the staff of the commanding general, Fourth Service Command, in the amount of $235.34, and this amount was paid to Charlie Powell on July 11, 1944. There is no statute or appropriation available to the War Department under which a claim for pain and suffering, physical disability, or personal injuries may be administratively settled. The evidence establishes that the proximate cause of the accident and resulting personal injury of Forest Eldon Powell was the negligence of military personnel, acting within the scope of their employment, in failing to take proper precautions to see that the unexploded antitank mine fuze was properly disposed of so as not to fall into the hands of small children unfamiliar with the inherently dangerous nature of the fuze. In view of Forest Eldon Powell's tender years, he may not be charged with negligence in handling the fuze. It is, therefore, the view of the War Department that reasonable compensation should be provided for his benefit. While the amount stated in the bill is excessive, the War Department would have no objection to the enactment of the bill if it should be so amended as to provide for an award of $1,000, payable to the legal guardian of Forest Eldon Powell, which it is believed, would constitute a fair and reasonable settlement for all of the damages sustained by the child as a result of his injury in this accident. It is recommended that the title and text of the bill be amended to read as follows: "A BILL For the relief of Forest Eldon Powell, a minor "Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Secretary of the Treasury be, and he is hereby, authorized and directed to pay, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, to the legal guardian of Forest Eldon Powell, a minor, of Castalian Springs, Tennessee, the sum of $1,000, in full settlement of all claims against the United States on account of personal injuries received by the said Forest Eldon Powell, as a result of the explosion of an antitank mine fuze near Castalian Springs, Tennessee, on March 3, 1944: Provided, That no part of the amount appropriated in this Act in excess of 10 per centum thereof shall be paid or delivered to or received by any agent or attorney on account of services rendered in connection with this claim, and the same shall be unlawful, any contract to the contrary notwithstanding. Any person violating the provisions of this Act shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof shall be fined in any sum not exceeding $1,000." The fiscal effect of the bill is manifest. The Bureau of the Budget advises that there is no objection to the submission of this report. Sincerely yours, To Whom It May Concern: HENRY L. STIMSON, Secretary of War. GALLATIN, TENN., June 19, 1945. I have examined the eyes of Forest Powell, of Castalian Springs, Tenn., and he has a widening of the left lid of the left eye and the tissues around the orbit of the left side is shrunken. Scar over the left eye is very noticeable and disfigures his left eye and tissue around that eye. The scar is about 2 inches in length. This has disfigured his eye and orbit and will be permanent. No more plastic surgery will improve it. O I. H. BEASLEY, M. D. FEBRUARY 15 (legislative day, JANUARY 18), 1946.-Ordered to be printed Mr. ELLENDER, from the Committee on Claims, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany H. R. 2728] The Committee on Claims, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 2728) for the relief of R. H. Sindle, having considered the same, report favorably thereon and recommend that the bill do pass. The facts will be found fully set forth in House Report No. 1297, Seventy-ninth Congress, first session, which is appended hereto and made a part thereof. [H. Rept. No. 1297, 79th Cong., 1st sess.l The Committee on Claims, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 2728) for the relief of R. H. Sindle, having considered the same, report favorably thereon with an amendment and recommend that the bill, as amended, do pass. The amendment is as follows: At the end of bill add: ": Provided, That no part of the amount appropriated in this Act in excess of 10 per centum thereof shall be paid or delivered to or received by any agent or attorney on account of services rendered in connection with this claim, and the same shall be unlawful, any contract to the contrary notwithstanding. Any person violating the provisions of this Act shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof shall be fined in any sum not exceeding $1,000." The purpose of the proposed legislation is to pay the sum of $101.54 to R. H. Sindle, of Gallatin, Tenn., in full settlement of all claims against the United States for the loss of and damage to certain personal property owned by him as the result of acts of depredation committed by members of the United States Army on March 22, 1944. STATEMENT OF FACTS It appears that on March 22, 1944, R. H. Sindle, Gallatin, Tenn., arrived at the house in which he lived alone and found two unidentified soldiers who apparently had forced their way into the building. Both of the soldiers were in an intoxicated condition and they had built fires in the kitchen and bedroom stoves. Mr. Sindle, who was in bad health, did not attempt to force the soldiers to leave in the heavy rain which was falling and permitted them to spend the night. The soldiers continued to drink beer and during the course of the night Mr. S. Repts., 79-2, vol. 1-30 Sindle heard them engaged in a dispute which resulted in the breaking of some of the furniture. On the morning of March 23, 1944, Mr. Sindle, awaked to find that the soldiers had departed