[H. R. 12308]

An Act To amend the World War Veterans' Act, 1924

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That paragraph 3 of section 3 of the World War Veterans' Act, 1924, is hereby amended to read as follows:

"(3) Except as used in section 300 the terms 'child' and 'grandchild' are limited to unmarried persons either (a) under eighteen years of age, or (b) of any age, if permanently incapable of selfsupport by reason of mental or physical defect."

SEC. 2. Section 19 of the World War Veterans' Act, 1924, approved June 7, 1924, is hereby amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 19. In the event of disagreement as to claim under a contract of insurance between the Bureau and any person or persons claiming thereunder an action on the claim may be brought against the United States either in the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia or in the District Court of the United States in and for the district in which such persons or any one of them resides, and jurisdiction is hereby conferred upon such courts to hear and determine all such controversies. The procedure in such suits shall be the same as that provided in sections 5 and 6 of the Act entitled 'An Act to provide for the bringing of suits against the Government of the United States,' approved March 3, 1887, and section 10 thereof insofar as applicable. All persons having or claiming to have an interest in such insurance may be made parties to such suit, and such as are not inhabitants of or found within the district in which suit is brought may be brought in by order of the court to be served personally or by publication or in such other reasonable manner as the court may direct. In all cases where the bureau acknowledges the indebtedness of the United States upon any such contract of insurance and there is a dispute as to the person or persons entitled to payment, a suit in the nature of a bill of interpleader may be brought by the bureau in the name of the United States against all persons having or claiming to have any interest in such insurance in the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia or in the district court in and for the district in which any of such claimants reside: Provided, That not less than thirty days prior to instituting such suit the bureau shall mail a notice of such intention to each of the persons to be made parties to the suit. The circuit courts of appeal and the Court of Appeals of the District of Columbia shall respectively exercise appellate jurisdiction and, except as provided in

sections 239 and 240 of the Judicial Code, the decrees of the circuit courts of appeal and the Court of Appeals of the District of Columbia shall be final. This section shall apply to all suits now pending against the United States under the provisions of the War Risk Insurance Act as amended, or of the World War Veterans' Act, 1924, and amendments thereto."

SEC. 3. Section 23 of the World War Veterans' Act, 1924, approved June 7, 1924, is hereby amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 23. The discharge or dismissal of any person from the military or naval forces on the ground that he was guilty of mutiny, treason, spying, or any offense involving moral turpitude, or willful and persistent misconduct, of which he was found guilty by a courtmartial, or that he was an alien, conscientious objector who refused to perform military duty or refused to wear the uniform, or a deserter, shall bar all rights to any compensation under Title II, or any training, or any maintenance and support allowance under Title IV: Provided, That this section shall not apply to an alien. who volunteered or who was drafted into or who served in the Army, Navy, or Marine Corps of the United States during the World War, who was discharged subsequent to November 11, 1918, or who was not discharged from the service on or prior to November 11, 1918, on his own application or solicitation by reason of his being an alien, and whose service was honest and faithful: Provided further, That in case any person has been discharged or dismissed from the military or naval forces as a result of a court-martial trial, and it is thereafter established to the satisfaction of the director that at the time of the commission of the offense resulting in such court-martial trial and discharge such person was insane, such person shall be entitled to the compensation and vocational training benefits under Titles II and IV hereof: Provided further, That discharge or dismissal or finding of guilt for any of the offenses specified in this section shall not affect the payment of compensation or maintenance and support allowance for disabilities incurred in or aggravated by service in any prior or subsequent enlistment: Provided further, That no compensation or insurance shall be payable for death inflicted as a lawful punishment for crime or military offense, except when inflicted by the enemy: Provided, That as to converted insurance the cash surrender value hereof, if any, on the date of such death shall be paid to the designated beneficiary if living, or if there be no designated beneficiary alive at the death of the insured the said value shall be paid to the estate of the insured: Provided further, That the discharge of a person for having concealed the fact that he was a minor at the time of his enlistment shall not bar him from the benefits of this Act if his service was otherwise honorable: Provided further, That this section, shall be deemed to be in effect as of April 6, 1917, and the director is hereby authorized and directed to make provision by bureau regulation for payment of any insurance claim or adjustment in insurance premium account of any insurance contract which would not now be affected by this section as amended."

