemy, and who were not exchanged and have not returned from captivity, and whom the city or town officers granting such aid have good reason to believe to be dead.

Fourth Class.

Fathers or mothers, the fathers being living, of soldiers or sailors who served in the war with Spain, in the manner and under the limitations described for the service of said invalid pensioners, and who died in such service, if such parents were receiving aid on the eighteenth day of May in the year eighteen hundred and ninety-nine.

Fathers or mothers, the fathers being living, of soldiers or sailors who served in the German war, in the same manner and under the same limitations described herein for the service of said soldiers or sailors, and who died in such service, if such parents had been in receipt of state war allowance between February third nineteen hundred and seventeen and November eleventh nineteen hundred and eighteen. No aid shall be granted to persons in this class unless in each case the mayor and aldermen, or officers or board having the powers of mayor and aldermen, selectmen, or, in Boston, the soldiers' relief commissioner, are satisfied, on evidence first reported to the commissioner of state aid and satisfactory to him, that justice and necessity require a continuance of the aid to prevent actual suffering.

Fifth Class.

Women who served not less than three months as nurses in the army hospitals of the United States between the nineteenth day of April in the year eighteen hundred and sixty-one and the first day of September in the year eighteen hundred and sixty-five, or who served not less than three months as nurses in the army or navy hospitals of the United States between the fifteenth day of February in the year eighteen hundred and ninety-eight and the twelfth day of April in the year eighteen hundred and ninety-nine, or who served in the war with Germany for not less than three months as nurses in the army or navy hospitals between the third day of February nineteen hundred and seventeen, and the eleventh day of November in

the year nineteen hundred and eighteen, and who for three consecutive years next prior to the date of application for aid, shall have been actually resident in this commonwealth, and who shall not be in receipt of an annuity from this commonwealth, if the municipal authorities are satisfied, on evidence first reported to and found satisfactory by the commissioner of state aid, that the service was actually rendered and that justice and necessity require the granting of aid. The amount of such aid and its duration shall be determined by the commissioner of state aid.

SECTION 4. The wife of a discharged soldier or sailor shall not be held to belong to any of the foregoing classes, nor shall receive state aid unless, if the service of the soldier or sailor was in the war with Spain, she was married to him before his final discharge from such service, and, if his widow, before the eleventh day of April in the year nineteen hundred and five, and if his service was in the civil war unless she was, if his wife, married to him prior to his final discharge from such service; and, if his widow, prior to the twenty-seventh day of June in the year eighteen hundred and ninety, and if the service of the soldier or sailor was on the Mexican border or in the war with Germany unless she was married to him prior to his final discharge from the service or release from active duty therein, and, if his widow, prior to July first, in the year nineteen hundred and nineteen.

SECTION 5. Of the persons to or for whom state aid is paid under any special act or resolve, designating them by name, and passed after the first day of June in the year eighteen hundred and seventy-nine, or to or for whom state aid was then being paid under any special act or resolve then repealed, all soldiers and sailors shall be held to belong to the first class, and all dependent relatives of soldiers and sailors to the second class, of section three, notwithstanding the limitations of the said classes; and state aid may be paid to or for such persons in the same manner and with the same limitations as it is paid to or for other persons of their respective classes; but no aid shall be paid to or for any person under the provisions of this section contrary to any limitation or condition of the original special act or resolve authorizing state aid to be paid to or for him.

SECTION 6. No state aid shall be paid to or for a person of the first class of section three exceeding in any one month three fourths of the monthly amount of his United States pension or compensation, nor exceeding six dollars in any one month; or to or for a person of the second, third, fourth or fifth class of said section exceeding six dollars in any one month; and no more than twelve dollars shall be paid to or for all dependent relatives of any one soldier or sailor in any one month. State aid shall not be paid to or for any soldier or sailor on account of service in the war with Spain, or to his dependent relatives, unless he enlisted or was appointed in the service of the United States after the fourteenth day of February and prior to the twelfth day of August in the year eighteen hundred and ninety-eight; but it may be allowed to or for volunteers mustered into the service of the United States in Massachusetts regiments after said twelfth day of August but prior to the first day of January, eighteen hundred and ninety-nine, who shall otherwise be qualified to receive the same, and to or for their dependent relatives.

