Democrats voted against the tariff reductions. The state party likewise turned against Randall and toward free trade, adopting a pro-tariff revision platform at the 1888 state Democratic convention. At the same time, Randall seemingly reversed his long-standing commitment to fiscal economy by voting with the Republicans to override Cleveland's veto of the Dependent and Disability Pension Act. The Act would have given a pension to every Union veteran (or their widows) who claimed he could no longer perform physical labor, regardless of whether his disability was war-related. Cleveland's veto was in line with his record of small-government cost-cutting, with which Randall would normally have sympathized. Randall, perhaps in an effort to gain favor with veterans in his district, joined the Republicans in an unsuccessful attempt to override Cleveland's veto. Another possibility proposed by biographer House is that Randall saw the federal budget surplus as reason to cut tariffs; by increasing federal spending, he hoped to decrease the surplus and maintain the need for high tariffs. Whatever the reason, the attempt failed and left Randall further alienated from his fellow Democrats. Death Randall's positions on tariffs and pensions had made him, according to The New York Times, "a practical Republican" by 1888. Voting with the opposing party so frequently was an effective tactic, as he faced only token Republican opposition for reelection that year. Randall's health continued to decline. When the new congress began in 1889, he received special permission to be sworn into office from his bed, where he was confined. The new Speaker, Republican Thomas Brackett Reed of Maine, appointed Randall to the Rules and Appropriations committees, but he had no impact during that term. On April 13, 1890, Randall died of colon cancer in his Washington home. He had recently joined the First Presbyterian Church in the capital, and his funeral was held there. He was buried in Laurel Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia. Elected every two years from 1862 to 1888, Randall was the only prominent Democrat continuously on the national scene between those years. In an obituary, the Bulletin of the American Iron and Steel Association described the congressman who had consistently protected their industry: "Not a great scholar, nor a great orator, nor a great writer, Samuel J. Randall was nevertheless a man of sterling common sense, quick perceptions, great courage, broad views and extraordinary capacity for work." The only scholarly works on his life are