Estimates and Reports. In accordance with Sections 31 and 33 of the Compensation Act the commission submits annually to the Secretary of the Treasury estimates of necessary appropriations and to Congress annual reports of its operations.

CHAPTER III

ORGANIZATION

The Employees' Compensation Commission consists of three members appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. It has a force of nearly eighty employees, all of whom are appointed in accordance with the civil service rules.

The work of the Employees' Compensation Commission is carried on in the offices of the Commissioners and of the Secretary, and in seven divisions, namely, Assembly, Claims, Medical, Medical Claims, Legal, Statistical, and Disbursing divisions. There are three Commissioners, one of whom has been designated by the President as chairman.

Offices of the Commissioners. Each of the three Commissioners maintains a separate office. The Chairman is the chief administrative head of the commission, and approves by signature or initial all awards, orders for payment, and other executive acts of the commission. Otherwise, the duties of the three Commissioners are identical, namely, the exercising of the quasi-judicial and quasi-executive functions of settling claims and making compensation awards, the Commissioners individually examining the doubtful cases and such as involve new questions of policy.

Secretary's Office. The Secretary peforms such duties as are commonly performed by the chief clerks of departments and independent establishments. He has charge of the personnel records; the purchasing of supplies; the ordering of publications, such as reports, regulations, forms, publicity matter, etc.; conducting general correspondence; and keeping official records. He is responsible for all records and files of the commission, and for that reason the Assembly Division,

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which has the custody of the files, although it is ranked as a division, is under his immediate supervision. He also has the duties of an appointment clerk. The personnel of the Secretary's office consists of the Secretary and three other employees.

Assembly Division. This is the central exchange or clearing house for all official papers of the commission. It receives, reads, and routes all the mail of the commission; receives, records, indexes, and distributes the reports of injuries and claims for compensation; follows up each injury report to see that all subsequent reports and other papers necessary to the completion of a case are submitted as promptly as possible so that the rights of both the commission and the claimants are properly protected; and it has charge of all files and indexes of

cases.

When the necessary papers are assembled to constitute a complete claim, the case is numbered and the papers are placed in a jacket and transmitted to the Claims Division, which takes all subsequent action in the case. A record is kept in the Assembly Division of the location of the papers of each case as they pass from hand to hand until their return to the files.

Three case files are kept in this division; an assembly file of cases in the course of assembly; a pending file of cases under consideration, awaiting correspondence, or on account of which compensation is being paid; and a final file of closed The personnel of this division consists of a chief and fourteen other employees.

cases.

Claims Division. The Claim Division examines each case in order to determine whether the facts presented are such as to bring it within the provisions of the Compensation Act; handles special inquiries, except medical, concerning injuries in claim cases; notifies claimants of awards or disallowances; and prepares the pay roll for compensation payments to be made by the Disbursing Office.

Each case is scrutinized to see whether the accident occurred in the performance of duty, whether the injury was caused by willful misconduct, drunkenness, or intention to injure, whether the injured person was a civil employee of the United States, etc. If the Chief Claim Examiner in charge of the division is not satisfied with the facts presented, he initiates the correspondence or the investigation which will develop the information needed.

When the facts are all in and there is a doubt as to the course to be pursued, or the proper decision to be made, he refers the case to the Commissioners for action, accompanied by an abstract of the case setting forth the points at issue. If medical questions arise or when medical examinations or treatment are to be considered, he transmits the case to the Medical Division.

In many cases the facts are so clear and there is such an abundance of precedents that the claims are adjusted and the awards recommended by the Chief Claim Examiner to the Commissioners. In such cases the recommendations are usually approved by the Commissioners as a matter of routine, and the cases receive no further attention from either the Commissioners or the Chief Medical Examiner.

The Claims Division upon the direction of the commission also directs the field investigations that are made from time to time by special agents. The personnel of the division consists of a Chief Claim Examiner and seventeen other employees.

Medical Division. The Medical Division is in the charge of the Medical Director, who is aided by an Assistant Medical Director. Both of these officers are detailed from and are on the pay roll of the U. S. Public Health Service. The other employees of the division are paid by the commission. The division orders or authorizes medical examinations and treatment; gives advice on medical matters; conducts the commis

sion's relations with physicians and hospitals; and designates physicians and hospitals to be used by injured employees.

The technical work of the division, requiring medical or surgical knowledge, is performed by the Medical Director and his assistant.

This division carries on the correspondence of the commission which relates to medical matters. It advises the commission on medical questions which arise in a large proportion of the cases. It suggests the place of treatment of injured employees and determines the selection of physicians, especially when specialists' services are needed. Practically all permanent total and partial disabilities and disabilities that continue for more than about sixty days are referred to the medical division for opinion concerning questions of treatment and of continuance of disability.

The Medical Director examines each case that is brought to his attention to see whether the claimant is getting the kind of treatment that his case requires, and that he is in the hands of a surgeon of known experience, and he advises on all questions of degree of disability of beneficiaries.

In every case of sprain or fracture the Medical Director examines the report in order to find what kind of treatment the claimant is receiving and to order x-ray photographs and operations where necessary.

Other work of the division consists of examining claims of a routine character requiring no technical knowledge; summarizing and typewriting the medical record and medical facts in compensation cases; conducting correspondence not requiring technical medical opinion or action; and keeping up-to-date information concerning the location of surgeons and hospitals most readily available to injured employees, and the best means of transportation to them, all of which is done by clerks and stenographers on the pay roll of the commission. The personnel of this division consists of the Medical Director and his assistant and fifteen employees of the commission.