Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

THIRTIETH CONGRESS—FIRST SESSION.
H. R. 522.
(Report No. 663.)
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.
May 31, 1848.
Read twice, and committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the
State of the Union.
Mr. Outlaw, from the Select Committee, to whom the subject
was referred, reported the following bill:
A BILL
To provide for the families of such commissioned officers, non-commissioned
officers, privates and musicians, whether belonging
to the regular army or to any volunteer corps, as
may have been killed in battle, or died from wounds received,
or disease contracted, or other casualties, whilst in the service
of the United States, during the war with Mexico; and
for other purposes.

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7 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Repre-
sentatives of the United States of America in Congress
assembled, That if any commissioned or non-commis-
sioned officer, private, or musician, in the regular army,
or in any of the volunteer corps in the service of the
United States, shall be killed in battle, or shall die, either
before or after being discharged from the service of the

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32 United States, from wounds received, or disease contracted,
or from any other cause occasioned whilst in such ser-
vice, the widow, or if no widow, the child or children,
under sixteen years of age, of such commissioned officer,
shall be entitled to receive half the monthly pay of such
commissioned officer for five years; and the widow, or if
no widow, the child or children, of such non-commis-
sioned officer, private or musician, shall be entitled to re-
ceive ten dollars a month for the like term of five years;
but in case of the death or marriage of any such widow,
before the expiration of the term of five years, the half-
pay or ten dollars a month, for the remainder of the time,
shall go to the child or children aforesaid respectively:
Provided always, That such pay shall in all cases cease,
on the death of such child or children, unless the father or
mother of such commissioned or non-commissioned officer,
private or musician, shall be living, and in case of the de-
cease or marriage of the widow, and the death of such
child or children, before the expiration of the term of five
years, half the monthly pay of such commissioned officer
shall be paid to the father, if he be living, and if not to the
mother, of the said commissioned officer; and ten dollars a
month to the father, and if he be not living to the mother,
of such deceased non-commissioned officer, private or mu-
sician, for the remainder of the said unexpired term of five

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7 years: Provided always, That such pay shall in all cases
cease of the death of the father or mother respectively of
such commissioned officer, non-commissioned officer, pri-
vate or musician.
Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That if any com-
missioned officer, non-commissioned officer, private or
musician, as described in the first section of this act, shall
be killed in battle, or shall die, either before or after being
discharged from service, from wounds received, or disease
contracted, or other cause occasioned while in such ser-
vice, and leave neither widow nor child or children, the
father, if there be a father, or if none, the mother of such
commissioned officer shall be entitled to receive half the
monthly pay of such commissioned officer, for and during
the term of five years; and the father, if there be a father,
or if none, the mother of such non-commissioned officer,
musician or private, shall be entitled to receive ten dollars
a month for a like term.
Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That in all cases
where the benefits of this act are, by its provisions, ex-
tended to the child or children of deceased commissioned
officers, non-commissioned officers, privates and musi-
cians, the same payments shall be continued until they
severally arrive to the age of sixteen years, notwith-
standing the said term of five years may have expired.

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5 Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That the half-
pay which the widow, or child or children, or father or
mother, of any deceased commissioned officer, shall re-
ceive, shall in no case exceed the half-pay of a lieutenant
colonel in the regular army of the United States.
Sec. 5. And be it further enacted, That the provi-
sions of this act shall be construed to apply to all cases
of deaths of commissioned officers, non-commissioned of-
ficers, privates or musicians, whether of the regular army
or of any volunteer corps in the service of the United
States, occurring as provided in this act, from and after
the twenty-eighth March, eighteen hundred and forty-six,
until the expiration of four months from and after the rati-
fication of a treaty of peace between the United States
and the republic of Mexico.
Sec. 6. And be it further enacted, That the Secre-
tary of War, under the direction of the President of the
United States, shall adopt such regulations and forms in
relation to application and payments under this act, as
shall be necessary to carry its provisions into effect.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Repre- sentatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That if any commissioned or non-commis- sioned officer, private, or musician, in the regular army, or in any of the volunteer corps in the service of the United States, shall be killed in battle, or shall die, either before or after being discharged from the service of the
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8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32	United States, from wounds received, or disease contracted, or from any other cause occasioned whilst in such ser- vice, the widow, or if no widow, the child or children, under sixteen years of age, of such commissioned officer, shall be entitled to receive half the monthly pay of such commissioned officer for five years; and the widow, or if no widow, the child or children, of such non-commis- sioned officer, private or musician, shall be entitled to re- ceive ten dollars a month for the like term of five years; but in case of the death or marriage of any such widow, before the expiration of the term of five years, the half- pay or ten dollars a month, for the remainder of the time, shall go to the child or children aforesaid respectively: Provided always, That such pay shall in all cases cease, on the death of such child or children, unless the father or mother of such commissioned or non-commissioned officer, private or musician, shall be living, and in case of the de- cease or marriage of the widow, and the death of such child or children, before the expiration of the term of five years, half the monthly pay of such commissioned officer shall be paid to the father, if he be living, and if not to the mother, of the said commissioned officer; and ten dollars a month to the father, and if he be not living to the mother, of such deceased non-commissioned officer, private or mu- sician, for the remainder of the said unexpired term of five
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33 34 35 36 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 1 2 3 4 5 6 7	years: Provided always, That such pay shall in all cases cease of the death of the father or mother respectively of such commissioned officer, non-commissioned officer, pri- vate or musician. Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That if any com- missioned officer, non-commissioned officer, private or musician, as described in the first section of this act, shall be killed in battle, or shall die, either before or after being discharged from service, from wounds received, or disease contracted, or other cause occasioned while in such ser- vice, and leave neither widow nor child or children, the father, if there be a father, or if none, the mother of such commissioned officer shall be entitled to receive half the monthly pay of such commissioned officer, for and during the term of five years; and the father, if there be a father, or if none, the mother of such non-commissioned officer, musician or private, shall be entitled to receive ten dollars a month for a like term. Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That in all cases where the benefits of this act are, by its provisions, ex- tended to the child or children of deceased commissioned officers, non-commissioned officers, privates and musi- cians, the same payments shall be continued until they severally arrive to the age of sixteen years, notwith- standing the said term of five years may have expired.
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1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5	Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That the half- pay which the widow, or child or children, or father or mother, of any deceased commissioned officer, shall re- ceive, shall in no case exceed the half-pay of a lieutenant colonel in the regular army of the United States. Sec. 5. And be it further enacted, That the provi- sions of this act shall be construed to apply to all cases of deaths of commissioned officers, non-commissioned of- ficers, privates or musicians, whether of the regular army or of any volunteer corps in the service of the United States, occurring as provided in this act, from and after the twenty-eighth March, eighteen hundred and forty-six, until the expiration of four months from and after the rati- fication of a treaty of peace between the United States and the republic of Mexico. Sec. 6. And be it further enacted, That the Secre- tary of War, under the direction of the President of the United States, shall adopt such regulations and forms in relation to application and payments under this act, as shall be necessary to carry its provisions into effect.