[H. Doc. No. 571, 76th Cong., 3d sess.] MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES RETURNING WITHOUT APPROVAL THE BILL (H. R. 3087, 76тH CONG., 1ST SESS.) ENTITLED "AN ACT FOR THE RELIEF OF THE GDYNIA AMERICA LINE, INC., OF NEW YORK CITY, N. Y." To the House of Representatives: I return herewith, without my approval, H. R. 3087 (76th Cong., 1st sess.), an act for the relief of the Gdynia America Line, Inc., of New York City, N. Y. This bill authorizes and directs the payment by the Secretary of the Treasury to the Gdynia America Line, Inc., of the sum of $2,520, in full payment for duplicate revenue stamps purchased and attached to the manifests of the motorship Batory belonging to the corporation, the original revenue stamps purchased for this purpose having been lost or destroyed in some unknown manner. The bill also directs the Secretary of the Treasury to require the corporation to give a surety bond to the United States in the amount of $2,520 to indemnify the Government in the event the original revenue stamps are recovered, the bond to run for such period of time as the Secretary shall prescribe. The act of May 12, 1900, relating to the redemption of stamps, as amended by section 1013 (a) of the Revenue Act of 1924, and now embodied in section 3304 of the Internal Revenue Code, provides in part as follows: * * * "That the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, subject to regulations prescribed by the Secretary of the Treasury, may, upon receipt of satisfactory evidence of the facts, make allowance for or redeem such of the stamps, issued under authority of law, to denote the payment of any internal-revenue tax, as may have been spoiled, destroyed, or rendered useless or unfit for the purpose intended, or for which the owner may have no use, or which through mistake may have been improperly or unnecessarily used but no allowance or redemption shall be made in any case until the stamps so spoiled or rendered useless shall have been returned to the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, or until satisfactory proof has been made showing the reason why the same cannot be returned; or, if so required by the said Commissioner, when the person presenting the same cannot satisfactorily trace the history of said stamps from their issuance to the presentation of his claim as aforesaid." Since the company could not produce the stamps, nor make satisfactory proof showing that they were destroyed and hence could not be produced, as required by the provisions of law above quoted, and the regulations promulgated thereunder, a claim filed by the company for redemption of the stamps was rejected. The requirements of the above-quoted act and the regulations thereunder are for the purpose of protecting the revenue. Unused documentary stamps in circulation, even though temporarily lost or misplaced, may, if found, be used to satisfy a stamp-tax liability; therefore, to refund money paid to collectors for temporarily lost or misplaced stamps would open the door to frauds upon the revenue. A knowledge of the denomination and serial number of such stamps would in itself afford no guaranty that they would not be later used by the finder or by some innocent purchaser. While a surety bond such as the Secretary of the Treasury is directed by the bill to require of the company might appear to constitute an adequate safeguard if the lost stamps are subsequently found by the company, and used by it, it is obvious that the bond would be ineffective if the stamps were found and used by other persons, as the method of field verification in stamp taxes does not ordinarily include a recordation of the serial numbers appearing on stamps of large denomination. I have on prior occasions expressed my belief that the field of special legislation should not be opened to relieve special classes of taxpayers from the uniform operation of the revenue laws. The circumstances stated above do not justify the exception made by H. R. 3087 to the uniform operation of the law and regulations relating to the redemption of internal revenue stamps. THE WHITE HOUSE, January 18, 1940. FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT. H. R. 3087 SEVENTY-SIXTH CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA; at the Third SESSION, BEGUN AND HELD AT THE CITY OF WASHINGTON ON WEDNESDAY, THE THIRD DAY OF January, One Thousand Nine Hundred AND FORTY AN ACT For the relief of Gdynia America Line, Incorporated, of New York City, New York 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 be, and he is hereby, authorized and directed to pay, out of any money in the Treasury, not otherwise appropriated, to the Gdynia America Line, Incorporated, of New York City, New York, the sum of $2,520, in full settlement of all claims against the United States for duplicate revenue stamps required to be attached to the manifests of the motorship Batory belonging to said corporation, the original revenue stamps having been lost or destroyed in some unknown manner: Provided, That the Secretary of the Treasury shall require the said corporation to give a surety bond to the United States in the amount of $2,520 to indemnify the Government in the event said original revenue stamps are recovered, such bond to run for such period of time as the Secretary of the Treasury shall prescribe: Provided further, That no part of the amount appropriated in this Act in excess of 10 per centum