63D CONGRESS, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. 3d Session.

ANNUAL ASSESSMENT OF REAL ESTATE IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

DECEMBER 9, 1914.-Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be printed.

Mr. JOHNSON of Kentucky, from the Committee on the District of Columbia, submitted the following

REPORT.

[To accompany H. R. 19552.]

The Committee on the District of Columbia, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 19552) providing for annual assessments of real estate in the District of Columbia, having considered the same, report it back to the House with the recommendation that it pass.

TO AMEND AN ACT ENTITLED "AN ACT MAKING APPROPRIATIONS FOR THE EXPENSES OF THE GOVERNMENT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA," ETC.

DECEMBER 9, 1914.-Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be printed.

Mr. JOHNSON of Kentucky, from the Committee on the District of Columbia, submitted the following

REPORT.

[To accompany H. R. 19549.]

The Committee on the District of Columbia, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 19549) amending an act entitled "An act making appropriations to provide for the expenses of the government of the District of Columbia for the year ending June 30, 1903, and for other purposes," approved July 1, 1902, having considered the same, report it back to the House with the recommendation that it pass.

O

63D CONGRESS, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. 3d Session.

EXPENSES OF THE GOVERNMENT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

DECEMBER 9, 1914.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union and ordered to be printed.

Mr. JOHNSON of Kentucky, from the Committee on the District of Columbia, submitted the tollowing

REPORT.

[To accompany H. R. 19547.]

The Committee on the District of Columbia, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 19547), to provide the manner of paying the expenses of the government of the District of Columbia, having considered the same, report it back to the House with the recommendation that it pass when amended as follows:

Line 9, strike out the word "exceed" and insert in lieu thereof the words "be as much as."

PAYMENT OF SURGEONS MAKING EXAMINATION AT CLAIMANT'S HOME IN CONNECTION WITH CLAIM PENDING IN BUREAU OF PENSIONS.

DECEMBER 9, 1914.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union and ordered to be printed.

Mr. KEY of Ohio, from the Committee on Pensions, submitted the following

REPORT.

[To accompany H. J. Res. 294.]

The Committee on Pensions, to whom it was referred, have carefully considered the House joint resolution No. 294, "providing for payment of surgeons making examination at claimant's home in connection with claim pending in the Bureau of Pensions," and submit the following report, with the recommendation that said resolution be adopted.

The purpose of this proposed legislation is to simplify the method of paying examining surgeons of the Pension Bureau for their time and expenses in making medical examinations where they are directed to call upon the claimant at his home. It is proposed to pay a fee of $5 in each instance, and to pay in lieu of actual traveling expenses the sum of 20 cents per mile for the distance actually traveled each way, but not exceeding the distance by the most direct route between the surgeon's office and the claimant's home.

The law at present governing this subject is found in the act of May 28, 1908 (35 Stats. L., p. 419), as follows:

And the fee for each examination at the claimant's residence, provided his residence is outside of the corporate limits of the place of the regular meeting of the examining board or of the place of residence of the surgeon, making the examination shall be five dollars in addition to the payment of the actual traveling expenses of the surgeon.

By provision of law, not quoted above, an examination fee of $3 only is paid to the surgeon making an examination within the corporate límits either of the place of the regular meeting of the board of surgeons or of the place of residence of the surgeon making the examination. As above stated, when such examination is made outside of said corporate limits, the fee is $5. It has been found that a surgeon sometimes travels from 16 to 20 miles to make an examination within the corporate limits, as, for instance, in such

cities as New York and Chicago, and receives a fee of only $3. In another case he may travel less than a mile to make an examination outside the corporate limits, and receives a fee of $5. This is clearly inequitable and should be remedied; but an urgent reason for the proposed legislation is the impossibility of making a proper recompense for actual traveling expenses without subjecting the surgeon to very annoying conditions.

In a decision dated March 18, 1914, the Comptroller of the Treasury states that under the present law a surgeon can not lawfully be paid for the use of his own conveyance. He says:

Payment to the surgeon for the official use of his conveyance, which is not limited to expenses actually incurred by reason of such official use, is not a lawful charge against the United States.

This is one of the causes which led the Commissioner of Pensions to urge the adoption of the legislation proposed, and he calls attention to the fact that train schedules are often such that a surgeon making the trip by rail must be away from his practice for a full day or longer. If a fixed allowance per mile be made in lieu of "actual traveling expenses," the surgeon could travel by any means most convenient to him. Under the proposed law it would be necessary to ascertain only the total distance traveled on the official trip, and this would simplify matters in every way and enable the surgeon to save valuable time.

Under the present law the surgeons find it very difficult to render their accounts properly, as it requires the securing of subvouchers and making notes of every item of expenditure. Every item must be stated separately and the amount expended shown, as the Pension Bureau must report the amount expended for "Transportation of persons," "Subsistence and support of persons," "Subsistence and care of animals," "Miscellaneous items," etc., each amount to be reported separately.

Your committee is aware of a growing inclination in Congress to avoid mileage allowances in lieu of actual expenses, and to substitute as far as practicable a per diem basis of payment, but a per diem basis is wholly impracticable in the case of examining surgeons, because the home examination in nearly every case consumes less than one day and in many cases only a few hours.

Unless the law be changed, the Commissioner of Pensions believes that it will be difficult to induce competent surgeons to leave their practice to make home examinations, and that the bureau will have to depend upon surgeons who have but little familiarity with the subject.

The Commissioner of Pensions states that the surgeon is seldom ordered to make an examination that requires him to travel more than 60 miles (30 miles and return). The average distance traveled is about 16 miles. The mileage allowance for 16 miles, at 20 cents per mile, would be $3.20. If such a trip be made by cab, railroad, and carriage, the actual expense would be about $4, as follows: