Mr. CROXTON. That is all; there was no financial interest. The CHAIRMAN. On that statement of facts this recommendation comes from the Secretary of the Treasury? Mr. CROXTON. Yes, sir. The CHAIRMAN. Through the President? Mr. CROXTON. Yes; through the Budget Bureau. The CHAIRMAN. And it is desired that the money be returned to this bank? Mr. CROXTON. Yes, sir. There is no other way to get it back to them. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 1922. BUREAU OF INTERNAL REVENUE. STATEMENT OF MR. C. P. SMITH, ASSISTANT COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE. TAX SIMPLIFICATION BOARD. The CHAIRMAN. You appear in behalf of the item of expenses, Tax Simplification Board? Mr. SMITH. Yes, sir. The CHAIRMAN. The item reads: For expenses of the Tax Smplification Board established in the Treasury Department under the provisions of section 1327 of the revenue act of 1921, approved November 23, 1921, during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1922, as authorized under paragraph 2(e) of said act and section. The CHAIRMAN. How do you know it will be $10,000? Mr. SMITH. I do not. Mr. SMITH. The Tax Simplification Board was organized right after the revenue act of 1921 was approved. The CHAIRMAN. Was it provided for in the act? Mr. SMITH. Yes; section 1327, revenue act of 1921. The revenue act of 1921 in that same section authorized an appropriation of $10.000, the wording of the statute being: For the expenditures of the board for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1922, there is authorized to be appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, the sum of $10,000. The CHAIRMAN. For how long a period? Mr. SMITH. From the time of the creation of the board up to June 30, 1922. The CHAIRMAN. Of what does this $10,000 consist? Mr. SMITH. Of course, the only expenses which will be paid out of this $10,000 are the traveling expenses of the members of the board who represent the public. The CHAIRMAN. How much will they amount to? Mr. SMITH. They have not asked for anything. I took this matter up specifically with Undersecretary Gilbert and find they have not asked for a cent to date. Tell us about that item. The CHAIRMAN. How do you know it will be $5,000? Mr. SMITH. I do not. The CHAIRMAN. Then, why do you ask us for $10,000? Mr. SMITH. Undersecretary Gilbert stated that this item was put in because it was authorized. The CHAIRMAN. Because it was authorized does not mean that an appropriation is going to be made. We are not going to appropriate for it unless we know what we are appropriating for. Mr. SMITH. Undersecretary Gilbert stated this morning that he could not estimate the amount, and in the absence of Mr. Beal, who is away on ccount of illness, having suffered an accident in Pittsburgh, he could not tell just how much should be estimated for these expenses. The CHAIRMAN. Does this continue during the next year? Mr. SMITH. Yes, sir. The CHAIRMAN. Suppose we let it go for 1922, as long as you do not think you will have any expenses in connection with it, and take a chance on it in 1923. The mere fact that the law authorizes an appropriation does not mean that it is going to be made, or that if you do not spend it we ought to appropriate it. Mr. SMITH. These three individuals-Mr. Beal, Mr. Sterrett, and Mr. Abbott The CHAIRMAN (interposing). You know they will not want a cent. Mr. SMITH. It was the thought of the Treasury Department that they ought to be reimbursed for their actual expenses. The CHAIRMAN. When you know their actual expenses send in a bill for them, but in the meantime we will just forget this item. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 1922. BUREAU OF ENGRAVING AND PRINTING. STATEMENT OF MR. A. P. RUTH. INCREASE OF LIMITATION OF NUMBER OF DELIVERED SHEETS. The CHAIRMAN. You are asking for the following item: The limitation for the fiscal year 1922 as to the number of delivered sheets of checks, drafts, and miscellaneous work is increased from 6,152,037 to 7,500,000 sheets. Mr. RUTH. That is to meet the demands of the various departments for checks, drafts, commissions, warrants, and miscellaneous work of that sort as ordered from the bureau in the present fiscal year. In the first six months the actual deliveries on orders have exceeded the pro rata of the limit. We delivered up to the end of December 3,494,511 sheets against the allotment of 6,152,037 for the year. The CHAIRMAN. That means that you want to keep going at the same rate? That is all there is to it? Mr. RUTH. Yes, sir. The CHAIRMAN. It is not because they need the checks? Mr. RUTH. Yes; it is because they need the checks. In the month of January we delivered 757,754, which is a little larger than the average had been for the first six months. The CHAIRMAN. What will happen if you do not get this authority? Mr. RUTH. I imagine the Pension Bureau, some of the disbursing clerks, and maybe the Veterans' Bureau, will not have sufficient checks. The CHAIRMAN. They generally have a supply of checks for six months in advance, do they not? Mr. RUTH. No: we have current orders. The CHAIRMAN. I know you have current orders, but they always have a supply in advance. Mr. RUTH. But I do not think they have a supply for more than a month or two. The CHAIRMAN. What is your experience about that? You ought to know. Mr. PLATT. Well, when I was disbursing clerk-and that is the only knowledge I would have about it-I simply kept just about one month's supply ahead and not more than two months. The CHAIRMAN. Well, if you had two months' supply ahead, would you still have enough to carry you to the 1st of July? Mr. RUTH. Based on the present rate of delivery, and the small supply that the officers carry, I do not think they would have sufficient to carry them over to July. You take the Veterans' Bureau. They pay, I understand, their allotments monthly? The CHAIRMAN. They pay every two weeks. Mr. RUTH. We are delivering just about as rapidly as the several