thereof shall be paid or delivered to or received by any agent or attorney on account of services rendered in connection with this claim, and the same shall be unlawful, any contract to the contrary notwithstanding. Any person violating the provisions of this Act shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof shall be fined in any sum not exceeding $1,000. WM. B. BANKHEAD, Speaker of the House of Representatives. JNO. N. GARNER, Vice President of the United States and President of the Senate. [Endorsement on back of bill:] I certify that this Act originated in the House of Representatives. AFFIDAVIT SOUTH TRIMBLE, Clerk. I, Robert Jorgensen, of New York, being duly sworn, do depose and state as follows: That I am the chief accountant of the Gdynia America Line, Inc., of New York City, N. Y., and that I was acting in the same capacity at the end of August and beginning of September 1938 when documentary stamps in the sum of $2,520 were purchased from the collector of internal revenue to be affixed on the passenger manifest of the motorship Batory which sailed from New York on July 6, 1938. That the said documentary stamps are the subject of bill H. R. 8224 introduced in the House of Representatives on January 30, 1940. That all efforts to trace these stamps have been without avail, wherefore I can only come to the conclusion, and express as my firm belief, that said documentary stamps have been destroyed and are nonexistent. Sworn to before me this 28th of September, 1940. [SEAL] O ROBERT JORGENSON. JACK KRANZ, Notary Public. EDITH PLATT OCTOBER 8, 1940.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House and ordered to be printed Mr. KENNEDY of Maryland, from the Committee on Claims, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany H. R. 8343] The Committee on Claims, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 8343) for the relief of Edith Platt, having considered the same, report favorably thereon with amendments and recommend that the bill as amended do pass. The amendments are as follows: Line 6, strike out the sign and figures "$1,000" and insert in lieu thereof "$750". Lines 8 and 9, strike out the words "personal injuries" and insert in lieu thereof the word "damages". At the end of the bill add the following: : Provided, That no part of the amount appropriated in this Act in excess of 10 per centum thereof shall be paid or delivered to or received by any agent or attorney on account of services rendered in connection with this claim, and the same shall be unlawful, any contract to the contrary notwithstanding. Any person violating the provisions of this Act shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof shall be fined in any sum not exceeding $1,000. The purpose of the proposed legislation is to authorize the payment of the sum of $750 to Edith Platt in full settlement of all claims against the United States for damages sustained by her when the automobile in which she was riding collided with a truck in the service of the Works Progress Administration on March 31, 1939. STATEMENT OF FACTS On March 31, 1939, at about 3:30 p. m., Mrs. Daisy Fitzpatrick, of Papillion, Nebr., was driving her automobile in a southerly direction on Highway 75, a few miles south of South Omaha, Nebr. In her car as a passenger was Miss Edith Platt, the claimant, of Fort Crook, Nebr. At the same time, a truck owned by Sarpy County, Nebr., and furnished by it as part of its sponsor's contribution, was being driven by one Andy Arendell, an employee of the Works Progress Administration, downhill on the same highway, in a northerly direction. Said truck was following closely behind two other vehicles. Arendell, the driver of the truck, attempted to pass the two vehicles in front of him without taking precaution to ascertain that the way was clear, and pulled his truck over to the west or wrong side of the road, colliding with Mrs. Fitzpatrick's automobile. The collision caused damage to both vehicles and personal injuries to Mrs. Fitzpatrick and Miss Platt. (Mrs. Fitzpatrick is the claimant under another bill.) The Work Projects Administration admits in its report to your committee that the evidence clearly establishes that Mrs. Fitzpatrick was traveling uphill at a moderate rate of speed and that the Government employee negligently attempted to pass the vehicles in front of him by pulling out of the traffic lane suddenly, and without attempting to ascertain first whether any vehicles were approaching from the opposite direction. They also admit that when Mrs. Fitzpatrick first saw the truck pull out of line, she was approximately 25 to 30 feet away from it, and that she immediately turned to the right in an attempt to avoid the impending collision. Mrs. Fitzpatrick's testimony to this effect is corroborated by the testimony of Miss Platt and a Mr. Leonard E. Thomson, a disinterested witness who was traveling a short distance behind Mrs. Fitzpatrick's automobile. In addition to these facts, it is stated by Mr. William Trent, a county commissioner of Sarpy County, Nebr., and Mr. Joe A. Clema, Works Progress Administration area engineer, that the Government employee was somewhat under the influence of liquor on the day in question. It is also understood that Arendell admitted at the time of the accident that it was his fault. Miss Platt, who was 22 years of age, received a fracture of the left arm, her chin was lacerated, both knees were