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The old laws that existed a century ago with reference to application for vacant lands and their disposition by the officers of the land office have been greatly modified by the Act of May 3, 1909, which is now the guide in such cases.

There are now no large bodies of vacant land-that is, land not already appropriated by warrant and survey-within the limits of Pennsylvania. Small tracts, however, are yet frequently discovered in various sections of the State for which office rights have never been granted and which by law remain open for sale by the officers of the land bureau. For such tracts of vacant land, warrants, under certain conditions, can be granted to any person who may apply for the same in proper form.

An application filed in the office of the Secretary of Internal Affairs is the inception of title to all vacant lands within the State. The application must contain a full description of the land. 1 The forms now in use giving the location by township and county, and also, in descriptive form, the names of the owners of adjoining tracts on the North, South, East and West, as the surroundings of the land may require; the adjoining tracts must be given in the names of the original warrantee owners. The application must also contain the affidavit of a disinterested witness, specifying whether the land is improved or not, and if improved, how long since the improvement was made, in order that interest may be charged from that time. It is important to fix the date of improvement, because if the time is not fixed in the application, the land officers are compelled to charge interest on lands within the purchase of 1768, from the 1st day of March 1770, less seven years for the period of the war of the American Revolution and within previous purchase from the 1st day of March, 1755. 2 On improved land North and West of the Ohio and Allegheny rivers and Conewango creek, within the purchase of 1784, interest, when date of improvement is not fixed in the application, can only be charged from the year 1797. It is also necessary for the applicant to declare under oath that he believes that no warrant or other office right has ever issued for land for which he applies, or if such right has previously issued, after giving full particulars in relation thereto, to state that he verily believes that it has been abandoned. affidavits must be taken before a justice of the peace of the township in which the land is situated; if the land should be situated partly in one township and partly in another, before a justice of the township in which the larger part of it is situated. Should there be no justice in the township, the affidavits may be made before a justice of an adjoining township or borough, in which case, the fact that there is no justice in the township in which the land lies must be certified by the justice by whom the oaths are administered. A person deposing to the facts set forth in an application, who shall knowingly have sworn falsely, is made liable to the penalties of perjury. It is also provided in the case of improved lands, or lands upon which settlements have been made, that warrants for such lands can only be granted to the person or persons respectively, who made the improvements or settlements, their legal representatives or assigns, upon proof of ownership of the improvement, right or settlement.

These

After the application has been duly prepared, it is then to be forwarded to the Secretary of Internal Affairs. It is then

1 See Act of May 8, 1909, P. L. 413.

2 See Act of March 28, 1814, Smith Laws Vol. VI, page 207.

made the duty of the Secretary of Internal Affairs to make an investigation to ascertain whether the land applied for is in fact vacant and he may cause surveys to be made at the expense of the State to determine the question of vacancy. If the land is unimproved it will be offered to the State Forestry Reservation and if found undesirable for forest culture it shall then be appraised by three appraisers appointed by the Governor, the Secretary of the Commonwealth, the Attorney General and the Secretary of Internal Affairs, who are to fix the price at which the land shall be sold to the applicant, and upon payment of the amount of the appraisement and the warrant fee, the Secretary of Internal Affairs will grant a warrant authorizing its survey. The county surveyor will then make a return of survey, and upon payment of the patent fee and the purchase money for any excess returned, the patent may be granted, signed by the Secretary of Internal Affairs and the Governor. The patent shall be recorded in the Department of Internal Affairs, after which it shall be sent to the patentee for record in the county where the land described therein is situated. A caveat will stay proceedings until the Board of Property, after a hearing on citation, renders its decision.

A warrant authorizes the survey of vacant lands only, as they alone belong to the Commonwealth to grant.

Blanks are furnished by the Department to applicants for warrants to survey improved or unimproved lands.

Patents.

A patent is a deed from the Commonwealth, conveying to the grantee all its rights in the land, describing it by metes and bounds, and it passes, as respects the Commonwealth, the complete legal title, all, the preparatory measures of warrant, application, survey and acceptance being merged in the patent. The granting of a patent is prima facie evidence that all the previous requisites have been complied with. Before a patent can be issued the purchase money and fees due must be paid; and the land is thenceforth discharged from the lien which till then exists. Generally, the rights of the grantee are concluded by the lines and boundaries described in the survey, though perhaps in a special case there might be an exception.

