Los Angeles daily herald., 1886-05-09
THE PRESIDENT vETOEs


limitation on that day.
THE PRESIDENT vETOEs
A Pension Claim and Dfscourses
at Length ON the system.
WAsHINoros, May s.-The President
to-day sent to the House Of Representa-
tives two veto messages. The first is as
follows;
To the House Of Representatives..
l return without my approval your
bill No. 647, entitled can Act increasing
the pension Of Andrew j. HILL" This
bill doubles the pension which the per-
son named therein has been receiving
for number of years. 1t appears from
the report of the committee to which
the bill was referred that the claim made
by him for an increase OF pension has
been lately rejected by the Pension Bu-
rean on this ground that the claimant is
now receiving a pension commensurate
with the degree Of disability found to
exist. The policy Of frequently revsrs-
ing by special amendment decisions OF
the bureau invested by law with the ex-
animation 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 exceedingly
questionable. 1t may well be doubted
il the Committee Of Congress has better
opportunity than such agency to Judge
Of the merits of this claim. II, however,
there Is any lack of power in the Pension
Bureau for full investigation, it should
be supplied. If the system adopted is
inadequate to do full justice to claim.
ants, 1t should be corrected, and If then,
In want Of sympathy and consideration
for the defenders of our government. the
Bureau should be reorganized, dispo.
sition to concede the most generous
treatment to the disabled, aged and
needy among our veterans should not be
restrained; and it must be admitted that
In some cases justice and equity cannot
be attained without charitable tenden-
cics Of the government in favor Of worthy
objects of its care INDUCED under fixed
rules.
These conditions sometimes Justify
resort TO. special legislation, but I am
convinced that interposition by special
enactment in the granting of pensions
should be rare and exceptional. In the
nature Of things, If this is lightly done
and upon slight occasion, an invitation
is offered to the passage of claims by
Congress which, upon their merits,
could not survive the test Of an exam
ination by the Pension Bureau and
whose only hope of success dnpends
more upon sympathy, often misdirected,
than upon right and justice. The in
strumentality Of pension claims is thus
overruled and discreditsd. There is
danger that in the end popular prsju-
dice will be created against those who
are worthy and entitled to the bounty of
the Government.
There have lately been presented to
me, on the same day, for approval,
240 special bills granting and increasing
pensions and restoring to the pension
list the names of parties which, for
cause, have been dropped. To aid in ex-
ecuting duty, they were referred to the
Pension Bureau for examination and re-
port. After delay, absolutely necessary,
they have been returned to me within
few hours OF the limit constitutionslly
provided for executive action. Two
hundred and thirty.two Of these bills are
thus classified; eighty-one cover cases in
which favorable action by the Pension
Bureau was denied by reason of the in
sufficisncy OF the testimony filed to
prove facts alleged. These bills have
been approved on the assumption that
the claims were meritorious and passage
Of bills the government has waived on
full proof of5facts; 20 of these bills cover
claims rejected by the Pension bureau,
because the evidence produced tended
to prove that the alleged disability ex-
listed before the claimants enlisted;
twenty-one cover claims, which had
been denied by such bureau because evil
dence tended to show that disability,
though contracted in the service, was
not incurred in time Of duty; thirty
three cover claims which had been de-
MED because evidence tended to show
that disability originated after the SOL
diers had been discharged from the
army; forty seven cover claims, which
had been denied because the general
pension laws contain no provision under
which they could be allowed, and TWEEN
ty-four claims have never been presented
to the pension bureau.
estimate the expenditures involved
in these bills at more than $35 900 an
nually. Though my conception OF pub.
lie duty leads me to the conclusion upon
the slight examination which l have
been able to give to such of these bills as
are not embraced In the first class above
mentioned, that many of them should
be disapproved, l am utterly unable to
submit within the time allowed me for
that purpose, any objections. To some
they will, therefore. become operative
without my approval. Sufficient reason
for the return Of the particular bill now
under consideration is found In the fact
that IL provides that the name Of An
drew j.. Hill be placed on the pensio
bill, while the record Of the PEN
sion Bureau, as well as medical
certificate, made part of tie report,
disclose the fact that the name Of the
beneficiary Is Alfred j. Hill.
| herewith return without approval
bill No. 20l0, entitled; can Act to In-
crease the Pension Of Abigail Smith,
which bill originated in the House Of
Representative. This proposed legis.
lation does injustice to very worthy
pensioner who was on the pension roll
at the time of the passage of the law,
which went into effect on the 10th
day of March last, by virtue
Of which all pensions Of her
class were increased from IS to
$40 per month. Under this law she be-
came entitled to her increased pension
from the date Of its passage. The bill
now returned allows her the same
amount; but II it becomes law / sup
pose it would supercede her claim under
the previous statute and postpone the re-
oeipt by her Of the increase to the date
Of ths passage of the new law. She
would thus lose for nearly two months
the increase of pension already secured
to her.
[Signsdl GROVER CLEVELAND.
Executive Mansion, May s. 1886.
Heavy Passenger Traffic.
SAN FRANCISCO. May ST. H. Good
man. general passenger and ticket agent