Cases disapproved on appeal to central office board of appeals under regulations 35 and 65 during fiscal year 1924

OFFICE OF THE GENERAL COUNSEL

The general counsel is the legal adviser to the director, the assistant directors, the chairman of the central board of appeals, and through the assistant directors in charge of the various bureau services to the heads of bureau offices located throughout the United States.

Many important legal questions of a varied nature have been considered by the office of the general counsel during the past fiscal year. These questions have related to compensation, vocational rehabilitation, administrative law, contracts, domestic relations, the descent and distribution of property, the construction of wills where insurance has been bequeathed and applying the intestacy laws of the various States and countries where payments under the terms of the law are in order by this bureau when the person on whose account payment is to be made has died intestate; criminal law, conflict of laws, agency, questions covering the entire field of insurance law, the law of evidence and procedure in every State and many foreign countries; passing upon the various legal questions arising in connection with the leasing and aoquiring of property necessary in carrying out the provisions of the statutes under which the bureau is operating, and, generally, all matters of a legal nature arising within the scope of the activities of the United States Veterans' Bureau. This office also has charge of all litigation in which the United States Veterans' Bureau is interested, and is the medium of communication with the Department of Justice in criminal cases, acting in connection with that department in all suits arising under the war risk insurance act as amended, and the World War veterans' act, 1924, in prosecutions for criminal offenses. Litigation is also carried on by members of this office in cases where rights of action against third persons are subrogated to the United States under the provisions of section 313 of the war risk insurance act, as amended. Proposed regulations drafted under the authority of the various statutes under which this bureau is operating have been referred to this office for approval before being issued.

This office has also rendered legal advice upon many questions relating to the administration of the World War adjusted compensation act. The adjusted compensation certificate as provided by said act was drafted by this office, and publicity matter in connection with the adjusted compensation as authorized by law was revised by this office to meet the requirements of the law.

The questions presented for legal decision during the past year by the director, the various divisions of the bureau, and the 14 district offices have covered a wide range of subjects. While each district office has a legal adviser attached to it, who has authority to render opinions on questions which are covered by the precedents of the general counsel, the legal advisers are required to prepare for consideration and submit all new questions to the general counsel for approval or comment. Also, if the legal adviser is in doubt concerning the application of precedents to a particular case, the question must be referred to the general counsel for decision.

Attention may well be directed to the fact that the attitude of the general counsel of the United States Veterans' Bureau in dealing with the legal phases of vocational training, compensation, and insurance payments is unlike that of the legal advisers of private organizations. The legal adviser of a private organization approaches the problems submitted from the standpoint of the advocate intent on sustaining the claims of the organization, while the general counsel sits rather as a judge seeking to protect the rights of the claimants as well as the rights of the Government. In dealing with a claim, the general counsel endeavors to bring the case within the letter or spirit of the law and to secure the evidence necessary to justify the allowance of the claim. This procedure is predicated on the theory that the statutes administered by the bureau are of a beneficial nature, and every effort should be made to assist the ex-service man in bringing his claim within the provisions of the law.

During the past fiscal year, a number of attorneys were transferred to the administrative control of the claims and insurance service and to the supply service. This was done with the view of reducing the volume of work in this office, owing to the fact that many of the requests for opinions presented were only repetitions of questions previously answered. This reorganization of the office has made it possible to effect closer supervision of the attorneys and other personnel which resulted in the expediting of work of the office and increasing the output per attorney. In this way, notwithstanding the constantly increasing demands upon this office, the work as a whole has been maintained practically current.

During the past fiscal year, Congress has enacted the World War veterans' act, 1924, providing for a codification of the existing laws, together with amendments. The move toward a codification was inaugurated by the general counsel, who was authorized by the director to organize a committee to consist of representatives of the bureau as well as representatives of the major veterans' organizations. This committee worked during the summer, with the assistance of attorneys assigned for the purpose from the then legal division, and the proposed act was presented by the director to the chairman of the special committee investigating the United States Veterans' Bureau and formed the base upon which the new codification was constructed.

One of the most outstanding features of the accomplishments of this office during the fiscal year 1924 was making the decisions of the general counsel readily available to bureau officials and employees throughout the United States by the publication of a pamphlet issued monthly containing a résumé of pertinent facts and a brief statement of the legal principles involved in important legal opinions rendered by the general counsel. This pamphlet, which contains synopses or digests of the legal opinions, is distributed to bureau employees whose duties are of such a nature as to require a knowledge of the interpretations of the statutes and regulations under which the bureau is operating. By referring to the digest given in these published pamphlets, it is possible to determine whether the opinion covers the point of law desired. If such is the case, the opinion itself may be obtained from the office of the general counsel. Steps have also been taken to distribute mimeographed copies of

important legal opinions to the field in such a manner that when legal advice is given to one district, it will be immediately available in all other districts.

The attitude formerly adopted by the bureau with respect to the payment of funds on account of mentally incompetent beneficiaries was that the payment of funds on account of such beneficiaries discharged all obligations of the bureau. However, the bureau's attitude in this respect was changed and steps were taken by this office which finally lead to the establishment of the present guardianship sub-division in the control service, and to beneficial legislation.

In considering the problem of the mentally incompetent beneficiaries of the bureau, it came to the attention of the general counsel that the Navy Department was about to sell a large tract of land, comprising about 600 acres, located near the naval training station, Chicago, Ill., and known as the Dewey tract. This property is admirably situated and adapted to the needs of the bureau for a hospital for mentally incompetent beneficiaries. The matter was brought to the attention of the director and the general counsel was authorized to take the matter up with the Secretary of the Navy, which was done personally and by letter, with the result that the Secretary of the Navy agreed to withdraw the property from sale and hold it, pending legislation by Congress looking toward the erection of a hospital on this site for the bureau. Authority for the construction of such hospital was granted, and the Dewey tract, as well as the naval training station, was turned over to the bureau by Executive order.

In order to provide claimants with legal advice with reference to the technical phases of the presentation of their claims, the director authorized the detail of qualified attorneys from this office to assist ex-service men in the presentation of claims before the central office board of appeals.

It having come to the attention of the general counsel that the contract rates submitted by State hospitals for the insane for the fiscal year 1924 were in excess of charges to private individuals for the care and treatment of insane patients committed to these institutions, the policy was adopted of requiring each State institution to justify the increase in its rates charged for the care of patients of the bureau suffering from mental diseases, before recommending award of the contract. The charges for board and care of this class of patients in the various State hospitals ranged from 50 cents to $5 per diem. Wheneyer it appeared that there was a disposition on the part of a State institution to charge the bureau a higher rate for the care of its beneficiaries than that charged other civilian patients for precisely the same accommodations and service, approval of the contract was withheld and negotiations entered into with the authorities controlling the institution.

All negotiations of this character were conducted by the general counsel and savings were effected ranging from 50 cents to $1.84 per relief for patients in the State hospitals of Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, North and South Dakota, amounting to a total saving of $292.84 per diem, based upon the number of patients in these hospitals on January 2, 1924. In addition, as a direct result of the investigation into the contract with the Western Washington