The purpose of the proposed bill is to authorize and direct the Secretary of the Treasury to pay, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, the sum of $910.07, or such portion thereof as may be necessary to pay claims of certain Navy personnel and former Navy personnel for personal property lost or damaged as the result of fires in quarters occupied by naval construction battalions on December 26, 1942, and on March 29, 1943, respectively. The fire in the quarters occupied by the Forty-second Naval Construction Battalion started through the ignition of the fuel used for heating a stove in one of the tents. The tent and its contents were a total loss. The value of the personal property lost by six enlisted men in this fire was found by the Navy Department Claims Board to be $724.45, as itemized on exhibit A.

The Twelfth Naval Construction Battalion were housed in tents which were used as living quarters by the members thereof. A fire of undetermined origin broke out in such quarters while the members were out on a working detail and absent therefrom. Reimbursement for a large number of the personnel suffering losses in this last-mentioned fire was provided by Private Law 178, Seventyeighth Congress, approved February 21, 1944. One other member of said battalion who had been at a dispensary in Alaska, and the father of a deceased member of the battalion, have submitted claims for property likewise lost in this disaster. These claims have been examined by the Navy Department Claims Board, which found the total value thereof to be $185.62.

There is no other authority of law by virtue of which the claims may be adjusted.

The Navy Department is of the opinion that provision should be made for the payment of these claims, in that the personnel involved were assigned to duty at said station by orders of the Navy Department and the loss of and damage to their property occurred without fault or negligence on their part.

The additional cost to the Government, should this proposed legislation be enacted, would not exceed $910.07.

The Navy Department recommends that the proposed legislation be enacted. The Navy Department has been advised by the Bureau of the Budget that there would be no objection to the submission of the proposed legislation to the Congress.

Respectfully,

JAMES FORRESTAL, Acting.

O

CLAUDE R. WHITLOCK

MAY 22, 1944.- Committed to the Committee of the Whole House and ordered to be printed

Mr. DICKSTEIN, from the Committee on Claims, submitted the

following

REPORT

[To accompany H. R. 4621]

The Committee on Claims to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 4621) for the relief of Claude R. Whitlock, and for other purposes, having considered the same, report favorably thereon with an amendment and recommend that the bill as amended do pass.

The amendment is as follows:

Page 2, line 8, after the name "Thoedore A. Garnette" insert the following:

Provided, That notwithstanding any other provision of existing law the secretary of the Interior or his authorized representative is hereby authorized to appropriate any funds now or hereafter due Theodore A. Garnette by reason of his status as an Indian and to apply such funds on the indebtedness created by his embezzlement of said public and trust funds.

The purpose of the proposed legislation is to authorize the Comptroller General of the United States to allow credit in the accounts of Claude R. Whitlock, superintendent and special disbursing agent, Rosebud Indian Agency, Rosebud, S. Dak., for the sum of $3,058.27, plus accrued interest thereon, representing public and trust funds embezzled by Theodore A. Garnette, a former employee of said Indian Agency.

Section 2 of the proposed bill authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to appropriate the sum of $2,382.77, which shall be deposited by the Secretary of the Treasury to the official trust fund checking account of the special disbursing agent of the Rosebud Indian Agency for credit to the individual accounts of the Indians who sustained losses as a result of the embezzlement of their funds by Theodore A. Garnette.

Section 2 also provides that notwithstanding any other provision of existing law the Secretary of the Interior or his authorized representative is hereby authorized to appropriate any funds now or

hereafter due Theodore A. Garnette by reason of his status as an Indian and to apply such funds on the indebtedness created by his embezzlement of said public and trust funds.

The Interior Department transmitted a request to the Speaker of the House of Representatives for this legislation. Therefore, your committee recommend favorable consideration to the bill, as amended. Appended hereto is letter from the Secretary of the Interior.

Hon. SAM RAYBURN,

Speaker of the House of Representatives.

INTERIOR DEPARTMENT,
Washington, April 4, 1944.

