Evening star., 1923-10-29
VETERANS BUREAU
DOCTOR SAYS PULL
WON HIGH RATINGS
Declares Congressional Pres
sure Brought Compensation
Beyond Right Figure.
YELLOW TAGS INDICATED
MEN HAVING "BACKING"
Forbes Attorney May Win Right
to Question Witnesses Directly
Mentioning Ex-Director.

| mCutlOuluS GA-DllCCtOA.
Charges of congressional pull" in
obtaining disability ratings for for
| mer service men and declarations
| that there were numerous cases in
which men were paid full disability
ratings when they were entitled to
| only partial disability ratings, due to
| bad judgment by officials. featured
the resumption of hearings before the
Senate committee investigating the
| war risk bureau today.
| Charles r. Forbes, former director
of the bureau. against whom charges
| of debauchery and corruption in con-
! nection with contracts for bureau
| hospitals were made last week by
| Elias H. Mortimer of Philadelphia,
was present at the hearing, accom-
panied by his counsel. James S.
Easily Smith.
, There has been no decision as to
| when Mr.. Forbes Will take the stand.
! but 1t is indicated that he probably
will not do so unit: Maj Gen John
! F. Organ, general counsel for the
committee. has concluded the presen-
! tation of all the, evidence he has re
| lating to Mr.. Forbes administration
as director.
May Accede Attorneys Plea.
Mr.. Easby-Smith asked permission
| to cross-examine witnesses who gave
direct testimony involving Mr.
Forbes, but was told by Chairman
! Reed that if all of the attorneys in
! terested in the case should be given
that right the inquiry would cease to
be one into the Veterans Bureau and
would be turned into a general trial.
The attorney insisted that the hear
ing already apparentl! had come to
be a prosecution of Mr. Forbes and
| that he should have the right Of
cross examination. Senator Reed told
him that he might renew his request
when any witness questioned directly
about Mr.. Forbes was on the stand.
! Mr.. Easily Smith asked particularly
! for the opportunity to undertake to
! impeach the testimony last Wednes-
| day of Mr.. Mortimer, saying he had
documentary evidence that he wished
! to present
Tells of "PulI.-
Congressional pull in obtaining
disability ratings for former service
| men was testified to by DR.. r. F.
Souther. medical officer of the bu-
reau, who was the first witness. He
said cases in which senators and
representatives We're Interested were
marked with a special Identification
tag, yellow in color, but added that,
! under Director Hines the use of these
tags had been discontinued.
He told the committee there were
numerous cases in which men had
obtained full disability ratings when
| they were entitled to only partial dis
/ ability ratings. due to bad judgment
on the part of district officials in
some cases, and the central board of
appeals in others These cases were
| particularly numerous in the fourth
district, with headquarters in Wash
ington; the tenth district, with head
quarters in Minneapolis, and the fifth
district. with headquarters in Atlanta.
he said.
DR.. Souther said also that frequent
violations of orders of the director
and regulations of the bureau oc-
Cured. He cited an order by former
Director Forbes in November, 1922.
forbidding the central board of ap-
peals from removing from their rec
ords of cases the ratings given by ex-
pierenced medical men. This order
was referred by the appeals board, he
said. to the legal division and on the
strength of a decision from the law
Many times we get opinions from
the legal division not based on COM
mon sense" he said.
Given Full Rating.
The witness told of the case of
one man in Washington who con-
tinued to receive a full disability
| rating Of 500 a month after COM
petent medical examiners had re-
duced his disability rating to 20 per
Aclra ne
mittee about this case, DIR. Souther
said the man in question was MEM
Der of a veterans organization ana
writer for the newspapers and the
inference was that 1t would be Eek
pedient to keep him quiet"
DIR. Souther charged that l.. 3.
Rogers, assistant director in charge
of the medical division, had issued
cases should not be brought to the
attention of the Senate committee.
Senator Reed directed that Mrs.
Rogers be subpoenaed.
Questioned by Senator Reed about
cases in which injustice was done to
former service men by reason of the
"wholesale disposition" in the early
days of the Veterans Bureau. DIR.
Souther said these injustices had not
been corrected in all cases, but that
efforts in that direction still were
being made.
Charges FuvOfttfsm.
Favoritism in the disability ratings
of former veterans employed in the
bureau was charged by DIR. Souther.
He referred to several of what he
characterized as Instances" and pre-
sented a list as of last May carrying
the names of more than 200 employees
of the bureau who were receiving
temporary total disability compensa-
tion from the Treasury at the same
time that they received full salaries
from the bureau.
DIR. Souther said one case was that
of Dr. Robert M. Fulweider, who,
the records show, has been receiving
temporary total disability since jan
| uary, 1918. on the ground that he had
| tuberculosis.
Reading from the record of the
doctors case. the witness said his dis
charge papers did not show that there
| had been any examination for tuber-
culosis prior to his discharge from the
! Army, and that other records showed
that the tuberculosis germs had been
arrested since March, 1921.
District Rehabilitation officer Sis
son of district number three. DIR.
Souther said, had been carried on the
roll as temporarily totally disabled,
| and had been successful in preventing
re-examination for long time.
| Another case cited was that of A. E.
| Hahn manager of the Washington
| district, whose disability now Is rated
at 40 per cent The witness said Hahn