cut and bruised. She also sustained bruises of the left side, bruises of the head, and her teeth were injured. She was generally shaken up. As a result of these injuries, her arm was in a cast for 6 weeks and in a sling for 10 days after the accident. She was a stenographer at the courthouse in Papillion, Nebr., and it has been pointed out that she was unable to do any of her regular work as a stenographer or any kindred employment for approximately 8 weeks. She incurred doctor bills totaling $90, and suffered considerable pain after the accident. It appears from the record that Miss Platt made claim against Sarpy County, and that the sum of $240 was allowed. The county commissioners, however, state that said allowance was made, not in settlement of, but as an advancement on her claim against the Government for personal injuries and doctor bills. The county commissioners held that the county of Sarpy was not liable for the damage resulting from this accident, contending that the United States Government is liable. The county commissioners stated in their report to the Administration that the claim of Miss Platt was allowed to apply on the doctor bills and personal injuries only after extracting an oral promise that out of whatever sums Congress might grant for her personal injuries, she would reimburse Sarpy County to the extent of said advancement so made by the county. There is no question as to liability, and in view of the fact Miss Platt incurred actual expenses amounting to $90 and was prevented from performing her regular duties of employment for a period of 8 weeks, together with the fact that she undoubtedly suffered considerable pain and inconvenience, through no fault of her own nor of the driver of the car in which she was riding, your committee believes that the sum of $750 constitutes a reasonable settlement of her claim. Appended hereto is the report of the Work Projects Administration, together with other pertinent evidence. Hon. AMBROSE J. KENNEDY, FEDERAL WORKS AGENCY, House of Representatives. MY DEAR MR. KENNEDY: Your records will disclose your communication of February 28, 1940, and my acknowledgment of March 1, 1940 concerning H. R. 8343, a bill for the relief of Edith Platt. The Administration's report, which is as follows, is also applicable to H. R. 8810, a bill for the relief of Daisy Fitzpatrick inasmuch as both persons were injured in the same accident. H. R. 8343 proposes to appropriate the sum of $1,000 to Edith Platt, Fort Crook, Nebr., in full settlement of all claims against the United States by the said Edith Platt on account of personal injuries sustained by her when the automobile in which she was riding collided with a truck in the service of the Works Progress Administration on March 31 1939, on Federal Highway No. 75, near Fort Crook, Nebr." H. R. 8810 similarly proposes to appropriate the sum of $2,000 to Daisy Fitzpatrick, Papillion Nebr., for the personal injuries sustained by her in the same accident. It appears that on March 31, 1939, at about 3:30 p. m., an automobile driven by Mrs. Daisy Fitzpatrick, in which Miss Edith Platt was a passenger, was proceeding uphill in a southerly direction on Highway 75, a few miles south of South Omaha, Nebr.; that a truck owned by Sarpy County, Nebr., and furnished by it as part of its sponsor's contribution, was being driven by Andy Arendell, an employee of the Works Progress Administration, downhill on the same highway, in a northerly direction, closely behind two other vehicles; that Arendell, in attempting to pass the vehicles in front of him, pulled the truck over to the west or wrong side of the road; and that, as a result, the truck collided with Mrs. Fitzpatrick's automobile, causing damage to both vehicles and personal injuries to Mrs. Fitzpatrick and Miss Platt. While Mrs. Fitzpatrick and Arendell, the Government employee, give different versions of the manner in which the accident occurred, the preponderance of the evidence indicates that Mrs. Fitzpatrick was traveling uphill at a moderate rate of speed; that the Government employee negligently attempted to pass the vehicles in front of him by pulling out of the traffic lane suddenly, and without attempting to ascertain first whether any vehicles were approaching from the opposite direction; that, when Mrs. Fitzpatrick first saw the truck pull out of line, she was approximately 25 to 30 feet away from it; and that she immediately turned to the right in an attempt to avoid the impending collision. Mrs. Fitzpatrick's testimony to this effect is corroborated by the testimony of Miss Platt and Mr. Leonard E. Thomson, a disinterested witness, who was driving a short distance behind Mrs. Fitzpatrick's automobile. Furthermore, Mr. William Trent, a county commissioner of Sarpy County Nebr., and Mr. Joe A. Clema,. Works Progress Administration area engineer, report that the Government employee was somewhat under the influence of liquor on the day in question. As a consequence of the accident, Mrs. Fitzpatrick presented a claim to the Administration, in the sum of $475, for damage to her automobile, for consideration under section 20 of the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act of 1938 (52 Stat. 809). However, since it appeared from a letter of December 21, 1939, addressed to our State Administration for Nebraska by the county attorney of Sarpy County, that Mrs. Fitzpatrick's claim in the sum of $470 against the |