The CHAIRMAN. That settles it; there is nothing more to be said. about it as far as I am concerned.

Mr. BROWN. I should like to say one word more?

The CHAIRMAN. Certainly.

Mr. BROWN. Of course, I understand if it is not a deficiency it may technically be said to have no place in this bill.

The CHAIRMAN. That is the point.

Mr. BROWN. But, Mr. Chairman, everyone who has taken the trouble to look into our work, I believe, feels that our work is extremely profitable to the Government.

The CHAIRMAN. I have not any doubt about that; I am not making any complaint about your work.

Mr. BYRNS. What is your present balance?

Mr. BROWN. We have a balance now of $47,016.71.

The CHAIRMAN. You have only four months to run?

Mr. BROWN. We need $9,983.29.

The CHAIRMAN. On the basis of the appropriation you have the four months' requirement?

Mr. BROWN. No; we also need $1.360, as nearly as we can estimate it, for contingent expenses.

The CHAIRMAN. This committee has made up its mind that there will be no deficiency if it is possible for us to avoid it. We also have made up our minds that when an appropriation is made, that is the limit of the expenditure that we want to go. That is a mandate to the bureaus. We have only one job to do and that is to conserve the Treasury.

Mr. BROWN. I am perfectly sure of one thing, Mr. Chairman, and that is this: If in that great business organization of yours out in Chicago you could earn an annual dividend of a thousand per cent on all the capital you could get, you would certainly try to get more than $125,000. That is our situation precisely. If you do not want us to earn that dividend on more than $125,000 we shall not make any complaint, because it is not our money that is being lost. The CHAIRMAN. It is a question of obeying the law.

Mr. BROWN. You can depend on that, that we shall not create a deficiency in the technical sense of the term, but it does seem unfortunate if we have to disband our force and then, perhaps, increase it after the 1st of July. I have striven for nine years to build up a force capable of doing the work that we are required by law to do. We have urged for years that we be given enough money in the legislative bill to pay our operating expenses.

The CHAIRMAN. After all, Congress is responsible.

Mr. BROWN. But the Budget Bureau has recommended that we be given enough money to do our work.

The CHAIRMAN. We are not bound by anything the Budget recom

mends.

Mr. BROWN. I am not arguing that; I am simply saying what the Budget has recommended.

The CHAIRMAN. What we want to impress upon everybody-we have not selected you to make this statement-is that Congress will make the appropriations and that no department of the Government will be permitted under them, in advance, or to create a condition. that will force Congress to appropriate a deficiency unless the condition is serious and emergent.

Mr. WOOD. Here is the point. When the last Congress appropriated $125,000 it was your business to allot so much of that per month during the 12 months.

Mr. BROWN. It we had work to do that was sufficiently urgent I think it would be our duty, if necessary, to spend all of our appropriation in one month.

Mr. WOOD. No; to make it last a year.

Mr. BROWN. That question was brought up in 1918 at the hearings on the urgent deficiency bill for that year (p. 14) when Mr. Sherley was chairman, and I got the impression that he did not think that the law required us to adhere strictly to a monthly allotment if we had work to do that required an expenditure at a greater rate than one-twelfth of our appropriation each month. It seems to me that we should do our work within the time required by law even if we do spend our appropriation at a rate in excess of our monthly allot

ment.

The CHAIRMAN. We do not agree with that.

Mr. WOOD. That is what has encouraged deficiencies.

The CHAIRMAN. We do not agree with that at all. The theory on which we make an appropriation is that there should be allocated only that portion necessary for any one month.

Mr. BROWN. It is entirely your matter, not mine.
The CHAIRMAN. That is what we decided long ago.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY, 16, 1922.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

STATEMENTS OF MR. CUNO H. RUDOLPH, COMMISSIONER; COL. CHARLES KELLER, ENGINEER COMMISSIONER; MR. DANIEL · J. DONOVAN, AUDITOR; HON. GEORGE C. AUKAM, JUDGE MUNICIPAL COURT; DR. F. W. BALLOU, SUPERINTENDENT DISTRICT SCHOOLS; MR. ROY O. WILMARTH, FINANCIAL OFFICER DISTRICT SCHOOLS; MRS. ELLA H. WEST, BOARD OF CHILDREN'S GUARDIANS; AND MR. GEORGE S. WILSON, SECRETARY BOARD OF CHARITIES.