Third persons claiming by warrant, application, settlement or otherwise may show that the patent was wrongfully issued to the patentee; or rather, that he is trustee for him who has the right, the material consideration being, not who has the patent, but to whom it ought to have been granted -for the land officers, in issuing the patent, act merely in a ministerial capacity, and cannot change the rules of law or rights of parties. And even though he who has the patent sell to a bona fide purchaser without notice, the vendee is in no better situation. His claim under the patent may be contested by one having a better right warrant by settlement, or location. A patent founded on a fraudulent survey, or obtained by misrepresentation and deceit, is void against third persons affected by it. A patent, however, has always been received in evidence in the first instance, to show that the legal title was out of the Commonwealth, and that all arrearages due the Commonwealth have been paid. question whether it is good is a subseqnent

one.

The

The following are the regulations adopted by the Bureau for the issuing of patents:

1. The patent must issue to the actual owner of the land, or party holding title under the warrantee, or to the executors,

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2. Warrantees who remain the of the land warranted and surveyed to them can obtain patents in their own names (if without no caveat remains undetermined), furnishing any brief or statement of title, upon payment of back purchase money, interest and fees.

3. Executors, trustees and guardians or his heirs, representing the warrantee who apply for patents, must produce evidence of their appointment as such.

or

4. When the land has passed out of the ownership of the original warrantee, party who took out the right, the applicant for patent will be required to furnish evidence of ownership by presenting an abstract of title from the warrantee to the applicant.

5. The present owner of a part of a tract of land surveyed in pursuance of any given warrant, desiring to have a patent in his own name can obtain it by having the county surveyor make return of survey of such part. the the In making survey, county surveyor must, besides giving the courses, and distances and quantity of acres in the particular part, indicate the residue of the original tract by dotted lines. applicant will only be required to pay his proportion of the whole amount due on the tract, with fees. Evidence of ownership must accompany application.

The

6. When an unpatented original tract has been sold and subdivided the several owners may unite in an application and statement of title for a patent, and, upon payment of amount due, with patent and other fees, a patent will issue to them, the said applicants, their heirs and assigns, according to their respective rights and interest, without setting forth therein the particular interest of each.

7. In cases where it is difficult to submit the evidence of title required by this department in order to obtain a patent, any one or more of the owners of the unpatented through this department, distract can, charge the lien against said tract by the payment of the purchase money, interest and fees shown to be due by the land lien docket, and and interest since accrued, patent can at any time afterward be issued to those entitled to it, upon proof of ownership.

8. Under Acts of Assembly of May 5, 1899. April 29, 1909, and May 28, 1915, all tracts of land entered on the lien docket, for which applications have been made or warrants granted, also all lots, in-lots, reserved lots or other land sold by Acts of Assembly, or by commissioners appointed under Acts of Assembly, on which no patents have yet been issued, may now be patented upon furnishing the Department of Internal Affairs an application, pro erly filled out and executed, showing present ownership of such lands or lots, and upon payment of a fee of $15.

on

Under Act of Assembly of April 29, 1911, the Secretary of Internal Affairs is authorized to cancel any and all liens, bonds and mortgages now held by the Department against lands of this Commonwealth which patents have been issued, for unpaid purchase money and interest thereon, and make proper satisfaction on the lien docket, mortgage book, and other records of the department, on receipt of the sum of $15, covering lien docket and recording fees for each tract of land found entered on said lien docket and so released, and forward a certificate of cancellation to the prothonotary's office of the county in which the lien was entered under provisions of the Act of Assembly of May 20, 1864, and the

supplement thereto of April 4, 1868, with request that proper entry and satisfaction be made in the records of that office.

Under Act of Assembly of June 27, 1913, "Authorizing and regulating the survey, appraisal and patenting of lands in beds of navigable rivers or streams, permitted by the Government of the United States to be abandoned and filled as no longer of use for ordinary purposes of navigation," the Secretary of Internal Affairs is authorized to grant warrants to survey such lands and issue patents for same, under the provisions of said Act.

Blanks are furnished by the Department for the use of owners of unpatented lands who may desire to have them patented.

Islands.

Islands in the rivers of Pennsylvania have, from the earliest times been granted upon application and survey. The granting of islands in the Susquehanna river is governed by the Acts of March 6, 1793, and April 2, 1822; in the rivers Delaware, Ohio, Allegheny and their branches, by the Act of January 27, 1806. Application for islands must set forth the name of applicant, location and acreage of the islands, etc., and that said island is at least four feet high above common low water, contains at least forty perches of ground exclusive of rocks, and is susceptible of cultivation in grain or esculent roots in common seasons, by their growing and becoming maturely ripe; and that he knows of no other person that has any claim whatever to the island.

