Chap. 1149.—An ACT to give aid to soldiers, sailors, and marines disabled
in the war between the states, and to every such soldier, sailor, or marine who
by disease or other infirmities of age, is disabled from earning or is with-
out the means of procuring a support, and to the widows of Virginia
soldiers, sailors or marines who lost their lives in said war in the military
or naval service, or whose husbands have died since the war.

Approved March 7, 1900.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That five
citizens, residents of the county or city, three of whom shall be ex-
Confederate soldiers, shall be appointed by the judge of the circuit
court of such county or city of this state and they are hereby con-
stituted a board to be known as the Confederate pension board of such
city or county, for the purposes hereinafter set forth; such board shall
select its own chairman and clerk.

2. That there shall be paid out of the treasury of Virginia, upon the
warrant of the auditor of public accounts, annually, upon or after the
first day of April, in each year, to the persons hereinafter designated
and described and classified, upon the proofs hereinafter prescribed, the
amounts hereinafter specified, as follows: To every persun who is and
has been, at the time of his application, a citizen and resident of this
state for one year, and who lost an arm or leg, or a foot, or a hand,
while in discharge of his duty as a soldier, sailor, or marine of Virginia
in the war between the states, the sum of fiftv dollars per annum; to
every such citizen of Virginia who, in like manner, lost two eyes, or two
feet, or two hands, or a hand and a foot, by reason of wounds received
while in discharge of his duty as aforesaid, the sum of one hundred
dollars per annum; to every such citizen w ho was disabled bv reason of
a wound received while in the discharge of his duty as aforesaid, or who
has become disabled by reason of the infirmities of age, if such disa-
bility be proved to be total, thirty dollars per annum; if such disability
be partial, fifteen dollars per annum; to everv widow remaining un-
married of any soldier, sailor, or marine of Virginia, whose husband lost
his life while in the discharge of his dutv in the militarv service of
Virginia, or of the Confederate states, during the late war between the
states, the sum of forty dollars per annum: ‘provided, that at the time
of such application and of receiving aid under this act, such widow
shall be unmarried and a resident of Virginia: and provided further,
that she shall receive such aid only so long as she remains unmarried
and a resident of Virginia: provided, that if her husband was not killed
in the war, but has died since the war, and was a true and loyal soldier,
and such widow has not since married and has no income greater
than one hundred dollars per annum, she shall receive twenty-five dol-
lars per annum: provided further, that she has no children who will
support her: provided further, that such widow shall make applica-
tion as herein provided.

3. This act shall apply to any native of Virginia who enlisted from
any other state in the military service of the Confederate states, and
who is or shall be at the date of his application for the benefit of this
act a citizen and resident of this state; but no person holding a national,
state or county office which pays in salary or fees over three hundred
dollars per annum, or whose income from any source amounts to three
hundred dollars, or who owns in his or her own right, or whose wife
owns property of the assessed value of more than one thousand dollars,
or who is in receipt of aid or of a pension from any other state or
from the United States, shall be entitled to any of the benefits of this
act, or who is an inmate of any soldiers’ home.

4. Before any person shall be entitled to the benefit of this act
and receive the aid hereby provided for, he or she shall file before the
board, provided in the first section of this act, of the county or cor-
poration, in which the applicant resides, an application for relief in
the following form:

, , a native of the state of —————, and now a citizen
of Virginia, a resident at —————,, in the county or city of —————_,
in said state of —————_, and who was a soldier (sailor or marine, as
the case may be), from the state of Virginia, in the war between the
United States and the Confederate states, do hereby apply for aid
under the act of the general assembly, entitled an act to give aid to
soldiers, sailors and marines of Virginia maimed or disabled in the
war between the states, and the widows of Virginia soldiers, sailors,
and marines, who lost their lives in said war in the military service.
And I do solemnly swear that, while in the discharge of my duty in
the service of the Confederate states as a member of ————— (here
state specifically the command and branch of the service to which the
applicant belonged), on or about the day of —————,, eighteen
hundred , 1 was wounded (here state specifically the battle,
combat, or encounter in which the applicant was wounded), and that
from the effects of such wound I was disabled, as follows: (here state
whether the disability is total or partial), and that by reason of such
wound and disability I am now entitled to receive under said act the
sum of —————- dollars annually. I: further swear that I do not hold
any national, state, or county office which pays me in salary or fees
over three hundred dollars per annum; nor have I an income from any
source Which amounts to three hundred dollars; nor do I own in my
own right, nor does my wife own property of the assessed value of
more than one thousand dollars; nor do I receive aid or a pension from
any other state or from the United Stated, and that I am not an
inmate of any soldiers’ home. I do further swear that the answers
given to the followmg questions are true: (1) What is the applicant’s
age? (2) In what battle or combat, or under what circumstances was
the applicant wounded? (3) What was the precise nature of the wound
received? (4) What limb, if any, did the applicant lose by reason of
said wound? What eve, if any, did he lose? (5) If no limb or eve
was so lost, what is the precise nature of the disability occasioned
thereby? (6) Is it total? (7%) Is it partial, and if so, to what extent
does it disable hin from manual labor? Given under my hand this

