The following table shows the cost of maintaining these plants for the fiscal years 1921 and 1922 and the estimate for 1923: From this table it would appear that the saving in yearly maintenance cost would be about $400,000. As a matter of fact it will be much more, probably more nearly twice this figure, for the reason that most of these plants have about reached the end of their life, and without extensive repairs will hold together but a short time longer, especially due to the fact that for reasons of economy repairs heretofore made have been deliberately limited to those of an emergency nature on the chance that the stores would be removed before the buildings gave way. This is shown in the decrease in the yearly cost indicated above, instead of an increase, as would normally be expected with plants of th's character. Temporary facilities of this nature can be expected to have a life of about five years. Inspections recently made showed that this expectation is just about correct and that unless unreasonable sums are spent in practically rebuilding the facilities they will go to pieces within the next 12 or 18 months. As against the saving indicated above there will be slight increases in the present organizations at the eight permanent depots into which the stores will be moved, as follows: Eight clerks, one-half time, at $1,200 average. Total___ $4.800 10.000 2,000 16.800 No increases in maintenance of buildings, equipment, etc., at the permanent depots will be required. So far as can be foreseen the additional expense at permanent depots will be $16,800, and it certainly will not exceed $20,000. On the other hand, in connection with savings, no account has been taken of the decrease in salvage value of the temporary plants from year to year, which would be far more than $20,000. The reduced ammunition reserve being retained is considered by the War Department to be the minimum which will give this country a reasonable degree of preparedness. The stores to be moved, and which cost the Government $110,680,000, are a part of this reserve, and if salvage would entirely unbalance the stocks, since it would leave us with shells without powder charges, charges 1 Salvage value is as of February, 1922, and will further diminish from year to rear as the property deteriorates. Middletown depot not to be salvaged; to be turned over to Air Service to receive stores from Fairfield, Ohio, air depot, which must be evacuated. without shells, shells without fuzes, etc. For this reason the War Department can not accept responsibility for salvaging these stores, and must continue to operate these establishments unless relieved of this responsibility by a direct mandate from the Congress. If the appropriation is not granted it will be necessary for the War Department to proceed immediately with extensive repairing of the temporary facilities with funds now on hand, and which it was expected to turn into the Treasury. If the amount asked for is appropriated it will be used to pay the cost of moving the stores to permanent storage, including both the freight and handling charges, and the shipments will commence immediately after these funds become available. While perhaps not strictly a deficiency in that no obligation of the amount has already been incurred, it is considered that the inclusion of the item in the deficiency bill is necessary and in the interests of the Government, since the only object of the expenditure is to save money, and the saving can not commence until after the stores are removed. It will take an average of nine months to remove the stores after the funds become available. Since every day of delay is costing the Government over $1,000, the advisability of making the money immediately available is obvious. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 1922. ENGINEER DEPARTMENT. STATEMENT OF COL. JAMES G. STEESE, PRESIDENT ALASKA ROAD COMMISSION. CONSTRUCTION AND MAINTENANCE OF ROADS, BRIDGES, AND TRAILS IN ALASKA. The CHAIRMAN. Your item is as follows: Construction and maintenance of roads, bridges, and trails, Alaska: The Secretary of War may authorize the board of road commissioners for Alaska to incur obligations prior to July 1, 1922, for the construction and maintenance of roads, bridges, and trails in Alaska of not to exceed 75 per cent of the appropriation for this purpose for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1922, payment of these obligations to be made from the appropriation for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1923. What have you to say about that? Col. STEESE. That will enable us to start immediately with the purchase of forage, bridge material, etc., so that we can begin to ship it into Alaska over the snow before it goes out this spring, in order that we may be ready to transport our materials before the spring break-up on the rivers, which occurs just before the end of the fiscal year. Otherwise we would have to wait until the money in our regular annual appropriation became available. This means a saving of a great many thousands of dollars, because the money we get now would go much further than it would go at the beginning of the fiscal year. That is true because freighting over the snow is much cheaper than freighting over land, and many outlying districts can not be reached unless we start early in the spring. Boats must leave Seattle in May or early in June for points on the upper Kuskokwim and the upper Yukon Rivers. A striking example of the advantage of this provision might be given from our operations up there last year. We had the material for one bridge, amounting to probably $15,000 in value or between fifteen and twenty thousand dollars, and we could not get that material ready for shipment until the last boat. That boat got caught in the ice on the Yukon River; and, instead of being able to put in the bridge last winter, it had to go over. It cost us $1,200 to patch up a very old bridge to carry the traffic for another year, and the work of constructing the new bridge had to be put off for an entire year. We did not spend all of the $15,000 for that bridge then and the material for it was laid down. near the site; but that $1,200 that we did spend in keeping the traffic open by repairing the old bridge was money practically thrown away. It means that, so far as work in Alaska is concerned, money made available in time goes very much further than it otherwise would. The CHAIRMAN. You mean that the climatic conditions up there are such that you have to work in advance of the fiscal year? Col. STEESE. Yes, sir; the beginning of the fiscal year catches us at about the middle of the working season, and we must start several months ahead of the actual construction work so as to have the material on the site. In many cases we start the men ahead of time in order to take advantage of the open weather early in the spring. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 1922. RIVER AND HARBOR WORK. STATEMENT OF MAJ. STUART C. GODFREY. PAYMENT OF CLAIMS. The CHAIRMAN. For the payment of claims adjusted and settled under section 4 of the river and harbor appropriation act approved June 25, 1910, and section 9 of the river and harbor appropriation act approved June 5, 1920, and certified to Congress during the present session in House Document No. 168, you ask for $1.105.37. Maj. GODFREY. Those claims have all been adjusted and settled in accordance with the provisions of the river and harbor act of June 25, 1910, and the river and harbor act of June 5, 1920, which provide for compensation for the actual damages in cases of collision between Government vessels and private vessels or structures. The total amount involved in these three claims is $1,105.37. AUTHORITY TO ADJUST CLAIMS IN EXCESS OF $500. The CHAIRMAN. I notice one item of $839. Is not that above the limit of the authority? Maj. GODFREY. It is above the limit of the authority of the Chief of Engineers to settle but not to adjust. The CHAIRMAN. Has he the power to do anything in regard to claims of over $500? Maj. GODFREY. Yes, sir; he has power to make adjustments and then report the matter to Congress. Mr. SISSON. That leaves it in the shape of a claim. There is no legislative warrant here that would not be subject to a point of order for the settlement of any amount over and above $500, as pro vided by law. They have sometimes scaled these matters; but they should be reported to the Committee on Claims. Maj. GODFREY. That provision of the act of 1910 was amended by section 9 of the river and harbor act approved June 25, 1920. The CHAIRMAN. What does that provide? Maj. GODFREY. It now provides that the Chief of Engineers, subject to the approval of the Secretary of War, shall have authority to adjust and settle claims for damages in cases where the damage does not exceed $500, and to pay the same from the appropriation directly, and to report those that exceed $500 to Congress for its consideration. Mr. SISSON. He shall report them to Congress for its consideration, and that means they would go to the Committee on Claims. That does not give those claims any standing or prestige over any other claims. The CHAIRMAN. The only claims we can take under consideration are the ones for $199.19 and for $67.18. Mr. BYRNS. You read a moment ago a provision relating to claims amounting to over $500. Maj. GODFREY. The law provides that we shall report such claims as exceed $500 to Congress for its consideration. Mr. BYRNS. Do you do anything in the way of adjusting them? The CHAIRMAN. He has no authority to adjust anything over $500. Mr. BYRNS. I wondered if it gave the Chief of Engineers the right to adjust such claims? Maj. GODFREY. Yes; that is my understanding-that is, to arrive at an agreement as to what would be accepted in final settlement. Mr. SISSON. The question of whether that is a correct finding or not would go to the Court of Claims like any other claim. Maj. GODFREY. Claims that can not be adjusted under the abovequoted law will depend upon special acts of Congress authorizing reimbursement. Our understanding is that we do not now have to report claims under $500. The only reason they are reported in this case, those less than $500, is because they occurred prior to the passage of the second act referred to. Our understanding and our instructions to the district engineers are that those claims not exceeding $500 will be promptly paid by the district engineers from the appropriation that is directly involved. Mr. SISSON. You would have to get witnesses here to establish these claims. Maj. GODFREY. We have the original papers. Mr. SISSON. But we would have the right to cross-examine the officers on them. Maj. GODFREY. These two particular claims arose prior to the date of the amending act. Under the old act we had to report the claims, no matter what the amount of them might be. One of these arose on January 14, 1917, and another on March 5, 1920, both of them being prior to the act of June 5, 1920, which is the date of the amending act. Therefore, we are reporting them under the provisions of law which have governed us for many years. However, our understanding is that under this act of June 5, 1920, we are to no longer report any claims below $500 in amount, but we do report those above $500, after reaching a tentative agreement or adjustment with the parties concerned. Mr. SISSON. You do actually make a report to the Secretary of War, and he reports them to Congress in his annual report? Maj. GODFREY. We make a full report. Mr. SISSON. It will not be long before we have a system of bureaucracy built up in this country that will be tantamount to so many courts. They will take the jurisdiction of the Court of Claims. Maj. GODFREY. I would like to say in regard to these claims that we have eliminated from them all indirect charges. It is the tendency of the individuals making claims to desire not only actual reimbursement for their damages, but demurrage, expenses for their boats while laid up, etc., but all of those charges have been eliminated. These represent the actual expenses that are reimbursable on account of the damages to the vessels involved. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 1922. DISPOSITION OF REMAINS OF OFFICERS, ENLISTED MEN, AND CIVILIAN EMPLOYEEE. STATEMENT OF COL. GEORGE H. PENROSE, QUARTERMASTER CORPS. The CHAIRMAN. Your item is as follows: The Secretary of War is authorized to expend not to exceed $856,680 of the appropriation, Disposition of remains of officers, soldiers, and civilian employees," in the act making appropriations for sundry civil expenses of the Government for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1922, and for other purposes, approved March 4, 18921, for purchase of such real estate as is necessary to establish suitable burial places in Europe for American military dead, and for suitable and necessary improvements thereon, of which not to exceed $111,000 may be applied to the purchase of land as follows: Aisne-Marne. $20,000; Suresnes. $9,000; Somme, $11,000; Brookwood, $31,000; St. Mihiel, $15,000; Oise-Aisne, $20,000; Flanders Field, $5,000. STATUS OF 1922 APPROPRIATIONS. How much of the money set apart for this purpose has been expended? Col. PENROSE. We have ample funds. The CHAIRMAN. How much of the money set apart has been expended? Col. SMITH. I have the exact figures. The unobligated balance in the appropriation for the fiscal year 1921 is $5.162.53, and we have $5,835,086.02 as the unexpended balance pertaining to the appropriation for the fiscal year 1922. The CHAIRMAN. Tell us how much of this money has been spent so far and how much now remains. Col. PENROSE. $31,000,000 was the original appropriation, and we have expended $23.864,413.73. The CHAIRMAN. What is the balance? Col. PENROSE. The balance is $7.132.586.27. The CHAIRMAN. As of what date? |