EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 19, 1886_.
_To the House of Representatives_:
I return without approval House bill No. 5997, entitled "An act granting
a pension to Elizabeth Luce."
The claimant named in this bill is the widow of John W. Luce, who
entered the Army in August, 1861, and who was discharged in January,
1864, for a disability declared at the time in the surgeon's certificate
to arise from "organic stricture of the urethra," which, from his
statement, existed at the time of his enlistment.
Notwithstanding the admission which thus appears to have been made by
him at the time of his discharge, he soon afterwards made an application
for a pension, alleging that his difficulty arose from his being thrown
forward on the pommel of his saddle when in the service.
Upon an examination of this claim by a special examiner, it is stated
that no one could be found who had any knowledge of such an injury, and
the claim was rejected.
In 1883, twenty years after the soldier alleged he was injured in the
manner stated, he died, and the cause of his death was declared to be
"chronic gastritis, complicated with kidney difficulty."
It is alleged that the examinations made by the Pension Bureau developed
the fact that the deceased soldier was a man of quite intemperate
habits.
The theory upon which this widow should be pensioned can only be that
the death of her husband resulted from a disability or injury contracted
or received in the military service. It seems to me that however
satisfactorily the injury which he described may be established, and
though every suspicion as to his habits be dismissed, there can hardly
possibly be any connection between such an injury and the causes to
which his death is attributed.