The sum of $60 was also payable under above act and check No. 313612, dated July 6, 1936, was mailed to Mrs. Butler in payment thereof, Mrs. Butler died August 28, 1939. Checks covering the first four installments and the sixth and seventh installments on the award and check No. 313612, dated July 6, 1936, for the $60 were not cashed by her prior to her death. Section 601 of the World War Adjusted Compensation Act provides: (2) If the veteran has died before making application under section 302, or, if entitled to receive adjusted-service pay, has died after making application but before he has received payment under title IV, then the amount of his adjustedservice credit shall (as soon as practicable after receipt of an application in accordance with the provisions of section 604, but not before March 1, 1925) be paid to his dependents, in the following order of preference: "(1) To the widow; (2) If no widow entitled to payment, then to the children, share and share alike; (3) If no widow or children entitled to payment, then to the mother; "(4) If no widow, children, or mother, entitled to payment, then to the father." Section 603 of the World War Adjusted Compensation Act provides: "The payments authorized by section 601 shall be made in 10 equal quarterly installments, unless the total amount of the payment is less than $50, in which case it shall be paid on the first installment date. No payments under the provisions of this title shall be made to the heirs or legal representatives of any dependents entitled thereto who die before receiving all the installment payments, but the remainder of such payments shall be made to the dependent or dependents in the next order of preference under section 601. All payments under this title shall be made by the Director." This section was manifestly intended to restrict the payment of adjusted-service credit to the enumerated relatives and to prohibit payment of any benefits to the estates of deceased persons. It appears from the hearings and reports of the Congress prior to enactment of the Adjusted Compensation Act and subsequent amendments that payment of adjusted-service credit is intended for those dependents within the group and in the manner stated. The provisions of law recognizing certain dependents of World War veterans for death compensation purposes have never included dependent brothers and sisters as such. The group has never extended beyond widows, children, and dependent parents. In connection with the sum of $60 above referred to, reference is made to section 608 of the World War Adjusted Compensation Act, which provides: "If the veteran died while in the service and before July 1, 1919, and if an adjusted-service credit has been or is, after this section takes effect, certified to the Director, then the sum of $60 shall be paid in a lump sum to the dependents of such veteran in the same manner as is provided in sections 601 and 602 of this Act." The bill, if enacted, would grant benefits to Harriet B. Rickards which are denied in other cases where the facts are similar and where the claims must be denied under existing law. In view of the foregoing, the Veterans Administration is unable to recommend favorable consideration of the proposed measure by your committee. Very truly yours, 79TH CONGRESS 1st Session } HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES { REPORT No. 108 G. F. ALLEN, CHIEF DISBURSING OFFICER, TREASURY DEPARTMENT FEBRUARY 13, 1945.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House and ordered to be printed Mr. McGEHEE, from the Committee on Claims, submitted the fol lowing REPORT To accompany S. 315] The Committee on Claims, to whom was referred the bill (S. 315) for the relief of G. F. Allen, chief disbursing officer, Treasury Department, having considered the same, report favorably thereon without amendment and recommend that the bill do pass. The facts will be found fully set forth in Senate Report No. 15, Seventy-ninth Congress, which is appended hereto and made a part of this report. Your committee concur in the recommendation of the Senate. [8. Rept. No. 15, 79th Cong., 1st sess.] The Committee on Claims, to whom was referred the bill (S. 2070) for the relief of G. F. Allen, Chief Disbursing Officer, Treasury Department, and for other purposes, having considered the same, report favorably thereon, and recommend that the bill do pass. The purpose of the proposed legislation is to relieve the Chief Disbursing Officer and certain officers and former officers of the Treasury Department of various suspensions, disallowances, and unavailable items in their accounts. This bill was introduced at the request of the Treasury Department. The facts will be found fully set forth in the attached letter from the Honorable Herbert E. Gaston, Acting Secretary of the Treasury. The exhibits, referred to in said letter and consisting of 32 typewritten pages, are on file in the office of the Secretary of the Senate. The PRESIDENT, United States Senate, Washington, D. C. TREASURY DEPARTMENT, MY DEAR MR. PRESIDENT: There is transmitted herewith for the convenience Chief Disbursing Officer and certain other officers and former officers of this of the appropriate committee a suggested draft of legislation covering relief for the Department for various suspensions, disallowances, and unavailable items in their accounts. The Department has given careful consideration to the various items included in the suggested draft of legislation and recommends in the interest of economy and good fiscal administration that provision be made at this time for clearance of the amounts of the same from the fiscal officers' accounts. Such action will not affect the efforts of the Government to make recovery. Available evidence indicates that such officers acted in entire good faith and that they were not remiss in any respect in the exercise of their official duties. An explanation of the items included in the bill follows: SECTION 1. CHIEF DISBURSING OFFICER Section 1 of the bill carries relief for the Chief Disbursing Officer, Treasury Department, not to exceed the amount of $709.51. A detailed statement identi fying the 27 items making up this amount is enclosed as exhibit A. The disbursements involved were made over a period of several years, and the amount is very small as compared with the many billions of dollars in payments made each year