MY DEAR MR. SPEAKER: Transmitted herewith is a draft of a proposed bill for the relief of Claude R. Whitlock, superintendent and special disbursing agent of the Rosebud Indian Agency, Rosebud, S. Dak., and for other purposes. I respectfully request that the measure be placed before the House of Representatives for favorable consideration.

The bill would authorize and direct the Comptroller General to allow credit in the accounts of Superintendent Whitlock for the sum of $3,058.27, plus accrued interest, and would appropriate the sum of $2,382.77 for credit to the accounts of certain Indians who have sustained losses aggregating that amount as a result of a series of embezzlements committed by a former employee of the Rosebud Agency. As the employee in question is an Indian for whom certain property is held in trust by the United States, provision is made in the proposed legislation for the application against his indebtedness of any revenue derived from his restricted property.

The embezzlements occurred at Yankton, S. Dak., where a field office of the Rosebud Agency is maintained. They were discovered following the receipt by Superintendent Whitlock of complaints filed by Indians that they had not received certain moneys due them under leases on their lands. A thorough investigation was thereupon made, which disclosed that over a period of approximately 3 years Theodore A. Garnette, a clerk stationed at the Yankton field office, had collected and diverted to his own use $2,382.77 of Indian funds and fees aggregating $675.50 due the United States.

In his official capacity as lease clerk, it was the responsibility of Mr. Garnette to prepare leases for execution by Indians and their lessees and to transmit all signed leases to Superintendent Whitlock for approval, together with the fees imposed for the preparation of the leases. In certain cases, it was also his duty to collect the lease rentals as they became due and to forward them to the Rosebud Agency for appropriate disposition. In order to prevent his headquarters office from detecting his defalcations, Mr. Garnette destroyed signed leases in many instances and filed many others in his own office without further action. He also deliberately failed to keep a record of leases or of the collections which he made thereunder.

Mr. Garnette was indicted by a Federal grand jury and on June 6, 1941, entered a plea of guilty to the charge of embezzlement. He was sentenced on June 13, 1941, to serve 2 years in the United States Industrial Reformatory, El Reno, Okla. As the investigation did not implicate Superintendent Whitlock in any way, I believe that he is entitled to the relief that the proposed legislation would extend to him. The Indians also should be reimbursed for their losses resulting from the criminal actions of an employee of the Government.

The Bureau of the Budget has advised me that there is no objection to the presentation of this proposed legislation to the Congress.

Sincerely yours,

HAROLD L. ICKES, Secretary of the Interior.

2d Session

No. 1485

REBECCA COLLINS AND W. W. COLLINS

MAY 22, 1944.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House and ordered to be printed

Mr. CHENOWETH, from the Committee on Claims, submitted the

following

REPORT

[To accompany S. 891]

The Committee on Claims, to whom was referred the bill (S. 891) for the relief of Rebecca Collins and W. W. Collins, 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. 663, Seventy-eighth Congress, second session, which is appended hereto and made a part of this report.

Your committee concurs in the recommendation of the Senate.

S. Rept. No. 663, 78th Cong., 2d sess.

The purpose of the proposed legislation is to pay to Rebecca Collins, of Wise, Va., the sum of $1,000, and to W. W. Collins, of Wise, Va., the sum of $1,500 in full satisfaction of their respective claims against the United States for compensation for personal injuries and property damage sustained by them as the result of an accident which occurred when the automobile in which they were riding was struck by a truck used by the Work Projects Administration in Norton, Va., on February 9. 1942

STATEMENT OF FACTS

The evidence adduced as a result of an investigation conducted by the Work Projects Administration discloses that a truck, operated by an employee of the Work Projects Administration, was being used to haul limestone dust; that while the truck was proceeding east on Park Avenue, an automobile, which was proceeding south on Ninth Street, entered the intersection and turned left directly in front of the truck; that the driver of the truck, instead of slowing down or attempting to pass the automobile on the right, continued at the same rate of speed and turned the truck sharply to the left; that W. W. Collins, accompanied by Rebecca Collins, was driving an automobile west on Park Avenue, and that the truck, being on the wrong side of the street, struck and damaged the Collins car, with the result that W W Collins and Rebecca Collins sustained property damage and personal injuries.

