The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1888-10-20
A SPECIMEN VETO.
How the President Deals with Widows
Brought to Poverty by the ToEtures of War.

How the President Deals with Widows
Brought to Poverty by the ToEtures of War.
III. ". B., in Cincinnati Commercial Gazette.
Here is q specimen OF President Cleveland's
dealings with widows brought to poverty
through the death of their soldier husbands and
sons, the report in the case being made to the
House of Representatives by q Democratic MEM
Der:
1--WE find from an examination of the papers
in this case that a similar bill was tavorably re-
ported by the on invalid pensions.
and passed the Houss in the Forty-eighth
Congress, b ut failed TO be reached IN the Senate.
AS the rep ort referred TO is q fair resume Of the
points in the case, your committee herewith in
corporate the same into their report, VIZ:
1.-THE COMMITTEES on invalid pensions, to whom was
Bradley, have had the same under consideration, and
beg leave to submit the following report: Sally Ann
Bradley is the widow of Thomas j. Bradley. who
Ohio. from June Is 1851, to Oct. 8. 1866. He was
pensioned on account of shell wound OF back, re-
ceived at Murfreesboro. Tenn, Jan. 2, 1868, and
died Oct. 81. 1882. His death is not entirely charge.
able TO his military service, and consequently his
widow has no title before the Pension Office. A petit
ton signed by nearly three hundred of the best citi-
zens of the county in which she resides, some of
whom have known her and her deceased husband for
many years before the late war, sets forth that she Is
seventy years of age, is as helpless as an infant, and
left without means of support or friends able to as
sist her.
'.Having been left destitute by the death or her
husband, VINO served 1aftntQuy IOr more Inhn TOUR
years in defense of his country, and who. while in
such service. contracteda disability which necessarily
impaired his ability to provide for himself and wife a
comfortable support in their declining years, your
committee are clearly of opinion that she should not
now be abandoned to the charity of the world, but
be. in a measure &C least. provided for in her old days,
and, therefore, report tavorably on the bill and ask
thatit do pass"
"Your committee indorss all the statements
Of the foregoing report rs fully borne out by the
facts and record proof, and In addition find that
four of her sons followed their father into the
cause Of the Union, two of whom died upon bat
tle-helds. The others returned home. one with
the loss of an eye, the other an arm, and are
cripples for life. We believe this q case dsserv.
ing of the attention of Congress, and. therefore,
recommend that the pending bill do pass"
Thereupon, when the bill reached Mr. Cleve.
land, he returned il with the veto:
herewith return, without approval, House
bill No. 1884, entitled An act granting pension
to Sallie Ann Bradley The husband of this
supposed beneficiary wac discharged from the
military service in 1860, after a long service, aud
was afterward pensioned for gun-shot wound.
He died in 1882. The widow appears to have
never filed a claim for pension in her own right.
No cause is given for the soldiers death. but it
is not claimed that it resulted from his military
because of hex needs aud the faithful service of
her husband and her sons.
This presents the question whether a gift 10
such a case is a proper disposition of money APP
abc " IA Lpocc Vi - u clStOue
The passage Of this law would, in my
opinion, establish q precedent SO far-reaching.
and open the door to such a vast multitude of
claims not on principle within our present pen.
sion laws. that 1 am constrained TO disapprove
the bill under consideration.
GRovER CLEVELAND"
Here is the case OF a poverty-strickeu widow
whose husband, though severely wounded,
stuck TO his colors for two years thereafter,
and came out of the service unable to make
future provision for his family, and who,
when her husband died, was left almost
her sons had died on the battlefield
of the Union, and two who returned
were cripples for life by reasons Of wounds, and
now a woman who made such sacrifices for the
Union cause goes, at seventy years of age, lover
the hill TO the poor-house' because Grover Cleve
land refused TO sign a bill giving her the pit
lance of S12 a month. May the righteous curses
Of the wars widows aud the fatherless crush
himi
A soldier who reads this aud then fails to veto
Grover Cleveland will show a very poor opinion
of what his own wife and mother would have
deserved If he had been taken from them by
any of the countless casualties of field service.
AS the National Tribune we'll says of this case
MIR. Cleveland has been actively vetoine the
soldiers for four years. Now let the soldiers
veto him Comrades, get your vetoes ready"