wounded on board of private armed vessels during the last war with Great Britain,) to the thirtieth of the present month, inclusive, parties interested are hereby notified that the following evidence of their being entitled to the benefits of the law will be required, viz:

1. Sworn declaration or memorial, setting forth the vessel to which the pensioner belonged, his rank or station, when and in what manner disabled, monthly rate of pension, and date to which last paid.

2. Evidence of identity, either by affidavit of two credible witnesses, or the certificate of a justice of the peace.

The above evidence to be authenticated by the certificate, under seal, of the proper officer, showing the official character of the justice of the peace; and to be forwarded, together with the original pension certificate, to this office.

L. P. WALDO, Commissioner of Pensions.

[6.]

[Bounty lands under act of August 5th, 1854.]

PENSION OFFICE, September 22, 1854.

SIR In answer to your inquiry as to the construction of the 4th section of the act of August 5th, 1854, I have to inform you that this section directs "the Secretary of War to receive and cause to be placed on the files of his Department such additional muster rolls of the battalion of volunteers commanded by Col. J. C. Fremont, in California. (See the section of the act referred to, ante, No. [4.] SUPPLEMENT.)

It is apparent that the principal, if not the only object of the foregoing provisions is to procure the correction of the muster rolls of the battalion of volunteers commanded by Col. J. C. Fremont in California, so that all who served under his command may receive the same benefits a portion of his battalion have already received. To effect this the Secretary of War is authorized to receive additional muster rolls duly authenticated by the proper officer, cause corrections of the same to be made in regard to periods of enlistment, terms of service and omissions of names, and as far as practicable to make them correspond with the pay rolls of Major J. B. Reading with respect to the periods of service.

When the rolls are thus perfected, the persons whose names shall be found thereon, whether they have served under naval or military officers, are to receive all the benefits of all the acts of Congress providing for the enlistment of volunteers in the Mexican war.

These benefits are the three months' extra pay provided by the act of July 19th, 1848, and land bounty promised by the act of

February 11th, 1847. So far as the land is concerned, the law will be executed in this bureau; and when it shall appear from the said corrected rolls, that the claimant shall have served one year in the military service in California during the late war with Mexico, he will be entitled to receive a warrant for one hundred and sixty acres of land, and when he shall have served a less period he will be entitled to receive forty acres.

The form of application for their benefits and the verification of the papers will be the same as that now used under the act of February 11th, 1847.

Very respectfully, your ob't serv't,

L. P. WALDO, Commissioner.

IV. DIGEST OF DECISIONS ON PENSION AND BOUNTY LAND CASES DECIDED, BY HON. L. P. WALDO, COMMISSIONER OF PENSIONS.

[ 1.]*

Prisoners of war on parole are not entitled to bounty land. AFFIRMED, March 16, 1853.

[ 2.]*

Captivity entitles the soldier to bounty land, only for the time he remains a prisoner with the enemy.

[3.]

AFFIRMED, April 16, 1853.

Commencement of pension under the 2d section of the act of the 3d February, 1853, is from the passage of the act.

[4.]

AFFIRMED, May 4, 1853.

Pension for the revolutionary services of a deceased officer, is not payable, if there be no widow or children-no others being entitled to receive. AFFIRMED, May 8, 1853.

[ 5.]*

Marriage a second time of a widow is a bar to any claim to bounty land under the act of September 28, 1850.

[ 6.]*

AFFIRMED, May 15, 1853.

Winebago disturbances in 1827, do not constitute such a war as is provided for by the act of September 28, 1850.

AFFIRMED, May 23, 1853.

The principles involved in those cases are set forth in the Commissioner's Digest, as precedents for the further guidance of the office in like cases. Those which are here

[ 7. ]

Divorce is a bar to a wife's claim to pension; nor can the Pension Office decide upon the legality of a divorce.

[ 8.]*

AFFIRMED, May 23, 1853.

Minors must be such at the issuance of a warrant, to enable them to take under the act of September 28, 1850.

[ 9.]

AFFIRMED, May 30, 1853.

Insanity, when the effect of injury received, or exposure incurred in the line of duty, and resulting in suicide, entitles the widow to the benefits of the pension laws.

[ 10.]

AFFIRMED, June 4, 1853.

Widows who became such after July 7, 1838, and died before July 1, 1848, were not entitled to the benefits of either the act of Congress, or the joint resolution of the above dates: nor are their representatives entitled, AFFIRMED, June 10, 1853.