MUNICIPAL COURT.

COMPENSATION OF JURORS.

The CHAIRMAN. For compensation of jurors you are asking $1,000. Do you need that because of an increased number of cases?

Judge AUKAM. We have 13 months in this year; the act took effect in June, and we have to carry last June and this June. That is one reason for it. The expense runs about $900 a month. The CHAIRMAN. That is a matter you can not control?

Judge AUKAM. No, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. It depends on the cases tried and the number of jurors summoned?

Judge AUKAM. Yes, sir. There are two Junes in this year.

The CHAIRMAN. And that accounts for it?

Judge AUKAM. Yes, sir.

CONTINGENT EXPENSES.

The CHAIRMAN. The next item is for contingent expenses, and for the fiscal year 1921 you are asking $44.78. What is the explanation of that?

Judge AUKAM. A part of it is for books that were bought when this act went into effect. The bill amounts to about $17, and it should be paid.

Mr. SISSON. That is a 1921 bill?

Judge AUKAM. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. Is this an audited account?

Mr. DONOVAN. I will explain those two items. One is an item of $16.40 for 13 record books purchased by Judge Aukum in an emergency last June, at the time Congress passed the act enlarging the jurisdiction of the court.

The CHAIRMAN. What authority did the judge have to make this purchase?

Mr. DONOVAN. He proceeded on his own responsibility, I presume. Mr. SISSON. You see, the court's jurisdiction was enlarged, and that necessitated the purchase of some additional dockets and books which were absolutely essential. I think the court would have the inherent power to make the purchase; at least, we have always construed it that way.

The CHAIRMAN. It is a small item, anyway, and I imagine there is not much use going into it. What is the next item?

Mr. DONOVAN. The second item is a voucher in favor of the Potomac Electric Power Co. for $110.96 for electric light.

The CHAIRMAN. Is that for 1921?

Mr. DONOVAN. Yes.

The CHAIRMAN. But you have only one item totaling $44.78. Mr. DONOVAN. I was about to explain the two items. The first item amounted to $16.40 and the second item amounts to $110.96, making a total of $127.36. We have an unexpended balance in the appropriation of $82.58, which leaves $44.78 to be furnished in order to settle these two accounts.

Mr. SISSON. In other words, your $82.58 balance can be applied to these two items?

Mr. DONOVAN. Yes, sir.

Mr. SISSON. Leaving unpaid $44.78?

Mr. DONOVAN. Yes, sir.

Mr. SISSON. You say the second item amounts to $110.96. Was that as a result of your contract or agreement with the company?

Mr. DONOVAN. That is for the electric light furnished in the month of June, 1921, and at the usual rates paid for that service. The CHAIRMAN. So that $44.78 is the balance you need?

Mr. DONOVAN. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. What about the $865 for the fiscal year 1922what does that consist of?

Judge AUKAM. That consists of the telephone, laundry, electric light, jackets, fuel, 30 tons of coal, and supplies.

The CHAIRMAN. By what authority do you run in excess of the appropriation?

Judge AUKAM. We have not run in excess of the appropriation. We need that amount to get through.

The CHAIRMAN. This is not a deficiency? Judge AUKAM. Not an existing deficiency, but we will have to close the court; we can not run.

Mr. SISSON. In other words, your funds now are such that before the 1st of July they will be depleted by this amount of money? Judge AUKAM. Yes, sir.

Mr. DONOVAN. There is no deficiency in the current appropriation. This amount is recommended as absolutely necessary to carry the service through the balance of the year.

Mr. SISSON. You allotted your appropriation as the law requires? Mr. DONOVAN. Yes, sir.

Mr. SISSON. And each quarter's allotment has fallen behind so that you have to pay your bills out of the succeeding quarter? Mr. DONOVAN. Yes, sir.

Mr. SISSON. After having done that, you find that you will exceed the amount by $865?

Judge AUKAM. That is the estimate.

