Mr. DONOVAN. Not until the accounts have been paid.

The CHAIRMAN. These audited claims do not seem to run to anybody.

Mr. DONOVAN. I should be very glad to give you that information. The CHAIRMAN. Why do you not have the names of the claimants in the bill?

Mr. DONOVAN. I might have done so, but I did not think it neces

sary.

The CHAIRMAN. It seems to me that is very essential.

Mr. DONOVAN. I can give the names for the record if you wish them. The first item of $1.04 is due the Robey Motor Co.

The CHAIRMAN. What was that for?

Mr. DONOVAN. For some auto parts furnished the municipal garage in January, 1919.

The CHAIRMAN. That is a 1919 deficiency?

Mr. DONOVAN. Yes, sir; the next is an item of 72 cents for some bushings, hardware, furnished the Free Public Library in January, 1919, by the Crane Co. The next item is $13.52, the amount due a laborer by the name of Fred Smallwood for five days' services, between May 30 and June 5, 1919.

The CHAIRMAN. Why was not that amount paid to him?

Mr. DONOVAN. Smallwood left Washington and went somewhere, we do not know where, and failed to get this money. It was cash in the hands of the disbursing officer, and after holding it a reasonable length of time he repaid it to the appropriation and this money lapsed with the balance of the appropriation. Smallwood now wants the amount due him. The next sum is $129.04 and is made up of two items, one of $124.40 in favor of Louis Hartig, a local hardware merchant, for machine and carriage bolts furnished the city refuse division some time in the fiscal year 1919; also $4.64 due the firm of Barber & Ross for a ladder furnished the city refuse division in August, 1918. I might say that we had a great deal of trouble in getting Mr. Hartig to submit his vouchers; he claimed that during this period he was not able to employ competent bookkeepers to make up his accounts, and you will find several other items in favor of Hartig as we go through the bills. The next item is $33.34, a salary balance due the cabinetmaker in the public schools. The CHAIRMAN. What is his name?

Mr. DONOVAN. His name is J. R. Reily.

The CHAIRMAN. What is his first name?

Mr. DONOVAN. James. That came about in a peculiar way. The appropriation act for the District for the fiscal year 1919 was approved on August 31, 1918, and carried an increase of $200 in the salary of this particular position; the increase dated back to July 1 but through an oversight this man Reilly failed to receive the increase for July and August, and when the matter was brought to our attention the appropriation had lapsed.

The CHAIRMAN.. That was for the fiscal year 1919?

Mr. DONOVAN. Yes, sir. The next item is $15.25, $2.50 of which is due the firm of Barber & Ross for repairing a door check in a school building in February, 1919, and $12.75 is due the Crane Co. for hardware furnished the superintendent of repairs in October, 1918. Both items are for the fiscal year 1919. The next item is

$598.95, made up of $7.65 due Barber & Ross, of this city, for hardware furnished for manual training purposes in the schools in June. 1917, and $591.30, Louis Hartig, for hardware supplies and tools furnished for manual training in the schools in the fiscal year 1919. The next item is $59.35, of which $47 is due the Chesapeake & Potomac Telephone Co. for telephone rental in the month of September, 1917, telephone rental for the public schools, and $11.85 is due the Typewriter & Office Supply Co., of this city, for filing equip ment furnished the schools in August, 1917. The first sum, $47. is for the fiscal year 1918 and the second for the fiscal year 1917. The next item is $10.54 and represents the amount due the L. E. Knott Apparatus Co., an outside company. I do not know just where it is located.

The CHAIRMAN. That was a mistake, to let an outside company get in here and do any business.

Mr. DONOVAN. Oh, no; a large proportion of our business is done with outsiders.

The CHAIRMAN. I thought you were deploring the fact that somebody got in.

Mr. DONOVAN. No; I did not mean to deplore the fact, nor in any way to convey the idea to you that we would deplore the fact, because our competition is wide open, and any man who wants to bid can do so, and if he is the low bidder and responsible he obtains the

contract.

The CHAIRMAN. Why did you emphasize the fact that this was an outside company? Was it for the purpose of indicating that a mistake was made?

