Uncle Sam's Wards

Washington, Oct. 7. - The annual report of CoTimissioner Green 15. Raum, of ths Pension Burean, shows that there were at the end of the last fiscal year 5..7.044 pensionera borne upon the rolls and classifiod as follows: Army invalid pensioners. 393,80'J; army widows, minor children and dependant relaUvea, 104,450; navy invalid pensiomrs, 5,274; navy widows, minor children and dependent relatives, 2,40 ); survivors of the warof 1812, 413; vidows of soldiers of the war of 1812. 8,tllO; survivors of the Mexicap war, 17.15S; widows of soldiois of the Mexioao war, 0,764; total, 537,944. There were 06,637 original, claims allowed during the year, bèing 14,716 more original claims than were allowed during the fiscal year 1889, and 6,385 moro than were allowed during the fiscal year 188S. The amount of the first payments in these 66. (37 original cases amounted to $32,478,041, being ?ri, 036, 492 more than the first payments on the original claims allowed uring the fiscal yeur 1SS9, and $10,179,225 more than tho first payments on the original claims allowed during the fiscal year 1888. There wero 20,0:58 pensioners unpaid at the close of the fiscal year who were entitled to receive $4, 357,347, which has since been paid from the appropriation for pensions for the fiscal year 1891. Commissioner Ranm says more work has been performed in his office in the past year than ever before in the samo length of time. The number of cases now in the hands of the special examination división has been reduced from 14,225 to 7,824; of these only about 5,000 are in the hands of special examiners. Ue concludes as follows: "There liave been received in the Pension Office 460,2.s.' claims to September 30, 1890, under the ilisubility pension act of June 27, 1890. It win be readily understood that the care of such an enormous ntimber of claims received in so short a time necessarily tuxed the resources of the office to lts fullest extent. The work of the mail división ran up to more than 32,00) pieces of mail a day to be opened, classtfied and properly disposed tf. At this writing (October 1) the división is handling 10.OU0 claims a day. If upon the assembling of Cungress fn December it is found that the present force Is lnsufflclent for the ad]udication of these new claims' as rapldly as they are completed, I will not hesitate to ask that you recommend to Congress an lacrease of the official force of the bureau. "It is believed that there are probably 100,000 claims In this office which can be properly allowed uudi-r the proVlsions of the regulations approved September 16, 1890."