medical and surgical cases; the same thing for the Army, the same thing for the Navy, and the same thing for the soldiers' homes. Then the Interior Department has an activity used by the Veterans' Bureau, the St. Elizabeths Hospital. All of the agencies indicated on the chart are used to some extent for the hospitalization or domiciling of veterans of all wars.

The CHAIRMAN. How many hospitals all told, General, are now under the supervision of the Veterans' Bureau?

Mr. HINES. Directly under our supervision we have 49 that are in operation at this time.

The CHAIRMAN. Could you supply a list of them for the record? Mr. HINES. Yes, sir. We have a chart showing those, Mr. Chairman, which I will include; and also the number of soldiers' homes. The CHAIRMAN. You will cover that, perhaps, in your statement? Mr. HINES. AS I move along I think I will cover most of these points.

(The list referred to is as follows:)

Average present in soldiers' homes, fiscal year 1929, divided between hospital domiciliary cases

United States Veterans' hospitals as of December 1, 1929

United States Veterans' hospitals as of December 1, 1929-Continued

2 Leased; all other properties Government owned.

Issued monthly by Evaluation Division, Coordination Service.

Mr. HINES. At the outset, Mr. Chairman, I would like to make clear my position as Director of the Veterans' Bureau in the matter of consolidation, and probably I can make that clear by presenting to the committee a memorandum which I furnished to the President, giving the reasons for the advantages to be gained by a consolidation of the activities of the Government dealing with matters of veterans'

relief. In doing that I desire to make clear that the important consideration in this problem is not so much the kind of an activity that you set up in place of the three agencies now dealing with the veterans as it is to bring them together at some one point. They are all Federal agencies; that is, to the extent that appropriations are made by the Federal Government; and for the fiscal year 1930 the total appropriations for these agencies amount to nearly $800,000,000. For the United States Veterans' Bureau the aggregate sum is $516,325,000; for the Pension Bureau the sum is $243,211,000; and for the soldiers' homes it is $10,066,420.

At this point, if I may, Mr. Chairman, I would like to insert that table in the record. The table indicates the appropriations separated into several items, the administrative expense and the other purposes for which the appropriations are expended. The CHAIRMAN. It may go in the record.

(The statement referred to is as follows:)

Apportionment of congressional appropriations for soldiers' homes, fiscal year ending June 30, 1930

1 Includes expenditures for investigation of pension cases and fees of examining surgeons. Administrative and other expenses.

Mr. HINES. There are three agencies in the Federal Government which are charged with the responsibility of administering the laws for the relief of veterans of the American wars. These are the United States Veterans' Bureau, the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers-both independent establishments-and the Bu

reau of Pensions in the Interior Department. A brief description of the major duties assigned to each of these agencies is as follows: The United States Veterans' Bureau has

First. To adjudicate all claims for compensation filed by disabled veterans of the World War or the dependents of such veterans.

Second. To provide hospitalization and medical care or treatment to the veterans of the World War with service-connected disabilities. Third. To hospitalize the veterans of the Spanish-American War, Philippine insurrection, Boxer rebellion, and the World War when suffering from certain specified diseases irrespective of their origin. Fourth. To furnish hospitalization to the extent that Government facilities permit to the veterans of all American wars or military expeditions without regard to the origin of their disabilities.

Fifth. To maintain insurance records on veterans of the World War and members of the United States Army and naval forces and to adjudicate all insurance claims.

Sixth. To adjudicate all claims arising under the disabled emergency officers' retirement act.

Seventh. To provide adjusted compensation for the veterans of the World War.

Eighth. To adjudicate claims for burial and funeral expenses for the veterans of all American wars.

The National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers has these functions:

First. To provide asylum and medical and hospital treatment for honorably discharged officers, soldiers, sailors, or marines who served in the regular, volunteer, or other forces of the United States, or in the Organized Militia or National Guard when called into Federal service, and all ex-service persons of the World War who are disabled by diseases or wounds and have no adequate means of support and by reason of such disability are either temporarily or permanently incapacitated from earning a living.

Second. To render financial aid to State and Territorial homes as a part of the cost of upkeep of those veterans cared for therein who are eligible for admission to the national homes.

The Bureau of Pensions has these functions:

First. To adjudicate pension claims for all military and naval officers and enlisted men disabled in line of duty and not receiving retired pay, and all widows, children, and certain other dependents of officers and men who were killed or who have died from injuries sustained or diseases contracted in line of duty prior to April 6, 1917, and since July 2, 1921.

Second. To adjudicate pension claims for all persons who served in the War of 1812, the war with Mexico, certain Indian wars, the Civil War, the war with Spain, the Philippine insurrection, and the Boxer rebellion without reference to the origin of such disabilities, and all widows and children of such persons, regardless of the cause of death of the veteran.

Third. To adjudicate claims for reimbursement of last sickness and burial expenses of deceased claimants.

Fourth. To adjudicate pensions granted persons by special acts of Congress whose cases do not come within the provisions of the general pension laws.

Fifth. To administer the civil service retirement law.

The amounts appropriated by Congress for expenditure by these agencies during the fiscal year 1930 are substantially as I have stated them heretofore.

The appropriation for the Veterans' Bureau is exclusive of the estimated expenditures of $97,400,000 under insurance contracts which are met from premium receipts, and the estimated expenditure of $350,000 for adjusted service and dependent pay which will be met from prior balances. The amount listed for the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers includes the sum of $560,000, which it is estimated will be paid to State and Territorial homes as the Federal Government's contribution toward the maintenance and upkeep of those persons domiciled therein who are eligible for admission to the national home. The appropriation for the Pension Bureau includes the sum of $20,500,000 for the civil service retirement and disability fund.

The average number of employees which it is estimated will be required by these agencies for the fiscal year 1930, is as follows: The United States Veterans' Bureau: Central office, 4,359; field, 19,961; total, 24,320.

Pension Bureau: Pensions, 606; employees' retirement act, 31; total, 637.

National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers: Central office, Dayton, Ohio, 23; branch homes, 5,800; total, 5,823.

This makes a grand total of 30,780 as a total personnel involved in these three agencies.

The work of examining pensioners and claimants for pensions is performed by approximately 5,000 designated fee-basis physicians. The amount appropriated for this purpose for the fiscal year 1930 is $450,000.

There are five committees in the House and four in the Senate that pass upon the requirements of the three agencies under consideration. These committees are as follows:

Veterans' Bureau: In the House, World War Veterans' Legislation; in the Senate, subcommittee of the Committee on Finance. National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers: In the House, the Committee on Military Affairs; in the Senate, the Committee on Military Affairs.

Pension Bureau: Pensions other than Civil War, Committee on Pensions of the House and Committee on Pensions of the Senate; Civil War pensions, Committee on Invalid Pensions of the House and Committee on Pensions of the Senate; retirement, Committee on the Civil Service of the House and the Committee on Civil Service of the Senate.

All of these agencies are specifically established for a common purpose, the relief of veterans and their dependents. Each one of these agencies ministers to the needs of a group of beneficiaries which the other two likewise are authorized in part to care for. Their difference is essentially one of character of relief to be administered.

Bearing in mind this close association of purpose and the interrelationship which already obtains, it is apparent that in the interest of effective administration and control the consolidation of these agencies is definitely indicated.