Case ID: us-ct-cl_65/html/0182-01.html
Source: Caselaw Access Project
Author: {"author": "Graham, Judge,", "license": "Public Domain", "url": "https://static.case.law/"}
Date Created: 2024-08-24T03:29:51.129683

CLARENCE J. BELL, ADMINISTRATOR OF THE ESTATE OF JOHN DeGROOT, v. THE UNITED STATES
    [No. C-889.
    Decided April 2, 1928]
    
      On the Proofs
    
    
      Commutation of quarters, XJ. S. Coast Guard,; act of June 10, 1922, as amended by act of May 31, 1924; availability of quarters.— The quarters available under section 6 of the act of May 31, 1924, must be such as are adequate for an officer’s dependents as well as for himself, and where the quarters furnished him are not only inadequate for that purpose but for administrative reasons his dependents would not have been permitted to occupy them, he is entitled to commutation of quarters.
    
      The Reporter's statement of the case:
    
      Mr. George A. King for the plaintiff. King <& King were on the briefs.
    
      Mr. Frank J. Keating, with whom was Mr. Assistant Attorney General Herman J. Galloway, for the defendant. Mr. J ohm, G. Ewing was on the briefs.
    The-court made special findings of fact, as follows:
    I. John DeGroot, a warrant officer, United States Coast Guard, to wit, a boatswain (L) in the life-saving branch, served from July 1,1922, to November 8, 1922, at City Point Station, South Boston, Mass.; from November 9, 1922, to March 31, 1923, at Old Harbor Station, Chatham, Mass.; and from April 1, 1923, to January 12, 1925, at City Point Station, South Boston, Mass. He was retired from active service on January 13, 1925, and died December 5, 1925.
    II. On January 25, 1927, on motion filed by the attorneys for the decedent, Clarence J. Bell, of Wellfleet, Mass., who was appointed administrator of the estate of John DeGroot by the Probate Court of Massachusetts, was substituted as plaintiff in this case.
    III. While at City Point Station the decedent was furnished three rooms on a house boat anchored a half mile off shore, said station being a floating station. Two of these rooms were located on the first deck of the house boat, one being used by DeGroot as living quarters and the other as an office. The third room, which was approximately 6 feet square, was located on the upper deck, and contained a tank which occupied a large part of the room and had to be filled with water to flush the toilet below. The room otherwise was empty, except that during cold weather the men on the bridge kept their log there and a few of their belongings.
    At Old Harbor Station decedent was furnished one room, constituting an office and bedroom.
    These quarters were inadequate to accommodate decedent’s dependents, nor would they have been permitted for administrative reasons to occupy said quarters, even if adequate. There were no public quarters available for occupancy by the dependents of the decedent at the stations referred to. During the period in question he had a wife and five minor children dependent on him for support, and he furnished quarters for them at his own expense at Wellfleet, Mass.
    ' IY. Under the act of June 10, 1922, 42 Stat. 628, 630, as amended by the act of May 31, 1924, 43 Stat. 250, an officer of the rank of John DeGroot is allowed two rooms, and, where public quarters are not available, a rental allowance of $20 per room per month.
    The court decided that plaintiff was entitled to recover.
   Graham, Judge,

delivered the opinion of the court:

Plaintiff is suing to recover rental allowance which he claims is due the estate of John DeGroot, a warrant officer in the life-saving branch of the United States Coast Guard, who died December 5, 1925.

The first permanent station of the decedent was at City Point Coast Guard Station, South Boston, Mass., where he was furnished three rooms from July 1, 1922, to November 8, 1922. The findings show that two of these rooms were located on the first deck of a house boat anchored a half mile offshore, the City Point Station being a floating station, one of the rooms being used by DeGroot as living quarters and one as his office. The third, a small room on the upper deck, was empty except during cold weather, when the men on the bridge kept their log there and a few of their belongings. From November 9, 1922, to March 31, 1923, he was assigned to Old Harbor Station, Chatham, Mass., where he was furnished one room, which was used as an office and bedroom. He was transferred to City Point Coast Guard Station on April 1, 1923, where he remained until January 12, 1925, and occupied the same quarters as during his first assignment there. He was retired from active service on January 13, 1925.

As stated in the petition, the applicable statute is the act of June 10, 1922, 42 Stat. 628, as amended by the act of May 31, 1924, 43 Stat. 250, which amendment was retroactive to July 1, 1922.

Section 6 of the act of May 31, 1924, provides that an officer “ while either on active duty or entitled to active-duty pay shall be entitled at all times to a money allowance for the rental of quarters.” The decedent' was on active duty, and therefore came within this provision of the statute. The act further provides: “ To an officer having a dependent, receiving the base pay of the first period, the amount of this allowance shall be equal to that for two rooms.” The officer in this case had dependents and was therefore entitled to an allowance for two rooms under the last provision. It may be noted that this last provision clearly has reference to a provision for dependents. The fourth paragraph of section 6 is as follows:

“ No rental allowance shall accrue to an officer, having no dependents, while he is on field or sea duty, nor while an officer with or without dependents is assigned as quarters at his permanent station the number of rooms provided by law for an officer of his rank or a less number of rooms in any particular case wherein, in the judgment of competent superior authority of the service concerned, a less number of rooms would be adequate for the occupancy of the officer and his dependents.”

It is evident that the act was intended to give an officer rental allowance where at his station public quarters are not available adequate for the occupation of the officer and his dependents; that is, in the case of this officer, two rooms that were available for the use of himself and his dependents. We do not take the view that this rental allowance is personal to the officer. The quarters available were to be such as could be occupied by him with his dependents. The quarters assigned decedent at City Point Coast Guard Station were on board a boat, a floating station, anchored at sea, where, under the regulations of the department, he could not have his dependents live with him. He was thus not provided with quarters available for the use of himself and his dependents, and is therefore entitled to recover rental allowance for two rooms during the period he was stationed on the boat.

At Old Harbor Station he was allowed only one room, and it does not appear that there were any quarters available for the use of himself and his dependents.

The rental allowance provided by statute for an officer of the grade of decedent is $40 per month for two rooms, and plaintiff should recover at that rate for the period from July 1, 1922, to January 13, 1925, during which time decedent was on active duty at the above-named stations. Judgment should be entered-, for $1,216, and 'it is so ordered.

Moss, Judge; Booth, Judge; and Campbell, GMef Justice, concur.