office box address which is the same as that of the attorney prosecuting the claim.

76. Where it is shown that a pensioner or claimant has resided for a number of years at the address given in his application, or has more recently answered communications addressed to him in which street number, post-office box, or rural free-delivery route was not used, it may be assumed that another address is not available.

GUARDIANSHIP.

77. Every guardian, or other person receiving pension in a fiduciary capacity, must biennially file in the bureau a certificate of the court to which such fiduciary is accountable, showing that he has accounted to the court, as required by law, and that the account has been approved or that the requirement for accounting has been waived by the court, if such is the fact. Blank form of certificate shall be furnished each guardian or committee and must be used by him. In case of failure to file such certificate, payment on the voucher with which it is required, and all subsequent payments, shall be withheld pending the receipt thereof.

INSPECTION OF PAPERS.

78. The examination of papers relating to claims for pension or bounty land, by attorneys, counsel, or agents, shall not extend to reports from the governmental departments and bureaus, confidential communications, or reports of special examiners relating to criminal charges and investigations.

79. (a) The act of July 18, 1894, which permits the examination and inspection of reports of examining surgeons by the claimant or his attorney, under such reasonable rules and regulations as the Secretary of the Interior may provide, must be complied with in such manner as will afford all proper information to claimants and their attorneys in all pending claims, and at the same time interfere as little as may be with the work of the bureau.

(b) No one but the claimant in person and his recognized attorney in the claim, or said attorney's subagent, including the confidential clerk (duly accredited) of each, shall be permitted to examine the reports of examining surgeons filed in the claim, and such examination shall be made subject to the rules of the Pension Bureau in respect to the calling up and examination of cases by attorneys.

(c) Said act of Congress does not permit the copying of such reports or any portion thereof. No person shall be permitted to take copies or make memoranda from such reports.

80. No examination of reports of examining surgeons shall be permitted in admitted cases wherein there is no claim pending.

81. No examination of such reports shall be permitted in rejected cases, after the lapse of three months from the date of rejection, until the claim has been regularly reopened according to the practice of the bureau, or unless an appeal from the decision is pending.

82. No one except the clerk in charge will be permitted to examine any certificate of disability for discharge, report of medical survey, or certificate of death in the Navy before the same shall have been applied to a pending claim, except upon the order of the commissioner, deputy commissioner, or chief clerk, or upon the written request of the chief of the law division or the chief of the special examination division,

RETURN OF PAPERS.

83. Certificates of discharge, marriage certificates, family records, personal letters, diaries, bills and receipts, and other personal papers or articles which may have been filed in claims for pension, may, in the discretion of the commissioner, be returned upon request of the persons entitled thereto, and whenever papers so returned constitute part of the material and essential evidence in a claim, photostats or other copies of the same, or of so much thereof as may appear to possess evidential value, shall be placed in the case.

PAYMENT.

84. The mailing of a pension check in payment of pension due, issued on voucher, constitutes payment in the event of the death of the pensioner subsequent to the execution of the voucher therefor.

85. (a) In nonvoucher cases the proper delivery of a pension check during the lifetime of the pensioner constitutes payment in the event of the death of the pensioner prior to indorsement thereof. In such cases the checks become a part of the assets of the estate of the deceased pensioner.

(b) All inquiries relative to the payment of such checks should be addressed to the General Accounting Office, Washington, D. C.

MISCELLANEOUS.

86. Applications for certificate of service in lieu of lost discharge should be filed with The Adjutant General, United States Army, War Department, in Army cases, and with the Chief of the Bureau of Navigation, Navy Department, in Navy cases.

87. Applications for back pay, extra pay, or bounty money for military serv ice and for bounty, extra pay, or prize money for naval service should be filed with the General Accounting Office, Military Division.

88. Applications for artificial limbs or mechanical appliances should be filed with the Surgeon General, United States Army, War Department.

89. Applications for headstones for graves of deceased soldiers should be filed with the Quartermaster General, United States Army, War Department.

RULES OF PRACTICE IN PENSION AND BOUNTY-LAND APPEALS.

