Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-07-16
HAND DEATH LAID
I. TO DEBT 0vERWORK
Treasury Official Suffered
Breakdown Aiding in Sus-
pension Problem.

Overwork on Treasury fiscal problems
in connection with President Hoover's
proposal to suspend international debt
payments for a year was blamed today
for the death of Robert Godfrey Hand,
commissioner of accounts and deposits.
Hand was the man behind the
scenes" in the intricate negotiations
leading up to Mr.. Hoover's announce
ment of the plan it was learned today,
and was constantly called upon by Act
ing Secretary Ogden L. Mills in he
final consummation of the debt suSpen-
sion.
His suicide yesterday in his monoxidc-
filled garage was ascribed by his ply
stefan, Dr. William M. Sprigg, and his
family to a nervous breakdown induced
by. overwork.
Worked Long Hours.
Mrs Hand said her husband mad
worked 10 and IL hours a day continu
ously on Treasury financial problems.
He was forced to leave his desk over
month ago for a rest, but. even after
retiring to his home, was called into
conference for advice frequently by
Mills.
Mills, it was disclosed. often called
Hand on the telephone late at night
after communicating with Secretary
Mellon in Paris. His figures on the
Treasurys present and prospective
financial condition were indispensable
in working out the final agreement for
debt suspension.
Even before the President announced
his proposal for a moratorium. Hand
had been called upon for an exact anal
ysis of the Treasury's finances. Admit
tedly the leading fiscal expert OF the
department. he had to figure to the
penny what the United States would
forego in foreign debt payments. in
principal and interest. Even the slight
est discrepancy would leave the admin
istration open to congressional criti-
cism when the plan is brought up for
approval, Treasury officials said today.
Judgment Was Unerring.
Mr.. Hands broad knowledge Of ifs
cal operations, combined with his I'M
erring Judgment. enabled him to fore
cast the cash position of the Treasury
with remarkable accuracy" one ofhcial
close to Mr.. Mills said.
so important was Mr.. Hands knowl-
edge of fiscal affairs that he was fire.
quently consulted by the acting Secre-
tary of the Treasury in connection with
Mr.. Hoover's moratorium proposal" this
official admitted. I'm fact, practically
every major financial operation of the
Federal Government was consummated
only after an analysis prepared by MI.
Hand"
1t was Hand who, in the trying period
after the war, worked out the original
schedules upon which were based the
war debt payments Of foreign powers
to the United States. In the period
from 1923, when he successfully worked
out the British American debt sched-
ule, until the Spring of 1926. when
Franco American debt negotiations were
settled on the basis Of Hands figures,
the late commissioner worked unceas-
ingly and tirelessly on Americas dim
cult war debt problems.
W'crk Was His Hobby.
All the actuarial work in connection
with the debt payments and all sched-
uleS of payments were drafted by Hand
and his assistants. It is these payments
which are to be sacrificed in 1882 by
the United States under Mr.. Hoover's
plan.
OF medium build. thin. angular and
with the high. protruding forehead of
a thinker, Hand was never happier
than when working on some intricate,
knotty accounting problem. His recre-
alton, paradoxically, was his work. If
he had any hobby other than his work,
it was fishing, but his friends say, he
preferred weighty logarithm to the
pull Of the gamest fish. He was serious
and yet possessed of a keen sense Of
humor, according to fellow officials of
the Treasury.
Hand, who was So years old. 80 of them
having been spent in the Treasury. will
be buried tomorrow in Cedar Hill Gem
etery following a private funeral at his
home, 1891 Gallatin street.