The above must be sworn to before a justice of the peace of the township in which the island lies.

In order to determine the purchase price, appraisers are appointed to value the island, and this valuation shall not be less than eight dollars per acre.

If no previous right thereto has been granted, upon compliance with the law, a warrant to survey is issued and survey returned by the county the surveyor to Secretary of Internal Affairs, and patent issued, as in other cases of vacant land. For several years past it has been the policy of the Administration of the State to discourage the disposal by the State of its islands.

Persons sending money to the Department of Internal Affairs should send by registered letter, postal money order, or certified check. Drafts, checks or postal money orders must be made payable to the Secretary of Internal Affairs.

Bureau of Standards.

This Bureau, established by the Act of June 23, 1911, P. L. 1118, regulates and maintains a uniform standard of legal weights and measures in this Commonwealth, to conform with the original standards of weights and measures adopted by Congress, and verified by the National Bureau of Standards; and is to assist in securing the enforcement of laws relating to sealers of weights and measures, now in force or that may hereafter be enacted. The chief of this Bureau shall have custody of the state standards of weights and measures; shall compare, test and regulate all weights and measures of all city and borough sealers now in office, or who may hereafter be appointed in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, with the state standards when presented at his office for that purpose; shall certify to their correctness by affixing his official stamp thereto, with his name and date of examination clearly marked thereon: shall preserve in his office an appropriate record of services rendered

and work performed by him, or under his
direction; shall file in his office annual and
other reports received from the local sealers;
and shall on or before the thirtieth
November in each year submit
day of
a report in
writing to the Secretary of Internal Affairs,
for publication as a separate document in book
form, setting forth, in sufficient detail, the
work done in said Bureau, and the work re-
ported to him by the local sealers, together
with such other matter relating to that subject
as may be deemed of value and interest to the
citizens of this Commonwealth.

In accordance with the Act of May 11, 1911, P. L. 275, it is the duty of all county and city inspectors to compare their tests of weights and measures with the standard tests of this Bureau so as to insure accuracy.

least once

every

The Act of July 24, 1913, P. L. 960, provides that each city and county inspector shall report in writing at month to the chief of the State Bureau of Standards, upon blanks furnished by the chief. Such reports shall contain: (1) The number of tests made since the last preceding report. (2) The number of weights, measures and balances found by such tests to be correct. (3) The number of weights, measures and balances found by such tests to be false. (4) The number of prosecutions instituted by such inspector since the last preceding report, together with the name of the accused, the title of the court where prosecution was instituted, and the result of such prosecution. (5) Such other matters as the chief may, from time to time, prescribe.

proval and disapproval of such weights, measures and devices by the Bureau of Standards.

In accordance with the Act of May 25, 1921, P. L. 1119, amending the Act of June 23, 1911, the Secretary of Internal Affairs is authorized to appoint twelve deputies in the Bureau of Standards, who, with the chief of the Bureau, shall have the power to enter into any county or city and test all instruments and devices used in weighing and measuring anything sold or to be sold, including instruments and devices for weighing at coal mines. The Act of April 21, 1921, P. L. 265, amending Act of May 11, 1911, provides for summary proceeding before an alderman, magistrate or justice of the peace of the proper city or county.

By the Act of July 11, 1923, P. L. 992, amending the Act of May 11, 1911, it is provided that all fines imposed for violations of said Act shall be paid to the the respective city or treasurer of offense was committed. county in which the

This Act further provides that it shall be unlawful for any inspector to manufacture, sell, or offer to sell any weighing or measuring device used in the sale of commodities, or to repair or offer to repair any weighing or measuring device other than such adjustments as he may find necessary in the performance of his official duties, for which no fees shall be collected.

Copies of the law affecting this Bureau, and the rules and regulations governing the tolerances and other regulations and practices may be had upon application to the Bureau.

Bureau of Statistics and Information.

80, the Bureau of Statistics and Information
By an Act approved April 18, 1919, P. L.
was transferred from the Department of Labor
and Industry to
Affairs.
the Department of Internal
It is under the immediate charge of a
chief of the Bureau, who is appointed by the
Secretary of Internal Affairs, and is subject
to his direction and supervision.

