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JUNE 4 (legislative day, JUNE 1), 1948.-Ordered to be printed

Mr. WILEY, from the Committee on the Judiciary, submitted the

following REPORT

[To accompany S. 165]

The Committee on the Judiciary, to whom was referred the bill (S. 165) for the relief of Doris E. Snyder, having considered the same, report favorably thereon without amendment and recommend that the bill do pass.

PURPOSE

The purpose of the proposed legislation is to pay to Mrs. Doris E. Snyder of Dayton, Ohio, the sum of $4,737 in full settlement of all claims against the United States for compensation for the loss of personal property destroyed and lost in the burning and sinking of the Argentine ship Rio de la Plata aboard which she was accompanying her husband, Capt. Wesley E. Snyder, under War Department orders.

STATEMENT OF FACTS

Mrs. Snyder lost all her personal belongings shipped on the Argentine steamship Rio de la Plata when that vessel caught fire, burned and sank on August 17,1944, in the harbor of Acapulco, Mexico.

At the time, Mrs. Snyder was en route to Santiago, Chile, under War Department orders, as a dependent of her husband, Capt. Wesley E. Snyder, who had been ordered to Santiago for duty as a member of the United States military mission.

Captain Snyder's movement orders, printed in full text as a part of the appendix to this report, authorized "travel by any means of transportation, including military, naval or commercial aircraft, Army or naval transport, belligerent vessel, or aircraft, commercial steamship, and rail." [Italics supplied.] The orders also provided that:

5. Provisions of letter this office 7 June, 1941, file AG 541.1 (5–25–41) MO-D-M, subject: Transportation of Dependents and Household Goods to Overseas Station, as amended by letter this office, 11 July, 1941, file AG 541.1 (6-25-41) MO-D-M, same subject, which prohibits the transportation of dependents and the shipment

of household goods of officers to overseas stations by Army transport or otherwise at Government expense, are hereby waived in the case of Captain Snyder in connection with this order. The restrictions imposed by AR 55-12 and AR 55-160, both dated 26 April 1944, limiting to one movement the transportation of dependents and shipment of household effects at Government expense on or after 1 September, 1942, do not apply in this case. [Italics supplied.]

The Department of the Army, in a report which is printed in full in the appendix of this report, has expressed opposition to the enactment of this legislation because the Army did not pack or ship Mrs. Snyder's belongings, and therefore was not a bailee. But referring to the official Army orders, quoted above, it will be noted that since the Army could furnish no transportation to Scuth America for this couple, they were put on their own, being told in effect to get to South America the best possible way. The burden of arranging transportation of both persons and property was placed directly upon the shoulders of Captain Snyder, who was required to arrange for his own passport, his own passage, the passage of his wife, and the shipping of their belongings. It is not equitable that the Army should now attempt to sidestep responsibility for an assignment which in normal course would have been carried out in such a way as to make the Army a bailee of the personal belongings of Captain and Mrs. Snyder: Captain Snyder certainly was in no position to question his orders or to insist that the usual practice be followed or that the Army give hin any special and separate assurances.

The report from the Department of the Army refers to an amount of $512.80 paid to Captain Snyder by the Argentine Government. The committee believes Captain Snyder's statement that this amount received from the Argentine Government was in no way payment for loss, but was simply the return of passage money together with the cost of passage from the place of shipwreck to Santiago, Chile, the original destination.

It is the opinion of the committee, from a careful study of the record, that the Department of the Army, for its own convenience, issued orders which cut loose from all the usual and normal restrictions the travel directed to be performed by Captain Snyder and authorized to be performed by his wife. The losses sustained by Captain and Mrs. Snyder would not have been suffered except for their compliance with such orders. If the Department had not, for its own convenience, placed the entire burden of arranging transportation upon Captain Snyder, the household goods and other personal belongings of this couple would have been packed and shipped by the Department, which then would have been a bailee. It is not cogent to say that the disaster which overtook the steamship Rio de la Plata was unforseen. Such disasters are always unforseen. Had the travel and transportation in this case been in accordance with the usual and normal policy of the Department, compensation for the loss would have been paid regardless of the fact that the disaster was unforseen. The fact that this usual and normal procedure was abandoned, for the convenience of the Government, does nothing to.ameliorate the loss, which the committee has been advised represents virtually the entire life savings of Captain and Mrs. Snyder up to the time of such loss.

