1. Section 13 of the War Risk Insurance Act, as amended May 20,
1918, forbids an attorney to charge more than three dollars for any
services rendered a beneficiary in respect of a claim under the Act
for insurance on the life of a deceased soldier when no action in
court is instituted, and makes the violation of this prohibition a
misdemeanor. P.
269 U. S.
101.
2. So construed, the section is not in conflict with the Fifth
Amendment.
Calhoun v. Massie, 253 U.
S. 170.
Id.
3. Disregard of the plain language of a statute cannot be
justified by reports of the committees in Congress which
recommended the bill, or by communications from the head of a
department incorporated in the reports.
Id.
3 F.2d 602 affirmed.
Certiorari to a judgment of the circuit court of appeals
affirming a sentence imposed by the district court on the
petitioner for receiving a fee of $1,500 as compensation for
services in preparing and presenting to the Veterans' Bureau a
claim for insurance money under the War Risk Insurance Act.
Page 269 U. S. 97
MR. JUSTICE McREYNOLDS delivered the opinion of the Court.
An Act of Congress approved September 2, 1914, 38 Stat. 711, c.
293, provided for a Bureau of War Risk Insurance in the Treasury
Department, directed it to insure American vessels, their freight,
passage money, and cargoes against war risks, and further
authorized it to prescribe necessary rules and regulations. This
was amended by Act June 12, 1917, c. 26, 40 Stat. 102, so as to
provide insurance for masters, officers, and crews of American
vessels, and the following new section was added:
"Sec. 5a. No claim agent or attorney shall be entitled to
receive any compensation whatever for services in the
Page 269 U. S. 98
collection of claims against the Bureau of War Risk Insurance
for death, personal injury, or detention, except when proceedings
are taken in accordance with section five in a district court of
the United States, in which case the judge shall, as a part of his
determination and order, settle and determine the amount of
compensation not to exceed ten percentum of amount recovered, to be
paid by the claimant on behalf of whom such proceedings are
instituted to his legal adviser or advisers, and it shall be
unlawful for any lawyer or other person acting in that behalf to
ask for, contract for, or receive any larger sum than the amount so
fixed."
An Act approved October 6, 1917, 40 Stat. 398, c. 105, again
amended the original act, provided for Divisions of Marine and
Seamen's Insurance and of Military and Naval Insurance, made
definite provision for insuring members of the military and naval
forces, and added another new section:
"Sec. 13. That the director, subject to the general direction of
the Secretary of the Treasury, shall administer, execute, and
enforce the provisions of this Act, and for that purpose have full
power and authority to make rules and regulations, not inconsistent
with the provisions of this Act, necessary or appropriate to carry
out its purposes, and shall decide all questions arising under the
Act, except as otherwise provided in sections five and four hundred
and five. Wherever under any provision or provisions of the Act
regulations are directed or authorized to be made, such
regulations, unless the context otherwise requires, shall or may be
made by the director, subject to the general direction of the
Secretary of the Treasury. The director shall adopt reasonable and
proper rules to govern the procedure of the divisions, to regulate
the matter of the compensation, if any, but in no case to exceed
ten percentum, to be paid to claim agents and attorneys for
services in connection with any of the matters
Page 269 U. S. 99
provided for in articles two, three, and four, and to regulate
and provide for the nature and extent of the proofs and evidence
and the method of taking and furnishing the same in order to
establish the right to benefits of allowance, allotment,
compensation, or insurance provided for in this Act, the forms of
application of those claiming to be entitled to such benefits, the
method of making investigations and medical examinations, and the
manner and form of adjudications and awards."