The Act of July 24, 1913, P. L. 965, defines commodities, regulates the sale thereof, establishes weights per bushel, provides for the marking of the net weight of commodities if sold in package form, awards power to the chief of the Bureau of Standards to rules and regulations for tolerances and small make packages. By the Act of May 14, 1915, P. L. 531, amending the Act of July 24, 1913, it is provided that bottles or jars for milk or shall be measures under the provisions of this relating and pertaining to labor, coal mining, Act.

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The Act of June 7, 1915, P. L. 886, amending the Act of July 24, 1913, provides for the marking of the net weight of the tents on containers or packages handled, sold or offered for sale.

con

In accordance with the Act of July 11, 1917, P. L. 799, amending the Act of May 11, 1911, it is the duty of the sealer of weights and measures to inspect and test instruments and devices used in connection with the weigh

ings at coal mines.

The Act of July 19, 1917, P. L. 1102, amending the Act of May 11, 1911, provides for the payment of salaries of city and county inspectors of weights and mayors of cities and various boards of county measures by the commissioners in the Commonwealth.

By Acts of May 23, 1919, P. L. 278, and April 26, 1921. P. L. 300, standard Babcock glassware is defined and the sale in the state of such glassware by manufacturers is prohibited until tested and approved Bureau of Standards. by

the

The Act of July 9, 1919, P. L. 809, provides for the cooperation of the Standards of the Department of Internal Affairs Bureau of with the Bureau of Markets of the Department of Agriculture to establish standard receptacles for farm products, and to promulgate regulations for the enforcement thereof. In the Act of May 5, 1921, it is provided for the regulation and control P. L. 389, of the manufacture, sale, offering for sale, giving away, and use of weights and measures and of weighing and measuring devices in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania; and for the ap

The Bureau shall collect, compile and publish all statistics and useful data and information

oil and gas production, manufacturing induscompanies, transportation companies, taxes and tries, commercial operations, public service assessment for local purposes, and other business interests of the State. The Secretary of Internal Affairs shall have a complete summarized and systematized report of the statisties and information collected and compiled by the Bureau published annually, and shall otherwise provide means for making such information available for the use and benefit of the public as he may find necessary.

The Secretary of Internal Affairs, the chief of said Bureau, or other person duly authorsubpoenas, administer oaths, hold hearings and ized by either of them, shall have power to issue take testimony, in all matters relating to the duties herein required of said Bureau. Any corporation, firm or individual, doing business within the Commonwealth, who shall neglect or refuse for thirty days, to answer questions application, or requested by circular, official blank, or personal who shall refuse to obey the subpoena and give testimony according to the provisions of the act, shall be liable to a penalty of one hundred dollars, to be collected by the for the use of the Commonwealth. Secretary of Internal Affairs in a proper action,

By Act of April 20, 1921, P. L. 193, the Buments and Taxes, which had formerly existed reau of Railways and the Bureau of Assessin the Department of Internal Affairs, were ation.. merged into the Bureau of Statistics and InformBy a reorganization under the above cited Act the Bureau consists now of the following divisions: Industrial Statistics, Public tics, and Waterways Statistics. Utilities Statistics, Tax and Assessment Statis

The Division of Industrial Statistics gathers and compiles statistics on employes, wages, capital invested, quantity production, value of production, and much other important and interesting data from the manufacturing and industrial firms and corporations doing business in the Commonwealth.

The Division of Public Utilities has charge of the annual reports made to the Department by the corporations of the Commonwealth operating railroad, street railway, canal, telegraph and telephone lines, artificial and natural gas companies, water, electric light and all other public utility companies, showing the capital subscribed and paid in, the indebtedness, amount of business transacted, rates of transportation, amount of tonnage, cost of operation and maintenance, percentage and amount of dividends, number of accidents (with extent of injuries) to employes, passengers and others, and many additional facts of public interest. Also this division has the immediate charge of complaints made against these corporations for acts committed contrary to law or transactions not authorized by their charters.

Under the Act of May 1, 1907, all corporations owning, leasing or operating steam or electric railways, and engaged in the business of carrying freight or passengers, within this State are required to make, on or before August thirty-first, Anno Domini, one thousand nine hundred and seven, and every third year thereafter, under oath or affirmation a report setting forth in detail the name of each main line and branch line owned, leased or operated by such corporations, naming the terminal of such main line or branch line and setting forth the exact

number of statute miles between each station

and every other station on said lines, at which trains stop to receive or discharge freight or passengers, and the total number of statute miles owned, leased, or operated by such corporation within this Commonwealth.

Rules and Practices of the Division of
Public Utilities.

