1st Session No. 205 MURPHY & WISCHMEYER FEBRUARY 22, 1945.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House and ordered to be printed Mr. McGEHEE, from the Committee on Claims, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany H. R. 1150] The Committee on Claims, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 1150) for the relief of Murphy & Wischmeyer, having considered the same, report favorably thereon without amendment and recommend that the bill do pass. The purpose of the proposed legislation is to authorize the Comptroller General of the United States to adjust and settle the claim of Murphy & Wischmeyer on account of the increased cost incurred in the performance of a contract, dated January 5, 1942, with the Federal Works Agency, by reason of unavoidable delays on the part of other contractors in the construction and completion of the defense housing project at East Alton, Ill., such sum not to exceed $3,323.90. This proposed legislation was submitted to the Speaker of the House by the Comptroller General for consideration. Your committee recommend favorable consideration to the bill, and append letter from the Comptroller General, which is self-explanatory. COMPTROLLER General of THE UNITED STATES, The Congress: Washington, December 22, 1944. Pursuant to the act of April 10, 1928 (45 Stat. 413), I have the honor to make the following report and recommendation concerning the claim of Murphy & Wischmeyer, St. Louis, Mo., for additional compensation to cover certain architectural-engineering services furnished by the said firm in connection with the construction of 200 prefabricated demountable housing units as part of defense housing project No. Ill. 11082, East Alton, Ill., under contract No. WA-1064, dated January 5, 1942, entered into with the Federal Works Agency. Naturally, it was realized by the architect-engineers that the period of time during which they would be required to furnish field and supervisory services on the project was a material factor for consideration in fixing the price for which they would agree to perform the contract. Consequently, the question as to the period of performance of the construction work was discussed with the contracting officer prior to the execution of the contract and that official appears to have advised the architect-engineers that he anticipated a short period of performance without any prolonged delays. However, the contract as formulated and executed by the parties contained no provision limiting the time of performance but, on the contrary, provided under article 1 thereof that for and in consideration of payment of the amount of $17,830, the contractor would 76* * * render such architectural-engineering services as may be required by the Administrator for the construction of the project Also, by the terms of article 2 (e) of the contract it was provided that the contractor would 66* * * perform all necessary field engineering, supervision, and inspection during construction." On February 24, 1942, the administration of the housing project was transferred to the Federal Public Housing Authority pursuant to Executive Order 9070. Thereafter, on May 25, 1942, the latter agency executed the contract for the construction and erection of the dwelling units which contract specified a completion period of 100 days. However, due to delays resulting principally from the reorganization required under Executive Order 9070, supra, and from difficulties encountered in procuring priorities for the necessary materials for the work, the project was not completed until April 1943. It therefore became necessary for the architect-engineers to furnish supervisory services under their contracts for a much longer period than had been contemplated at the time the contract was executed, thereby sustaining a considerable loss in the performance of the contract. The architect-engineers have agreed to accept the sum of $3,323.90, in full and final settlement of the claim. Under the above-quoted provisions of the contract the architect-engineers agreed to render such services as might be required "for the construction of the project" and "during construction." Furthermore, the contract made no provision for any increase in the contract price in the event the time during which the services would be required to be rendered should be longer than anticipated. Hence, the contractor performed no services in addition to those required under the plain terms of the contract and the claim for additional compensation is not a legal claim which may be adjusted under any appropriation heretofore made. However, in view of all the facts and circumstances connected with the making and performance of the contract, the claim does, in my judgment, contain such elements of equity as to be deserving of consideration of the Congress. Accordingly, I recommend to the Congress that an appropriation in the amount of $3,323.90 be made for the payment of the claim. If the Congress should agree with my recommendation in this matter, it is suggested that the enactment of a statute in substantially the following form will accomplish that purpose: "Be it enacted in the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in the Congress assembled, That the Comptroller General of the United States be, and he hereby is, authorized and directed to settle and adjust the claim of Murphy & Wischmeyer on account of the increased costs incurred in the performance of the said firm's architectural-engineering contract No. WA-1064, dated January 5, 1942, with the Federal Works Agency, by reason of unavoidable delays on the part of other contractors in the construction and completion of the defense housing project at East Alton, Illinois, and to allow in full and final settlement of the claim the amount of, not to exceed, $3,323.90. There is hereby appropriated the sum of $3,323.90, or so much thereof as may be necessary, for the payment of the said claim." LINDSAY C. WARREN, Comptroller General of the United States. 