81ST CONGRESS 1st Session } SENATE { REPORT No. 173 HILDA LINKS AND E. J. OHMAN, PARTNERS, MARCH 28 (legislative day, MARCH 18), 1949.-Ordered to be printed Mr. MCCARRAN, from the Committee on the Judiciary, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany H. R. 581) The Committee on the Judiciary, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 581) to confer jurisdiction upon the District Court for the Territory of Alaska to hear, determine, and render judgment upon the claim, or claims, of Hilda Links and E. J. Ohman, partners, and Fred L. Kroesing, all of Anchorage, Alaska, having considered the same, report favorably thereon, without amendment, and recommend that the bill do pass. The purpose of the proposed legislation is to confer jurisdiction upon the District Court of the Territory of Alaska to hear, determine, and render judgment upon the claim, or claims, of Hilda Links and E. J. Ohman, partners, and Fred L. Kroesing, all of Anchorage, Alaska, for any losses and damages sustained by them, arising out of flights or maneuvers of the United States armed forces, or by virtue of any acts, or actions, of any and all officers, agents, or employees of the United States in connection with the operation of military aircraft or with the establishment and maintenance of military posts or bases in Alaska. STATEMENT This is an extremely complex claim with many of the facts in dispute and the committee concurs in the action of the House of Representatives in directing that the controversy should be submitted to a court for determination. It is believed that none of the rights of the Government are prejudiced by the language of the bill except that of the immunity of the sovereign from suit. The basis of the controversy is fully set forth in House Report 47, Eighty-first Congress, first session, and need not be reprinted here. MARCH 28 (legislative day, MARCH 18), 1949.-Ordered to be printed Mr. MCCARRAN, from the Committee on the Judiciary, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany H. R. 5911 The Committee on the Judiciary, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 591) for the relief of Mrs. Lucille Davidson, having considered the same, report favorably thereon, without amendment, and recommend that the bill do pass. The purpose of the proposed legislation is to pay the sum of $2,075.40 to Mrs. Lucille Davidson, of Morrison, Va., in full settlement of all claims against the United States for personal injuries and medical and hospital expenses sustained as a result of an accident involving a United States Army vehicle, in Newport News, Va., on March 14, 1944. STATEMENT On March 14, 1944, at about 6 p. m., an Army convoy was proceeding east on Thirty-fourth Street in Newport News, Va., toward its intersection with Virginia Avenue. The drivers in the convoy had been instructed by the officer in charge thereof that In the event part of the convoy did not get through an intersection on green lights, they were to proceed through the intersection with caution, sounding their horns, and maintain the convoy. The first unit in the convoy passed through the intersection in question on a green traffic light, but before the second vehicle had reached the intersection the light had changed to red. In obedience to the orders of his superior officer the driver of the second vehicle continued into the intersection. It appears that he was traveling at a high rate of speed. No guards had been posted at the intersection by the military authorities to protect civilian traffic. A 1935 Pontiac coupe, owned by J. H. Davidson and operated by his wife, Mrs. Lucille Davidson, in which Mr. Davidson was riding as a passenger, and which had been proceeding north on Virginia Avenue, had been stopped at the intersection behind another north-bound vehicle, waiting for the traffic light to change. When the light changed to green for Virginia Avenue the two north-bound vehicles proceeded into the intersection. The leading north-bound vehicle cleared the intersection in safety but the Davidson automobile was struck by the Army vehicle and extensively damaged. Mrs. Davidson sustained serious personal injuries and was taken to the Riverside Hospital, Newport News, Va. The Secretary of the Army in his report dated April 12, 1948, states: The evidence fairly establishes that this accident and the resulting personal injuries sustained by Mrs. Lucille Davidson were not caused by any fault or negligence on her part but were caused solely by the negligence of the convoy commander in instructing the convoy drivers to proceed through intersections without regard to whether the traffic lights were in their favor and in failing to post military guards at intersections to direct traffic. The evidence shows that Mrs. Davidson's view in the direction from which the convoy was coming was blocked by the solid concrete railing of a viaduct. She had no reason to anticipate that any vehicle approaching from that direction would fail to stop at the intersection in obedience to the red traffic light. The Department of the Army, therefore, believes that the claimant should be compensated in a reasonable amount for the injuries sustained by her in this accident, the pain and suffering incident thereto. and the medical and hospital expenses incurred. The proposed award of $2,075.40 stated in the bill appears to be fair and reasonable and the Department has no objection to the enactment of the bill. The Department of Justice, in a letter to the chairman of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, dated August 5, 1948, concurs in the opinion and recommendation of the Department of the Army. The committee concurs in the views set forth by the Secretary of the Army and the Attorney General. Attached hereto and made a part hereof are the following letters: (1) Department of the Army to Hon. Earl C. Michener, chairman, Committee on the Judiciary, House of Representatives, dated April 12, 1948. (2) Department of Justice to Hon. Alexander Wiley, chairman, Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, dated August 5, 1948. Further letters may be found in House Report 49, Eighty-first Congress, first session. Hon. EARL C. MICHENER, Chairman, Committee on the Judiciary, DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY, Washington, D. C., April 12, 1948. House of Representatives. DEAR MR. MICHENER: The Department of the Army has no objection to the enactment of H. R. 5449 (80th Cong.), a bill for the relief of Mrs. Lucille Davidson, if it should be amended as hereinafter recommended. This bill provides as follows: "That the Secretary of the Treasury be, and he is hereby, authorized and directed to pay, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, the sum of $2,075.40 to Mrs. Lucille Davidson, Morrison, Virginia, in full settlement of all claims against the United States for property damage sustained as the result of an accident involving a United States Army vehicle which occurred on March 14, 1944, in Newport News, Virginia." On March 14, 1944, at about 6 p. m., an Army convoy was proceeding east on Thirty-fourth Street in Newport News, Va., toward its intersection with Virginia |