The annual reports required from steam railway, street railway, canal, telegraph and telephone corporations involve a large amount of labor, and are under the custody of the chief of the division, whose duty it is to compile, edit and publish them. The blank forms for annual reports are forwarded to the corporations on or before the first day of December, each year, and they are prepared, as required by existing laws, to cover the calendar year beginning January first and ending the thirty-first day of December, following. A failure or refusal to to make these annual reports on or before the thirty-first day of March, on the forms prescribed and in the manner and at the time required by the rules and regulations of the Department and the laws of the Commonwealth, imposes a penalty on the delinquent corporations of $5,000. Delinquent corporations, as required by law, are certified to the Attorney General for the collection of the penalty. No defense has thus far availed to relieve the corporation in the proceedings to collect the penalty by the Attorney General, where it appears that the delinquent corporation has been furnished with the blanks upon which to make the annual report, or has been notified either by letter or person to make the report. The law requiring these reports is so certain in its terms and so exacting in its provisions with reference to the time and character of the reports to be made, that a failure to comply with its provisions must necessitate the imposition of the penalty.

The Division of Taxes and Assessments contains the records of the state and county rates and levies as made in the several assessment districts; statistics exhibiting the

total assessed value of both real and personal property returned as taxable for state and county purposes; a statement of all property exempt from taxation, and a record of the number of acres cleared and timber land in the Commonwealth. The principal work of the division is to procure from the county commissioners, and other officers dealing with assessments and taxes for local purposes, the facts referred to above, to examine the assessment returns, verify them and compile and tabulate them for publication in the annual reports. Special effort is made by the division to obtain for the public all the information possible on the subject of taxation and for this purpose annual reports are made by the several boards of county commissioners showing the amount of taxes collected for the support of schools, the poor, and the maintenance of roads, bridges, etc.; also the amount of taxes collected for all purposes, and specially the amounts paid by railways and other corporations for local purposes.

Bureau of Municipalities.

day of April, 1919, the Bureau of Municipalities By an act of Assembly approved the fourth was transferred from the Department of Labor and Industry to the Department of Internal Affairs, with enlarged powers and duties.

The law provides that the said Bureau shall gather, classify, index, make available, and disseminate data, statistical information, and advice that may be helpful in improving the methods of administration and municipal development in the several municipalities of the benefit of the municipalities, a publicity service Commonwealth; and shall maintain, for the to install or assist in the installation and establishment of modern systems of accounting in the various municipalities of the State, and in order to promote a comprehensive plan or series of plans for the probable future requirements of cities, boroughs, or townships of the Commonwealth, either separately or jointly, in respect to a system of traffic thoroughfares and other highways or main highways, transportation of every sort, suitably coordinated sites for public buildings, parks, parkways, playgrounds, and other public uses, the preservation of natural and historic features, and any and all public improvements tending to the advantage of municipalities or townships affected, tending to their advantage as a place of business and residence, and to either make or secure or assist in making or securing the necessary surveys, plans, and information.

The Bureau of Municipalities serves primarily as a clearing house for data concerning municipal endeavor. It collects and disseminates information on municipal conditions and activities of municipalities.

It will upon request, furnish material on topics of interest to municipalities outlining the best thought and practice, not only in this State, but in other states. The aim is the standardizing of municipal administration in Pennsylvania.

All city, borough, township or county officials are required to furnish such information as may be requested by the chief of the Bureau of Municipalities or his duly authorized deputy.

Bureau of Publications.

This Bureau supervises the publications of the Department and disseminates information relating to statistics and other useful data concerning the State, as obtained by the Department of Internal Affairs through its varied activities.

BOARD OF PROPERTY.

This Board is composed of the Secretary of the Commonwealth, Attorney General, and Secretary of Internal Affairs. The Board's duty is to hear and determine in all cases

of controversy on caveats, in all matters of difficulty or irregularity touching escheats, warrants on escheats, warrants to agree, rights of preemption, promises, imperfect titles, or otherwise, that have arisen, or may arise, in transacting the business of the land office; and the Secretary of Internal Affairs is empowered and directed to receive and enter caveats in his office and to appoint days of hearing, and grant citations at the request of any party applying therefor, as the several cases may require.

Regulations of the Board of Property. The following rules have been adopted to regulate proceedings before the Board:

I. A caveat may be entered against the granting of a warrant, acceptance of a survey, or granting of a patent. It must be in writing, and addressed to the Secretary of Internal Affairs. A particular form is not required, but the application, survey, other office right against which it is entered, together with the reasons for filing the same, should be distinctly stated.