An Act approved May 20, 1918, 40 Stat. 555, c. 77, § 1,
amended § 13, above quoted, so that it should provide:
"Sec. 13. That the director, subject to the general direction of
the Secretary of the Treasury, shall administer, execute, and
enforce the provisions of this act, and for that purpose have full
power and authority to make rules and regulations not inconsistent
with the provisions of this Act, necessary or appropriate to carry
out its purposes, and shall decide all questions arising under the
Act, except as otherwise provided in section five. Wherever under
any provision or provisions of the Act regulations are directed or
authorized to be made, such regulations, unless the context
otherwise requires, shall or may be made by the director, subject
to the general direction of the Secretary of the Treasury. The
director shall adopt reasonable and proper rules to govern the
procedure of the divisions and to regulate and provide for the
nature and extent of the proofs and evidence and the method of
taking and furnishing the same in order to establish the right to
benefits of allowance, allotment, compensation, or insurance
provided for in this Act, the forms of application of those
claiming to be entitled to such benefits, the methods of making
investigations and medical examinations, and the manner and form of
adjudications and awards:
Provided, however, that payment
to any attorney or agent for such assistance as may be required in
the preparation and execution of the necessary papers
Page 269 U. S. 100
shall not exceed $3 in any one case:
And provided
further, that no claim agent or attorney shall be recognized
in the presentation or adjudication of claims under articles two,
three, and four, except that in the event of disagreement as to a
claim under the contract of insurance between the bureau and any
beneficiary or beneficiaries thereunder an action on the claim may
be brought against the United States in the district court of the
United States in and for the district in which such beneficiaries
or any one of them resides, and that, whenever judgment shall be
rendered in an action brought pursuant to this provision the court,
as part of its judgment, shall determine and allow such reasonable
attorney's fees, not to exceed five percentum of the amount
recovered, to be paid by the claimant in behalf of whom such
proceedings were instituted to his attorney, said fee to be paid
out of the payments to be made to the beneficiary under the
judgment rendered at a rate not exceeding one-tenth of each of such
payments until paid."
"Any person who shall, directly or indirectly, solicit, contract
for, charge, or receive, or who shall attempt to solicit, contract
for, charge, or receive any fee or compensation, except as herein
provided shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and for each and every
offense shall be punishable by a fine of not more than $500 or by
imprisonment at hard labor for not more than two years, or by both
such fine and imprisonment."
An Act approved August 9, 1921, 42 Stat. 147, c. 57, provided
for the establishment of the Veterans' Bureau, with "the functions,
powers, and duties conferred by existing law upon the Bureau of War
Risk Insurance."
Petitioner was found guilty under an indictment which charged
that he unlawfully received fifteen hundred dollars as a fee and
compensation for services in preparing and presenting to the United
States Veterans' Bureau an affidavit executed by Yetta Cohen in
support of her claim
Page 269 U. S. 101
for insurance money provided for by the Act approved October 6,
1917, and amendments thereto. The trial court imposed a fine of two
hundred and fifty dollars, and its judgment was affirmed by the
circuit court of appeals. 3 F.2d 602.
It appears that Yetta Cohen retained petitioner, a member of the
bar, to press allowance of her claim as a beneficiary designated in
a policy issued to her nephew under the War Risk Insurance Act. He
corresponded with the Veterans' Bureau, made one trip from New York
to Washington, where he examined records and interviewed officials,
and prepared the necessary papers. It may be assumed that his
services were useful and of some substantial value. For them he
demanded two thousand dollars and received fifteen hundred. The
exceptions raise the questions whether § 13, Act of May 20,
1918, forbids an attorney from charging more than $3 for any
services rendered a beneficiary in respect of a claim under the War
Risk Insurance Act when no action in court has been instituted, and
whether, if so, construed that section offends the Fifth
Amendment.
Petitioner claims that the inhibition against receiving any sum
greater than $3 relates solely to the clerical work of filling out
the form or affidavit of claim, and does not apply to useful
investigation and preparatory work such as he did. He insists that
this view is supported by the reports of the committees of the
Senate and House of Representatives which recommend passage of the
bill, also by a communication from the Secretary of the Treasury,
incorporated therein.
See S.Rep. 429 and H.R. 471, 65th
Cong., 2d Sess.
We find no reason which would justify disregard of the plain
language of the section under consideration. It declares that any
person who receives a fee or compensation in respect of a claim
under the Act, except as therein provided, shall be deemed guilty
of a misdemeanor. The
Page 269 U. S. 102
only compensation which it permits a claim agent or attorney to
receive where no legal proceeding has been commenced is $3 for
assistance in preparation and execution of necessary papers, and
the history of the enactment indicates plainly enough that Congress
did not fail to choose apt language to express its purpose.
The validity of § 13, construed as above indicated, we
think, is not open to serious doubt.
Calhoun v. Massie,
253 U. S. 170.
The judgment of the court below must be
Affirmed.
MR. JUSTICE BRANDEIS took no part in the consideration or
determination of this cause.