necessity for changes in bureau regulations relating to management and technical procedure, and any and all matters which require correction, change, or modification. Control officers also conduct investigations. Full reports of every inspection and investigation conducted by them are made and in the instance of inspection reports, one copy is furnished to the head of the activity which is inspected, for his guidance. In control area A there are 290 cities and towns in which United States Veterans' Bureau facilities are located, involving 884 facilities. In control area B 689 bureau facilities are located in 258 cities and towns. Control area C has 287 facilities located in 135 cities and towns. Control area D has 355 facilities located in 104 cities and towns; making a total of 2,215 bureau facilities located in 787 cities and towns. The facilities consist of district offices, subdistrict offices, Veterans' Bureau schools, contract schools, United States Veterans' hospitals, Marine hospitals, Army hospitals, Navy hospitals, soldiers' homes, St. Elizabeths Hospital, and contract hospitals. In addition to the 2,215 facilities to be inspected, individual investigations are conducted throughout the United States. CONTROL AREA SUBDIVISIONS The control area subdivisions receive and review the reports of inspections and investigations, make record of them, and determine through what services the reports are to be forwarded to the director. The action of the director on the reports and the action taken by the services or divisions through which the reports have been forwarded is made a matter of record and these subdivisions are charged with the responsibility of following up the recommendations until they are complied with. The record is then completed on the card and the case is termed a "closed case." These record cards are designed to show the subject inspected or investigated, the cause of inspection or investigation, source of request for inspection or investigation, date inspection or investigation began, date completed, by whom made, recommendations of the control officer or area investigator making the inspection or investigation, dates of follow-ups relative to compliance with recommendations, and date of compliance; also total cost of inspection or investigation including salary, travel, and other expense. GUARDIANSHIP SUBDIVISION The guardianship subdivision is responsible for the activities incident to guardianship both in central office and in the field, and is assisted by guardianship officers of the field offices who report on conditions affecting minors and incompetents who are entitled to war risk insurance benefits. It is incumbent upon these guardianship officers to assist the court in all matters regarding mental incompetency, in the way of appointment of guardians, the adjudication of accounts, and the requisition of bonds to secure the funds of the beneficiaries. The primary function of the subdivision is to investigate all cases of claimants who are minors or mental incompetents, in order to ascertain whether or not their condition may be bettered in any manner. This involves securing all available data in cases in which complaint has been made that a beneficiary has been unjustly com mitted to an institution as mentally incompetent. Each guardian is required by the court appointing him to furnish a bond sufficient to protect the accumulating funds of the beneficiary and must submit a statement of account as provided by State laws. The director may also require the guardian to render from time to time an account showing the application of payments for the benefit of the minor or incompetent beneficiary. The records indicate that there are 9,519 guardians of minors and 15,000 guardians of adults of permanent total cases alone. The estimated number of minors under guardianship throughout the States, island possessions, and foreign countries is 30,000. PROGRESS During the fiscal year 1924, the organization of the inspection division has undergone several changes. Nevertheless, the progress made by the division is marked. The inspection and investigation work previously conducted by several divisions has been made more effective by bringing the whole into one organization and establishing definite procedure to be followed in conducting inspections and investigations. The reports of the inspections and investigations have been considered in the light of the entire organization of the bureau with a view to standardizing and improving facilities. The consideration of the reports of inspections and investigations by the inspection division in no way detracts from the former consideration given to the reports by the divisions conducting the inspection or investigation, for the reason that the reports are still forwarded through such divisions for their review and recommendations, and the charging of one division with the responsibility of carrying out the work affords a more uniform procedure than could be established by having inspections and investigations conducted by several divisions. There have been established full records of inspections and investigations so that information may be obtained with the least possible delay relative to any inspection or investigation which has been conducted during the fiscal year 1924. The follow-ups on these records to make certain that all sound recommendations are fully complied with before a case is completely closed, prevents irregularity or malpractice