EXECUTIVE MANSION, _May 19, 1888_.
_To the House of Representatives_:
I return without approval House bill No. 4580, entitled "An act granting
a pension to Farnaren Ball."
In the report of the committee to which this bill was referred the name
of this beneficiary is given as "Farnaren Ball," and in a report from
the Pension Bureau it is insisted that the correct name is "Tamezen
Ball."
Her son, Augustus F. Coldecott, was pensioned for disease of the lungs
up to the time of his death, which occurred June 2, 1872.
The cause of his death was an overdose of laudanum, and whether it was
taken by mistake or design is uncertain.
The mother is not entirely destitute, deriving an income, though small,
from the interest upon a mortgage given to her upon a sale of some real
estate.
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.
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 for the consequences.