Upon the report of this last examination the case has been reopened for
further proof of disability since discharge, which if found will entitle
the claimant to a pension under general laws. On the question to be
determined he would have no advantage under a special act, inasmuch as
there must be a ratable disability to entitle him to any payment in
pursuance of its provisions.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, _February 11, 1887_.
_To the House of Representatives_:
I herewith return without my approval House bill No. 10457, entitled
"An act for the relief of dependent parents and honorably discharged
soldiers and sailors who are now disabled and dependent upon their own
labor for support."
This is the first general bill that has been sanctioned by the Congress
since the close of the late civil war permitting a pension to the
soldiers and sailors who served in that war upon the ground of service
and present disability alone, and in the entire absence of any injuries
received by the casualties or incidents of such service.
While by almost constant legislation since the close of this war there
has been compensation awarded for every possible injury received as a
result of military service in the Union Army, and while a great number
of laws passed for that purpose have been administered with great
liberality and have been supplemented by numerous private acts to reach
special cases, there has not until now been an avowed departure from the
principle thus far adhered to respecting Union soldiers, that the bounty
of the Government in the way of pensions is generously bestowed when
granted to those who, in this military service and in the line of
military duty, have to a greater or less extent been disabled.
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