SECTION 7. Applicants for state aid shall, before any payment thereof to them, state in writing under oath the name, age and residence of the person for whom such aid is sought, his relation to the person who rendered the service entitling the applicant to aid, the company, regiment or vessel in or to which the officer, soldier or sailor enlisted or was appointed and in which he last served; the date and place

of such enlistment, if known; the duration of such service and the reason upon which the claim for aid is founded; and shall furnish such official certificates of record, evidence of enlistment, service and discharge as may be required. The original papers in each case shall be filed with the commissioner of state aid, who shall from time to time provide each city and town with blank forms for the use of applicants for aid.

SECTION 8. Said commissioner shall determine all controversies between invalid pensioners and city and town authorities relative to claims for state aid. He may refuse to decide on the necessity of a claimant for aid, but if he shall determine that a claimant is entitled thereto he may authorize its payment to him monthly for not more than one year, under such limitations as he may impose. An appeal may be taken from his determination to the governor and council, whose decision shall be final.

MILITARY AID.

SECTION 9. The recipient of military aid shall belong to and have the qualifications of one of the four following classes:

First Class.

Each person of the first class shall have his settlement in the city or town aiding him; shall have served as a soldier, sailor, marine, nurse, or commissioned officer in the manner and under the limitations prescribed in the first class of section three; shall have been honorably discharged or released from active duty in such United States service and from all appointments and enlistments therein; shall be poor and indigent and, by reason of sickness or other physical disability, in such need as would entitle him to relief under the pauper laws; shall not be, directly or indirectly, in receipt of any other state or military aid, or of any pension for services rendered or disabilities incurred either in the Civil or Spanish wars, Mexican border service or German war service. The disability must have arisen from causes independent of his military or naval service aforesaid.

Second Class.

Each person of the second class shall have his settlement in the city or town aiding him, and shall be an invalid pensioner, entitled to receive state aid, whose income from pension or government compensation and state aid is inadequate for his relief, and who would otherwise receive relief under the pauper laws.

Third Class.

Each person of the third class shall have all the qualifications of persons of the first class except settlement, and shall have been a continuous resident of this commonwealth during the three years last preceding his receipt of military aid, and he or she shall be a resident of the city or town granting the aid.

Fourth Class.

Each person of the fourth class shall have all the qualifications of persons of the second class except settlement, and shall have been a continuous resident of this commonwealth during the three years last preceding his or her receipt of military aid, and shall be a resident of the city or town granting aid.

SECTION 10. A city or town shall not render military aid to a person of the third or fourth class until it has furnished to the commissioner of state aid such evidence as may be required that the applicant is entitled to receive aid and has received from said commissioner an order fixing the maximum amount which may be paid a month and the period during which aid may be allowed, and stating such other conditions as the commissioner may impose relative to such aid. The said order may be revoked or modified by the commissioner by giving written notice to the city or town which procures it.

SECTION 11. No person shall be compelled to receive military aid without his consent, nor shall any person be compelled to receive military aid in an almshouse or other public institution unless his physical or mental condition requires it, and, except in such case, it shall be paid to or expended for those persons only who live separate from persons receiving support as paupers. The mayor and aldermen, selectmen, soldiers' relief commissioner or the commissioner of state aid may require a person to whom military aid is granted to pay over his or her United States pension or compensation to them to be expended for his or her relief before receiving such aid. In all cases where an applicant for military aid has a settlement outside the city or town in which application is made, the official required to act thereon shall, within three days, notify the corresponding official in the city or town of the applicant's settlement, and also the commissioner of state aid and pensions.

aid.

GENERAL PROVISIONS.

SECTION 12. No person shall at the same time receive both state and military

SECTION 13. State and military aid shall be paid to or applied solely for the benefit of the person for whom it is intended, and only so much shall be paid to or for him as may be necessary to afford him reasonable relief or support. It shall not be paid to or for any person who is able to support himself, or who is in receipt of income or owns property sufficient for his support, nor to an amount in excess of such amount as is necessary, in addition to his income and property, for his personal relief or support, nor to or for any soldier, sailor, pensioner, dependent relative or nurse if the necessity therefor is caused by the voluntary idleness or continuous vicious or intemperate habits of the soldier, sailor, nurse or pensioner on whose account such aid is sought, nor to or for any person who has been dishonorably discharged from any national soldiers' or sailors' home or from the Soldiers' Home in this commonwealth, unless the commissioner of state aid, after a hearing, shall otherwise determine. Nor shall state or military aid be paid to any person who at the time of entering the federal service was a subject or citizen of a neutral country, had filed his intention to become a citizen of the United States, and afterward withdrew such intention under the provisions of the act of congress approved on the ninth day of July in the year nineteen hundred and eighteen, nor to any person