ances on account of dependents were enacted with dependents of male members, only, of the services in contemplation. In none of these cases was evidence found of any intention on the part of the Congress that such character of allowances were to be paid to women members. The act of October 26, 1942, 56 Stat. 988, 990, fixing the pay of personnel of the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps-the forerunner of the present Women's Army Corps-expressly provided that said personnel should receive pay and allowances at the rates provided by law for certain officers or enlisted men, without dependents, in the Regular Army. By the act of December 22, 1942, 56 Stat. 1072, it was provided that certain pay and allowances were authorized to be paid to nurses in the Army and Navy, but it was expressly stated that said allowances should be those authorized for designated officers without dependents. Hence, the cited decisions seem to be consistent with the legislative policy as gathered from the applicable statutes.

The language of the bill which later became the act of July 1, 1943, here involved, was suggested by the War Department. In his letter of February 1, 1943, transmitting the draft of the proposed substitute bill to the Chairman, Committee on Military Affairs, United States Senate (printed as part of Senate Report No. 45 to accompany S. 495) the Secretary of War stated:

It is not anticipated that the proposed measure will result in any substantial additional cost. The principal additional costs will be occasioned by the authorizing of members of the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps to receive flight pay, additional pay for overseas duty, and allowances for dependents. [Italics supplied.]

The matter of allowances for members of the Women's Army Corps was discussed at some length at the hearings on the bill before the Committee on Military Affairs, House of Representatives. The committee was advised by General M. G. White, appearing as a representative of the War Department, that if the bill should be enacted members of the Women's Army Corps "would be entitled to all the pay and allowances that any other member of the Army is entitled to, depending upon grade, and so on. It would be different from the nurse pay, which provides that they are entitled to the pay of commissioned officers without dependents." Page 23 of the said hearings. On page 21 General White stated that he did not think they should ask for pay for the Women's Army Corps that is not in accord with pay authorized for the nurses. As a result of the discussion before the committee, General White proposed certain changes in the bill to the effect that the provisions of the Servicemen's Dependents Allowance Act of 1942, 56 Stat. 381, would not be applicable to dependents of women enlisted under the act and that women commissioned thereunder would be allowed rental and sub

sistence allowances without dependents. See page 24 of said hearings. The committee proposed an amendment to the bill which read as follows:

Sec. 6. The provisions of the Servicemen's Dependents Allowance Act of 1942 (Public Law 625, Seventy-seventh Congress, approved June 23, 1942), shall not be applicable to the dependents of women enlisted under the provisions of this Act. Money allowances for subsistence and rental of quarters shall be allowed to women commissioned or enlisted under the provisions of this Act only to the extent that they are allowed to male commissioned officers and enlisted men, respectively, without dependents.

The House adopted the said amendment and passed the bill as so amended but the Senate failed to agree and the House receded from such amendment. See the statement of the managers on the part of the House in the conference report on the bill, H. R. Report No. 595, 78th Congress.

Considering such legislative history and the broad language of the said act of July 1, 1943, the conclusion that the Congress intended, within the language used in the act, to authorize the payment of increased allowances on account of dependents for members of the Women's Army Corps appears inescapable, notwithstanding the fact that such provision results in a material discrimination between such members and nurses in the Army and Navy, as well as members of the Women's Reserve in the Naval Reserve and the Women's Reserve in the Coast Guard Reserve. However, the language used in sections 2 and 3 of said act, quoted above, does not authorize payment of such allowances to women in all cases in which a male member of the service would be entitled to said allowances. The law provides that officers "and their dependents and beneficiaries shall have all of the rights, privileges, and benefits accorded in like cases to other persons" appointed under the act of September 22, 1941, 55 Stat. 728. It is provided, also, that all laws and regulations applicable to enlisted men and their dependents and beneficiaries shall "in like cases and except where otherwise expressly provided, be applicable" to enlisted personnel of the Women's Army Corps and their dependents and beneficiaries. Therefore, it becomes material to determine under what circumstances, insofar as dependents are concerned, the situation of a woman in the Women's Army Corps is analogous to that of a man in the service.