and that various items of his personal property were missing. The doors of the stoves had been left open and the walls of the house had been badly soiled by smoke. The War Department in its report dated June 6, 1945, states that the evidence fairly establishes that the damage sustained by Mr. Sindle was caused by the deliberate acts of unidentified military personnel while they were not in line of duty and were not engaged in any business for the Army. It is a well-established principle of law that an employer is not responsible for the unauthorized acts of his employees while they are acting outside the scope of their employment. Under the circumstances it is clear that there is no legal basis for a claim by Mr. Sindle against the United States. If the Congress should, nevertheless, deem it appropriate to grant relief in this case it is the view of the War Department that the amount of the proposed award, $101.54 is fair and reasonable. Bills similar in principle have been enacted by the Congress in cases where personal injury was caused by Army personnel while acting outside the scope of their employment (Private Law 264, 78th Cong., approved April 4, 1944; and Private Law 561, 78th Cong., approved December 23, 1944). Therefore, your committee recommend favorable consideration to the bill. Appended hereto is the War Department's report, together with other pertinent evidence. Hon. DAN R. McGEHEE, WAR DEPARTMENT, Washington, June 6, 1945. Chairman, Committee on Claims, House of Representatives. DEAR MR. MCGEHEE: Reference is made to your letter of April 4, 1945, enclosing a copy of H. R. 2728, Seventy-ninth Congress, a bill for the relief of R. H. Sindle, and requesting an opinion on the merits of the bill. This bill would authorize and direct the Secretary of the Treasury to pay "to R. H. Sindle, Gallatin, Tennessee, the sum of $101.54 * * * in full settlement of all claims of the said R. H. Sindle against the United States for the loss of, and damage to, certain personal property owned by him as the result of acts of depredation committed by members of the United States Army on March 22, 1944." On March 22, 1944, at about 11:30 p. m., R. H. Sindle, R. F. D. No. 2, Gallatin, Tenn., arrived at the house in which he lived alone and found two unidentified soldiers who apparently had forced their way into the building. Both of the soldiers were in an intoxicated condition and they had built fires in the kitchen and bedroom stoves. Mr. Sindle, who was in bad health, did not attempt to force the soldiers to leave in the heavy rain which was falling and permitted them to spend the night. The soldiers continued to drink beer and during the course of the night Mr. Sindle heard them engaged in a dispute which resulted in the breaking of some of the furniture. On the morning of March 23, 1944, Mr. Sindle awakened to find that the soldiers had departed and that various items of his personal property were missing. The doors of the stoves had been left open and the walls of the house had been badly soiled by smoke. On July 4, 1944, Mr. Sindle filed a claim with the War Department in the amount of $101.54 for the damage sustained by him, which he itemized as follows: On August 22, 1944, this claim was disapproved by an officer on the staff of the commanding general, Fourth Service Command, Atlanta, Ga., acting under appropriate delegated authority, for the reason that the damage sustained by Mr. Sindle was not caused by military personnel or civilian employees of the War Department while acting within the scope of their employment, a condition necessary to bring the claim within the provisions of any statute or appropriation available to the War Department for the administrative settlement of claims. Inasmuch as the identity of the soldiers involved or their organization could not be ascertained, no action could be taken for the payment of the claim under the one hundred and fifth article of war. Thereafter Mr. Sindle appealed to the Secretary of War from the previous action taken in disapproving his claim and on September 30, 1944, the action taken in disapproving the claim was sustained and the appeal therefrom denied. The evidence fairly establishes that the damage sustained by Mr. Sindle was caused by the deliberate acts of unidentified military personnel while they were not in line of duty and were not engaged in any business for the Army. It is a well-established principle of law that an employer is not responsible for the unauthorized acts of his employees while they are acting outside the scope of their employment. Under the circumstances it is clear that there is no legal basis for a claim by Mr. Sindie against the United States. If the Congress should, nevertheless, deem it appropriate to grant relief in this case it is the view of the War Department that the amount of the proposed award, $101.54, is fair and reasonable. Bills similar in principle have been enacted by the Congress in cases where personal injury was caused by Army personnel while acting outside the scope of their employment (Private Law 264, 78th Cong., approved April 4, 1944; and Private Law 561, 78th Cong., approved December 23, 1944). The fiscal effect of the bill is manifest. The Bureau of the Budget advises that there is no objection to the submission of this report. Sincerely yours, Hon. ALBERT GORE, Washington, D. C. HENRY L. STIMSON, Secretary of War. GALLATIN, TENN., August 28, 1944. DEAR FRIEND: I regret to ask the favor of you but after being advised that way I am compelled to ask it of you. During maneuvers in Tennessee and at Gallatin, Tenn., maneuvers on March 22, 1944; on that night it