1st Session No. 206 CONTINENTAL CASUALTY CO. AND MONTGOMERY CITY LINES FEBRUARY 22, 1945.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House and ordered to be printed Mr. FERNANDEZ, from the Committee on Claims, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany H. R. 1307] The Committee on Claims, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 1307) for the relief of Continental Casualty Co., a corporation, and Montgomery City Lines, Inc., having considered the same, report favorably thereon without amendment and recommend that the bill do pass. The purpose of the proposed legislation is to pay the sum of $9,202.12 to the Continental Casualty Co., a corporation, of Chicago, Ill.; the sum of $266.49 to the Montgomery City Lines, Inc.; such sums arising out of an accident between a bus operated by the Montgomery City Lines and a United States Army truck in the city of Montgomery, Ala., on September 30, 1940. STATEMENT OF FACTS It appears that on September 30, 1940, an automobile bus operated by the Montgomery City Lines, and a United States Army truck collided in the city of Montgomery, Ala., injuring 37 persons on the bus, and causing much damage to the bus itself. There is much conflicting evidence as to the speeds of the two vehicles. The driver of the Army truck stated that he was going at a speed of 10 miles per hour. Others state that the Army truck was traveling at a speed of from 30 to 50 miles per hour. The following ordinances of the city of Montgomery were in effect at the time of the accident: The SEC. 719 (a). When two vehicles approach or enter an intersection at approximately the same time, the driver of the vehicle on the left shall yield the rightof-way to the vehicle on right except as otherwise provided in section 717. driver of any vehicle traveling at an unlawful speed shall forfeit any right-of-way which he might otherwise have hereunder. It appears that the driver of the Army truck was on the left from the bus and should have yielded the right-of-way to the bus, which he did not do. The Continental Casualty Co., the insurer of Montgomery City Lines has made payments on claims against Montgomery City Lines in the amount of $9,202.12 to the injured passengers on the bus. The War Department states in its report to the chairman of the committee that the approximate cause of the accident was the negligence on the part of the Government driver in that he approached a main thoroughfare from a cross street at an excessive rate of speed, and failed to yield to the bus the right-of-way to which it was entitled. Therefore, your committee recommends favorable consideration to the bill as amended in accordance with the recommendation of the War Department during the Seventy-seventh Congress. Hon. DAN R. McGEHEE, WAR DEPARTMENT, Washington, December 9, 1941. House of Representatives, Washington, D. C. DEAR MR. MCGEHEE: The War Department will interpose no objection to the enactment of H. R. 4798, Seventy-seventh Congress, which would confer jurisdiction upon the United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama, Northern Division, to hear, determine, and render judgment, as if the United States were suable in tort, upon claims arising out of a collision involving a United States Army truck, to create rights and causes of action arising therefrom, to prescribe the method and procedure for enforcement of such rights and the remedies therefor, to validate assignments and create rights of subrogation in connection therewith, and to establish limitations on such claims and for other purposes. However, in view of the circumstances hereinafter discussed, the War Department doubts the necessity or desirability of legislation in the form now proposed. On September 30, 1940, at about 5:47 p. m., an automobile bus operated by Montgomery City Lines, Inc., and an Army truck collided at the intersection of Hull and Grove Streets, in the city of Montgomery, Ala., injuring about 37 passengers on the bus, and causing considerable damage to the bus itself. The weather was clear and the street, which was paved, was dry. Visibility was poor because of increasing dusk. Hull Street, on which the bus was traveling, is a throughfare while Grove Street, on which the Army car was traveling, is a short cross street. The driver of the Army truck testified before the officer investigating the accident that he approached Hull Street from the east an an estimated speed of 10 miles per hour; that, seeing no traffic, he started to cross; that he saw the bus approaching from the north (the Army driver's right) just as he entered the street; that he attempted to avoid an accident by applying brakes and turning left down Hull Street; that the left side of the bus struck the right fender of the Army vehicle, after which the latter swung around and