such a
theory is not justified.

GROVER CLEVELAND.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 23, 1886_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I return herewith without approval House bill No. 6117, entitled "An act
granting a pension to James D. Cotton."

The claim for a pension in this case is on behalf of the father of
Thomas Cotton, who was killed at Pittsburg Landing April 6, 1862.

The application of this claimant still remains in the Pension Bureau
undetermined. The doubt in the case appears to relate to the dependence
of the father upon his son at the time of his death.

This is a question which the Bureau is so well fitted to investigate and
justly determine that it is, in my opinion, best to permit the same to
be there fully examined.

GROVER CLEVELAND.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 23, 1886_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I return herewith without approval House bill No. 6753, entitled "An act
granting a pension to Mrs. Alice E. Travers."

The husband of the beneficiary, John T. Travers, enlisted August 25,
1864, and was discharged June 11, 1866.

He died January 6, 1881, from the effects of an overdose of morphine
which he administered himself. He was a druggist, and when suffering
severely was in the habit of taking opiates for relief and sleep.

The disease from which it is said he suffered was lung difficulty,
claimed to have been caused by a severe cold contracted in the service.

It does not appear that he ever applied for a pension, and the widow's
claim seems to have been properly rejected by the Pension Bureau on the
ground that the soldier's death was not due to his military service.

GROVER CLEVELAND.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 23, 1886_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

I return herewith without approval House bill No. 1816, entitled "An act
granting a pension to Mary Ann Miller."

Hamilton Miller, the husband of the claimant, enlisted April 22, 1861,
and was sent with his regiment to Camp Dennison, in the suburbs of
Cincinnati.

While thus in camp, apparently before he had ever been to the front, and
on the 3d of June, 1861, he obtained permission to go to the city of
Cincinnati, and was there killed by a blow received from some person who
appears to be unknown; but undoubtedly the injury occurred in a fight or
as the result of an altercation.

It is very clear to me that the Pension Bureau properly rejected the
widow's claim for pension, for the reason that the sold