The committee can find no fault with the Department of the Army in taking the position it has taken with respect to this claim, since the Department necessarily must confine the granting of relief strictly to the terms of existing laws and regulations authorizing relief. However, it is the view of the committee that it would be unconscionable for the Congress, holding the power of largess by which it can provide reasonable recompense for the losses sustained without fault on the part of either Captain or Mrs. Snyder, and in obedience to Government orders, to fail to exercise that power to grant such relief.

In addition to the official War Department orders, previously referred to, and the report of the Department of the Army on this proposed legislation, there are also printed hereafter, in the appendix to this report, and as a part hereof, a report from the Department of Justice, a letter from Captain Snyder, and a letter from Senator Taft, sponsor of this proposed legislation.

Subject: Movement Orders.

WAR DEPARTMENT,

THE ADJUTANT GENERAL'S OFFICE,
Washington, D. C., July 11, 1944.

Through, Commanding General, Headquarters, Air Service Command, Patterson Field, Fairfield, Ohio.

To: Captain Wesley E. Snyder, O-900029, Ord. Dept.

1. Captain Wesley E. Snyder, O-900029, Ord. Dept., is relieved from assignment and duty with Headquarters, Air Service Command, Patterson Field, Ohio, and assigned to Headquarters, Caribbean Defense Command, Quarry Heights, Canal Zone, with station at Santiago, Chile, for duty as a member of the United States Military Mission. He will proceed from present station to Kelly Field, Texas, for temporary duty not to exceed ten days for the purpose of instruction and observation in the synchronization of machine guns in aircraft. Upon completion of this temporary duty, he will proceed to Harlingen Army Gunnery School, Harlingen, Texas, for further temporary duty not to exceed seven days for the purpose of observing gunnery instruction methods, and upon completion of this temporary duty, he will proceed to Santiago, Chile, reporting upon arrival thereat to the Chief, United States Military Mission, for duty

2. Permanent change of station. Travel directed is necessary in the military service. 501-31 P 431-01, 02, 03, 07, 08 212/50425. Travel by any means of transportation, including military, naval or commercial aircraft (Class 3), Army or naval transport, belligerent vessel or aircraft, commercial steamship, and rail is authorized. If travel is performed by aircraft, a baggage allowance of sixtyfive (65) pounds, personal effects, and an excess baggage allowance of forty-five (45) pounds, (official equipment, documents and uniforms) is authorized. In lieu of subsistence, a flat per diem of seven dollars ($7.00) is authorized while traveling on official business and while absent from permanent station, in accordance with existing law and regulations.

3. If any part of the travel is performed by privately owned automobile, par. 1 e, AR 605-180 applies.

4. Clothing (tropical) and equipment as prescribed in T/E No. 21, 15 December 1943 and changes thereto will be taken. Service hats, rayon cord, and chin straps are not authorized. Additional equipment authorized: 1 trunk locker may be taken or shipped, 1 mattress cover, I first-aid packet. Canteens may be aluminum, plastic, or stainless steel.

5. Typhus and yellow fever immunization will be administered immediately upon receipt of orders.

5. Provisions of letter this office 7 June 1941, file AG 541.1 (5–25-41) MOD-M, subject: Transportation of Dependents and Household Goods to Overseas Station, as amended by letter this office, 11 July 1941, file AG 541.1 (6-25-41) MO-D-M, same subject, which prohibits the transportation of dependents and the shipment of household goods of officers to overseas stations by Army transport or otherwise at Government expense, are hereby waived in the case of Captain

Snyder in connection with this order. The restrictions imposed by AR 55-12 and AR 55-160, both dated 26 April 1944, limiting to one movement the transportation of dependents and shipment of household effects at Government expense on or after 1 September 1942, do not apply in this case.

6. SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS: Provisions of POR apply. Baggage, limited to one hundred ten (110) pounds will be shipped care Port Transportation Officer, New Orleans Port of Embarkation, New Orleans, Louisiana. Necessary field equipment will be obtained at destination. Temporary APO 4077, c/o Postmaster. New Orleans, Louisiana.

By order of Secretary of War:

Incl: AG ltr 28 Apr 44; Travel book; AG Form 43.

Distribution:

Officer (10)

Officers Br., Rec Sec, AGO, Rm 1528 Mu
CG, AGF, Att: Maj Pitts, 372 AWC (3)

/s/ W. L. DAY,

Major Roach, Rm 1C-915 Pentagon AGD Rm 1 E936
OPD, WDGS, Capt Pierce, Rm 3C-830 Pentagon
Port Transp Officer, NOPOE, New Orleans, La (2)
Port Postal Officer, NOPOE, New Orleans, La (2)
A true copy, I certify.

Adjutant General.

P. T. HANLEY, Col. A. C. O-19435, Chief, U. S. Military Aviation Mission, Santiago. Chile.

NOVEMBER 18, 1947.

The honorable the ATTORNEY GENERAL,

Washington, D. C.

DEAR MR. ATTORNEY GENERAL: Reference is made to your letter with which you enclosed a copy of S. 165, Eightieth Congress, a bill for the relief of Doris E. Snyder. You state that the Senate Committee on the Judiciary has requested the Department of Justice to submit a report on this bill and has advised that if reports are necessary from other sources they will be secured by your Department and submitted along with your report to the committee. You, therefore, request the comments of this Department on S. 165.

This bill provides as follows: That the Secretary of the Treasury is authorized and directed to pay, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, to Doris E. Snyder of Dayton, Ohio, the sum of $4,737. The payment of such sum shall be in full settlement of all claims of the said Doris E. Snyder against the United States for compensation for the loss of personal property owned by her which was destroyed and lost in the burning and sinking of the Argentine ship, steamship Rio de la Plata, on August 17, 1944, aboard which she was accompanying her husband, Capt. Wesley E. Snyder, under War Department orders. On July 11, 1944, orders were issued under which Capt. Wesley E. Snyder, Ordnance Department, Army of the United States, was directed to proceed to Santiago, Chile, for duty as a member of the United States military mission in Chile. These orders authorized Captain Snyder to be accompanied by his dependents. Captain Snyder and his wife, Mrs. Doris E. Snyder, sailed from California in August 1944, aboard the Rio de la Plata, a vessel flying the flag of Argentina. On August 17, 1944, while in the Bay of Acapulco, Mexico, the Rio de la Plata caught on fire and sank. Those aboard, including Captain and Mrs. Snyder, lost all of their belongings.

Captain Snyder submitted a claim for damages on account of the loss of the personal property of himself and Mrs. Snyder to the Argentine State Merchant Fleet, through the Government of Argentina, and he thereafter received from that source a payment in the sum of $512.80. He then submitted a claim to the War Department for damages on account of such loss in the sum of $4,363.15, under the provisions of the Military Personnel Claims Act of 1945 (59 Stat. 225; 31 U. S. C. 222c). There was included in the claim of Captain Snyder an item of $2,000 for the loss of his automobile. The Military Personnel Claims Act authorizes:

* * the Secretary of War [now Secretary of the Army], and such other officer or officers as he may designate for such purposes and under such regulations as he may prescribe, to consider, ascertain, adjust, determine, settle,

