Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1886-05-21
TWO vEToEs.
The President Returns Unsigned Two Fri.
waite Pension Bills-His Reasons for His

The President Returns Unsigned Two Fri.
waite Pension Bills-His Reasons for His
Action.
WASHINGTON, May 1O.-The following is
| the substance OF the two messages sent to
Congress Saturday by the President, veto.
ing two private pension bills. The first
message is as follows:
"To II HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES: l
return without my approval House bill No.
147, entitled an act increasing the pension
of Andrew j. Hill. The bill doubles the pen
sion which the person named therein has
been receiving for number of years 1t APP
pears from the report of the committee to
which the bill was referred that the claim
made by him for increased pension has
been lately rejected by the Pension Bureau
III. the ground that the claimant is now re-
ceiving a pension commensurate with
the degree of disability found to exist.
special enactment the decisions of the
bureau invested by law with the eN-
examination of pension claims, fully
equipped for such examination. and which
ought not to be suspected of any lack of
liberality to our veteran soldiers, is exceed
if a committee of Congress has a better OPP
of the merits of his claim. If. how
ever, there is any lack of power in
the Pension Bureau for a full in
vestigation it should be supplied If the
system adopted is inadequate to do full
justice to claimants, it should be CORRECTED,
and if there is a want of sympathy and,con-
sideration for the defenders of ourGovern-
ment, the bureau should be r~eorganized.
The disposition to concede most generous
treatment to the disabled, aged and needy
~, o,,r rnfa,.orc cLp,A<l nnf ln w
strained, and it must be admitted that in
some cases justice and equity can not be
attained without the charitable tendencies
of the Government in favor of worthy OBJ
jects of its care. The conditions some
times justify resort to special legislation,
by special enactment in the granting of
pensions should be rare and exceptional.
'.There has lately been presented to me on
the same day for approval nearly two hun
dred and forty special bills, granting and
pension list tho names Of parties
which for cause have been dropped.
To aid executive duty they were re-
ferled to the Pension Bureau for exam
ihation and report. After a delay abso-
lutely necessary they have been returned
stitutionally provided for the executive
action. Eighty. n Of these bills
cover cases in which favorable action by
the Pension Bureau was denied by rea-
son of the insufficiency i the testimony
filed to prove the facts alleged.
These bills l nave approved on the
assumption that the claims were
meritorious and that, on the passage of
the bills. the Government has waived full
proof of the facts.
1 estimate the expenditure involved in
these bills at more thar S35, 900 annually.
Though my conception Of public duty leads
me to the conclusion upon the slight exam.
ination which l have been able to give to
such of these bills as are not en-
braced in the first class above men,
toned, that many of them should be
.disapproved,. l am utterly unable TO
submit within the time allowed me for
that purpose any objections to the same.
They will therefore become operative with
out my approval. A sufficient reason for
the return of the particular bill now under
consideration is foundi in the fact that it
provides that the name of Andrew j. Hill
be placed on the pension roll, while the rec
ords of the Pension Bureau, as well as the
medical certificate made part of the re-
port, discloses the fact thatthe name of the
beneficiary is Alfred j. Hill"
The President vetoed on Saturday also
the House bill increasing the pension OF
Abigail Smith on the ground that the ben
etits OF the bill were conferred on the pen
SiOner on March J 9 by statute.