action on the appointment was deferred. Mr. Price was not removed as acting postmaster until October 19, 1946, at which time Charles Scholz, elassified postal employee, was appointed acting postmaster at River Edge. Mr. Price performed the duties of acting postmaster at River Edge, N. J., from October 1, 1945 to October 19, 1946, the period of time covered by the salary disallowed by the General Accounting Office, which forms the basis of H. R. 4048. Therefore, your committee recommends favorable consideration to te bill. The bill is amended to conform with the recommendation of the Post Office Department and the Bureau of the Budget. Hon. EARL C. MICHENER, OFFICE OF THE POSTMASTER GENERAL, Chairman, Committee on the Judiciary, House of Representatives, Washington 25, D. C. DEAR CONGRESSMAN: Reference is made to your request for a report upon H. R. 4048, a bill for the relief of William Price, in the sum of $3,280.18 "in full settlement of all claims against the United States for services rendered as acting postmaster at River Edge, New Jersey, from October 1, 1945, to August 19, 1946." The records of this Department show that Mr. Price was appointed acting postmaster at River Edge, N. J., July 30, 1943. On October 2, 1944, the United States Civil Service Commission certified a complete register of eligibles for postmaster. The list did not include the name of Mr. Price, and the United States Civil Service Commission subsequently informed the Post Office Department that unless an appointment was made from the register, there would be no authority for the payment of salary to Mr. Price beyond September 30, 1945. As the Department had received information that the first eligible on the register had accepted another position, action on the appointment was deferred. Mr. Price was not removed as acting postmaster until October 19, 1946, at which time Charles Scholz, classified postal employee, was appointed acting postmaster at River Edge. Mr. Price performed the duties of acting postmaster at River Edge, N. J., from October 1, 1945, to October 19, 1946, the period of time covered by the salary disallowed by the General Accounting Office, which forms the basis of H. R. 4048. It is believed that the measure is meritorious and its enactment is recommended. This Department has not been advised by the Bureau of the Budget as to the relationship of this report to the program of the President. Sincerely yours, Hon. EARL C. MICHENER, J. M. DONALDSON, Acting Postmaster General. OFFICE OF THE POSTMASTER GENERAL, Chairman, Committee on the Judiciary, House of Representatives, Washington 25, D. C. DEAR CONGRESSMAN: Further reference is made to this Department's report of November 10, 1947, upon H. R. 4048, a bill for the relief of William Price. In a letter dated November 20, 1947, the Bureau of the Budget advised that there would be no objection to the enactment of a relief measure in this case, if that portion of H. R. 4048 preceding the first proviso (lines 3 to 9, inclusive, p. 1) is amended to read as follows: "That the Comptroller General of the United States is hereby authorized and directed to credit the accounts of William Price of River Edge, New Jersey, in the sum of $3,280.18, in full settlement of all claims against the United States for services rendered as acting postmaster at River Edge, New Jersey, from October 1, 1945 to August 19, 1946:" Sincerely yours, J. M. DONALDSON, Acting Postmaster General. FIRST ASSISTANT POSTMASTER GENERAL, UNITED STATES POST OFFICE, River Edge, N. J., February 11, 1947. Division of Postmasters, Washington 25, D. C. DEAR SIR: General Accounting Office has sent me a notice of exceptions in the amount of $3,280.18, which is the entire salary paid me as acting postmaster from October 1, 1945, until my successor was appointed August 19, 1946. I first received notice that the GAO was withholding credit for my salary in the December quarter, 1945, and the March quarter, 1946. On May 20, 1946, I wrote asking that my commission as acting postmaster be extended inasmuch as the Department had not relieved me of my duties. This letter was answered by your office on June 21, 1946, saying that the Department hoped to appoint my successor at an early date and when this was done my commission would be extended. On August 21, 1946, 2 days after I was relieved of my duties I again wrote you asking that the extension be granted. This was almost 6 months ago and I now find that no action has been taken on my request. GAO is holding up the final audit of my accounts because of this and I request that immediate steps be taken to remedy this fault. Respectfully yours, WILLIAM E. PRICE, Former Acting Postmaster. MARCH 9, 1948.