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 H. R. 17261 The Committee on the Judiciary, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 1726) for the relief of Elsie L. Rosenow, having considered the same, report favorably thereon without amendment and recommend that the bill do pass. PURPOSE The purpose of this proposed legislation is to pay to Elsie L. Rosenow of Highland Park, Ill., the sum of $6,383.62, in full settlement of all claims against the United States for personal injuries, medical and hospital expenses sustained as a result of an accident at the Highland Park, Ill., post office on December 12, 1944. STATEMENT OF FACTS At about 1:30 p. m., on the afternoon of December 12, 1944, Miss Rosenow was entering the doorway of the Highland Park Post Office. As she pushed the heavy doors inward in order to enter, her foot slipped on the threshold, which was covered with ice, with the result that she fell heavily into the lobby of the post office, fracturing her hip. She was confined in the hospital from that date until May 1945, and incurred hospital and medical expenses in the amount of $1,383.62, in additional to substantial pain and suffering. She suffered permanent injuries, is unable to walk except with the aid of a metal brace and crutches, and it is doubtful if she will ever be able to resume active work. The House report contains a copy of a letter addressed to the Fourth Assistant Postmaster General on April 10, 1946, and signed by Daniel L. Cobb, postmaster of the Highland Park office, in which S. Repts., 80-2, vol. 4 he admits that the front entrance consisted of two heavy oak doors which had no outside handle or safety push bar. He states: The effort to push one in (against a strong check valve) could easily throw one off balance, if in a hurry and the footing was even the least bit slippery. This combination was the cause, I should say, of her fall. He further states that it was his policy to require the janitor of the post office to clean the threshold and sidewalks three times a day, if it was necessary. The janitor was also instructed to throw ashes, sand, or salt over the sidewalk, and especially right in front of the door. The postmaster states because of 17 years of continuous use, the stone at the threshold contained hollows which made the threshold more slippery when icing occurred than an ordinary flat sidewalk. He states that on the day of the accident the janitor had shoveled the walk in the morning, but it is significant that the postmaster makes no statement as to whether or not the walk had been cleared at noontime or whether any ashes had been thrown on the walk on that particular day. The postmaster further states that he arrived personally at the post office a few minutes after the accident occurred, and was himself responsible for issuing the order to take Miss Rosenow to the hospital. However, he states that he did not acquaint the Department then with the facts because he thought her injury was not serious, although in a previous paragraph he said he thought she must have suffered from some internal injury and that was the reason he ordered her taken to a hospital. In a later paragraph he indicates that subsequently he learned she had received a fractured hip, but even at that time he made no report to the Department. The Post Office Department has opposed enactment of this proposed legislation on the ground that Miss Rosenow's fall was her own fault "for being in such a hurry." However, an affidavit from an entirely disinterested witness to the accident, a clergyman, states that the snow and ice had not been cleared from the front of the post office, and that there was no sand or ashes of any kind either on the sidewalk or on the threshold step, and the affiant adds that the lobby itself was very slippery and full of slush and had evidently not been cleaned in some time. The Department of Justice, in its report on this proposed legislation, states that the available evidence is of such a conflicting nature that it appears that if the case were tried in a State court, the factual issues would be submitted to a jury. In such instances, the Department points out, the Congress exercises the prerogative of a jury. For this reason, the Department stated, it preferred to make no recommendation as to enactment of the bill. In other words, on the facts, the Department of Justice could not concur in the opposition to enactment of this legislation which was expressed by the Post Office Department. It is the opinion of the committee that if this accident had occurred subsequent to January 1, 1945, Miss Rosenow would have had a good cause of action under the Federal Tort Claims Act. It is the further opinion of the committee that Miss Rosenow's claim comes squarely within the rule laid down in section 410 (a) of the Federal Tort Claims Act, in that her loss and personal injury was caused by the negligent omission of an employee of the Government while acting within the scope of his office or employment, under circumstances where the United States, if a private person, would be liable to the claimant in accordance with the law of the place where the accident occurred. The theory of the Federal Tort Claims Act was that claims arising prior to January 1, 1945, should be dealt with by private relief bills, rather than through court action; but it was not the theory of that act that claimants in such cases should be denied fair and reasonable compensation. It is the opinion of the committee that the compensation provided by the proposed legislation, as approved by the House, is fair and reasonable, and should be allowed. Full text of the report from the Postmaster General, the reports from the postmaster at Highland Park, statements of the claimant, and affidavits of eye witnesses to the accident, are carried in the House report (H. Rept. 655, 80th Cong., 1st sess.) and therefore need not be reprinted here. 80TH CONGRESS 2d Session } SENATE REPORT No. 1474 ANNIE L. TAYLOR AND WILLIAM BENJAMIN TAYLOR 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 H. R. 1781] The Committee on the Judiciary, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 1781) for the relief of Annie L. Taylor and William Benjamin Taylor, having considered the same, report favorably thereon, without amendment, and recommend that the bill do pass. PURPOSE The purpose of this proposed legislation is to provide for the payment of $8,295 to Mrs. Annie L. Taylor and $315 to William Benjamin Taylor, for losses sustained when the fishing trawler owned by the Taylor family was blown up and sunk as the result of contact with a mine or other obstruction on August 22, 1945, near Ocean City, Md. STATEMENT OF FACTS The trawler Joyce, owned by the Taylors, was, on the date named, proceeding from shallow to deep water, about one-half mile northwest of Ocean City, Md., dragging a net, when an underwater explosion occurred, blowing the vessel about 25 feet into the air and sinking it within 1 minute. The three men aboard managed to swim to a nearby buoy from which they were subsequently rescued by another trawler. The vessel, however, was a total loss, together with all equipment and belongings aboard. This claim is based on the theory that the explosion was caused by a mine, placed in the water originally by the Navy. CHRONOLOGY This bill came over to the Senate on July 23, 1947, and was taken up for study on or about August 11, 1947. On that date, a member of the professional staff of the committee called attention to the fact |