EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 1, 1886_.
_To the Senate_:
I return herewith Senate bill No. 1441, entitled "An act granting a
pension to M. Romahn."
The beneficiary named in this bill enlisted September 13, 1862, and was
discharged May 24, 1865.
He filed his claim in the Pension Bureau December 5, 1882, alleging
that in the winter of 1862, from being put on duty--standing guard
excessively--he became afflicted with varicose veins. His army record
shows no disability of any kind, though he served more than two years
after the date at which he alleges his injury was incurred. His
application was rejected on the ground that no record of his disability
appeared and that the evidence of the same filed upon such application
was insufficient.
The claim now made to Congress for relief is the same as that made to
the Pension Bureau, with the allegation added that in May, 1865, his
breast and shoulder were injured by a railroad accident while he was on
detail duty.
If the latter-described injury really existed, it is exceeding strange
that it found no place in his claim before the Pension Bureau, while the
account given of the cause of his alleged varicose veins must surprise
those who are at all familiar with the character of that difficulty and
the routine of army service. His continued performance of military
duty after he incurred this infirmity, the fact that he made no claim
for pension on that account until twenty years had passed, and the
unsatisfactory evidence now produced to support his allegation tend
to induce the suspicion that the decision of the Pension Bureau was
entirely just and that this bill is not based upon substantial merits.