by the Division of Disbursement. Each administrative office concerned, except the Commodore Perry Memorial and Peace Commission, the work of which is completed, has specifically recommended that legislative relief be sought in connection with the payments included herein. Most of the items for which relief is needed are on account of payments of salary, mileage, travel, per diem, subsistence to employees, and the like. A great deal of effort has been expended in endeavoring to obtain refund of the amounts involved from the payees, and to effect clearance of the accounts of the Chief Disbursing Officer. The payments involved were made by the Division of Disbursement under provisions of Executive Order No. 6166, dated June 10, 1933, on the basis of duly certified vouchers received from the administrative offices concerned, and the circumstances surrounding the disbursements indicate that reasonable care and attention were given in the performance of the disbursing duty. It appears that in most cases the Government received value for the expenditures. SECTION 2. DISBURSING CLERKS Section 2 of the bill carries relief for former disbursing clerks, Treasury Depart ment, in amounts not in excess of those stated below. Detailed statements identifying the items for which relief is sought for each officer are enclosed as exhibits B to L, inclusive: Name of disbursing clerk M. V. Bates, former disbursing clerk, Treasury Department, Lansing, Mich. T. A. Dillon, former disbursing clerk, Treasury Department, Indianapolis, Ind.. S. S. Ogdon, former disbursing clerk, Treasury Department, Jefferson City, Mo.. Total.. The relief sought for the former disbursing clerks cover 256 items, ranging from $0.21, to $2,574.28, disbursed over more than a 5-year period, from November 1935 to January 1941, from appropriations provided for emergency relief. These disbursements were made through the Emergency Relief Disbursing Organization established pursuant to Executive Order No. 7034, dated May 6, 1935, to disburse funds appropriated in the several emergency relief appro priation acts. In view of the fact that more than $15,000,000 were disbursed from emergency relief appropriations from the inception of the program through June 30, 1942, the amount for which relief is requested is exceptionally small. SECTION I. CLEARANCE OF ACCOUNTS The Department also recommends and has provided in section 3 of the draft transmitted herewith for a procedure for clearing the accounts of the chief disbursing officer and former disbursing clerks of the Division of Disbursements for other suspensions or disallowances arising in their accounts on account of payments made during the period December 15, 1933, to March 31, 1942. The establishment of such procedure would be consistent with the provisions of Executive Order No. 6166, dated June 10, 1933, referred to above, and the act of December 29, 1941 (55 Stat. 875), as amended by the act of April 28, 1942 (56 Stat. 244). Under the provisions of the Executive order and the acts referred to, no disbursing officer should be held responsible for payments made in accordance with vouchers certified by duly authorized certifying officers. The provision of a method for clearing the accounts of the chief disbursing officer and former disbursing clerks would result in an economy of approximately $28,500 on an annual basis representing the salaries of 13 employees engaged in work incident to handling records and correspondence relating to suspensions and disallowances. The requirements that the Secretary of the Treasury shall certify that in his opinion there is no evidence of fraud in connection with items involved in similar to provisions included in previous relief bills to protect the interests of the United States. SECTION 4. RELIEF FOR CERTIFYING OFFICERS Section 4 of the bill provides that no charge shall be made against the certifying officer responsible for the certification of vouchers pursuant to the provisions of Executive Order No. 6166, dated June 10, 1933, and any charge heretofore made against any such officer shall be removed, for the amount of any payment for which credit is allowed under sections 1, 2, and 3 of the bill, where the head of the department or establishment concerned, or his duly authorized representative, shall certify to the Comptroller General of the United States that the payment appears to have been made without fraud on the part of the certifying officer. It is believed that this provision, with respect to the items included under sections 1, 2, and 3 of the bill, is just and fair and in the interest of good fiscal administration. The disbursements involved were all made before April 1, 1942, the effective date of Public Law 389, approved December 29, 1941, providing a method of relieving certifying officers. SECTION 5. UNAVAILABLE ITEMS IN ACCOUNTS OF TREASURERS OF THE UNITED STATES Section 5 of the bill provides for allowing credit in the accounts of W. O. Woods, former Treasurer of the United States, and W. A. Julian, Treasurer of the United States, for sums not to exceed $1,164,93 and $63,334.51, respectively, representing unavailable items in their accounts as former Treasurer and Treasurer of the United States. The items for which relief is requested are similar to those for which relief has been granted in similar bills enacted in the past, involving padded pay rolls, fraudulent negotiation of checks, and the like. In cases of checks illegally negotiated the Treasurer has no means of detecting the illegal character of the endorsements of the checks presented to him for payment. A detailed statement identifying the items for which relief is sought for W. O. Woods, former Treasurer of the United States, is enclosed as exhibit M, and for W. A. Julian, Treasurer of the United States, as exhibit N. It should be noted with respect to the items for which relief is requested for the former Treasurer and Treasurer of the United States that because of the large number of payments involved, it is not practicable to obtain separate monthly vouchers in connection with payments of veterans' compensation and pensions, and occasionally payments continue to be certified to the disbursing officer after the death or remarriage of parties entitled. The procedure for paying such benefits is in accordance with the act of August 17, 1912, as amended (U. S. C., 1940 ed., title 38, sec. 50). |