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House and ordered to be printed Mr. FOOTE, from the Committee on the Judiciary, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany H. R. 5208] The Committee on the Judiciary, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 5208) for the relief of Dimple Benoit, having considered the same, report favorably thereon with an amendment and recommend that the bill do pass. The amendment is as follows: Page 1, line 5, strike out "16,000" and insert in lieu thereof "8,000". The facts will be found fully set forth in House Report No. 2116, Seventy-ninth Congress, which is appended hereto and made a part of this report. A similar bill was favorably reported by the Committee on Claims in the Seventy-ninth Congress. Your committee recommend favorable consideration to the bill as amended. [H. Rept. No. 2116, 79th Cong., 2d sess.] The purpose of the proposed legislation is to pay the sum of $8,000 to Dimple Benoit, of Clinton, Tenn., in full settlement of all claims against the United States for personal injuries, hospital and medical expenses, and loss of earnings, sustained as the result of an accident involving a United States Army vehicle on Highway 70-N near Cookeville, Tenn., on December 24, 1943. STATEMENT OF FACTS It appears that on December 24, 1943, at about 8:10 p. m., an enlisted man backed an Army truck out of a bivouac area in the woods on the south side of Highway No. 70-N near Baxter, Tenn., with a view to proceeding east on said highway on official business. During the execution of this movement the Army driver was guided by another enlisted man who stood in the road with a flashlight in his hand. The lights of the truck were lighted. A 1940 Chevrolet coupe owned by Miss Dimple Benoit, of 338 Verret Street, Algiers, La., and operated by Harry Earl Pond, Sr., of 809 Horner Avenue, Nashville, Tenn., in which Miss Benoit was riding as a passenger, was proceeding west on the same road toward the Army truck. It appears that when the Army driver had backed far enough onto the highway to be able to start forward, he observed the lights of the oncoming automobile of Miss Benoit and thereupon drove his truck forward and turned it to his right-hand side of the highway until only the rear wheels of the truck remained on the pavement. A statement made by Earl Pond, driver of the civilian vehicle, is as follows: 66* * * Suddenly I observed a motor vehicle angled across the road with its front toward me, completely blocking my side of the road, my right, and the north side of the road. At the moment of observing the obstruction I was some 100 feet away, and about the moment of observation the lights of the motor vehicle were turned on. I attempted to pass the vehicle by cutting to my left, and just as I was doing so the motor vehicle started up and was driven right in front of me, and the right front of the automobile collided with the left side of the vehicle. * * * "" With respect to the injuries sustained by Miss Benoit, Dr. Duncan Eve, of Nashville, Tenn., submitted the following statement: "DIAGNOSIS "(1) Compound fracture of skull over right eye, frontal bone. "(2) Extensive comminuted fracture of right femur, middle and lower third. "(3) Multiple lacerations, left hand, with flexor tendon of middle finger divided. "(4) Shock." A statement made by Odell Huddleston, member Tennessee Highway Patrol, is as follows: (* * * On the night of December 24, 1943, he was coming from Murfreesboro, Tenn., where he was then stationed and operating as a member of the Tennessee Highway Patrol, to Cookeville, Tenn., and while he was traveling east, and just west of the Baxter Crossroads on United States Highway 70-N, he was approaching or passing another vehicle; that as he looked ahead on the highway and was a distance of possibly one-half mile away, he saw the lights of an automobile flash from the north side of the highway to the south side which proved to be an effort to pass an Army truck or vehicle that had backed out of the woods and across United States Highway No. 70-N, from the south to the north side of said highway. Affiant further states that the said Ariny vehicle crossing the road was long enough to block the entire width of the hard surface of the road. Due to the position of the said truck, had it had lights on, the same would not have been visible to an approaching automobile as the headlights would have reflected in the woods and the tail light in an opposite direction. Affiant further states that when he appeared on the scene neither of the vehicles had been moved and that they had struck on the south side of the pavement, near the edge, and the Army truck with its force and impact had struck the automobile just in front of the right door on the coupe, and further the automobile was destroyed beyond repair as determined by the mechanics in the Cookeville Ford Motor Co., as your affiant is informed. |