day of —————-, nineteen hundred ,

I, ————,, do certify that —————-, whose name is signed to the
foregoing application, personally appeared before me in my county (or
city) aforesaid, and having the aforesaid application read to him and
fully explained as well as the statements and answers therein made
for the said —————,, made oath before me that the said statements and

answers are true. Giveh under my hand this ————— day of ————,
nineteen hundred

Or, as a widow, she shall make an application in the following form:

, resident at —————— in the county of ————-—_, in the
state of Virginia, do hereby apply for aid under an act of the ‘general
assembly, entitled an act to give aid to soldiers, sailors, and marines of
Virginia ‘maimed or disabled in the war between the states, and to the
widows of Virginia soldiers, sailors, and marines who lost their lives in
said war in the military service, and I do swear that I am the widow
of ——————_, who was a member of —————-, and who, while in the
discharge of his duty in militarv service during the late war between
the states, lost his life; (if the husband of such widow died since the
war her application shall conform as nearly as possible to the form here
provided, stating the date of her husband’s death, and so forth) and
I do further swear that I am not receiving aid from any pension from
any state or from the United States, and that I do not hold any national,
state, or county office which pays me in fees or salary over three hun-
dred ‘dollars, that my income from no source amounts to three hundred
dollars, and that I do not own in my own right property of the assessed
value of one thousand dollars, and that I am now entitled to receive
annually the sum of thirty dollars, under the terms of the aforesaid act
of the general assemblv. And I do further swear that the following
answers are true: (1) What was the name of applicant’s deceased hus-
band? (2) When and where, as nearly as can be ascertained, did the
applicant’s husband die, and from what cause? (3) When and where
were the applicant and her deceased husband married? (4) Has the
applicant ever married again?

The application of a widow shall be certified and sworn to just as
application of soldier is required to be done.

If the person making the application has not been wounded, but
bases his application upon the fact that he is disabled from disease
and infirmities of age, his application shall conform as nearly as may
be to the application of a wounded soldier, and shall specifically describe
the disease and the nature and extent of the disability, and shall be
sioned and sworn to by the applicant. If any applicant is unable to
write his or her nate, it shall be written by some one who shall sign
as a witness after the applicant has made his or her mark. If the appli-
cant is unable to come before the board the clerk of said board or any
justice or notary shall, without compensation, secure the signature of
the applicant and affidavit.

5. After such application has been signed and sworn to bv the appli-
cant, the board hereinbefore provided shall examine such evidence
as shall be adduced hefore it as to the facts set forth in said application.
and if it be satisfied from the evidence of witnesses and from such record
evidence as to property qualification as may be produced or examined,
that the facts set forth in said application are true, it shall certify on
the back of the application in the following form:

I, ————_——_., chairman of the Confederate pension hoard of

county (or citv), do hereby certifv that said board has
earefullv considered and examined into the within application, and
being fully satisfied from the evidence that each and all the facts
set forth therein are true; that the applicant is the identical person
named therein, the said application is for these reasons approved, and
it is therefore certified that ————— is entitled to receive annually
from the state of Virginia, the sum of ———————— dollars. This
certificate shall be signed by the chairman of the board and counter-
signed by the clerk thereof. If the application is not approved by the
board, it shall decline to certify it.

6. When the application is approved and certified as provided in
the foreyoing section it shall be delivered to the county court, or the
judge thereof in vacation, by the clerk of said board. ‘The said court
or the judge thereof in ‘vacation shall order the clerk of the court
to enter an order on the minute-book of said court stating that said
application was allowed by said board, and said clerk shall certify said
order to the auditor of public accounts, under the seal of court, and
shall at once forward the original application to said auditor, who shall
file the same in his office.

%. The auditor shall carefully examine every such application, and
the certificate thereto, upon the receipt thereof; and upon being satis-
fied that all the requirements of this law have been comphed with in
all particulars, he shall draw his warrant upon the treasurer in favor
of the applicant for the amount authorized by this act, to be paid to
him or her. And, for the proper discharge of the duties prescribed bv
this section, the auditor shall be allowed temporarily to employ, when
necessary, and pay for the services of a competent clerk to assist in
such examination, the cost of such assistant service not to exceed nine
hundred dollars in the aggregate. He shall reject all applications in
which the proofs and facts certified do not show the applicants to
be entitled to the benefits of this act, and shall classify the applications
according to the facts proved.