The CHAIRMAN. Why do you not live within the appropriation? Judge AUKAM. We do not know how it can be expected of us— we are not able to. We will have to close the court, we can not get along on this small amount-we have five courts to care for. We have to buy dockets, summonses, minute books, blanks, etc., which cost $500 or more this year.

The CHAIRMAN. This is not for summonses?
Judge AUKAM. There is printing.

The CHAIRMAN. It may be just as well understood now as any time that there is a deficiency act that controls the expenditures or requires those who have the spending of money to live within the appropriations. An appropriation law is just as much a law as the Constitution of the United States. While it has been the practice in the past for those who spend money not to pay any attention to the appropriation, to make such expenditures as they deemed proper from time to time, that is not going to be permitted. Judge AUKAM. That has not been the practice in the municipal

court.

Mr. SISSON. As a matter of fact, many of the expenditures of your court are authorized by law?

Judge AUKAM. Yes, sir.

Mr. SISSON. The law puts certain duties upon the court to perform? Judge AUKAM. Yes, sir.

Mr. SISSON. And in the performance of those duties, the matters where the law requires you to furnish subpoenas, blanks, etc., you have got to have those?

Judge AUKAM. Yes, sir.

Mr. SISSON. And then, there is the expenditure of money which you did not anticipate by virtue of the increased business?

Judge AUKAM. Yes, sir. The result is, if we are not to buy anything-of course, we have no desire――

Mr. SISSON (interposing). The municipal court is the most economical branch in the municipal government and the most economical branch in any government, so far as I know.

Judge AUKAM. We have been very foolish in the matter of economy because we have gotten to that point where we can not run.

The CHAIRMAN. It is not a question of being foolish. You have to obey this law like any other law.

Judge AUKAM. We ought to know; we are supposed to know that. We certainly have attempted to run it as economically as we possibly could.

The CHAIRMAN. The question is to live within the appropriation. Judge AUKAM. We will have to close the court.

The CHAIRMAN. What are the items?

Judge AUKAM. We are running five courts. We are expected to run on just what one single court in this district gets. We are expected to run for $2,500 when the police court gets $5,000 with the two courts. It can not be done; that is all there is to it.

The CHAIRMAN. What are the items?

Judge AUKAM. Laundry, ice, electric current

The CHAIRMAN (interposing). Ice, is that a part of the needs of the court?

Judge AUKAM. Yes; we use ice in the coolers.

The CHAIRMAN. Anything else?

Judge AUKAM. Printed matter, $50.

The CHAIRMAN. How do you buy the printed matter?

Judge AUKAM. Under public bids or the District contract.

The CHAIRMAN. By the court?

Judge AUKAM. We simply order the paper and printing through the district purchasing office.

Mr. DONOVAN. On the district contract, through the purchasing officer.

Judge AUKAM. Manila jackets in which to place the papers in individual suits. Fuel, that is 30 tons of coal, $390.

The CHAIRMAN. What kind of coal do you use?
Judge AUKAM. Hard coal.

The CHAIRMAN. And it costs $10.90?

Judge AUKAM. I think about that. Janitor supplies, $25. Miscellaneous items, $100. I should like to say, Mr. Chairman, if you will permit, that this court has been saddled with, I think, a thousand or fifteen hundred extra cases in order to relieve the supreme court. That naturally causes more expenses and causes more printing and more jackets. We are now a court of record. We have to purchase minute books, which cost considerable money. The exclusive jurisdiction of the court has been increased ten times.

Mr. BYRNS. I can understand how it would be difficult to make an allotment of that part of the business of the court due to the increased jurisdiction?

Judge AUKAM. Yes, sir.

Mr. SISSON. I doubt whether you would ever have had any deficiency but for this increased amount of business?

Judge AUKAM. That accounts for a large portion of it. In turn we have relieved the supreme court and allowed them to go ahead with their calendar. They have cleared their docket on the circuit side.

Mr. SISSON. Please put in the record a statement showing how your business has been increased.

Judge AUKAM. We are running 2,186 cases a month now. By reason of the enlarged jurisdiction, 940 extra cases since June last.