continuing after it has been revealed by an inspection or investigation. The records show that during the fiscal year 1924, 840 reports of inspection and 12,184 reports of investigation, or a total of 13,024 reports, have been handled in the inspection division. There has been established in the guardianship subdivision a master index of every guardian, every minor and mentally incompetent beneficiary, and every mentally incompetent beneficiary incarcerated in a hospital or asylum: also records of all elopements of mentally disabled beneficiaries from hospitals. An identification unit has been established which assists the civil authorities in locating and returning escaped patients, thereby protecting the public at large as well as the person of the patient. During the brief existence of the guardianship subdivision, many irregularities pertaining to guardianship matters have been revealed and corrected. The attitude of the public on this new work of guardianship has been most cooperative Legal authorities, service organizations, churches, and community interests, have offered and are giving service to this feature of veterans' relief that makes for better understanding of the Veterans' Bureau. In addition to inspections and investigations for the benefit of United States Veterans' Bureau beneficiaries, and also the handling of guardianship activities, the inspection division has been instrumental in revealing overpayments and erroneous payments in numerous instances. The method of close contact with the inspection division, central office, has with the inspection service in the district offices, and with the control officers and area investigators in the field, enables the division to get in personal contact with individuals concerned so that the exact facts pertaining to overpayments or erroneous payments can be obtained to a much better advantage than could be handled in any other manner While the inspection division has been charged with the responsibility of auditing property accounts, the station records were not completed prior to July 1, to conform to the requirements of Property Regulations, 1924. Consequently, the division has not made any audits of property during the fiscal year. As soon as the station records are changed to comply with the requirements of Property Regulations, 1924, a thorough audit of the property accounts at all stations will be made. STATISTICS AND COSTS DIVISION The statistics and costs division was authorized on January 17, 1924, by General Order No. 245, and made a part of the control service, being essentially a fact-finding organization. This division is charged with the responsibility of collecting, compiling and verifying before release all statistical information which pertains to the operations of the various divisions, district offices, schools and hospitals of the United States Veterans' Bureau, including all statistical data which relates to the activities with which the bureau is charged. Because of the great number of beneficiaries and the variety of benefits, records are to a great extent maintained on punch cards, thus facilitating the compilations of detailed statistical analyses. In this office are compiled the director's control records, and the division itself cooperated with all services and divisions in developing operation and control reports. For the proper accomplishment of the functions assigned this division, in addition to the office of the chief of division, there are established six subdivisions, namely: training, medical, insurance and compensation claims, personnel, hospital cost accounting, and tabulating machine subdivision. TRAINING STATISTICS SUBDIVISION The training statistics subdivision compiles and maintains all statistics relative to training, including vital, financial and administrative data dealing with the rehabilitation and return of vocationally handicapped ex-service men and women to gainful employment. Here are checked and interpreted reports received from the field dealing with status of the training program, and a financial report relative to the cost of training is compiled. In order that the bureau may be advised at all times as to the status of each trainee, 176,000 punch cards have been prepared carrying the following detailed information on the individual trainee: date of entrance into training, district, State, city and institution where training is given, objective and type of training, and the number of changes in objective, institution, type and section of training. Records and the results accomplished have been compiled of more than 100,000 trainees whose training has terminated due to rehabilitation, completion, discontinuance or death, furnishing for each case, the age, education, marital status, nationality, race, prewar wage, pre-war occupation, and vocational handicap for which training was given, number of changes in objective effected while in training, length of time spent in each objective, date of rehabilitation, cost of training, nature of employment after termination of training, wage received after termination, and the name and address of employer at the time the bureau was observing the assimilation into employment. The tables resulting from the tabulation of these cards furnish a definite control on the term of training and the granting of changes by the various field offices. MEDICAL STATISTICS SUBDIVISION The medical statistics subdivision compiles, maintains, and interprets all records