8. After an application has been once so passed, approved, and
allowed, it shall only be necessary for the applicant annually thereafter
to file with the auditor of public accounts a certificate from the clerk
of the court by which (or by the judge thereof) the original application
was approved, setting forth that the appheant is the identical person
named in the original application, and that he or she is stall alive, and
if widow of a deceased soldier. sailor, or marine, is still unmarried and
a resident of this state, and that the applicant has made oath before
him that the applicant does not own in his or her own right. or in the
right of his wife, property of the assessed value of one thousand dollars,
and does not hold a state. county, or federal office, the annual fees or
salary from which amounts to three hundred dollars, and has not an
annual income from anv source amounting to three hundred dollars,
and upon the receipt of such certificate of such clerk the auditor of
public accounts shall, from time to time, annually, draw his warrant
upon the treasurer in favor of such applieant for the amount he or
ane is entitled to under this act.

The auditor of public accounts shall cause the forms of appliea-
tions and the certificates required by this act to be prepared, and he
will cause a sufficient number of each class of form to he printed and
distributed to the clerks of each of the courts hereinbefore mentioned
for the use of applicants, said applications for each county or city
shall be numbered from one upwards.
19. The board herein provided for shall meet im the oflice of the
clerk of the county or corporation court on the first Monday in April
of each vear.

The clerk of satd beard shall keep a book in which the minutes
of said board shall be kept. which shall show the filing of an applica-
tion and the date of such filing and the disposition of each application,
whether approved or rejected, and if rejected, the reasons for such
rejection.

12. The said auditor shall, on or before the first dav of April, in
each year, furnish to the clerk of the county court of each county, and
the clerk of the hustings court of each city, a list of pensioners on the
list in his office from such city or county with the amount each has
been annually paid. And it shall be the duty of the pension board of
~uch city or county, at once, to examine such list, and if in the opinion
of said board there is anv person on said list not entitled to relief
under this act, said board shall notify such person to appear before
sald board and show cause why his name should not be stricken from
sald list. If the board, after careful examination, shall be of opinion
that any person is improperly on said list, the name of such person
shall be stricken therefrom. and the order of the board striking such
person from such list shall be certified to the said auditor, who shall,
at once, erase such name from the list in his office. Such person may,
at any time thereafter, apply to be reinstated upon such list in the
manner provided in this act.

13. No fee or other compensation shall be charged or received bv
anv clerk, attorney, or other person, or by any member of said board
for anv services rendered to anv applicant under the provisions of this
act: and anv person who shall purchase from the soldier, sailor, or
marine, or from anv widew of anv deceased soldier, sailor, or marine,
anv claim allowed under the provisions of this act for a price or sum
less than the full amount thereof shall be guiltv of a misdemeanor,
and upon eonviction thereof shall be fined or imprisoned, or both,
at the discretion of the court. The provisions hereby made for disabled
soldiers, marines, and widows of deceased soldiers shall be exempt
from levy, garnishment, or attachment for any debt or pecuniary de-
mand,

14. Total disability in the meanine of this act shall be such as
wholly ineapacitates the applicant for manual labor. The partial dis-
ability which shall entitle an anpheant to the benefit of this act must
be proved and ascertained, to the satisfaction of the board to be such
as incapacitates the applicant for obtaining a livelihood by his manual
labor.

The sum of one hundred and thirty-five thousand dollars. or so
much thereof as mav he necessary, is hereby appropriated for the vear
ending September thirtieth. nineteen hundred, and for each vear there-
after to meet the requirements of this act, pavable out of anv money
in the treasurv not otherwise appropriated. From the amount herehy
anpropriated, the auditor of public accounts shall first pav the pensions
af all persons now on the pension rolls of this state, inclndine those
placed thereon bv special acts of this general assembly, and which are
not stricken from said rolls under the provisions of this act, the amounts
to be paid them respectively to be as fixed by this act. After the pay-
ment in full of said pensions, the auditor of public accounts shall make
a pro rata distribution of the residue of said appropriation herein made
among all other persons entitled to pensions under this act, according
to the amounts to which they are entitled as herein provided, whose
claims have been filed in his office prior to August first of each year.

16. All acts and parts of acts inconsistent with this act are hereby
repealed.

17. This act shall be in force from its passage.