Evening star., 1926-03-21

With some members or Congress
nent on determining whether Com
missioner Fenning could legally and
with propriety hold his post as Dis
trict Commissioner and at the same
time act as guardian or committee"
for mental incompetents, inquiry at
the Veterans Bureau and at st.
Elizabeth's Hospital yesterday dis
closed the official opinion that
guardianship matters here generally
were under stricter regulations than
in most of the States, and In neither
quarter was there the slightest criti-
cism of Commissioner Fenning.
Director Frank I. Hines of the
Veterans Bureau said he was looking
into the case reported by Representa-
tive Green Of Florida, which started
the discussion, with q view to deter
mining whether the Veterans Bu-
reau had performed it's whole duty
in the protection of the rights OF the
beneficiaries. Gen. Hines said 1t was
no secret that Commissioner Fenning
had been guardian for mental incom-
petents and that his record in this
matter went back many years.
DIR. William A. White. superintend-
ent Of ST. EliZabeth's Hospital, frank
" came out with praise for Mr.. Fen
ming as a guardian, saying he had had
dealings with him for many years and
had found him most successful ana
ethical in handling this class OF pro-
fessional work.
Condition Prevented Move.
DIR. White looked up the case of the
soldier which Mr. Green discussed on
the floor of the House and found, he
said, letters from Mr.. Fenning show
ing that the guardian had taken So
licitous interest in his ward. The rea-
son why the man had not previously
been transferred to a hospital at Au-
gusta, Ga, nearer his relatives in
Florida, DIR. White said, was because
of his condition and not because Mr..
Fenning had interposed an obJectlon.
In fact, it was explained by DIR. White'
one letter was found in the folder
| where Mr.. Fenning had called atten-
ton of the hospital authorities to the
| fact that the patients relatives wished
him moved closer home. But findings
of a conference Of the entire medical
staff of the hospital, DR.. White said,
had been against the transfer.
The question of whether the patient
could be moved had again been raised,
however, DR.. White said, previous to
| the recent statement by Mr.. Green.
and his case was to go before the staff
again to see whether he might have
improved sufficiently to be moved.
Gen. Hines said he could not discuss
| the merits of the participation OF Mr..
Fenning, as he did not have com.
plete report on the case. but he knew
| Mr.. Fenning appeared In the records
as a proper legal guardian for incom-
| petents for years. q
Hines Offers Report.
Should the proper authorities call
| upon him for a final report on the
case, Gen. Hines said, he would give
| to them a complete record OF his fnd-
| ings. Representative Madden, chair
man of the House committee on aT'-
propriations, recently announced such
an Investigation was being made by
| the Veterans Bureau.
Gen. Hines explained that the Vet
erans' Bureau had for some time been
giving special attention to the matter
of guardians for incompetents and
others who We're beneficiaries, and
that in some sections of the country.
where practices were lax, much IT.
| regularity had been uncovered
guardians had been prosecuted and
money refunded to the Government.
| In the District, however, conditions
We're reported to him as in excellent
shape. as the Supreme Court of the
District of Columbia, q Federal court
exercised jurisdiction over guardian
| ship.
| In cases of irregularities. Gen. Bliss
said, the policy of the bureau had
been first to approach the guardian
where satisfaction was often OBJ
tanned. The second step, he said
would be to approach the court. In
what he termed aggravated" cases
Gen. Hines said, he would go so far
as to withhold funds payable to the
beneficiary until the difficulty was
Strengthened out.
Service Reorganized.
The guardianship service was reor
ganized in the central office of the
Veterans Bureau on April q. 1925
although it had existed in other form
| some time prior to this date. At that
| time it was placed under the super
vision of a national guardianship Off
| Ger, Maj. Davis G.. Arnold, who was
| associate counsel of the Senate com
mittee which investigated the Veter
ans Bureau. Maj. Arnold supervises
the activities of all guardianship Off
GERS in the 81 regional offices or sub
offices of the bureau. w. r. Gould is
regional guardianship officer for the
| Washington regional Office here.
| The duties Of this service, as out
| lined in an official statement, are tc
render special assistance to mental
incompetents and minors in (a) obtain
| ing from the bureau all that they are
entitled to under the World War vet
erans' act, as amended, and (b) check
ing administration Of guardians Of
bureau beneficiaries.
There are about $4,000 bureau bene-
ficiaries under guardianship who are
| recipients of custodial awards, divided
into three general classes: Mental in.
competents, widows or aged and in
competent parents of deceased claim
ants and minor children.
In the District of Columbia, it was
explained by Maj. Arnold, the ma
tional guardianship officer, the guard
ians or committees" as the guard
| iaua Of iucor,o pete1atS LEGALLY