pertaining to the medical district and hospital activities of the bureau, and is charged with the responsibility of preparing periodical control and statistical charts and reports analyzing the medical activities, services, and facilities, and maintaining individual hospital records of all beneficiaries of the bureau. One of the outstanding accomplishments of this work during the fiscal year 1924 has been the combination of the individual hospital record with the compensation and guardianship record. The statistical and control value of such data in correlated form is evident. In this subdivision at the present time there are on file 415,894 cards representing total admissions to the hospital to June 30, 1924. These cards form a complete abstract of each hospital episode. Of the total cards on file, 173,050 represent first admissions or the number of separate individuals hospitalized. A total of 94,440 patients have had more than one hospital period, ranging in number from 2 to 25. During the fiscal year 1924 there were reported 64,053 admissions to hospitals, 64,845 discharges, and 15,402 surgical operations, of which number 5,351 were major. These cards are utilized to a considerable extent by other divisions of the bureau to supply data on guardianship and compensation of hospital patients, as well as complete record of individual hospital episodes. Hospital records are analyzed and periodical statements published to be used as a control on hospital operations and conditions, and as a historical record on activities. Discharges from hospitals are analyzed monthly to determine the disposition and condition on discharge of all cases. A monthly cause of death report is also issued. A record is kept of all fractures and amputations of the long bones, from which a montlhy report is made up in detail by bone, and change of disability rating, presenting an interesting picture of the trend of the cost and extent disabling of these conditions. In this work 415,894 punch cards are utilized. In this subdivision are compiled monthly medical officer reports of out-patient service, reports of nurses, reports of physiotheraphy for districts and hospitals, reports of occupational therapy, hospital reports of attending specialists, X-ray reports, and laboratory re ports. Individual work reports of all medical and technical personnel are recorded and analyzed. Individual work done is correlated with salary received, and tabulations are prepared for central office control purposes. There are also issued reports which outline the hospitalization activities of each veterans' hospital, and furnish a résumé of patients in all hospitals, and the status of available beds. The latter reports are used extensively in connection with the movement of patients to available Government facilities. PERSONNEL STATISTICS SUBDIVISION The personnel statistics subdivision is charged with the responsibility of maintaining records of and compiling detailed reports of the personnel and changes of personnel assigned to the central office, districts, hospitals, community centers, and vocational schools. Here also originate special reports and statements to determine policies affecting personnel. The following sources of information are utilized: (1) Daily journal compiled by personnel division, (2) daily personnel control reports compiled by each division, and (3) monthly consolidated reports received from each field unit of organization. The data in the above reports are coded and placed on punch cards, which permit obtaining mechanically the following information relative to the personnel of the bureau: Age, file number, appointment date, civil service designation, bureau designation, annual salary, pay basis, allowance, bonus, agency, status, marital status, sex, ex-service status, location, division, activity, service, grade, and whether or not a bureau beneficiary. During the fiscal year this subdivision has coded over 27,334 punch cards, on which approximately 5,000 changes are made monthly. The cards are coded and brought up to date each month and a permanent record is made. CLAIMS ABSTRACT SUBDIVISION The claims abstract subdivision maintains a record card for all compensation and insurance claims, and is responsible for the compilation of periodic reports and analyses descriptive of the work of the claims divisions in the central office and district offices, and of the status of all claims. This record file involves the use of approximately 967,000 cards. When a claim is filed, an abstract card is made up giving certain identification information, such as name, C-number, rank, organization, date of birth, enlistment date, and place of discharge, etc. The abstract card is then filed by geographic location of case folder in numerical order and forms the basis of a permanent record in the central office. All subsequent action taken by the various agencies of the bureau is recorded, so that at all times the card is an up-to-date record of the claimant's file. All statistical records relative to the individual beneficiary of the bureau are coded on a punch card from the abstract card and tabulated mechanically. From these cards is obtained information concerning the reason for the granting of benefits, the time compensation and insurance claims have been pending, the status of all claims, and other information necessary in the adjudication of claims, and control of claims activities. A transfer unit is maintained to which notices of trans |