SUBMARINE BASE.

(See p. 321.)

The CHAIRMAN. Have you the submarine base?

Col. BROWN. I have some information on that. I can only give you the details in regard to the estimate, as the estimates were based on items proposed by the Navy Department.

The CHAIRMAN. What has been appropriated already?

Col. BROWN. $750,000 has been appropriated.

The CHAIRMAN. Do you know what is being done with that money? Col. BROWN. Requisitions are pending with me now for the purchase of material as far as the funds will permit the work to be carried on. I am advertising for material at the present time.

The CHAIRMAN. Can you tell us just what was to be done with the $750,000? Have you that information?

Col. BROWN. The base will consist of a system of wharves, at which the boats will be docked, together with certain shops, magazines, cranes, and things like that for handling. It will be provided with electrical appliances which will be furnished with power from the Gatun substation for charging the storage batteries and operating the shops on the base.

As you probably know, the place at which this is to be located, Coco Solo Point, is some distance from Colon, and is not readily accessible to any other quarters on the Canal Zone. Therefore the Navy Department desires to construct quarters for the officers and barracks for the men, because it will be very uncomfortable to require them to live on the submarines. The location is a rather low, swampy area. Therefore we will have to dredge out and fill in quite a considerable area of land to make land for the site. That is necessary, however, because it is the most available and most satisfactory site at the Atlantic end of the canal for such a station. That is a general outline of it; but if there are any other details you would like to know

The CHAIRMAN (interposing). It is a Navy matter.

Col. BROWN. The necessity for the various details is a matter for the Navy Department to handle. Of course we are only interested in the construction work, because of the fact that Congress directed the work to be done by the governor.

The CHAIRMAN. All right, we will take it up with them.

SATURDAY, AUGUST 12, 1917.

TREASURY DEPARTMENT.

STATEMENT OF MR. S. R. JACOBS, DISBURSING CLERK, TREASURY DEPARTMENT.

ADDITIONAL CLERKS, DISBURSING OFFICE.

Mr. BYRNS. You have submitted an estimate for two clerks in the office of the disbursing clerk-one of class 4 and one of class 3. Will you please state why these clerks are necessary?

Mr. JACOBS. The present office was organized on July 1, 1910, and at that time a force of 11 clerks was provided. That force was

reduced to 10 clerks on July 1, 1915, and has remained at that number until the present time. The work of the office increases at the rate of a little more than 10 per cent each year. I have a statement here of the increase from 1911 to 1917 which could be placed in the record. This statement shows the increase in the various classes of work.

Mr. BYRNS. That statement may go into the record. (The statement referred to is as follows:)

Comparison of the work performed in the office of disbursing clerk, Treasury Department, during the fiscal year ended June 30, 1911 (the first year of the present organization), and during the fiscal year ended June 30, 1917.

Mr. BYRNS. What is the present condition of the work in your office?

Mr. JACOBS. Well, it is a class of work that must be kept current, of course, being largely the payment of salaries and expenses, and that part we manage to keep current. Some parts of the work, however, are necessarily a little in arrears. I have at the present time two clerks on detail, but one of them will leave at the end of this month, and I do not know that I shall be able to replace that detail, they are so hard to get.

Mr. BYRNS. Where did you get those details from?

Mr. JACOBS. One of them is from the Internal Revenue Bureau, and the other is from the Bureau of War Risk Insurance.

Mr. BYRNS. Of what grade clerks are these?

Mr. JACOBS. One is getting $900 and the other $1,100 per annum. Mr. BYRNS. Which one of those clerks is it that you expect to lose?

Mr. JACOBS. The one from the Bureau of War Risk Insurance has only a temporary appointment, which expires at the end of this month, and she can not be reappointed, and I do not know that I will be able to get another detail from any other place.

Mr. BYRNS. That is the one you expect to lose?

Mr. JACOBS. Yes, sir. Now, the work has increased steadily from year to year, but up to the last year or two I have been able to keep up by improving office methods, eliminating useless work, etc., but for the last year or two I seem to have reached the limit of savings by means of reorganization, etc.; so that it has been necessary to make details. The increases of work are permanent. The office, as you can see from that statement, is doing nearly twice as much work as it did seven years ago. The increases are needed now and will be needed permanently.

Mr. BYRNS. How many clerks did you say you had?

Mr. JACOBS. Ten regular clerks.

Mr. BYRNS. Ten regulars and those two on detail?
Mr. JACOBS. Yes, sir.

Mr. BYRNS. Have you received any increase in your force in recent years?

Mr. JACOBS. No, sir; the force was decreased. I had 11 clerks in 1911, the first year, but the number was decreased in 1915 to 10 clerks. Mr. BYRNS. Does it require any overtime on the part of the clerks to do the work?

Mr. JACOBS. Yes, sir.

Mr. BYRNS. About what amount?

Mr. JACOBS. From half an hour to an hour. Of course, the current work must be done each day.

Mr. BYRNS. Does that apply to all the clerks?

Mr. JACOBS. To practically all of them.

Mr. BYRNS. Is it regular overtime?

Mr. JACOBS. Not every day. Some days we get out on time, but on other days we do not. For example, night before last it was about 6 o'clock when we got through.

Mr. BYRNS. In your present organization you have 10 clerks, as you state; 3 of them are of class 4, 2 of class 3, 3 of class 2, and 2 of class 1. If this estimate is allowed it will give you 4 clerks of class 4 and 3 clerks of class 3. In other words, there would be 7 out of the 12, if this estimate was allowed, that would be in the two higher grades.

