The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1897-02-23
PENSION BILL VETOES.
Cleveland Declines to Sanction
Unreasonable Legislation"
REMARKED WIDOWS BENEFITED

by Special Bills, Though They Are No
Longer tho Widows Of Deceased Soldiers.
Tho President Takes Occasion to Sound
Nots of Warning.
Washington, Feb. 2S.-The president
yesterday returned to the house with
out his approval bills pensioning Mrs.
Mary A. Veil and Mrs Mary A. Free
man. In the case Of Mrs Veil the
veto message says that the widow of
Major w. d. Sanger having remarked.
she long ago by her own deliberate
act surrendered right to draw PEN
sion as the widow of Major Sanger. A
further objection is that it is not
shown that the death of the first hus-
band was due to injuries received in
his army service. Neither he or his
widow, while she remained such pre-
sented any claim for pension.
Mrs. Freeman was pensioned as the
widow of Andrew v. Pritchard, who
served in the. war with Mexico and
died from disease contracted in the
service. She continued to receive this
pension until she married John Free
man. IL Is now proposed to restore
her to the pension roll as the widow of
her first husband. Il am not willing"
says the president. Gwen by inaction,
to be charged with acquescence In
what appears to be such an entire de-
parture from the principle as well as
sentiment connected with reasonable
pension legislation"
In vetoing, the bill granting a pen
sion to Maria Somerlat the president
sums up his general objections to the
kind of pension leglslation~which has
been enacted by the present congress.
Mrs. Somerlat was pensioned in 1867
as a widow. In 1881 she married again,
when her pension was stopped, but be-
ing divorced from her second husband
The president says
THE rule governing the operation of
general pension laws, which forfeits a
widows pension on her remarriage.
seems so reasonable and just, and its
relaxation must necessarily lead to
such departure from just principles
and to such yexatious pension admin
istration. that I am convinced it ought
to be strictly maintained.
II hope ] may be permitted to call
the attention of the senate to the in
creasing latitude clearly discernable in
special pension legislation. 1t has
seemed to me so useless to attempt to
stem the tide of this legislation by ex-
ecutive interference that l have con-
tented myself with non-acquiescence
in numerous cases where l could not
approve.
There have been already presented
to me for executive action during the
special pension bills, of which l have
actually examined liz. The entire
number of such bills that have become
laws during the four sessions of the
congress since March 4. 1893, is 39l.
Some of these at the present session
are not based upon the least pretext
that the death or disability involved
is related to army service, while in
numerous cases 1t is extremely diff
cult to satisfactorily discover such re-
lationship
There Is one feature of this legis-
latton which l am sure deserves at
tention. | refer to the great number
of special bills passed for the purpose
of increasing the pensions of those al
ready on the rolls OF the liz special
pension bills which l have examined
since the beginning of the present ses-
sion of the congress 5S granted or re-
stored pensions and 81 increased those
already existing, while the appropria-
tlon of money necessary to meet these
increases alone exceeds considerably
the amount required to pay the origi-
nal pensions granted or restored by the
remaining IS bills.
Il cannot discover that these in
crcases are regulated by any rule or
principle, and when we remember that
there are nearly a million pensioners
on the rolls, and consider the impor-
tunity for such increase that must fol-
low the precedents already made, the
relation of the subject to a justiflable
increase of our national revenues can
mot aSpapn attantinn -