As indicated above, a man is entitled to increased allowances on account of a lawful wife, an unmarried child under 21 years of age or a father or mother in fact dependent on him for chief support. The law does not make a husband a dependent and, in view of the difference between the duties and responsibilities of a man toward his wife and those of a wife toward her husband, there is no reasonable basis for a conclusion that a husband was intended to be regarded in any case as a dependent under such statutory provisions.

Under the law an unmarried child under 21 years of age of a male officer or enlisted man entitled to increased allowances on account of dependents is presumed to be dependent upon the officer or enlisted man for the purpose of paying such increased allowances. Said provision recognizes the fact that the primary duty of support is on the father. As was stated in decision of February 26, 1943, 22 Comp. Gen. 838, 840

* * * Children may be, and often are, dependent on their mother for support, but as the primary duty of support is on the father, there would be no thought of conclusively presuming children to be dependent on their mothers at all times and in all places merely by virtue of the relationship * * Hence, to be considered a "like" case or a case analogous to that of a man in the service the responsibility of providing for the child must be upon the woman claiming the increased allowances. The fact that a woman in the service does not have the primary responsibility for the support of a child would make her situation materially different from that of a father in the service. In other words, a member of the Women's Army Corps who has a child whose father is living generally does not have the same responsibilities for the support of the child as the father and, therefore, under such circumstances, her case would not be considered like that of a father in the service insofar as payment of dependency allowances is concerned. If the father is deceased and the mother is not remarried or where the circumstances in a particular case establish that a child is in fact dependent upon his mother, a member of the Women's Army Corps, her situation then approximates that of a man in the service who has a child and, if otherwise within the terms of the statutes, such a child properly may be regarded as a dependent for the purpose of payment of dependency allowances.

Applying the same principles, it seems clear that under the said provisions of the act of July 1, 1943, a member of the Women's Army Corps, otherwise entitled to increased allowances for dependents, would be entitled to receive such increased allowances where it is established that her father or mother is in fact dependent on her for his or her chief support, the same as in the case of a male member of the service.

It may be added that there is doubt whether, at present, many of the members of the Women's Army Corps could meet the requirements as to actual dependency in the case of either a child or a parent. Section II, Women's Army Auxiliary Corps Circular No. 13, dated October 14, 1942, provides:

1. No applicant will be accepted for enrollment in the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps if she has anyone dependent upon her for financial support unless such support can be met entirely by means other than that derived from her pay as a member of the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps.

See, also, statements made by the Director, Women's Army Auxiliary Crops, at the hearings before the subcommittee of the Committee on

Appropriations, House of Representatives, on the Military Establishment Appropriation Bill for 1944, pages 117 and 118.

Within the limitations stated above, questions (1) and (2) are answered in the affirmative.

(3) May officers and enlisted personnel of appropriate grades of the WAC be paid for transportation of dependents under the Pay Readjustment Act of 1942, as amended, and Public Law No. 580, approved 5 June 1942?

Transportation at Government expense for dependents of officers, warrant officers or enlisted men of the Army is authorized by section 12 of the act of June 16, 1942, 56 Stat. 364, 365, and section 4 of the act of June 5, 1942, 56 Stat. 315. The dependents for whom such transportation is authorized are as defined in section 4 of said act of June 16, 1942, supra, the same as in the case of increased rental and subsistence allowances and, following the reasoning as stated in answer to questions (1) and (2) with respect to such increased allowances, a member of the Women's Army Corps, otherwise entitled to transportation for dependents under the applicable law, would be entitled to such transportation for her father or mother in fact dependent on her for his or her chief support and for her unmarried child or children under 21 years of age, if the father of said child or children is deceased and she is not remarried or if they are in fact dependent on her. Question (3) is answered accordingly.

