EXECUTIVE MANSION, _May 28, 1886_.
_To the House of Representatives_:
I hereby return without approval bill No. 1406, which originated in the
House of Representatives and is entitled "An act granting a pension to
Simmons W. Harden."
The claimant mentioned in this bill enlisted as a private December 30,
1863, and was discharged May 17, 1865.
He filed an application for pension in 1866, in which he alleged that
he was injured in the left side by a fall from a wagon while in the
service.
In 1880 he filed another application, in which he claimed that he was
afflicted with an enlargement of the lungs and heart from overexertion
at a review. His record in the Army makes no mention of either of these
troubles, but does show that he had at some time during his service
dyspepsia and intermittent fever.
The fact that fourteen years elapsed after he claimed to have been
injured by a fall from a wagon before he discovered that enlargement of
the lungs and heart was his real difficulty is calculated to at least
raise a doubt as to the validity of his claim.
The evidence as to his condition at the time of enlistment, as well as
since, seems quite contradictory and unsatisfactory. The committee to
which the bill was referred report that "the only question in the case
is as to his condition at time of enlistment, and the evidence is so
flatly contradictory on that point that it is impossible to decide that
question."
Notwithstanding this declaration, it is proposed to allow him a pension
of $16 a month, though he has survived all his ailments long enough to
reach the age of 72 years.
I think upon the case presented the action of the Pension Bureau
overruling his claim should not be reversed.