APPENDIX K. REPORT OF THE GENERAL PURCHASING OFFICER AND CHIEF OF THE WASHINGTON OFFICE. THE PANAMA CANAL, Washington, D. C., July 17, 1917. SIR: I have the honor to submit the following report on the work of the Washington office during the fiscal year ended June 30, 1917: The undersigned has continued on duty throughout the year as general purchasing officer and chief of the Washington office. The following divisions are under my charge as such: General office, including the appointment division and the correspondence and record division; office of the assistant auditor; and the purchasing depart ment. There has been no material change in the organization during the fiscal year, although the loss of employees through transfers and resignations has been quite heavy. More than the usual amount of labor was involved in securing an adequate supply of skilled mechanics in the United States, especially in the shipbuilding and repairing trades, due to the abnormal activities in the various manufacturing plants and shipyards, caused by the war, and the rising scale of wages paid at such plants. The difficulty experienced in securing acceptances from among those selected for appointment is evidenced by the fact that 54 per cent of those tendered employment failed to accept, as against 48 per cent during the preceding fiscal year. During the year 1,417 persons within the United States were tendered employment for duty on the Isthmus in grades above that of laborer; 767 accepted and were appointed, covering 72 different positions. Three thousand six hundred and forty-nine persons, including new appointees, those returning from leave of absence, members of employees families and employees of contractors and their families, were provided with transportation from the United States to the Isthmus; and in response to inquiries and applications for employment during this period and in the issuance of appointments 18,421 letters were written, 3,401 telegrams sent, and 25,009 circulars mailed, being an increase in each item over the preceding fiscal year. The work of the correspondence and record division has continued heavy, due, first, to the necessity of preparing and submitting to Congress numerous items of special legislation, and, second, to the large number of military matters handled through this office. In addition, this division handles practically all correspondence relating to matters of general policy; replies to the many questions which are constantly being propounded concerning the canal, both by shipping interests and the general public; keeps track of legislation relating to or of interest to the canal, and obtains copies of bills and other congressional documents for the Isthmus; handles enciphering and deciphering of all cables, as well as revision of codes from time to time; conducts correspondence regarding estates of deceased employees and deportations of indigents and insane; handles distribution of The Panama Canal Record, navigation circulars, annual reports, and other canal literature. The work of recording, indexing, and filing of general correspondence is also carried on in this division. The following statements show the volume of the transactions in the office of the assistant auditor, which includes the work of the disbursing clerk: Claim statement. On hand July 1, 1916. Received from July 1, 1916, to June 30, 1917. To be accounted for.. Passed for payment from July 1, 1916, to June 30, 1917. On hand June 30, 1917___ 464 18, 214 18,678 18, 321 357 There was a decrease of 157 claims received, and an increase of 213 claims examined and passed for payment over the preceding year. Financial statement of receipts and disbursements, July 1, 1916, to June 30, During the fiscal year 15,664 vouchers for payment, amounting to $10,853,282.68; 274 collection vouchers, amounting to $508,257.69 (not including $118.50 income tax, and 1,249 settlements by transfer of appropriation, aggregating $665,317.90, were given an administrative examination. This was an increase over the last preceding fiscal year of 482 disbursement vouchers prepared and examined. There was an increase of disbursements made amounting to $678,688.66 more than for the preceding fiscal year, and an increase of $138,191.14 in miscellaneous collections made. There was also an increase of $248,317.90 in transfer settlements over the preceding fiscal year. The duties of the assistant auditor's office include examination and certification of claims and accounts before payment by the disbursing clerk; handling correspondence relative to claims and accounts; preparation of vouchers; examination of cash, and net balances stated on monthly accounts current of the disbursing clerk before submission to the Auditor for the War Department for settlement; classification of all expenditures in United States covering salaries and incidental expenses, together with salaries and expenses in connection with purchase, inspection, and testing of material; issuance of bills collectible and collections made, including claims sent from Isthmus for transfer of appropriation and other bills chargeable to contractors; ascertaining and transmitting to the Isthmus monthly statements of Treasury Department and disbursing clerk's balances; preparation of annual bonds; preparation of reports for defense of suits in Court of Claims and other courts; checking and reporting on annual inventories of Panama Canal property in the United States; preparation of cablegrams to Isthmus advising of deposits for tolls and handling correspondence relating thereto. During the fiscal year 169 contracts were prepared, amounting to $5,096,989.48, an increase of 37 in number and $723,192.26 in amount over the preceding year. Many cases involving questions of law were referred to the assistant auditor for examination and report during the year. The assistant auditor, as the legal officer in the United States of The Panama Canal, has, by direction of the chief of office, continued to render assistance to the Department of Justice in connection with the preparation for trial, and at the trial, in the courts, of all cases in connection with contracts made by The Panama Canal. The following is a statement of the work performed in connection with cases in the various United States courts, and in the Court of Claims: The two suits pending in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, entitled A. J. Rennolds & Bro. v. United States, one under Washington Order 52140 and one under Washington Order 52411, have been appealed by plaintiffs to the United States Circuit Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. It will be remembered that these suits were decided by the district court in favor of The Panama Canal, and that judgment was obtained for damages on a counter claim in the amount of $10,671.09. In a similar case, that of the Tweedie Trading Co., against The Panama Canal, the plaintiffs' appeal was dismissed by the United States Circuit Court of Appeals on the ground that the United States Supreme Court alone has jurisdiction to review judgments of courts in actions brought under the Tucker Act (24 Stat., 505). These suits of Rennolds & Bro. were brought under the same act and the United States district attorney for the Southern District of New York has consented that the cases go off the calendar pending the disposition of the Tweedie case. He has given notice that he |