United States Congressional Serial Set

ESTATE OF BARTHOLOMEW LAWLER

SEPTEMBER 3, 1940.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House and ordered to be printed

Mr. HART, from the Committee on War Claims, submitted the

following

REPORT

[To accompany H. R. 4257]

The Committee on War Claims, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 4257) for the relief of the estate of Bartholomew Lawler, having considered the same, report favorably thereon with an amendment and recommend that the bill as amended do pass.

The amendment is as follows:

In line 11 beginning with "The", second word in the line, strike out the remainder of line 11, all of line 12, and all of lines 1, 2, 3, and 4 on page 2 of the bill, and insert: "There is hereby appropriated for the purpose of this Act, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, the sum of $618.24."

The purpose of this bill is to correct an error due to false and incomplete information furnished the Treasury Department following the death of Bartholomew Lawler, which resulted in the payment of adjusted-service bonds to the brother and not to the rightful heirs, the widow and children of the said Bartholomew Lawler.

The report of the Veterans' Administration, after a review of the case, notes:

This Administration is not in a position to ascertain whether an erroneous settlement was affected by the Treasury Department in this case and it is believed, therefore, that the propriety of this bill will depend largely upon the report and recommendations of the Treasury Department.

The report of the Treasury Department of May 16, 1939, notes that payment of the bonds was made to George John Lawler, a brother of the said Bartholomew Lawler, upon the brother's application supported by the corroborating evidence of two disinterested persons. It was not until later that the Treasury Department obtained information that the said Bartholomew Lawler was survived by a widow and children.

Included in the review of the claim by the Treasury Department there is this signification notation:

Under the terms of section 4 of the Adjusted Compensation Payment Act, 1936, as amended (U. S. C., title 38, sec. 686), the determination of the person entitled to receive payment on the death of the veteran was final and conclusive. Consequently, no relief is available to the widow and children in the absence of a special enabling act of the kind proposed, and in view of the facts stated, it is my belief that the bill proposed is meritorious.

It will be noted in this same report that the suggestion is made by the Treasury Department for amending the bill, which suggestion your committee have followed out.

The reports of the Veterans' Administration are hereto appended and made a part of this report.

VETERANS' ADMINISTRATION,
Washington, April 27, 1939.

Hon. R. T. WOOD,

Chairman, Committee on War Claims, House of Representatives,

Washington, D. C.

MY DEAR MR. WOOD: This is in further response to your request of March 20, 1939, for a report on H. R. 4257, Seventy-sixth Congress, a bill for the relief of the estate of Bartholomew Lawler.

The bill provides as follows:

"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 is hereby authorized and directed to issue and register twelve adjusted-service bonds of 1945 in the name of Bartholomew Lawler, A-3255216, and deliver and pay them and the sum of $18.24 to the persons entitled to the estate of Bartholomew Lawler in accordance with the terms of the Adjusted Compensation Payment Act, 1936, as amended (U. S. C., 1934 edition, Supp. IV, title 38, ch. 11A), and the regulations prescribed thereunder. The Adjusted Service Certificate Fund is hereby made available for the expenditures authorized by this Act, and there is hereby appropriated to such fund out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, the sum of $618.24, such sum to be in addition to all other appropriations heretofore made to such fund."

It appears that the veteran was issued an adjusted-service certificate in the amount of $1,262, for which he named his sister beneficiary. He did not change the beneficiary, but in February 1936 filed application for bonds. There was certified by this Administration to the Treasury Department for payment to the veteran, $618.24.

The veteran died March 19, 1936, before settlement under the Adjusted Compensation Payment Act could be effected. Under date of July 13, 1936, this Administration notified the Treasury Department of the fact of death of the veteran. and in accordance with the procedure, furnished that Department Adjusted Compensation Form 1738 designed to facilitate settlement with the veteran's estate. On this form the Administration furnished the name and address of the veteran's brother, George J. Lawler, as the individual with whom correspondence might be had concerning the matter. The Administration did not furnish the name of the alleged wife of the veteran, who in 1932 had notified the Administration of an estrangement from her husband, which had occurred some 8 years prior to that date. It may be stated, therefore, that the files of the Administration indicated the existence of a wife and two children of the veteran, although proof of the relationship was not then, nor is now, within the record.

The Treasury Department effected settlement without administration and it appears that such settlement was effected with the brother, apparently without information concerning the existence of the wife and children. It should be stated that after the Veterans' Administration certified to the Treasury Department the amount payable under the Adjusted Compensation Payment Act, it had no further administrative responsibility in the case.

It seems that the Treasury Department did not require the appointment of a legal representative for the estate of the veteran, but elected instead to effect direct settlement with the heirs, in accordance with practice somewhat similar to that followed by this administration in cases involving amounts less than $500.

It is now proposed by this bill to authorize the issuance of 12 adjusted-service bonds of 1945 ($600) and the sum of $18.24, to be paid to the persons entitled to the estate of the veteran, by the Secretary of the Treasury. It is further proposed that the adjusted-service-certificate fund shall be made available for the expenditures authorized by this bill, with appropriation to the fund of $618.24 from the Treasury of the United States.

