thout approval Senate bill No. 809, entitled "An act
granting a pension to Betsey Mannsfield."

It is proposed to grant a pension to the beneficiary named in this bill
as the mother of Franklin J. Mannsfield, who enlisted as a private April
27, 1861, and died in camp of disease on the 14th day of November, in
the same year. His mother filed an application for pension in June,
1882.

The testimony filed in the Pension Bureau discloses the following facts:

At the time of the death of the soldier the family, besides himself,
consisted of three persons--his father and mother and an unmarried
sister. They owned and resided upon a homestead in Wisconsin comprising
293 acres, 20 of which were cleared, the balance being in timber, all
unencumbered. The assessed valuation was $1,170, the real value being
considerably more. The father was a farmer and blacksmith, healthy and
able-bodied, and furnishing a comfortable support, but shortly after the
soldier's death he began to drink and his health began to fail. Upon the
marriage of the daughter he deeded her 50 acres of the land. He became
indebted, and from time to time sold portions of his homestead to pay
debts; but in 1882, at the time the mother's application for pension was
filed, there still remained 110 acres of land, valued at about $3,300,
40 acres of which was mortgaged in 1880 for $600. Since 1879 the farm
had been rented, except 8 or 10 acres reserved for a residence for the
family. They owned two cows, and the rent averaged about $125 a year.

This was the condition of affairs as late as 1886, when the claim of the
mother for a pension was, after investigation, rejected by the Pension
Bureau, and it is supposed to be substantially the same now.

It also appears that a son, born since the soldier's death, and upward
of 18 years of age, resides with his parents and furnishes them some
assistance.

The claimant certainly was not dependent in the least degree upon the
soldier at the time of his death, and she did not file her claim for
pension until nearly twenty-one years thereafter.

Though the lack of dependence at the date of the soldier's death is
sufficient to defeat a parent's claim for pension under our laws, I
believe that in proper cases a relaxation of rules and a charitable
liberality should be shown to parents old and in absolute need through
default of the help which, it may be presumed, a son would have
furnished if his life had not been sacrificed