An attorney having the mother's application for pension in charge withdrew from the case in October, 1884, for the reason that...his death was caused by a snow slide.
Grover Cleveland
The Public Record
Grover Cleveland was the 22nd and 24th President of the United States, serving two non-consecutive terms from 1885 to 1889 and again from 1893 to 1897. A member of the Democratic Party, he was born in New Jersey and is known for his commitment to honesty and integrity in government. Cleveland's presidency was marked by his opposition to high tariffs and his efforts to reform the civil service system, which earned him a reputation as a champion of the common man.
I believe this claim for pension to be a fraud from beginning to end.
I return without approval House bill No. 4580, entitled 'An act granting a pension to Farnaren Ball.'
I do not see how the relief proposed can be granted in this case without an unjustifiable departure from the rules under which applications for pension should be determined.
I return without approval House bill No. 3579, entitled 'An act granting a pension to Ellen Shea.'
The disability of which he complains has no natural relation to the sickness he claims to have had during his service.
The proofs with which I have been furnished fail to satisfy me that the Government should grant a pension on account of death produced by a self-administered narcotic in the circumstances which surround this case.
The evidence now offered in support of this claim appears to have reference to a time long anterior to its rejection by the Pension Bureau in 1886.
As a general proposition I see nothing unjust or unfair in holding that if a pensioner is sick and through ignorance or design takes laudanum without the direction or regulation of a physician the Government should not be held responsible…
It seems to me, however, that it would establish a bad precedent to provide for her from the Federal Treasury.
I can not believe that his suicide had any connection with his army service.
When a park is established there, the island is no longer a defense in time of need.
I should be glad to respond to these sentiments to the extent of approving this bill, but it is one of the misfortunes of public life and official responsibility that a sense of duty frequently stands between a conception of right and a…
Much interest is manifested in this case, based upon former friendship and intimacy with the deceased and kind feeling and sympathy for his widow.
I return without approval House bill No. 2282, entitled 'An act to pension Mrs. Theodora M. Piatt.'
I do not regard the control reserved in the resolution to the Secretary of War over such excavations, fillings, and structures upon the island as may be proposed as of much importance.
If we are to adhere to the rule that in order to entitle the widow of a soldier to a pension the death of her husband must be in some way related to his military service, there can be no doubt that upon its merits this case was properly…
I deem the opinions of these officers abundant justification for my disapproval of the resolution without further statement of objections.
Any other course leads to the expenditure of money by postmasters for work which they should do themselves.
I am now advised by the Secretary of War, the Chief of Engineers, and the Lieutenant-General of the Army, in quite positive terms, that the resolution under consideration should not, for reasons fully stated by them, become operative.
I think, when the application of Mr. Worden for an increase in his allowances was twice declined for any cause during the year covering his present demand, that if he made personal expenditures for clerk hire, and especially if he did so…
I return without approval Senate bill No. 1064, entitled 'An act for the relief of L.J. Worden.'
The verdict returned upon the coroner's inquest...leads me to the conclusion that if a pension is granted in this case no soldier's widow's application based upon suicide can be consistently rejected.
It is quite plain that the occupancy of this island as a place of pleasure and recreation would be entirely inconsistent with military or defensive uses.