[ 11.]*

Minute men, who served only 22 days, and were not paid for a longer period, would not be entitled to bounty land under the provisions of the act of September 28, 1850.

[ 12.]**

AFFIRMED, June 10, 1859.

Desertion appearing on the rolls, cannot be contradicted by parol evidence on an application for bounty land under the act of September 28, 1850.

[ 13.]**

The foreign soldiers [or officers] who served under La Fayette in the revolution as allies, and who were not incorporated into our army, are not entitled to the benefits of the pension and bounty land laws. AFFIRMED, August 1, 1853.

[ 14. ]**

Inconsistent offices, the duties of which could not have been performed by the same person at the same time, cannot be united in the allowance of a pension. AFFIRMED, August 13, 1853.

distinguished by an asterisk, are applicable to bounty lands; and those distinguished by two stars are applicable both to pensions and bounty lands.—EDS.

[ 15.]

Seamen's widows are entitled to the amount of pension due them prior to their second marriage, and may draw the same, even after such second marriage if not previously drawn. AFFIRMED, August 13, 1853.

[ 16.]

Administrators or executors may receive the amount of pension due deceased persons for the exclusive use and benefit of the children. AFFIRMED, August 13, 1853.

[17.]*

Clerks employed in quarter-masters' department in Mexico are not entitled to bounty land under act of February 11, 1847, unless they had been regularly enlisted and mustered into service. AFFIRMED, August 13, 1853.

[18.]

Enlistments after May 30, 1848, (the close of the Mexican war,) do not entitle the parties to bounty land for services in said war. AFFIRMED, August 18, 1853.

[19.]

Navy pensions cannot be granted under the act of March 3, 1837-the same having been repealed by the act of August 23, 1842. AFFIRMED, August 23, 1853.

[ 20.]

Actual and not brevet rank controls the amount of pension. AFFIRMED, September 1, 1853.

[ 21.]*

Teamsters, as such, are not entitled to bounty land under the act of September 28, 1850. AFFIRMED, Sept. 3, 1853.

[22.]*

Date of discharge not being known, the close of the soldier's service should not be fixed at the close of the war, but should be proved as any other fact. AFFIRMED, Sept. 8, 1853.

[ 23.]

Surgeon's mates, and hospital surgeons, are not entitled to the benefits of the act of May 15, 1828.

[ 24. ]

AFFIRMED, Oct. 4, 1853.

Monthly pay prior to January 1st, 1835, govern the navy pension cases, and not the present increased rates of annual pay.

AFFIRMED, Oct. 8, 1853.

[25.]

Half pay, under the act of July 5, 1832, cannot be claimed by an officer of the Virginia line, who has obtained a judgment against Virginia for such services.

Half pay has not been allowed in Virginia for staff rank when the officer was not in actual service on becoming supernumerary. Commutation was not provided for by the act of 1832, eonomine, although some of the Virginia judgments provided for by the act were founded on such claims. An officer, who elected commutation, cannot apply for half pay. AFFIRMED, Oct. 10, 1853.

[ 26.]

Servants in the military family of Gen. Washington are not entitled to pensions under the general pension laws.

[ 27.]*

AFFIRMED, Oct. 15, 1853.

Widows of deceased soldiers in the war of 1812, who, in their life-time received bounty land for their services in that war, are not entitled to the benefits of the act of September 28, 1850. AFFIRMED, Oct. 15, 1853.

[28. ]

Persons entitled to pensions under both a general and a special act, must elect under which to take; and, having made that election, they cannot afterwards claim under the other.

AFFIRMED, Oct. 15, 1853.

[ 29.]**

Calendar, and not lunar months, govern the computation of

time in military service.

AFFIRMED, Oct. 26, 1853.

[ 30.]*

Mother of a commissioned officer is not entitled to bounty land under the act of Sept. 28, 1850.

AFFIRMED, Nov. 14, 1853.

[31.]

Pensions under the act of February 22, 1849, July 21st, 1848, and July 4, 1836, are renewed by the act of February 3, 1853. But pensions under special acts are not renewed by said act. AFFIRMED, Nov. 16, 1853.

[ 32.]*

Midshipmen in the Mexican war are not entitled to bounty land under the act of September 28, 1850.

AFFIRMED, Nov. 21, 1853..