Mr. DONOVAN. Not to indicate a mistake, but merely to show that this happened to be an outside company, while the others mentioned were local dealers. I merely called attention to that fact as a matter of information. The next item is $10.54, due the L. E. Knott Apparatus Co. for some scissors and needle holders furnished for the use of the chemical and biological laboratories in the public schools in May, 1918.

The CHAIRMAN. Who orders this stuff?

Mr. DONOVAN. The supplies are ordered through the purchasing officer. These are legitimate obligations, and ample provision had been made for the payment of the accounts had the bills been presented in time.

The CHAIRMAN. What was the matter with these people? Did they quit business or just figure that they would be paid later on!

Mr. DONOVAN. I think it was due to war conditions. We wrote letter after letter to some of the dealers and tried to get them to submit their accounts.

The CHAIRMAN. You knew they existed?

Mr. DONOVAN. Yes; we knew from our obligation accounts that these items were outstanding and payable by the District.

The CHAIRMAN. This was not a guess like the advertising? Mr. DONOVAN. No; the keeping general advertising obligations would be very difficult, and the more I think it over the more I am convinced it is going to be practically impossible to estimate the amount of advertising obligations in advance. The next item is $427.96 for apparatus furnished for the physical laboratory in one

of the high schools in September and December, 1916. That amount is due the L. E. Knott Apparatus Co.

The CHAIRMAN. That is the same outsider?

Mr. DONOVAN. That is the same outsider. The next item is $176.30, due the L. E. Knott Apparatus Co.

The CHAIRMAN. He was really getting in, was he not?

Mr. DONOVAN. For supplies furnished for the use of the physics. department of the schools in February, 1917. Those two items are charges against the appropriation for the fiscal year 1916.

The CHAIRMAN. And you had enough money with which to pay them?

Mr. DONOVAN. Yes, sir. In that case we turned back into the surplus fund nearly $1,400.

The CHAIRMAN. That was a mistake, was it not?

Mr. DONOVAN. No, sir. We try to run the District government as economically as possible.

The CHAIRMAN. I do not know how you could have overlooked this balance. Go ahead.

Mr. DONOVAN. The next item is $390.11, due Louis Hartig for manual-training equipment furnished the schools in the fiscal year1919. In that case we turned back to the surplus fund $433.63. The next item is $5.40 due the L. E. Knott Apparatus Co. for some laboratory supplies furnished for the use of the chemical laboratory of the health department in the month of February, 1917. The next item is $6 to pay the fee of a juror. I am sorry to say I have not the name of the man. He served two days, January 13 and 14, 1919, and failed to present his voucher for payment. When he did present it the appropriation had lapsed. We turned back a balance of $277. The CHAIRMAN. You have a record of the man's name?

Mr. DONOVAN. We have the voucher at the office. I shall be glad to insert the man's name in the record. (R. E. Boyd.) The next item is $24.42 due the Chesapeake & Potomac Telephone Co. I may say that this item was inserted at the request of the chief clerk of the Department of Justice.

The CHAIRMAN. That is the second item for the Chesapeake & Potomac Telephone Co.?

Mr. DONOVAN. Yes, sir. This latter item was inserted at the request of the Department of Justice.

The CHAIRMAN. That has been submited by you to the Budget officer?

Mr. DONOVAN. All of the estimates have gone through the Budget Bureau.

The CHAIRMAN. Was this item audited?

Mr. DONOVAN. This is an audited claim; yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. What is the name of the party?

Mr. DONOVAN. The Chesapeake & Potomac Telephone Co., for service furnished the court of appeals in January, 1919.

The CHAIRMAN. You have an item of $20 for the Board of Children's Guardians.

Mr. DONOVAN. The $20 is due the Parker-Bridget Co., of this city, for two suits of clothes furnished wards of the Board of Children's Guardians one suit in December, 1917, and one suit in January, 1918. In that case we turned back into the Treasury $4,522.06. The

next item is $3, due the Miller-Dudley Co. for auto parts furnished for the use of the Water Department in August, 1917. In that case we turned back into the Treasury $7,104.30.

The CHAIRMAN. Sixty per cent of all these amounts is paid out of District funds?

Mr. DONOVAN. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. And 40 per cent out of the Treasury?

Mr. DONOVAN. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. The total of these claims is $1,914.94.
Mr. DONOVAN. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. For 1916 and subsequent years?