struck the bus near its center. The testimony of other witnesses, although varying in minor details, is substantially uniform to the effect that the city bus proceeding south on Hull Street, on a scheduled run, approached Grove Street at a speed estimated by the driver to be 10 miles per hour; that the Army vehicle entered the intersection from the east (the left for the bus) at a speed estimated to be from 30 to 50 miles per hour; that the Army driver appeared not to see the city bus in sufficient time to avoid the accident; and that the right front of the Government vehicle collided with the left side of the civilian bus at a point near its front left wheel. Evidence was also adduced to the effect that the vision of drivers approaching this intersection is greatly obstructed. The following ordinances of the city of Montgomery were in effect at the time of the accident: "SEC. 719 (a). When two vehicles approach or enter an intersection at approximately the same time, the driver of the vehicle on the left shall yield the right-ofway to the vehicle on right except as otherwise provided in section 717. The driver of any vehicle traveling at an unlawful speed shall forfeit any right-of-way which he might otherwise have hereunder. "SEC. 708 (a). Any person driving a vehicle on a street shall drive the same at a careful and prudent speed not greater than is reasonable and proper, having due regard to the traffic, surface, and width of the street and of any other conditions then existing, and no person shall drive any vehicle upon a street at such speed as to endanger the life, limb, or property of any person.' It appears that the Continental Casualty Co., the insurer of Montgomery City Lines, Inc., has made payments on claims against Montgomery City Lines, Inc., in the amount of $9,202.12, to the injured passengers of the bus and has thus become subrogated to the position of the original claimants in respect to such claims against any third party for liability arising out of said collision between the bus and the Army truck, to the extent of the amounts so paid by Continental Casualty Co. to the injured passengers, or for their accounts. Some of the injured passengers refused to take the amount offered them. Others accepted amounts less than their claims, expecting further settlement in the future. Under the circumstances above referred to, it is the view of the War Department that the proximate cause of the accident was the negligence on the part of the Government driver in that he approached a main thoroughfare from a cross street at an excessive rate of speed, and failed to yield to the bus the right-of-way to which it was entitled. As previously stated, therefore, the Department will interpose no objection to the enactment of the proposed legislation. However, it would appear that judicial proceedings would not in all probability develop any additional evidence on the question of responsibility for this happening or otherwise be helpful in settling this case since the record of this case before the War Department contains complete information as to actual damages suffered by the persons or concerns involved in this happening which could be made the basis of direct action by the Congress. A copy of the record of the War Department in this connection is enclosed for the information of your committee. It is, therefore, recommended that the bill be amended so as to afford direct relief to the Montgomery City Lines, Inc., the Continental Casualty Co. and interested individuals in such amounts as the Congress, in its discretion, may deem proper to allow, thus obviating the expense of further proceedings. Sincerely yours, HENRY L. STIMSON, SCHEDULE B.-STATEMENT COVERING THE PROPERTY DAMAGE OR PERSONAL INJURIES SUSTAINED BY THE PASSENGERS, WITH NAMES, EXTENT OF Injuries, MEDICAL, HOSPITAL, AND NURSING EXPENSES, NATURE AND EXTENT OF PROPERTY DAMAGE, ETC. The amounts shown in the right-hand column of this schedule for the respective injured passengers named, except the passengers whose names are preceded by the numbers 13, 21, 26, 28, and 36, represent the amounts which have been paid to the respective passengers, or for their accounts, by the Continental Casualty Co., in full settlement of their respective claims against Montgomery City Lines, Inc., arising out of said collision. The undersigned has been informed that each of the passengers hereinafter listed in this schedule, except said passengers whose names are preceded by the numbers 13, 21, 26, 28, and 36, having accepted the respective amounts shown in schedule É as paid to them, or for their account, in full settlement of their respective claims against Montgomery City Lines, Inc., intends to make no claim against the Government on account of personal injuries sustained, property damage, or expenses incurred as the result of said collision. The amounts shown in the right-hand column in respect to the passengers excepted above, those whose names are preceded by numbers 13, 21, 26, 28, and 36, represent the respective amounts to which the undersigned understands the respective passengers claim to be entitled, or may reasonably be entitled, to have awarded to them as reasonable compensation for property damage, pain,. and suffering, and loss of earnings, and as reimbursement for medical expenses and other expenses incurred by them, as a result of their injuries sustained in said collision. |