be paid to any widow of any soldier or sailor who wilfully and without just cause abandoned such soldier or sailor, and continued to live separately from him up to the time of his death, or any widow who has been divorced from such soldier or sailor. Such pension shall be payable quarterly beginning March first of each year.

Property Restrictions-Income.

Section 2. To constitute indigency within the meaning of this act, neither the applicant himself, nor his wife, nor both, shall be the owner of property, real or personal, in excess of the value of one thousand ($1,000.00) dollars, household goods and wearing apparel excluded, or, in the enjoyment of an income, annuity, pension, the emoluments of any office, or wages for their services, in excess of one hundred eighty ($180.00) dollars per year; or, any person who is the beneficiary of any aid, or any pension from any state, or of the United States, or who is an inmate of any public institution either penal or charitable, maintained in whole or in part at the expense of the State, shall not be an inmate of such institution, or receiving the benefits of such aid.

Soldiers and Sailors-Provision for Pension.

Section 3. Persons for whose service pensions may be granted under the provisions of this act, must have been soldiers or sailors who served honorably in the army or navy of the Confederate States of America, or one of the States thereof, and who was honorably discharged, paroled, or released therefrom, and who did not desert; or who served in such army or navy from the time of enlistment until the surrender; or any person who was detailed directly under the provisions of the Conscript Law for duty in any of the armories or shops for the maintenance of the army or navy of the Confederate States, or any State thereof during said war; provided no widow shall be entitled to a pension should her husband, if living, be prohibited from receiving such pension by reason of his inability to comply with the requirements of this act.

Board of Pension Commissioners-Secretary.

Section 4. There is hereby created a Board of Pension Commissioners, which shall be composed of the State Treasurer, the Commissioner of Charities and Corrections, and three ex-Confederate soldiers, who shall be appointed and commissioned by the Governor, and hold their office for a term of four (4) years, concurrent with the office of the Chief Executive, and who shall serve without pay. Said Board shall organize by electing one of their members chairman, who shall preside at all meetings of said Board, and the Inspector of the Department of Commissioner of Charities and Corrections is ex-officio Secretary to said Board and shall act in such capacity without additional compensation and in addition to all other duties now required of said Inspector under the law. Said Board shall be vested with full power and authority to hear and determine all applications for pensions under the provisions of this act, and to prescribe such rules and regulations touching such applications as they may determine necessary for the proper conduct of the business in carrying out the provisions of this act. Such Commissioners shall have power to hear evidence touching all applications, at all times and places and in such manner as they may prescribe, and to allow or refuse pensions, according as justice and the provisions of this act may require; and shall be vested with full power over the entire pension rolls at all times, and it shall be their duty to strike from the roll such names as may have been improperly enrolled, after proper notice and hearing, and the decision of such Board shall be final on all questions that may come before them.

Office-Rolls of Soldiers-Reports.

Section 5. The office of the Pension Commissioner shall be located at the State Capitol, and maintained in connection with the office of State Treasurer or Commissioner of Charities and Corrections, as a majority of said Board may determine, and it shall be the duty of the State Board of Public Affairs to supply said Commissioners with neces

sary furniture, books, blanks, and stationery, necessary to carry out the provisions of this act. Said Commissioners shall have power to employ clerical help when necessary, provided that they shall not expend more than nine hundred ($900) dollars during any one year for such help. It shall be the duty of such Pension Commissioners to obtain from the War Department, if possible, a roll or roster of all Confederate soldiers and sailors, and to keep a correct record of all approved claims, and on the first day of January of each year make a written report to the Governor showing the entire number of pensioners; the number of claims allowed for the past year; the amount of claims disallowed, and reasons therefor, and such other information as the Governor, from time to time may ask of such Board.

Applications-Restrictions.

Section 6. It is further provided, that any person desiring the benefits of the provisions of this act, may make application in writing to the county judge of the county of his residence, which application shall state the name, age and residence of the applicant, his occupation, if he is able to engage in one, his physical condition, the company and regiment in which he enlisted in the Confederate Army or if an officer, commissioned by the President of the Confederate States, the date of his commission, his rank in the army, or, if detailed directly under the provisions of the Conscript Law for duty in any of the armories or shops of the Confederate States for the maintenance of the Army or Navy, and if he served in the Confederate Navy he shall set forth the time and place of his enlistment and the duration of such service. Such application shall further contain an itemized statement of all property, effects or income possessed by himself or his wife, or both of them, which application shall be sworn to before some officer authorized to administer oaths, and supported by the affidavit of at least two citizens, who have knowledge of any or all the facts above set out; provided, however, that if such applicant is unable to secure the testimony of two citizens as to

his enlistment and service, then he may furnish such documentary or other evidence in connection with his service in the Army or Navy as he may be able to secure, tending to establish his claim to a pension. Such application shall further set forth that the applicant is a resident of the county in which such application is made, and that he has resided in the State of Oklahoma for more than twelve (12) months prior to the passage and approval of this act; provided, that the application of any widow for a pension under the provisions of this act, shall further state the time and place of marriage, date and place of death of husband, and that she did not abandon such soldier or sailor, but lived with him as his wife to the time of his death. The county judge shall receive and file such application, and shall have power, if he deem such application unsatisfactory, to summons and examine witnesses under oath concerning such. applicant, and, shall reduce their testimony to writing which shall be transcribed by the stenographer taking the same, and signed by such witnesses. Such testimony, together with all papers and records of such application, shall be immediately forwarded to the Pension Commissioners, who shall at their next regular meeting after receiving such application, proceed to examine and determine the rights of the applicant to the benefits of this act, and if after examination they are satisfied that such person is entitled by a majority of such commissioners, and properly entered to a pension the same shall be allowed by an order signed in a permanent record kept for such purpose. Provided, however, that the Board of Pension Commissioners may designate one of its members as a Special Pension Examiner, whose duty it shall be to fully investigate the pension roll, and where any doubt exists as to the worthiness of any pensioner, or where any charges have been preferred by any respectable person, under oath, as to the rights of any person to participate in the benefits of this act, such pension examiner shall fully investigate the charges preferred, both as to the physical and financial condition of

such applicant or pensioner, and shall make a written report of such investigation to the Commissioners, the same to be considered at the next regular meeting of said Commissioners.

How Paid-Meetings.

Section 7. The Board of Pension Commissioners shall meet in regular session quarterly in their office at the State Capital on the first Monday of January, April, July and. October, of each year for the purpose of transacting the business herein conferred upon them and shall meet in special session upon the call of the chairman. All claims for pensions herein provided for shall be made out on blanks provided by the Board of Pension Commissioners and filed with the Board within twenty days prior to the first day of each quarterly meeting, and shall set forth the post office address and residence of such pensioner, and that he, or she, is the identical person to whom the pension has been granted under the provisions of this act, and that the conditions that existed at the time of making his, or her, application and upon which the pension was originally granted still exist, which claim shall be sworn to by said pensioner before a person authorized to administer oaths. All such claims for pensions shall be examined into by said board, and if approved by a majority thereof, same shall be certified to the State Auditor, who shall draw his warrant on the State Treasurer in favor of such applicant in the amount of such warrant, which warrant shall be paid out of any money in the treasury appropriated for such purpose.

Fraud in Securing Pension-Penalty.

Section 8. It shall be the duty of the Commissioners of Pensions, when it shall come to their knowledge, that any person has been granted a pension through false representation, fraud, or perjury, or anyone on the pension roll has, by reason, of acquiring property, or annuity, emolument or other income, or who has been absent from the State for a period of more than six months, or has become