United States Supreme Court Cases & Opinions

U.S. Supreme Court

Silberschein v. United States, 266 U.S. 221 (1924)

Silberschein v. United States

No. 66

Argued October 13, 1924

Decided November 17, 1924

266 U.S. 221

Syllabus

1. The War Risk Insurance Act, as amended, commits to the Director of the Veterans' Bureau the duty and authority of administering its provisions and of deciding all questions arising under it. P. 266 U. S. 225.

2. The decision of the Director upon a right to compensation claimed under the act is final and conclusive, and not subject to judicial review, at least unless the decision be wholly unsupported by evidence, wholly dependent upon a question of law, or clearly arbitrary or capricious. Id.

3. The act authorizes the Director to discontinue compensation which he finds to have been erroneously awarded. P. 266 U. S. 224.

4. Disability, to be compensable under the statute, must have resulted from injury or disease caused or aggravated in the line of duty. Id.

Page 266 U. S. 222

5. Evidence tending to prove the unsoundness of the Director's determination of a matter properly submitted to his judgment held to fall far short of proving the determination arbitrary. P. 266 U. S. 224.

285 F.3d 7 affirmed.

Error to a judgment of the district court dismissing an action brought against the United States under subdivision 20 of Jud.Code § 24 on a claim for compensation under the War Risk Insurance Act upon the ground that the determination of the matter by the Director of the Veterans' Bureau was final and not reviewable by the courts.