II.

or

A caveat entered against the granting of a warrant on any application on file bars the issuing of a warrant, unless, after hearing upon a citation, the Board should dismiss the same.

III. No caveat, note on survey, nor writing, in the nature of a caveat, shall continue to bar the issuing of a patent to the person or persons against whom such caveat may be entered during a longer period than two years, unless the parties interested in the land shall within the term mentioned take out a citation thereon in order to bring such dispute to a decision and prosecute the same to effect.

IV. A citation will be issued on a pending caveat on the application of any party in interest. Thirty days' notice must be given to the opposite party of the time at which the case will be heard by the Board, and either party desiring to take the deposition of witnesses to be read at the hearing is required to give the other ten days, notice of the time and place for the taking of such depositions.

V. The party who enters a caveat becomes plaintiff in the issue joined, and at the hearing shall open the case and may make the concluding argument.

VI. A petition for the rehearing of a case that has been heard and decided will not be considered unless the party presenting the same shall furnish evidence that the opposite party has had at least ten days' notice of the intention to present said petition.

VII. A petition for an order of resurvey must recite the name of the warrantee, and date of warrant upon which former survey was made, and state the reasons for such survey.

VIII. Depositions of witnesses submitted to the Board become a part of the Record, and cannot be withdrawn.

IX. Citations must be returned to the Department of Internal Affairs on or before the day fixed therein for the hearing of the case in which they are issued. All acceptances of notice and agreements to continue cases must be in writing.

X. Parties will be heard in person or may be represented by counsel, as they may elect.

XI. The fees to be charged for the use of the Commonwealth in business relating to the Board are as follows:

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DEPARTMENT OF MILITARY AFFAIRS.

The Adjutant General is the head of this He is also a member and chairDepartment. of the Armory Board of the State of Pennsylvania.

man

The Department of Military Affairs adminisGuard and of the State Naval Militia (not orters the affairs of the Pennsylvania National ganized).

The duties of the Department include the care and custody of all military property of the Federal Government and of the Commonwealth, the distribution of orders from the Governor as Commander-in-Chief and the performance of such other duties as the Governor shall direct, as the payment of the troops, the supplying of training regulations, manuals of rifle practice, service manuals and other military publications to all officers and units of the Pennsylvania National Guard, the supplying of all necessary military stores, arms and equipment to all organizations of the Guard and the ordering and adjustment of all claims incident to the organization, training, discipline, maintenance and service of the National Guard other than fixed allowances and the payment of such claims when ordered and adjusted.

The Department, with the approval of the Governor, has the power to sell or exchange unserviceable military stores belonging to the Commonwealth, or such stores as it may be deemed for the best interest of the Commonwealth to sell or exchange. All moneys received for stores so sold must be paid into the State Treasury.

The Department also has the power and it is its duty to establish rules for the filing of claims for pensions made under and by virtue of the laws of this Commonwealth, to investigate all circumstances connected with the death of a soldier, whose death is the basis of a claim for a pension, to determine the amount of relief payable to any officer or enlisted man of the Pennsylvania National Guard who is wounded or otherwise disabled while doing duty in active service of the State and on satisfactory evidence submitted or obtained, to grant such pensions as may now or hereafter be provided by law and certify the same to the Auditor General, who shall draw such warrants upon the State Treasurer therefor, to the order of the pensioner, as may now or hereafter be provided by law.

The Department is also charged with the duty of investigating all claims and applications filed with it, of soldiers and sailors who served in the military or naval forces of the United States during the World War, and, if satisfiled of the sufficiency of any such claim on application, to approve the same and arrange for the payment thereof out of any funds available for the purpose; and to make such rules and regulations as shall seem necessary for the purpose of carrying into effect the provisions of the laws providing for the payment of soldiers' and sailors' compensation for service in the World War.

The Department may issue arms and асcoutrements which are the property of the Commonwealth to cadets of any military school or to any organization of veterans of any war in which the United States has been engaged under such terms and conditions as may from time to time be provided by law.

The Administrative Code of 1923 charged the Department with the duty of selecting or making arrangements for ground to be set apart in some historic spot in the Commonwealth as an appropriate space for use as a cemetery for the burial of the bodies of soldiers, sailors, marines, and war nurses, who served in the Army or Navy of the United States during times of war, who died while in active service or after an honorable discharge, and who entered such service while residents of Pennsylvania, as well as the bodies of members of the National Guard of Pennsylvania who died while members of the National Guard or after an honorable discharge

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