was a rainy bad night and a man by the name of Mr. Bob Hyde came after me to take me home in his truck. When we got in about 200 yards of house I live in I discovered all the house lighted up. This house I live in is about 75 yards off main highway and a street leading up to house from highway. I called Mr. Hyde's attention to house being lit up. He insisted on driving me up to house from highway. The road is bad for a truck in rainy weather, so I would not let him leave highway. I walked the short road to the house, 75 yards. On arriving at house I found screen door hooked, main door to house open about 4 inches. I knocked and shook door. No one would answer, so I took my pocket knife and lifted screen door hook. Getting in house I found two soldiers, one in bed with muddy overshoes, one other soldier sitting on side of bed drinking beer. I asked them what they were doing; they said they came over to the house that evening to make a borrow and found door of house not locked and they came in and had a friend to go out and get some beer and booze for them and some eats. They had the stove in living room plumb full of coal and red hot and house full of smoke; kitchen stove red hot, caps off, smoked house up bad. They were drunk and fought all night long at intervals. It was pouring down rain all night long. If it had not been raining so hard I would have gone after officers and had them put out of house that night. The man sitting on side of bed said to me, “If you wake first in morning you wake us up, and if we wake first we will wake you up and settle all damages satisfactory.' I stayed awake till 3:30 next morning. All fell off asleep and did not wake up until around 6 o'clock. They, the soldiers, was gone. Every drawer in house contents poured out in floor and many articles taken. Next morning I went in town and talked to MP and official to get a car and take them out to the two camps where soldiers were camping. A camp on each side of my house. I insisted on MP going out to these two camps and recover goods that were taken. They refused to go under any circumstances. They said only thing they could do was advise me to go over to claim office and make a claim out. My contention is if they had done their duty, with all possibility I could have recovered my property without very much trouble to them. I followed their advice and went over to claim office. They made out a claim for damages to house; I gave them a list of articles taken, they refused to take the list of articles; said turn it over to the adjuster. My contention is that if they had sent an adjuster that morning out to see condition of house and what they had done I believe we could come to an agreement and settled. I waited and waited; no adjuster come; I made up my mind to clean side walls and ceiling. I went got wall paper cleaner and done the job. This house was in a horrible condition. They had vomited all over floors. I am of the opinion if I can get you to go and talk to this gentleman Secretary of War, Commanding General, Fourth Service Command, attention Claims Judge Advocate-you take this up with commanding general in charge, I feel under the circumstances that existed that if MP had done their duty I could have recovered and if claim office had sent an adjuster out in a reasonable time I could have filed a claim and had house repapered and repainted. So I went ahead and cleaned walls and ceilings and made best of smoke soot and finally had to burn candles to get rid of smoke. My people are over at Knoxville that occupy house with me. No one staying there but me at night. Now I have stated existing facts to you in this case and I certainly will appreciate you seeing commanding general in my behalf. And let me hear from you. Thanking you in advance. Respectfully, R. H. SINDLE. ARMY SERVICE FORCES, HEADQUARTERS, FOURTH SERVICE COMMAND, Hon. ALBERT GORE, M. C., House of Representatives, Washington, D. C. DEAR MR. GORE: Your letter of August 31 with reference to the claim of Mr. R. H. Sindle, of Gallatin, Tenn., is acknowledged. The claim was disallowed by this headquarters and Mr. Sindle was notified of its disallowance and of his right to appeal to the Secretary of War. To date no appeal has been filed. The facts disclosed in substance that Mr. Sindle found two soldiers in his house who did the damage complained of. He stated that their names were Schwartz and Walgreen and the file was referred to the unit to which they were supposed to belong for action under the one hundred and fifth article of war. These soldiers were not located and therefore the one hundred and fifth article of war could not be applied. Since the soldiers were off duty and drunk, the claim cannot be paid by the War Department inasmuch as under the provisions of Public Law 112, Seventyeighth Congress, claims can be paid only when the soldiers are acting within the line and scope of their employment. If there is any further information we can give you, this headquarters will be glad to oblige. Sincerely yours, Hon. ALBERT GORE, House of Representatives, Carthage, Tenn. DEAR MR. GORE: Reference is made to your letter of September 27, 1944, concerning the claim of R. H. Sindle, R. F. D. No. 2, Gallatin, Tenn., in the amount of $101.54 against the United States for loss of and damage to property sustained by him as the result of acts of depredation committed by unidentified soldiers on March 22, 1944. On August 22, 1944, Mr. Sindle's claim was disapproved by an officer on the staff of the commanding general, Fourth Service Command, Atlanta, Ga., under appropriate delegated authority, and Mr. Sindle was duly advised of his right to |