EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 22, 1886_.
_To the Senate_:
I return herewith without approval Senate bill No. 342, entitled "An Act
granting a pension to Marrilla Parsons, of Detroit, Mich."
No claim has ever been made for a pension in this case to the Pension
Bureau, probably for the reason that there is no pretext that the
beneficiary named is entitled to a pension under any general law.
Daniel P. Parsons was her stepson, who enlisted in 1861 and died of
consumption on the 13th day of August, 1864.
There are no special circumstances to distinguish this case from many
others whose claims might be made by stepparents, and there are no facts
stated in support of the conclusion embodied in the committee's report
that the soldier was taken sick from exposure incident to the service.
To depart from all rules regulating the granting of pensions by such an
enactment as is proposed would establish a precedent which could not
fail to cause embarrassment and perplexity.