Mrs. Collins' injuries consisted of lacerations on the right forearm, contused wound of the forehead, simple fracture of the second left rib, and internal injuries to the chest and abdomen. As a result of the internal injuries to her chest, Mrs. Collins developed a traumatic pneumnoia with considerable pleurisy. She was admitted to the hospital on February 9 and was discharged on March 15, 1942. Mr. Collins refused to accept the hospital treatment which was suggested by his physician. Approximately a year and 2 months later, he was examined and the X-ray examination of the right knee joint showed no evidence of any fracture to the knee joint proper; there was a suggestive healed incomplete fracture of the kneecap which offers no disability; examination of the right hip joint showed a healed fracture of the head of the femur with most of the femoral head riding too high in its socket by reason of a partial dislocation of the hip as a result of the fracture; there was a slight atrophy of the entire right leg. The examining physician estimated that there is approximately a 75-percent disability in the leg. Mr. Collins claims $200 for apples lost or spoiled because of the accident. Mrs. Collins' medical and hospital bills amounted to $354.75, however, she received $35.50 under a health policy. The only bills incurred by Mr. Collins as a result of his injuries amounted to $20.

It is admitted that the accident was caused by the negligence of the Work Projects Administration employee, and the Federal Works Agency recommends enactment of the proposed legislation in an amount commensurate with the personal injuries and property damage sustained by claimants. It is the view of the committee that the bill, as amended, should be passed. Appended hereto is the report of the Federal Works Agency.

Hon. ALLEN J. ELLENDER,

FEDERAL WORKS AGENCY,
Washington, July 5, 1943.

Chairman, Committee on Claims, United States Senate.

DEAR SENATOR ELLENDER: Reference is made to your letter of March 30, 1943, and to my reply of April 12, 1943, relating to S. 891, a bill for the relief of Rebecca Collins and W. W. Collins.

This Agency's report is as follows:

The bill proposes to appropriate "to Rebecca Collins, of Wise, Va., the sum of $2,000, and to W. W. Collins, of Wise, Va., the sum of $3,000, in full satisfaction of their respective claims against the United States for compensation for personal injuries and property damage sustained by them as the result of an accident which occurred when the automobile in which they were riding was struck by a truck used by the Work Projects Administration in Norton, Va., on Febraury 9, 1942."

The evidence adduced as a result of an investigation conducted by the Work Projects Administration discloses that a truck, operated by an employee of the Work Projects Administration, was being used to haul limestone dust from the freight station at Norton, Va., to a stock pile on Kentucky Avenue, Norton, Va.; that, while the truck was proceeding east on Park Avenue at a speed of approximately 20 miles an hour, an automobile, which was proceeding south on Ninth Street, entered the intersection with Park Avenue and turned left directly in front of the truck; that the Work Projects Administration truck operator, instead of slowing down or attempting to pass the automobile on the right, continued at the same rate of speed and turned the truck sharply to the left; that W. W. Collins, accompanied by Rebecca Collins, was driving an automobile west on Park Avenue; and that the truck, being on the wrong side of the street, struck, and damaged, the automobile operated by W. W. Collins, with the result that W. W. Collins and Rebecca Collins sustained property damage and personal injuries. Dr. Glen T. Foust, the attending physician, states that the injuries received by Mrs. Collins consisted of lacerations on the right forearm, contused wound of the forehead, simple fracture of the second left rib, and internal injuries to the chest and abdomen. As a result of the internal injuries to her chest, Mrs. Collins developed a traumatic pneumonia with considerable pleurisy.

Mrs. Collins was admitted to the Norton General Hospital on February 9, 1942, and was discharged on March 15, 1942. She was unable to resume her household or farm duties until April 15, 1942, and it is the opinion of Dr. Foust that she has a permanent partial disability of from 50 to 60 percent. Dr. Foust's bill for professional services amounts to $67. The bill of the Norton General Hospital amounts to $287.75.