EXECUTIVE MANSION, _August 9, 1888_.
_To the House of Representatives_:
I return without approval House bill No. 6307, entitled "An act granting
a pension to Sarah A. Corson."
Joshua Corson, the husband of the beneficiary named in this bill,
enlisted in August, 1862, for nine months, was wounded by a ball which
passed through the lower part of each buttock, and was discharged June
29, 1863. He was pensioned for his wound, and died December 12, 1885.
The cause of death is stated to have been femoral hernia by a physician
who attended him shortly before his death. The official record of his
death attributes it to a malignant tumor.
The widow filed a claim for pension in 1886, but furnished no evidence
showing when or how the hernia originated. No disability of this
description is shown by any service record, nor was it ever claimed by
the soldier. It is stated in the report of the committee of the House of
Representatives to whom this bill was referred that the hernia first
made its appearance about four years prior to the soldier's death.
The claim of this beneficiary for pension was rejected by the Pension
Bureau upon the ground that there was no possible connection between the
soldier's wounds and the hernia from which he died.
I am forced to the conclusion that the case was properly disposed of,
and base my disapproval of the bill herewith returned upon the same
ground.