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR,

Washington, D. C., January 11, 1915.

RULE I.-Except as herein otherwise provided, an appeal may be taken to the Secretary of the Interior from the final action or order of the Commissioner of Pensions in all matters relating to pensions or bounty land, and a separate appeal must be filed in each claim.

The

RULE II.-Appeals must be filed with the Commissioner of Pensions. commissioner will thereupon, within 30 days from the filing of said appeal, consider and determine whether the action or order from which the appeal is taken shall be adhered to; and if he shall determine not to recede therefrom, he shall, within said period of 30 days, forward said appeal, together with the record in the case and a report stating his reasons for the action or order complained of, to the department; and said appeal shall thereupon be entered upon a docket kept for that purpose. Upon the perfection of such appeal, by transmission and docketing aforesaid, the jurisdiction of the commissioner shall cease and determine, and the case will be decided by the Secretary on the record. Copies of the decision of the Secretary shall be transmitted with said record to the Commissioner of Pensions for action in accordance therewith. One copy of the decision shall be transmitted by the commissioner to the appellant or his duly accredited attorney.

RULE III. (a) Except as hereinafter ordered the time for filing an appeal shall be one year from the date of notice of the final action or order of which complaint is made.

(b) In simultaneous contesting claims, where one is admitted and one rejected, the time allowed for the filing of an appeal shall be 30 days from the date of mailing of notice of the bureau action to the claimant to whom the action is adverse. In such claims the Commissioner of Pensions will promptly notify all parties in interest of the action taken, by registered letter, inclosing a copy of this rule and expressly inviting attention to the fact that an appeal will not be entertained unless filed within the period of 30 days herein prescribed.,

(c) Upon the filing of an appeal all parties whose interests may be adversely affected by the decision shall be notified by registered letter of the filing of the appeal and of the substance thereof and allowed 30 days from the date of the mailing of such notice within which to file brief or argument in answer thereto before the papers are forwarded to this department.

The return of a registered letter, unclaimed, containing notice, addressed to the last known post-office address, shall constitute sufficient evidence of notice. RULE IV. In each appeal the name and service of the soldier on account of whose service the claim is based must be stated, together with the number of claim, the law under which the claim is prosecuted, and the date and substance of the action from which the appeal is taken.

RULE V.-No appeal will be entertained from the refusal of the Commissioner of Pensions to recognize attorneys or agents in prosecuting claims for pensions or bounty land under any law wherein the payment of a fee for such service is prohibited.

RULE VI.-An appeal by an attorney will not be entertained unless he has filed a duly executed power of attorney for this purpose from the appellant or is entitled under the rules to recognition; and no appeal, brief, motion, pleading, or other paper or communication relative to a case on appeal filed by a firm of attorneys or agents shall be received or docketed unless the same be signed individually by one or more duly qualified members of such firm.

RULE VII.-An appeal taken on behalf of a claimant by or through a suspended or disbarred attorney will not be entertained.

RULE VIII.-No appeal pertaining to the allowance of a fee when the refundment has been called for will be entertained unless refundment as required shall have been made.

RULE IX.-The Commissioner of Pensions shall return to the appellant any appeal not in conformity with the provisions of Rules III to VIII, inclusive, stating wherein the appeal is defective.

RULE X.-In proceedings before the commissioner in which he shall decide that a party has no right to appeal to the Secretary or that said appeal may not be entertained under the provisions of the foregoing rules, such party may apply to the Secretary for an order directing the commissioner to certify such action, together with the record in the case, to the department, and such application shall be in writing, under oath, and shall fully and specifically set forth the grounds upon which the same is based. If upon a hearing of the application the Secretary shall grant a writ of certiorari under this rule, the jurisdiction of the department shall be ample for the correction of any error appearing in the record.

RULE XI.-Each appeal must contain specific assignments of the alleged mistake of fact or error of law in the adjudication of said claim by the Commissioner of Pensions, and any appeal insufficient in this respect may be dismissed by the Secretary.

