In addition to these provisions for injuries incurred in the service, by the law of June 27, 1890, all persons who served 90 days or more in the army or navy of the United States during the Civil War and were honorably discharged and are now suffering from any permanent disease or disability, not the result of vicious habits, which unfits them from earning their support by manual labor, are allowed a pension of from $6 to $12 a month according to the degree of disability. By the same law the widow of any such soldier, without other means of support than her daily labor, shall receive $8 a month during her widowhood, provided she married such soldier prior to June 27, 1890.
An independent bureau for the transaction of the pension business of the government was established in 1833, and in 1849 it was made a bureau of the Department of the Interior. The commissioner of pensions is appointed by the president, and under him about 2,000 persons are employed in the examination and settlement of pension claims; and there is an equal number of surgeons throughout the country whose duty it is to examine all applicants ordered to appear before them.
The growth of the pension system of the United States and its liberality toward its soldiers and sailors may be seen from the following figures: In 1862 the amount of money paid out for pensions was less than $1,000,000; in 1872, 10 years later, it exceeded $30,000,000; in 1880 it was $57,240,540; for the year ending June 30, 1890, it was $106,493,890; for the year ending June 30, 1900, it was $139,381,522; for the year ending June 30, 1911, it was $157,325,160. The total number of pensioners on the roll at the latter date was 892,098.
Pen′tateuch (tūk) (from the Greek words pente, five, and teuchos, book), the name given by the Christian fathers to the first five books of the Bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The Jewish name given to these books was Torah, meaning The Law. In connection with Joshua these five books are sometimes considered to form one continuous work, by many modern scholars called the Hexateuch.
Pe′onage, a system of servitude common in Mexico and some Spanish-American states. By the Spanish colonial system the peon in debt to his employer was bound to labor for him until the debt was paid. It is claimed that under this system employers often contrived to keep their laborers in continual servitude by advancing them money for needless expenditures or selling them goods on credit and at high prices. Peonage in the territory of New Mexico was abolished by act of Congress in 1867. It has also been abolished in the Argentine Republic and some other South American countries.
Pe′ony, a shrub, native of southern Europe, northern Africa and Asia. It is a genus (Pæonia) of the order of Ranunculaceæ. It derives its name from Paion, the physician of the gods, because of its supposed medicinal properties. There are many species, some extensively cultivated in America as ornamental plants and for their flowers, which usually are red or crimson but vary to white. Many varieties and hybrids have been originated. Chinese peonies, which form a large group including many hardy and double-flowered and fragrant varieties, are hybrids obtained by intercrossing various species. There also is a tree-peony, a native of California and Japan. It produces a very large and handsome flower representing a large range of shades and colors. The seeds and roots of certain species of peony are used for food by the wild tribes of Asia.
Peo′ria, Ill., a large and enterprising city on Illinois River, 62 miles north of Springfield and 160 southwest of Chicago. It is an important railway center, the union depot being used by ten of the railway lines that meet at this point, and is connected by steamboat navigation with the Mississippi. It contains among other prominent buildings, a courthouse, postoffice, public library, Roman Catholic cathedral and a Congregational church. Its charitable institutions include three homes for the aged, three hospitals and other institutions. Besides an unexcelled system of public schools, it has several parochial schools, a German school under the patronage of the German Turners, Spalding Institute (R. C.) for boys, founded by Bishop J. L. Spalding, Sacred Heart Academy (R. C.) for girls and Bradley Polytechnic Institute, founded by Mrs. Lydia Bradley in 1897, endowed with $2,000,000 by her and affiliated with Chicago University. Peoria manufactures whiskey, agricultural implements, automobiles, wire fences and other products. It has several meatpacking houses, and takes first rank in its distillery products. Its distilleries number ten and consume 60,000 bushels of corn daily. Peoria is per capita the richest city in the United States. Population 66,950.
Pep′in le Bref (“the short”), son of Charles Martel and father of Charlemagne, was born in 714. Charles Martel, before he died, divided his kingdom between his two sons, Carloman and Pepin, the former taking the German part, the latter Neustria and other portions of northern France; still they were only rulers in the name of the Merovingian king. St. Boniface in 751 crowned Pepin king of the Franks, Childeric, the last king of the Merovingians, having been deposed; and, when Pope Stephen III was hard pressed by the Lombards under Aistulf in 754, he came to France to solicit help from Pepin. The latter led his army into Italy, compelled Aistulf to become his vassal, and gave the pope the title of exarch of Ravenna, thus first establishing the temporal sovereignty of the Holy See. He died in 768, and
