[H. R. 5723]

An Act To amend an Act entitled "An Act to authorize the establishment of a Bureau of War Risk Insurance in the Treasury Department," approved September second, nineteen hundred and fourteen, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the first section of the Act entitled "An Act to authorize the establishment of a Bureau of War Risk Insurance in the Treasury Department,' approved September second, nineteen hundred and fourteen, as amended, is hereby amended to read as follows:

"ARTICLE I

"SECTION 1. That there is established in the Treasury Department a Bureau to be known as the Bureau of War Risk Insurance, the director of which shall receive a salary at the rate of $5,000 per

annum.

"That there be in such bureau a Division of Marine and Seamen's Insurance and a Division of Military and Naval Insurance in charge of a commissioner of Marine and Seamen's Insurance and a commissioner of Military and Naval Insurance, respectively, each of whom shall receive a salary of $4,000 per annum."

SEC. 2. That such Act of September second, nineteen hundred and fourteen, as amended, is hereby amended by adding new sections, as follows:

"SEC. 12. That sections two to seven, inclusive, and section nine, shall be construed to refer only to the Division of Marine and Seamen's Insurance.

"SEC. 13. That the director, subject to the general direction of the Secretary of the Treasury, shall administer, execute, and enforce the provisions of this Act, and for that purpose have full power and authority to make rules and regulations, not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act, necessary or appropriate to carry out its purposes, and shall decide all questions arising under the Act, except as otherwise provided in sections five and four hundred and five. Wherever under any provision or provisions of the Act regulations are directed or authorized to be made, such regulations, unless the context otherwise requires, shall or may be made by the director, subject to the general direction of the Secretary of the Treasury. The director shall adopt reasonable and proper rules to govern the procedure of the divisions, to regulate the matter of the compensation, if any, but in no case to exceed ten per centum, to be paid to claim agents and attorneys for services in connection with any of

the matters provided for in articles two, three, and four, and to regulate and provide for the nature and extent of the proofs and evidence and the method of taking and furnishing the same in order to establish the right to benefits of allowance, allotment, compensation, or insurance provided for in this Act, the forms of application of those claiming to be entitled to such benefits, the method of making investigations and medical examinations, and the manner and form of adjudications and awards.

"SEC. 14. That the bureau and its divisions shall have such deputies, assistants, actuaries, clerks, and other employees as may be from time to time provided by Congress. The bureau shall, by arrangement with the Secretary of War and the Secretary of the Navy, respectively, make use of the services of surgeons in the Army and Navy. The Secretary of the Treasury is authorized to establish an advisory board consisting of three members skilled in the practice of insurance against death or disability for the purpose of assisting the Division of Military and Naval Insurance in fixing premium rates and in the adjustment of claims for losses under the contracts of insurance provided for in article four and in adjusting claims for compensation under article three; compensation for the persons so appointed to be determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, but not to exceed $20 a day each while actually employed. "SEC. 15. That for the purposes of this Act, the director, commissioners, and deputy commissioners shall have power to issue subpœnas for and compel the attendance of witnesses within a radius of one hundred miles, to require the production of books, papers, documents, and other evidence, to administer oaths and to examine witnesses upon any matter within the jurisdiction of the bureau. The director may obtain such information and such reports from officials and employees of the departments of the Government of the United States and of the States as may be agreed upon by the heads of the respective departments. In case of disobedience to a subpoena, the bureau may invoke the aid of any district court of the United States in requiring the attendance and testimony of witnesses and the production of documentary evidence, and such court, within the jurisdiction of which the inquiry is carried on, may, in case of contumacy or refusal to obey a subpoena issued to any officer, agent, or employee of any corporation or other person, issue an order requiring such corporation or other person to appear before the bureau, or to give evidence touching the matter in question; and any failure to obey such order of the court may be punished by such court as a contempt thereof. Any person so required to attend as a witness shall be allowed and paid the same fees and mileage as are paid witnesses in the district courts of the United States.

"SEC. 16. That the director shall submit annually to the Secretary of the Treasury estimates of the appropriations necessary for the work of the bureau.

"SEC. 17. That for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this Act there is hereby appropriated, out of any moneys in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, the sum of $100,000, for the payment of all expenses incident to the work authorized under this Act, including salaries of the director and commissioners and of such deputies, assistants, accountants, experts, clerks, and other em

ployees in the District of Columbia or elsewhere, as the Secretary of the Treasury may deem necessary, traveling expenses, rent and equipment of offices, typewriters and exchange of same, purchase of law books and books of reference, printing and binding to be done at the Government Printing Office, and all other necessary expenses. With the exception of the director, the commissioners, and such special experts as the Secretary of the Treasury may from time to time find necessary for the conduct of the work of the bureau, all employees of the bureau shall be appointed from lists of eligibles to be supplied by the Civil Service Commission and in accordance with the civil-service law. Such fees, allowances, and salaries shall be the same as are paid for similar services in other departments of the Government.

"SEC. 18. That there is hereby appropriated from any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, the sum of $141,000,000, to be known as the military and naval family allowance appropriation, for the payment of the family allowances provided by Article II. Payments out of this appropriation shall be made upon and in accordance with awards by the Commissioner of the Division of Military and Naval Insurance.

"SEC. 19. That there is hereby appropriated, from any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, the sum of $12,150,000, to be known as the military and naval compensation appropriation, for the payment of the compensation, funeral expenses, services, and supplies provided by Article III. Payments out of this appropriation shall be made upon and in accordance with awards by the director.