RULE XII.-(a) A motion for reconsideration of any departmental decision may be filed with and entertained by the Secretary, in his discretion, if filed within 30 days from the date of mailing a copy of such decision to the last known post-office address of the claimant or his attorney of record. It must be shown in said motion that some material feature of the case has not been considered in said decision or that there was error of law or material mistake of fact.

(b) And in any case involving conflicting claims of two or more parties wherein, under either Rule III or Rule XIII, the right of appeal is limited to 30 days, there shall be a stay of execution of the departmental decision until the expiration of the period within which a motion for reconsideration may be filed, unless for especial cause mandate forthwith shall issue.

RULE XIII.-Upon the adjudication of a claim for division of pension under the act of March 3, 1899, in the Bureau of Pensions both parties will be promptly notified by the bureau by registered letter of the action taken. Each party will, in the absence of waiver, be allowed 30 days from the mailing of said notice to appeal from said action, the appeal to be accompanied by due proof of service of a copy thereof upon the appellee, as required by Rule XIV. Unless such bureau action is appealed from within 30 days from the mailing of said notice the bureau action shall be deemed to be final: Provided, The unexplained failure of a pensioner to appear, answer, or in any way plead to the claimant's application, after due notice thereof by the

bureau, will be deemed a waiver of his right to appeal to the extent that, if the claim be allowed, final orders for division of pension may issue at once. RULE XIV. (a) Appeals from bureau action in cases under the first, second, and third provisos of the act of March 3, 1899, must be accompanied by due proof of service of a copy of the appeal upon the appellee or his or her attorney of record.

(b) Proof of service must be such as will satisfy the Commissioner of Pensions that the appellee has been informed of the appeal and the contents thereof, and may consist of, first, a written acceptance of service by the appellee or his or her attorney of record; or, second, a postal registry return receipt card, signed by appellee or attorney of record, accompanied by an affidavit showing that on a certain date a copy of the appeal was mailed in a registered letter, postpaid, to the appellee or the attorney of record, addressed to the appellee or his attorney of record at his last known post office (naming it), that the card was returned in acknowledgment of the receipt of such letter; or, third, an affidavit showing that on a certain day and at a certain place a copy of the appeal was personally delivered to the appellee or attorney of record.

(c) Appeals in this class of cases unaccompanied by due proof of service, or a satisfactory reason why personal service can not be made, will not be filed or considered, but will be promptly returned to the appellant, or attorney of record, for compliance with this rule. The failure to comply with this rule shall not operate to enlarge the time within which appeal may be taken.

RULE XV.-Appeals from bureau action in cases under the first, second, and third provisos of the act of March 3, 1899, when accompanied by due proof of service of a copy thereof upon the appellee, will be filed, and the parties promptly notified thereof. The appellee will be allowed 30 days from the date of filing the appeal in which to file answer, brief, or argument in opposition to the appeal or in support of the action from which the appeal is taken. An appeal duly filed will operate to continue the suspension of the one-half pension in controversy.

RULE XVI. (a) Appeals from the bureau action in cases under the first, second, or third provisos of the act of March 3, 1899, must be confined to cases under that act, and not joined with an appeal from action in an invalid claim or claims under other acts of Congress. When perfected by due proof of service upon the appellee, as required by Rule XIV, the appeal should be transmitted to the Commissioner of Pensions. The appeal should state the post-office address of the appellant and appellee, and the certificate number and the service (company and regiment, etc.) of the pensioner, and should briefly but specifically state the error of law or mistake of fact complained of and the grounds relied upon for reversing or modifying the action appealed from.

(b) No additional evidence upon the merits of the claim filed by either appellant or appellee will be considered on appeal.

RULE XVII.-Motions for review of departmental decisions in cases for division of pension under the act of March 3, 1899, will hereafter be governed by the provisions of Rule XII. If the motion be allowed, the opposing party will be notified thereof and allowed 30 days in which to file answer, brief, or argument.

RULE XVIII.-All cases on appeal will be considered and decided in regular order, according to their places upon the docket, unless, for cause shown, a case may be advanced on motion for earlier hearing and determination.