(4) May payments of family allowances be made to dependents of enlisted personnel of the WAC of appropriate grades under the Servicemen's Dependents Allowance Act of 1942?

The Servicemen's Dependents Allowance Act of 1942, 56 Stat. 381, authorizes an allowance accruing to dependents of certain enlisted men. For the purpose of the law the dependents are grouped into two classes. Class A dependents include the enlisted man's wife or child, and as to those dependents, there is no requirement that there be a showing of actual dependency. Section 104 of the act provides that the allowances "shall be granted and paid * to the Class A dependent or dependents of any such enlisted man upon written application to the department concerned made by such enlisted man or made by or on behalf of such dependent or dependents." As was stated in decision of April 14, 1943, 22 Comp. Gen. 955, 965, "The effect of these provisions is to remove from consideration questions of actual dependency with respect to an enlisted man's wife or child. In other words, the law presumes that such persons are actually dependent upon the enlisted man after a satisfactory showing that the relationship exists." Thus, the situation insofar as Class A dependents are concerned is the same as that with respect to provisions authorizing increased rental and subsistence allowances for a wife or child. For the reasons stated in answer to questions (1) and (2), the husband of a woman member of the Women's Army Corps may not be considered a dependent within the meaning of the statute. As to children the state

ments made in answer to questions (1) and (2) with respect to children being dependent upon a member of the Women's Army Corps for the purpose of increased rental and subsistence allowances are applicable. That is, if a member of the Women's Army Corps has a child whose father is deceased and she is not remarried, said child would be entitled to the benefits of the Servicemen's Dependents Allowance Act of 1942, if otherwise within the terms of the statute. Also, if the father of said child is not deceased but, because of circumstances, the child is in fact dependent upon its mother, the child would be entitled to the benefits of said act.

Class B dependents include the parent, grandparent, brother or sister of the enlisted man "who is found by the Secretary of the department concerned to be dependent upon such enlisted man for a substantial portion of his support." Since the benefits authorized by that portion of the law are payable only after a showing of substantial dependency, a member of the Women's Army Corps who can establish that such dependency actually exists with respect to a relative mentioned in the statute reasonably would be in the same situation as an enlisted man in the service who established such a dependency relationship. Therefore, it is concluded that Class B dependents of a member of the Women's Army Corps may receive the benefits authorized by the said act of June 23, 1942, if otherwise within the provisions of that act. Your question (4) is answered accordingly.

(5) May the six months' death gratuity authorized by the Act of 17 December 1919, as amended, be paid to beneficiaries of officers and enlisted personnel of the WAC otherwise entitled thereto?

Insofar as here material, the act of December 17, 1919, 41 Stat. 367, as amended by the act of June 4, 1920, 41 Stat. 766, and the act of March 2, 1923, 42 Stat. 1385, as codified in 10 U. S. Code 903, provides:

Hereafter, immediately upon official notification of the death from wounds or disease, not the result of his own misconduct, of any officer or enlisted man on the active list of the Regular Army or on the retired list when on active duty, the Chief of Finance of the Army shall cause to be paid to the widow, and if there be no widow to the child or children, and if there be no widow or child to any other dependent relative of such officer or enlisted man previously designated by him, an amount equal to six months' pay at the rate received by such officer or enlisted man at the date of his death. The Secretary of War shall establish regulations requiring each officer and enlisted man having no wife or child to designate the proper dependent relative to whom this amount shall be paid in case of his death. Said amount shall be paid from funds appropriated for the pay of the Army: And provided further, That none of the funds appropriated for the purposes of this section shall be used for the payment of such six months' pay to any married child or unmarried child over twenty-one years of age of a deceased officer or enlisted man who is not actually a dependent of such deceased officer or enlisted man.

The provisions of that act were made applicable to dependents of officers and enlisted men of the Army of the United States by the act of December 10, 1941, 55 Stat. 796.

The act of December 17, 1919, as amended, authorizes payment of a gratuity to certain relatives of a deceased officer or enlisted man.