SEC. 4. Section 31 of the World War Veterans' Act, 1924, approved June 7, 1924, is hereby repealed.

SEC. 5. A new section is hereby added to Title I of the World War Act, 1924, approved June 7, 1924, to be known as section 32:

"SEC. 32. Payment may be made for official telephone service and rental in the field wherever incurred in case of official telephones for medical officers of the Bureau where such telephones are installed in private residences or private apartments or quarters when authorized under regulations established by the director."

SEC. 6. Section 200 of the World War Veterans' Act, 1924, approved June 7, 1924, is hereby amended to read as follows:

SEC. 200. For death or disability resulting from personal injury suffered or disease contracted in the military or naval service on or after April 6, 1917, and before July 2, 1921, or for an aggravation or recurrence of a disability existing prior to examination, acceptance, and enrollment for service, when such aggravation was suffered or contracted in, or such recurrence was caused by, the military or naval service on or after April 6, 1917, and before July 2, 1921, by any commissioned officer or enlisted man, or by any member of the Army Nurse Corps (female) or of the Navy Nurse Corps (female) when employed in the active service under the War Department or Navy Department, the United States shall pay to such commissioned officer or enlisted man, member of the Army Nurse Corps (female) or of the Navy Nurse Corps (female) or, in the discretion of the Director, separately to his or her dependents, compensation as hereinafter provided; but no compensation shall be paid if the injury, disease, aggravation, or recurrence has been caused by his own willful misconduct: Provided, That no person suffering from paralysis, paresis, or blindness shall be denied compensation by reason of willful misconduct, nor shall any person who is helpless or bedridden as a result of any disability be denied compensation by reason of willful misconduct. That for the purposes of this section every such officer, enlisted man, or other member employed in the active service under the War Department or Navy Department who was discharged or who resigned prior to July 2, 1921, and every such officer, enlisted man, or other member employed in the active service under the War Department or Navy Department on or before November 11, 1918, who on or after July 2, 1921, is discharged or resigns, shall be conclusively held and taken to have been in sound condition when examined, accepted, and enrolled for service, except as to defects, disorders, or infirmities made of record in any manner by proper authorities of the United States at the time of, or prior to, inception of active service, to the extent to which any such defect, disorder, or infirmity was so made of record: Provided, That an ex-service man who is shown to have or, if deceased, to have had, prior to January 1, 1925, neuropsychiatric disease, an active tuberculous disease, paralysis agitans, encephalitis lethargica, or amoebic dysentery developing a 10 per centum degree of disability or more in accordance with the provisions of subdivision (4) of section 202 of this Act shall be presumed to have acquired his disability in such service between April 6, 1917, and July 2, 1921, or to have suffered an aggravation of a preexisting neuropsychiatric disease, tuberculosis, paralysis agitans, encephalitis lethargica, or amoebic dysentery in such service between said dates, and said presumption shall be conclusive in cases of active tuberculous disease, but in all other cases said presumption shall be rebuttable by clear and convincing evidence; but nothing in this proviso

shall be construed to prevent a claimant from receiving the benefits of compensation and medical care and treatment for a disability due to these diseases of more than 10 per centum degree (in accordance with the provisions of subdivision (4) section 202, of this Act) on or subsequent to January 1, 1925, if the facts in the case substantiate his claim."

SEC. 7. Section 201 of the World War Veterans' Act, 1924, approved June 7, 1924, is hereby amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 201. That if death results from injury

"If the deceased leaves a widow or child, or if he leaves a mother or father either or both dependent upon him for support, the monthly compensation shall be the following amounts:

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(a) If there is a widow but no child, $30.

"(b) If there is a widow and one child, $40, with $6 for each additional child.

"(c) If there is no widow, but one child, $20.

"(d) If there is no widow, but two children, $30.

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(e) If there is no widow, but three children, $40, with $5 for each additional child.

