Evening star., 1926-04-21
FENNING ASKS END
OF SECRECY POLICY
IN HOUSE INQUIRY

Continued from First Page)
dered. To do what you want us to
do we would have to have an attor-
ney present every time the auditor
Iconsidered an account as to its allow
ance."
The witness went into the details of
two cases Of delinquency in the han
ding of guardianship funds in the Dis
trict, and after asserting there were
innumerable cases throughout the
| United States where veterans had
been robbed through misrepresentation
and maladministration of funds by
their guardians, he again urged the
passage of the Johnson bill giving the
director of the Veterans Bureau au-
| thority to handle and diSburSe the
funds of the mentally incompetent.
| The cases he referred to today We're
Robert Kirk, whose guardian, the
veterans wife, had disappeared and
! had not yet been located, and John
w. White, whose wife, the committee
was told. had not taken proper care
of the ward The case he referred to
yesterday dealt with Albert L. Gross,
whose sister, the guardian, failed to
account for $11 900 of the soldiers es.
committee in any of these cases.
Mr.. Rankin today laid great stress
on the amount of bond furnished by
Mr.. Fenning in the cases he served
as guardian. The witness was unable
to give an accurate report on this
subject, but did say most of the bonds
were from the United States Fidelity
and Guaranty Co.
Question Goes Unanswered.
rs Fenning an agent or solicitor OF
that company" asked Mr.. Rankin.
The witness did not know, but prom.
ised to find out ANY fees he may get
as solicitor for this organization"
When Mr.. Rankin sought to have
Maj. Arnold produce all the bonds Of
Mr.. Jennings guardianship cases
Representative Luce, Republican,
Massachusetts,, protested on the
ground such compilation required
many hours Of labor.
This record" replied Mr.. Rankin,
pointing to the Congressional Record
containing the list of wards and
amounts of commissions received by
Mr.. Fenning, and placed in the Record
by Mr.. Blanton, smells to high
heaven with reference to eXorbitant
fees taken from the estates Of the war
veterans"
But wouldn't a cross section do as
well?" asked Mr.. Luce.
NO." replied Mr.. Rankin.
Chairman Johnson, Republican,,
South Dakota, interrupted with the
statement that if Mr.. Rankin expects
to go into each and every fee received
by Mr. Fennlng it will take two
years to conduct the hearings.
1T will If the national guardianship
officer doesn't know any more about
it than he does today"
Maj. Arnold said such details were
in the hands of Herbert l.. Davis, the
auditor Of the District Supreme Court.
but Mr.. Bulwinkle declared, you're
here to testify what you know and not
pass the buck"
In the Kirk and White cases cited
by Maj. Arnold, Mr.. Rankin and Mr..
Milligan demanded to know why some
effort wasn't made to prosecute the
guardians. The witness replied the
delinquencies were discovered by the
regional guardianship officer who ex-
amined the records of the court and
found no statements had been filed for
several years. The checks had gone
out from the bureau regularly, but
when this fact was learned, they were
stopped Immediately.
Has 10000 Such Cases.
But" he added, Il don't know
anything more about this particular
case than l, know about 10000 other
cases. 1 get my information from
the regional guardianship officer"
If you cannot give us this infor-
nation as to what steps the bureau
took to have these guardians forced
to give an accounting, l don't know
where to get it," commented Mr..
Rankin.
Maj. Arnold stated that recently
all accounts in the District court
here had been looked into "in order
to ascertain the court had not eX-
ceeded the commission as allowed by
the law.
Don't you take into consideration
the reaSona blenesS of the commits
sion?" asked Mr.. Rankin.
mo, a minor employe of the bu-
reau is in no position to put his
opinion up against that of the
court"
Then if a fee of "a per cent was
found, you wouldn't protest." asked
Mr. Rankin.
In none of the benef1ciaries' cases
were the fees in excess of 10 per
cent" replied the witness.
Did you investigate the attorneys
fees in the Fenning cases?" asked Mr..
Bulwinkle.
The Supreme Court Of the District
Of Columbia includes the attorneys
fees and all expenses in the commits
sion."
"Do you not think it was your duty
to have some one in the Veterans
Bureau protest against allowing a
10 per cent commission for so little
work as was done?"
mo. have no authority to do it."
IF you knew in 1924 of these
abuses, did you report to Gen. Hines
or any one else in the Veterans
Bureau?"
What abuses?" asked the witness.
"Why the ones you say this bill
ought to clear up?"
1.-The amendment to the act or this
bill didn't consider excessive fees al
together"
Specific Figures Cited.
Taking up the case of Henry j.
Ahlemeier, second on the list, placed
in the Congressional Record by Mr..
Blanton. Mr.. Rankin said: I'm six
cases Fenning was allowed 10 per
cent and in one, per cent. The total
commissions was $1,117.29. On Au-
gust 9, 1920 he received $155.31, when