*

* *

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and pay any claim against the United States, including claims not heretofore satisfied arising on or after December 7, 1939, of military personnel and civilian employees of the War Department or of the Army, when such claim is substantiated, and the property determined to be reasonable, useful, necessary or proper and under the attendant circumstances, in such manner as the Secretary of War may by regulation prescribe, for damage to or loss, destruction, capture, or abandonment of personal property occurring incident to their service It will be noted that the above-quoted statute only authorizes the payment of claims of "military personnel and civilian employees of the War Department or of the Army" for damage to or loss or destruction of their personal property. Army Regulations 25-100, dated May 29, 1945, issued by the Secretary of War, governing the consideration and disposition of claims under this act, provides in paragraph 4g thereof that a claim for damage to or loss or destruction of a motor vehicle may not be paid under said act "except in cases where the damage, loss. destruction, capture, or abandonment occurred prior to July 1, 1942."

The claim of Captain Snyder was approved by the War Department on January 11, 1946, in the amount of $1,505.85, less the sum of $96.84 (representing the pro rata share of the payment received by Captain Snyder from the Argentine State Merchant Fleet attributable to the items upon which the claim was being allowed). The difference of $1,409.01 was paid to Captain Snyder on March 25, 1946. The item of Captain Snyder's claim for $2,000 on account of the loss of his automobile was not approved by the Department as said item could not be paid under the Military Personnel Claims Act and the regulations issued thereunder. The Military Personnel Claims Act provides that the payment of a claim thereunder "shall be final and conclusive for all purposes, notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary."

On March 27, 1946, Mrs Doris E. Snyder filed a claim with the War Department in the amount of $2,737, which she claimed to have been the value of her personal belongings which were lost in the burning and sinking of the Rio de la Plata. On April 8, 1946, Mrs. Snyder's claim was disapproved because there was no statute or appropriation available to the War Department under which the same could be paid. Her claim could not be approved under the Military Personnel Claims Act, supra, for the reason that she was not a member of the military personnel of the United States nor a civilian employee of the War Department or of the Army. The only other statute under which the claim of Mrs. Snyder could be considered was the act of July 3, 1943 (57 Stat. 372; 31 U. S. C. 223b), as amended, which authorized the War Department (now the Department of the Army) to settle and pay a claim in an amount not exceeding $1,000 for damage to or loss or destruction of property, caused by military personnel or civilian employees of the War Department or of the Army while acting within the scope of their employment, or otherwise incident to noncombat activities of the War Department or the Army, or for damage to or loss or destruction of personal property bailed to the Government. Since the loss of Mrs. Snyder's property was not caused by military personnel or civilian employees of the War Department or of the Army and did not result from noncombat activities of the War Department or of the Army, and as said property was not bailed to the United States at the time of its loss, her claim could not be approved under the act of July 3, 1943, supra. Mrs. Snyder was advised of the disapproval of her claim and of her right to appeal from such action to the Secretary of War within 30 days after the receipt by her of the notice of disapproval. On April 16, 1946, Mrs. Snyder filed an appeal to the Secretary of War, and on June 8, 1946, the Secretary of War sustained the previous action of disapproval and denied the appeal therefrom.

It will be observed that the proposed award of $4,737, stated in S. 165, is exactly $2,000 more than the amount of the claim filed by Mrs. Snyder with the War Department. The only apparent explanation for this difference between the amount of the proposed award and the amount of the claim filed by Mrs. Snyder with the Department is that the award proposed by the bill includes an item of $2,000, covering the loss of Captain Snyder's automobile. There is no basis whatsoever for paying Mrs. Snyder for the loss of her husband's automobile. Since the title to the automobile was in Captain Snyder, not Mrs. Snyder, he is the only person who would be entitled to prosecute a claim for its loss. As hereinbefore shown, Captain Snyder included an item, in the amount of $2,000 for the loss of his automobile, in his claim which he filed with the War Department for damages on account of the loss of his personal property, which item of the claim was disapproved by the Department as not being allowable under the Military Personnel Claims Act, and the approved amount of the claim in the sum of $1,409.01 was accepted by him in settlement of his claim, which settlement the statute provides "shall be fianl and conclusive for all purposes".

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