"SEC. 20. That there is hereby appropriated, from any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, the sum of $23,000,000, to be known as the military and naval insurance appropriation. All premiums that may be collected for the insurance provided by the provisions of Article IV shall be deposited and covered into the Treasury to the credit of this appropriation.

"Such sum, including all premium payments, is hereby made available for the payment of the liabilities of the United States incurred under contracts of insurance made under the provisions of Article IV. Payments from this appropriation shall be made upon and in accordance with awards by the director.

"SEC. 21. That there shall be set aside as a separate fund in the Treasury, to be known as the military and naval pay deposit fund, all sums held out of pay as provided by section two hundred and three of this Act. Such fund, including all additions, is hereby made available for the payment of the sums so held and deposited, with interest, as provided in section two hundred and three, and the amount necessary to pay interest is hereby appropriated.

"SEC. 22. That for the purpose of this amendatory Act the marriage of the claimant to the person on account of whom the claim is made shall be shown

"(1) By a duly verified copy of a public or church record; or

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(2) By the affidavit of the clergyman or magistrate who officiated; or

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(3) By the testimony of two or more eyewitnesses to the ceremony; or

"(4) By a duly verified copy of the church record of baptism of the children; or

"(5) By the testimony of two or more witnesses who know that the parties lived together as husband and wife, and were recognized as such, and who shall state how long, within their knowledge, such relation continued: Provided, That marriages, except such as are mentioned in section forty-seven hundred and five of the Revised Statutes, shall be proven in compensation or insurance cases to be legal marriages according to the law of the place where the parties resided at the time of marriage or at the time when the right to compensation or insurance accrued; and the open and notorious illicit cohabitation of a widow who is a claimant shall operate to terminate her right to compensation or insurance from the commencement of such cohabitation: Provided further, That for the purpose of the administration of Article II of this Act marriage shall be conclusively presumed, in the absence of proof, that there is a legal spouse living, if the man and woman have lived together in the openly acknowledge relation of husband and wife during the two years immediately preceding the date of the declaration of war, or the date of enlistment or of entrance into or employment in active service in the military or naval forces of the United States if subsequent to such declaration."

In Articles II, III, and IV of this Act unless the context otherwise requires

"(1) The term 'child' includes

"(a) A legitimate child.

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(b) A child legally adopted more than six months before the enactment of this amendatory Act or before enlistment or entrance into or employment in active service in the military or naval forces of the United States, whichever of these dates is the later. "(c) A stepchild, if a member of the man's household.

"(d) An illegitimate child, but, as to the father, only, if acknowledged by instrument in writing signed by him, or if he has been judicially ordered or decreed to contribute to such child's support, and if such child, if born after December thirty-first, nineteen hundred and seventeen, shall have been born in the United States, or in its insular possessions.

"(2) The term 'grandchild' means a child as above defined of a child as above defined.

"(3) Except as used in section four hundred and one and in section four hundred and two the terms 'child' and 'grandchild' are limited to unmarried persons either (a) under eighteen years of age, or (b) of any age, if insane, idiotic, or otherwise permanently helpless.

(4) The term 'parent' includes a father, mother, grandfather, grandmother, stepfather, and stepmother, either of the person in the service or of the spouse.

"(5) The terms brother' and 'sister' ters of the half blood as well as those and stepsisters, and brothers and si

includes brothers and sishole blood, stepbrothers gh adoption.

des a warrant officer, the military or naval

"(7) The terms 'man' and 'enlisted man' mean a person, whether male or female, and whether enlisted, enrolled, or drafted into active service in the military or naval forces of the United States, and include noncommissioned and petty officers, and members of training camps authorized by law.

"(8) The term 'enlistment' includes voluntary enlistment, draft, and enrollment in active service in the military or naval forces of the United States.

"(9) The term 'commissioner' means the Commissioner of Military and Naval Insurance.

"(10) The term 'injury' includes disease.

"(11) The term 'pay means the pay for service in the United States according to grade and length of service, excluding all allowances.

"(12) The term 'military or naval forces' means the Army, the Navy, the Marine Corps, the Coast Guard, the Naval Reserves, the National Naval Volunteers, and any other branch of the United States service while serving pursuant to law with the Army or the Navy.

"ŠEC. 23. That when, by the terms of this amendatory Act, any payment is to be made to a minor, other than a person in the military or naval forces of the United States, or to a person mentally incompetent, such payment shall be made to the person who is constituted guardian or curator by the laws of the State or residence of claimant, or is otherwise legally vested with responsibility or care of the claimant.

"SEC. 24. That the Bureau of War Risk Insurance, so far as practicable, shall upon request furnish information to and act for persons in the military or naval service, with respect to any contracts of insurance whether with the Government or otherwise, as may be prescribed by regulations. Said bureau may upon request procure from and keep a record of the amount and kind of insurance held by every commissioned and appointive officer and of every enlisted man in the military or naval service of the United States, including the name and principal place of business of the company, society, or organization in which such insurance is held, the date of the policy, amount of premium, name and relationship of the beneficiary, and such other data as may be deemed of service in protecting the interests of the insured and beneficiaries.

"SEC. 25. That whoever in any claim for family allowance, compensation, or insurance, or in any document required by this Act or by regulation made under this Act, makes any statement of a material fact knowing it to be false, shall be guilty of perjury and shall be punished by a fine of not more than $5,000, or by imprisonment for not more than two years, or both.

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SEC. 26. That if any person entitled to payment of family allowance or compensation under this Act, whose right to such payment under this Act ceases upon the happening of any contingency, thereafter fraudulently accepts any such payment, he shall be punished by a fine of not more than $2,000, or by imprisonment for not more than one year, or both."