"(f) If there is a dependent mother (or dependent father), $20, or both, $30. The amount payable under this subdivision shall not exceed the difference between the total amount payable to the widow and children and the sum of $75. Such compensation shall be payable, whether the dependency of the father or mother or both arises before or after the death of the person, but no compensation shall be payable if the dependency arises more than five years after the death of the person."

"(1) If death occur or shall have occurred subsequent to April 6, 1917, and before discharge or resignation from the service, the United States Veterans' Bureau shall pay for burial and funeral expenses and the return of body to his home a sum not to exceed $100, as may be fixed by regulation. Where a veteran of any war, including those persons who served honorably as Army nurses under contracts for ninety days or more during the Spanish-American War, who was not dishonorably discharged dies after discharge or resignation from the service and does not in the judgment of the director leave sufficient assets to meet the expenses of burial and funeral and the transportation of the body, the United States Veterans' Bureau shall pay the following sums: For a flag to drape the casket, and after burial to be given to the next of kin of the deceased, a sum not exceeding $7; also, for burial and funeral expenses and the transportation of the body (including preparation of the body) to the place of burial, a sum not exceeding $100 to cover such items and to be paid to such person or persons as may be fixed by regulations: Provided, That when such person dies while receiving from the bureau compensation or vocational training, the above benefits shall be payable in all cases: Provided further, That where such person, while receiving from the bureau medical, surgical, or hospital treatment or vocational training, dies away from home and at the place to which he was ordered by the bureau, or while traveling under orders of the bureau, the above benefits shall be payable in all cases and in addition thereto the actual and necessary cost of the transportation of the body of the person (including

preparation of the body) to the place of burial, within the continental limits of the United States, its Territories or possessions and including also, in the discretion of the director, the actual and necessary cost of transportation of an attendant: And provided further, That no accrued pension, compensation, or insurance due at the time of death shall be deducted from the sum allowed.

"(2) The payment of compensation to a widow shall continue until her death or remarriage, and the payment of compensation to a parent shall continue to the death of such parent.

"(3) The payment of compensation to or for a child shall continue until such child reaches the age of eighteen years or marries, or if such child be permanently incapable of self-support by reason of mental or physical defect, then during such incapacity.

"(4) Whenever the compensation payable to or for the benefit of any person under the provisions of this section is terminated by the happening of the contingency upon which it is limited, the compensation thereafter for the remaining beneficiary or beneficiaries, if any, shall be the amount which would have been payable to them if they had been the sole original beneficiaries.

"(5) As between the widow and the children not in her custody, and as between children, the amount of compensation shall be apportioned as may be prescribed by regulation.

"(6) The term "widow,' as used in this section, shall not include one who shall have married the deceased later than ten years after July 2, 1921, and shall include widower whenever his condition is such that if the deceased person were living he would have been dependent upon her for support.

"(7) That this section shall be deemed to be in effect as of April 6, 1917: Provided, however, That the receipt of a gratuity, pension, or compensation, including adjusted compensation, by widow, child, or parent, on account of the death, disability, or service of any person shall not bar the payment of compensation on account of the death or disability of any other person: Provided, That before compensation under this section shall be paid the claimant shall first surrender all claim to any gratuity or pension payable under any other law on account of the death of the same person: Provided, further, That no changes in rates or compensation made by this Act shall be retroactive in effect."

SEC. 8. Paragraphs 6, 7, and 9 of section 202 of the World War Veterans' Act, 1924, approved June 7, 1924, are hereby amended to read as follows:

"(6) In addition to the compensation above provided, the injured person shall be furnished by the United States Veterans' Bureau such reasonable governmental care or medical, surgical, dental, and hospital services, including payment of court costs and other expenses incident to proceedings heretofore or hereafter taken for the commitment of mentally incompetent persons to institutions for the care or treatment of the insane, and shall be furnished with such supplies including dental appliances, wheel chairs, artificial limbs, trusses, and similar appliances, including special clothing made necessary by the wearing of prosthetic appliances prescribed by the bureau, as the director may determine to be useful and reasonably necessary, which dental appliances, wheel chairs, artificial limbs,