Evening star., 1924-08-31
RIGID RULE ISSUED
ON SOLDIER CLAIMS
Officials Hold dependency"
Of Heirs Subject to Strict
Interpretation.


Further uncertainty regarding the
status of adjusted compensation
claims he ssccu added in the case of
dependent heirs of deceased war vet
Grams by recent ruling of Govern
mCnt officials that the term depend
enCN' will be subject to strict legal
Interpretation. Each claim made by
a dependent must pe determined on
its merits and the oath of depend
enCy which each claimant makes will
not be considered as sufficient evil
dcnce upon which to base payment.
Neither will the deceased veterans
own statement made at the time he
was in service be considered conclu-
sivC.
Congress, in passing the adjusted
compensation act. undoubtedly meant
that widows of veterans should re-
ceive the benefits of adjusted COM
pensation without having to prove
or prosecute their claims. according
to the general Interpretation. The de-
partmentS executing the act, how
ever, " ill review all claims of widows
r1others and others dependent on the
veteran for support to determine if
they were in fact dependent at the
time OF the veterans death. Ii inveSti
mother. or dependent children had
other resources, the Government de
partmentS concerned will determine
whether or not these resources were
suff1clent To cause compensation un-
Der the bonus act to be denied.
ForcSee HardshipS Under Ruling.
This strict Interpretation of depend
ency. il is believed. will work thou
sands of hardShipS on widows, moth
ers. and children and other near rel
ativeS of deceased veterans who are
now in straitened circumstances. but
who at the time of the veterans
death may not have been actually
dependent upon him for their sup
port.
This is only one of the rulings
which have been determined upon in
figuring out the details of adminiS-
terlng the adjusted compensation act
The War and Navy Departments are
TO receive applications and decide
what applications are valid. Having
decided that an application is valid
they will compute the value of the
service rendered in terms of adjusted
compensation. They will certify their
finding to the Veterans Bureau. Nei-
thcr the War nor the Navy Depart
ment can decide whether Il veteran
should be issued an adjusted service
certificate. This decision rests with
the Veterans Bureau
The controller general will not have
the right to review the computations
made by the War and Navy Depart
mcrtS and the decisions Of the Vet
Grams Bureau. Tslis is in accordance
with the provisions of section 305 of
the bonus law itself. The controller
general, however, will review every
claim made by dependent of de-
ceased veteran. At present his de-
cisionS are frequently in conflict with
War and Navy Department claims and
Veterans Bureau claims.
Controller Generals Authority.
Although the controller general has
no right to review findings of the
War and Navy Departments and the
Veterans Bureau on adjusted COM
penSati"n for the veterans himself
the controller general must approve
payment of all moneys diSbursed by
the Government. The controller gen
erdl. therefore, may conceivably have
a good deal to say about the amount
pad even to veteran under his gem
eral powers : financial officer of
the Governments
An immense reorganization of the
Veterans Bureau is underway. a re-
organization which it is expected will
ob't'SIl liit ~ called paper TdunSS
made by Government personnel, who
have never seen the disa bled claim
ants so rated For five years the Gov
ernment has been paying disabled
service men for injuries described
solely by affdavitS submitted by each
veteran or his physicians. In some
cases this has benefited the veteran
ana in others it has undoubtedly hurt
him. In order to make closer CON
tact with veterans possible, the bu-
reau VIII establish eight control Of
noes functloning directly under the
central office of the Veterans Bu-
reau in Washington.
4S Regional Offices Proposed.
Under these eighht central offices.
IS regional offices will be grouped
one in each State. Each regional Office
VIII take complete charge of each
disabled man in its jurisdiction and
VIII act as his sole contact with the
government. The veterans themselves
nave been the principal advocates Of
TINS system, whereby any veteran can
make complaint direct to the officer
IN charge of veterans affairs in his
own State. Heretofore the work of
Caring for veterans and adjusting
their claims has been done by IA dis
trlct offices in various parts of the
country.