This administration is not in position to ascertain whether an erroneous settlement was effected by the Treasury Department in this case and it is believed, therefore, that the propriety of this bill will depend largely upon the report and recommendations of the Treasury Department.

However, I desire to point out that the Veterans' Administration is interested in this private kill with respect to that portion which makes the adjusted-servicecertificate fund available for the expenditure proposed therein. I do not believe the adjusted-service-certificate fund should be charged with the duplicate payment in this case and recommend that if the bill is enacted there should be deleted that provision making the adjusted-service-certificate fund available for this expenditure.

Very truly yours,

FRANK T. HINES, Administrator.

Hon. REUBEN T. WOOD,

Chairman, Committee on War Claims,

TREASURY DEPARTMENT,
Washington, May 16, 1939.

House of Representatives, Washington, D. C.

MY DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: I have your letter of April 29, 1939, requesting a report on H. R. 4257, a bill for the relief of the estate of Bartholomew Lawler. The bill provides:

"That the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authorized and directed to issue and register twelve adjusted-service bonds of 1945 in the name of Bartholomew Lawler, A-3255216, and deliver and pay them and the sum of $18.24 to the persons entitled to the estate of Bartholomew Lawler in accordance with the terms of the Adjusted Compensation Payment Act, 1936, as amended (U. S. C., 1934 edition, Supp. IV, title 38, ch. 11A), and the regulations prescribed thereunder. The Adjusted Service Certificate Fund is hereby made available for the expenditures authorized by this Act, and there is hereby appropriated to such fund out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, the sum of $618.24, such sum to be in addition to all other appropriations heretofore made to such fund." On certification from the Veterans' Administration this Department issued in the name of Bartholomew Lawler, A-3255216, 12 adjusted-service bonds in the total principal amount of $600 and a check for the odd amount due on the veteran's adjusted-service certificate in the amount of $18.24. The bonds and check were not delivered during the lifetime of the veteran as he died on March 19, 1936, which was, of course, prior to the date on which adjusted-service bonds were delivered. Under date of July 13, 1936, the Department received notice of the veteran's death from the Veterans' Administration on its adjusted compensation Form 1738, which notice gave as the name and address of the person with whom the Department might communicate, George J. Lawler, brother, 481 Brook Avenue, Bronx, N. Y. A sworn application for disposition of the bonds without administration of the veteran's estate was made on a departmental form by George John Lawler, brother of the veteran, as sole heir. In accordance with the regulations of the Department the application was supported by the corroborating affidavits of two disinterested persons and was accompanied by evidence of the payment of debts of the veteran's estate. The Department approved the application, it having no notice that the veteran had ever been married, and made payment of the bonds and check to George John Lawler as person entitled.

Subsequently information was received that the veteran was in fact survived by a widow, Mrs. May Lawler, and two minor children, Thomas and Richard Francis Lawler. An investigation by the Department confirmed the fact that a widow and children in fact survived the veteran. There have now been filed with this Department a copy of the veteran's marriage certificate, authenticated by a notary, showing that Bartholomew J. Lawler and Frances May Smith were married in Newburgh, N. Y., on November 14, 1917; a statement by William R. Peckham, minister of St. John's Methodist Episcopal Church, Newburgh, certifying that the marriage was performed at that church on the above date by Rev. Frank W. Young, pastor; a certificate from the local registrar at Albany of

the New York Department of Health that a birth certificate has been filed for Thomas Lawlor, born on March 20, 1922, at Highland Falls, N. Y., his father's name being given as Bartholomew Jerome Lawlor and his mother's maiden name as May Smith; and a certificate from the registrar at Newburgh that a record is on file showing the birth of Richard Francis Lawlor on March 27, 1920, at Newburgh.

The investigation also disclosed that the veteran had abandoned his wife and children in Newburgh sometime in 1931 or 1932, and that the wife and children are now in destitute circumstances. It also appeared that George John Lawlor was very possibly aware that the veteran was in fact survived by a widow and children. Owing to the financial condition of George John Lawlor it has been found impossible to secure restitution from him, and the Chief Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York has advised a representative of the Department that criminal prosecution would not be feasible under the circumstances.

Under the terms of section 4 of the Adjusted Compensation Payment Act, 1936, as amended (U. S. C., title 38, sec. 686c), the determination of the person entitled to receive payment on the death of the veteran was final and conclusive. Consequently, no relief is available to the widow and children in the absence of a special enabling act of the kind proposed, and in view of the facts stated, it is my belief that the bill proposed is meritorious.

The Administrator of Veterans' Affairs in his letter to yoù of April 27 has recommended that if the bill is enacted there should be deleted that provision making the adjusted service certificate fund available for the expenditure contemplated. In my opinion it would be appropriate to make the deletion suggested by General Hines and to substitute for the last sentence of the bill a provision appropriating the sum of $618.24 for the purposes thereof, without reference to any specific fund, as, for example, "There is hereby appropriated for the purposes of this act, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, the sum of $618.24.'

In accordance with your request I am returning the copy of General Hines' letter which was enclosed with your letter.

Very truly yours,

JOHN W. HANES, Acting Secretary of the Treasury.

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