officers use them, keeping just enough ahead to avoid having them without any supply at all. The CHAIRMAN. What will be the extra cost of this increased authority? Mr. RUTH. There is no additional appropriation asked for. The appropriation already made is sufficient to pay this additional cost. There is a slight reduction in the deliveries of internal stamps which is more than sufficient to pay this additional cost. The CHAIRMAN. There has been a large reduction in the internal revenue stamps? Mr. RUTH. Probably about 10 per cent, based upon the deliveries in the first six months. The CHAIRMAN. Why do you need this additional authority? Is it because the law provides a limit? Mr. RUTH. The law limits the maximum number that can be printed and delivered. The CHAIRMAN. You say there is a likelihood of a shortage of checks, drafts, blanks, and so on? Mr. RUTH. Yes, sir. The CHAIRMAN. If you do not get this authority? Mr. RUTH. Yes, sir. The CHAIRMAN. At the rate you are going now does it require this authority to keep it up? Mr. RUTH. Yes, sir. The CHAIRMAN. It is not for the purpose of keeping additional · people employed? Mr. RUTH. No, sir. The CHAIRMAN. It is just for the purpose of meeting urgent needs? Mr. RUTH. That is right. We have not furnished anything except that for which we have had actual orders on hand. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 1922. MINTS AND ASSAY OFFICES. STATEMENT OF MR. RAYMOND T. BAKER, DIRECTOR OF THE MINT. CONTINGENT EXPENSES, MINT AT NEW ORLEANS. The CHAIRMAN. For incidental and contingent expenses, fiscal year 1922, at the New Orleans Mint, you are asking $48.70. Mr. BAKER. That is a deficiency in the gas and electric current account for 1920. The CHAIRMAN. What is this about? Mr. BAKER. It is for electrical current and gas used at the New Orleans assay office. The CHAIRMAN. What did they want with gas at the New Orleans assay office? Mr. BAKER. We use gas in the melting operations. The CHAIRMAN. Is this a proper bill? Mr. BAKER. It is a proper bill, and it should have been presented long before. The CHAIRMAN. Has it been audited? Mr. BAKER. It has been audited, approved, and submitted. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 1922. COAST GUARD. STATEMENTS OF CAPT. WILLIAM E. REYNOLDS, COMMANDANT THE COAST GUARD; MR. K. J. MINOT; AND LIEUT. LEROY REINBURG. AUTHORITY FOR TRANSFER OF FUNDS. The CHAIRMAN. Captain, you are asking for the following item: Not to exceed $205,000 of the amount appropriated for the fiscal year 1922 under the subhead "Rations" is transferred and made available for expenditure during the fiscal year under the following subheads: "Fuel and water." $180,000; Contingent expenses," $25.000. This does not require any money but is simply a transfer of funds? Capt. REYNOLDS. When the appropriations for the present fiscal year were made under the subheads of "fuel and water" and "contingent" we realized that, as they were so much below our estimates. we should not be able to get through with them. In July and again in October we wrote the Budget officer of the Treasury Department to that effect, and in December we wrote the Secretary of the Treasury requesting that steps be taken to have certain funds transferred from the subhead of "rations" to these other two subheads in order to get through, it having developed at that time that we would have a surplus in the ration account. The CHAIRMAN. Is that due to the fact that you were able to ration the men for less money than you estimated? PUBLIC BUILDINGS. HOSPITAL NO. 27, ALEXANDRIA, REPAIRS AND REMODELING. LA. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 1922. STATEMENTS OF MR. JAMES A. WETMORE, ACTING SUPERVISING ARCHITECT OF THE TREASURY; MR. JOHN H. SCHAEFER, SUPERINTENDENT OF MAINTENANCE DIVISION; MR. N. S. THOMPSON, SUPERINTENDENT OF MECHANICAL DIVISION; DR. ROBERT D. MADDOX, UNITED STATES PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE; AND MR. GEORGE C. STRATTON,. TECHNICAL ASSISTANT, UNITED STATES PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE. The CHAIRMAN. For repairs and remodeling of existing buildings at the Alexandria, La., Public Health Service Hospital No. 27 you are asking an appropriation of $25,000. Of what do those repairs consist, Mr. Wetmore, and what authority is there for it, if any? But before you answer that let me ask you this question: Were the activities you are proposing here authorized out of the $18,600,000 appropriation for public-health hospitals? Mr. WETMORE. No, sir; although one item, I believe, was provided for under that appropriation, for Alexandria, La. The CHAIRMAN. They have $861,000 unallotted. Why do you not get them to allot you that money for these improvements instead of coming here? Mr. WETMORE. They will have use for all of that. The CHAIRMAN. They have not used it; they have it. Mr. WETMORE. They have got to use it in connection with the hospitals they are now building. The CHAIRMAN. Well, these are hospitals. Mr. WETMORE. If I am not mistaken, $60,000 was allotted out of that appropriation to replace a burned building at Alexandria, but the rest of the hospitals you speak of have not yet been furnished; they have not been equipped. The CHAIRMAN. Is this for equipment? I thought these were repairs. Mr. WETMORE. No; you are asking why they do not use the balance of the $18,600,000. The CHAIRMAN. I am asking you why you do not go to them to get the money instead of coming here? It is already appropriated, and why should we appropriate more? Mr. WETMORE. Because the balance in their hands is not more than sufficient to take care of the hospitals they have already authorized. The CHAIRMAN. They do not say that; they say, on the other hand, that they have $861,000 that has not been allotted. Mr. WETMORE. That is for construction work. The CHAIRMAN. This is construction work. Mr. WETMORE. I know; but the $18,600,000 is not limited to connction work. he CHAIRMAN. To what is it limited? |