Mr. DONOVAN. Yes, sir.

BOARD OF CHILDREN'S GUARDIANS.

MAINTENANCE OF FEEBLE-MINDED CHILDREN.

The CHAIRMAN. For maintenance of feeble-minded children (white and colored) you ask $1,500. Will you be kind enough to tell us why you need that additional money?

Mrs. WEST. We want to be able to pay for the care of feeble-minded children under the supervision and care of the Board of Children's Guardians.

The CHAIRMAN. For 1921 you had $39,500, did you not?

Mrs. WEST. Yes.

The CHAIRMAN. For 1922 you had $35,000. How much of the $35.000 has thus far been expended?

Mrs. WEST. During the first half of the year $16,283.30.

The CHAIRMAN. That would still leave you between $18.000 and $19,000 for the remaining six months?

Mrs. WEST. Yes, sir. We have estimated the expenditures for the second half of the year to be $21,202.70.

The CHAIRMAN. How do you reach that estimate?

Mrs. WEST. We have had a large number of children examined this year by a psychiatrist, and we have a waiting list of children to send to institutions that will receive feeble-minded children. Several have just been admitted and others are waiting to be admitted. We pay from $33 to $40 a month for their care, one institution being in Pennsylvania and another institution in Vineland, N. J.

The CHAIRMAN. Have you more children applying now than you had during the last year?

Mrs. WEST. Yes; we have a larger number of children this year than last year.

The CHAIRMAN. Is the number greater now than it was during the first half of the year?

Mrs. WEST. Yes. We expended more money last year, but the reason is that there has been a group of colored children that we have been able to place in an institution at a lower rate than we had been paying for their care. We have had that for several months, so we think we will probably not need as great an amount this year as we had last year. We have estimated very closely on that and think we will absolutely need the additional $1,500.

The CHAIRMAN. You think you must have that in order to function properly?

Mrs. WEST. We feel we must not be in the position of having feeble-minded children for whom we can not provide adequate care, and I believe we will need that as the minimum amount.

The CHAIRMAN. No part of this money is used unless you have the children to care for?

Mrs. WEST. No.

The CHAIRMAN. So that if a number should not apply you would not have use for the money, but you would not be able to provide for them without having this amount?

Mrs. WEST. They are children who are already in our care and most of them are on the waiting list to be sent to institutions that will care for them. You see, we have no institution for feeble-minded in the District, so that we must ask institutions outside the city to accept our children. It usually takes them some time to decide whether they are of a type they will receive.

The CHAIRMAN. How many children have you under your care? Mrs. WEST. About 2,000; out of that number about 200 are feebleminded.

The CHAIRMAN. What supervision do you exercise of the 2.000? Mrs. WEST. All the possible supervision we can give with the number of persons we have to carry on the supervision.

The CHAIRMAN. What do you do with these children?

Mrs. WEST. The large majority of our wards are placed in family homes but some are in institutions.

The CHAIRMAN. How many of them are feeble-minded?

Mrs. WEST. About 200.

The CHAIRMAN. All told?

Mrs. WEST. Yes.

The CHAIRMAN. The monthly cost of caring for a feeble-minded child is what?

Mrs. WEST. We keep some of them at Elwyn, Pa., where we pay $33 a month, and at Vineland, N. J., we pay $40, and we are paying Miss Gundry, at Falls Church, Va., $25.

The CHAIRMAN. What will it average?

Mrs. WEST. We are averaging a little over $2,000 for all.

The CHAIRMAN. I mean, what is the average monthly cost per child?

Mrs. WEST. We are paying $22 for some children in family homes, colored children, and then $25, 33, and $40.

The CHAIRMAN. We would have to know the number in order to determine the average.

Mr. DONOVAN. I think the average would be about $30. The CHAIRMAN. Have you many of these children at $30? Mrs. WEST. About 200. Of course, some of the feeble-minded children are able to do something and they are placed with their relatives, where they can care for them properly, so that all of the feeble-minded children are not an expense.

The CHAIRMAN. What is the average monthly expenditure which you have to pay for these feeble-minded children?

Mrs. WEST. $2,800.

The CHAIRMAN. Per month?

Mrs. WEST. Yes, sir.

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