The report of the Senate committee
states that it does not appear that "any notice was taken of this wanton
act of his tent mate."
There is no mention of any disability or injury in the record of the
soldier's service. He seems to have served nearly two years and a half
after the injury. He filed an application for a pension in May, 1885,
more than twenty-two years thereafter.
Whatever may be the extent of the injury sustained, in regard to which
the evidence is apparently quite meager, I can not see that it was such
a result of military service as to entitle the applicant to a pension.
The utmost liberality to those who were in our Army hardly justifies a
compensation by way of pension for injuries incurred in sport or pastime
or as the result of a practical joke.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, _May 28, 1888_.
_To the Senate_:
I return without approval Senate bill No. 835, entitled "An act for the
relief of Elisha Griswold."
The beneficiary named in this bill, which awards him a pension, enlisted
in January, 1864, and was discharged February 12, 1866.
His claim for pension, as developed in the report of the Senate
Committee on Pensions, is based upon the allegation that in January,
1866, he fell from a swing which had been put up in the building
occupied as a barrack and struck on his head and shoulder.
The committee report in favor of the bill upon the grounds that the
soldier was injured "while engaged in recreation" and that "such
recreation is a necessary part of a soldier's life.
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