[No. 27.]

JOSEPH SEDLACK.

DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY,
Washington, February 7, 1913.

MY DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: Referring to your letter, transmitting on behalf of the Committee on Naval Affairs of the House of Representatives a bill (H. R. 28009) "For the relief of Joseph Sedlack" and requesting the views and recommendation of this department thereon, I have the honor to inform you that the department does not favor the enactment of this measure into law.

Joseph Sedlack was not in the Naval Academy Band at the time of the passage of the act of April 12, 1910, which specifically made provision for the pay, retirement, etc., of members of the Naval Academy Band "as now organized." Sedlack was not therefore enlisted in the service as were the men who comprised the band at the time of the passage of the act.

In the opinion of the department the enactment of this measure (H. R. 28009) would create a precedent which could, and probably would, be followed by similar requests for legislation from men who, at any time prior to the passage of the act of April 12, 1910, were members of the Naval Academy Band, and such requests could not thereafter be consistently refused favorable consideration. The department recommends, therefore, that the bill under consideration be not favorably acted upon.

Faithfully, yours,

BEEKMAN WINTHROP, Acting Secretary of the Navy.

The CHAIRMAN COMMITTEE ON NAVAL AFFAIRS,

House of Representatives.

85873-13-50

(781)

[No. 28.]

JOHN W. MORSE.

DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY,

Washington, February 7, 1913.

MY DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: In compliance with your request of yesterday afternoon, I have the honor to transmit herewith a copy of the findings of the court of inquiry which investigated the loss of Government and private funds from the safe of Paymaster John W. Morse, United States Navy, and to submit a statement of the facts relating to that officer's responsibility therefor.

The total amount of money abstracted from the safe of Paymaster John W. Morse, United States Navy, by his clerk on board the U. S. S. Georgia, at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, on February 10 or 11, 1911, was $46,491.95 of Government funds and $4,689.36 of so-called safe-keeping money deposited by various enlisted men of that vessel at the owners' risk. I am informed that there has been deposited to the credit of Paymaster Morse, through the Department of Justice, the sum of $27,770.41 and the sum of $883.26, which sums were recovered from Paymaster's Clerk Lee, making a total of $28,653.67 recovered, and the balance of $17,838.28 of the Government funds stolen by Lee, which was not recovered from him.

Relative to the proposal to relieve Paymaster Morse from responsibility for the amount lost by the United States by special legislation, the following has been the comment by the Bureau of Supplies and Accounts of this department:

It is recommended that the bill attached hereto, which will be for the relief of John W. Morse, be recommended for passage after it has been amended to show the net amount lost. The present bill (H. R. 20682) appears to contain the suggested amendment.

The comment of the Bureau of Navigation, which has general supervision of the personnel of the Navy, was as follows:

The proposal to relieve Paymaster Morse from this loss raises the question as to whether the Government should assume the risk which he took in giving the combination of his safe to his clerk. A paymaster is not required to do this, and many of them do not do it. This often causes inconvenience, but it tends to prevent losses of this kind, and is no more than a reasonable, prudent safeguard, any departure from which, except in real emergency, should be at the risk of the pay officer, not of the Government. To approve of the relief of the pay officer in this case would tend to detract from the sense of responsibility of others in charge of Government funds. The opinion of the bureau in this case is that Paymaster Morse needlessly exposed the funds in his charge to theft, with the result that might have been expected. He was cleared entirely of guilt or complicity, but not of imprudence.

It is believed that the above, together with the inclosed copy of the findings of the court of inquiry, furnishes the information requested.

The department recommends favorable action upon the present bill (H. R. 20682) "For the relief of Paymaster John W. Morse, United States Navy."

Faithfully, yours,

The CHAIRMAN COMMITTEE ON NAVAL AFFAIRS,

G. v. L. MEYER,

House of Representatives.

Court of inquiry convened on board the U. S. S. Georgia by order of the commander in chief, United States Atlantic Fleet, to inquire into the circumstances connected with the damage to a safe in the custody of Paymaster John Wise Morse, United States Navy, attached to the U. S. S. Georgia, the loss of approximately $45,000 there from, and the disappearance of Pay Clerk E. V. Lee, United States Navy, attached to the U. S. S. Georgia.

FINDING.

1. That between the hours of 3 p. m. February 10, 1911, and 5 a. m. February 11, 1911, the Government safe (late type Bureau of Supplies and Accounts) in which Paymaster John W. Morse, United States Navy, pay officer of the U. S. S. Georgia kept the bulk of the public funds, was forcibly broken into; that Government and safe-keeping funds to a large amount were stolen therefrom; that the total shortage is fifty-one thousand one hundred and eighty-one dollars and thirty-one cents ($51,181.31), of which the sum of forty-six thousand four hundred and ninety-one dollars and ninety-five cents ($46,491.95) was public funds, for which Paymaster Morse is responsible, and the remainder, four thousand six hundred and eighty-nine dollars and thirty-six cents ($4,689.36), was safe-keeping money deposited with the paymaster at the owner's risk; that one thousand dollars ($1,000) of this total had been previously stolen; and that the foregoing sums were stolen by Pay Clerk E. V. Lee, United States Navy.

2. That the outer combination lock of the safe had been so tampered with as to make it impossible to open the door by the usual method, necessitating cutting out a section of plate to inspect the contents of the safe.

3. That the inner lock had been broken by driving the knob spindle through the lock and back plate; that this had been accomplished with a hammer and cape chisel.

4. That the lock was of such material, inferior design, and inferior construction as to make this easy and practically noiseless.

5. That an attempt was made to pry the door open by wedging a chisel into the door crack.

6. That Pay Clerk Lee borrowed the cape chisel from Machinist Patrick J. Solon, United States Navy, on February 10, 1911, and that the chisel and hammer were found in his room subsequently.

7. That Pay Clerk Lee, and he alone, had been given the combination to the outer lock of the safe by Paymaster Morse, and that they two used the outer compartment in conjunction.

8. That Paymaster Morse alone knew the combination to the door of the inner compartment, in which was kept the bulk of the money. 9. That the only other safe available for the purpose had a defective combination lock, and is an old pattern safe.