Mr. JACOBS. I have requested clerks of the higher grades for two reasons: First, the work is of high grade and requires clerks of exceptional ability and industry. The services of such clerks are worth more than $1,200 or $1,400 per annum; second, it is exceedingly difficult to secure a competent clerk at $1,200 per annum or to retain his services if secured.

By improving office methods and eliminating useless work it has been possible for us to dispatch a greatly increased volume of business without an increase in force. In this process practically all lowgrade work, such as addressing envelopes, copying, etc., has been eliminated. The clerks must work together as one unit, and each should be competent to handle any portion of the work interchangeably. Each clerk should possess a comprehensive knowledge of the laws, regulations, and decisions governing the disbursing of public funds. He should also be a bookkeeper and an expert typewriter. The highest degree of accuracy is indispensable, for each is part of a machine and all must work together. A mistake on the part of one clerk may tie up the office and keep the entire force several hours overtime to discover the error.

A few days ago I lost one of my best clerks at a salary of $1,200 per annum by reason of his being transferred to another office with a promotion. Another man at a salary of $1,400 per annum is seeking a transfer, and will probably secure the transfer with a promotion. These men had served several years in the office, were capable and industrious, and were rapidly approaching that stage of efficiency which can only come by long service and close study of this most difficult work. I can not hope to replace them at once at the salaries they were receiving.

4400-17- 41

Mr. BYRNS. That is a complaint, of course, which is made by many of the bureaus in the various departments, and it is one that it seems to be impossible to avoid so long as the chiefs of bureaus in the departments bid against each other. Now, I presume if these two clerks were allowed, that you would expect to promote efficient clerks in your bureau and would take in the new clerks at the lower grades?

Mr. JACOBS. Yes, sir. I have some very efficient men and women there who are worth a great deal more money than they are getting, and they are discouraged. They work very hard, and I do not blame them for seeking transfers where the opportunities are better.

MONDAY, AUGUST 13, 1917.

OFFICE OF TREASURER OF THE UNITED STATES.

STATEMENTS OF MR. WILLARD F. WARNER, CHIEF CLERK; MR. G. F. ALLEN, CHIEF DIVISION OF ACCOUNTING; MR. W. S. ELLIOTT, CHIEF DIVISION OF BANKS, LOANS, AND POSTAL SAVINGS; AND MR. C. J. GATES, CHIEF DIVISION OF REDEMPTIONS.

DIVISION OF ACCOUNTING, ADDITIONAL EMPLOYEES.

Mr. BYRNS. Your item is on page 11, as follows: "For additional employees during the fiscal year 1918 at annual rates of compensation as follows: Clerks-1 of class 4, 6 of class 3, 5 of class 2. 20 of class 1, 16 at $1.000 each, 2 at $900 each; expert counters-5 at $1,200 each, 5 at $1,000 each, 5 at $900 each; in all, $75.700." Will you explain why these additional employees are needed?

Mr. ALLEN. Mr. Chairman, the Accounting Division of the Treasurer's office, of which I am the chief, handles the accounts of every disbursing officer of the United States, and every check drawn on those accounts must be paid by this division. They are received from the Subtreasuries, the national bank depositories, and Federal reserve banks. We are handling now 51 per cent more checks than we were handling a year ago. That was for the month of July. This increase is due almost entirely, or I might say entirely, to the war, the heavy increase being in the accounts of the Navy and War Departments' disbursing officers. We have opened up something like 1,000 new accounts for disbursing officers of the Navy and War Departments. The increase that we are asking for is about 35 per cent of the present force. We have 84 employees in the accounting division and we are asking for 30 more to handle this increase of work. In this estimate we have not anticipated any further increases that we know are bound to come, but this is to handle the work that is actually before us at the present time.

Mr. BYRNS. What is the status or condition of this particular work at this time?

Mr. ALLEN. The current work we keep up to date; that is, as the checks are received from the Subtreasuries and banks they must be cleared in order for us to know whether the balances in the accounts are sufficient to pay the checks that are being presented. We receive telegrams every day from the Federal reserve banks and Subtreas

uries asking whether a particular disbursing officer has balance enough in his account to pay certain checks. That is work that we must keep up to date, and we are allowing the other work to run behind that in order to keep it up.

Mr. BYRNS. What is the other work that is allowed to run behind? Mr. ALLEN. The statements of disbursing officers' accounts. We have to make statements of the checks paid, and we let that work accumulate rather than let the current work fall behind. Every disbursing officer receives a statement at the end of each month of his account, showing the numbers and amounts of checks paid, and a copy of that statement is given to the auditor with the checks. The auditors of the different departments can not do their work until we furnish them the checks. They audit from vouchers to checks, or from checks to vouchers, so that any delay in rendering statements means delay in auditing the accounts in the auditors' offices. I might cite one or two instances showing what may happen as a result of not keeping the work current. The troops on the border have to have money, and the cash has to be shipped to them from New Orleans. The quartermaster in New Orleans will draw his check for $80,000 on the Assistant Treasurer. Now, when that was done, and the Assistant Treasurer telegraphed to know whether the balance in the account was sufficient to pay that check--that is, the balance on the Treasurer's books, our work then had fallen behind, it was about a day behind. I ascertained that there was not sufficient balance in the account to pay the check. We searched through the unopened mail looking for a credit. We searched for a credit or a transfer to this account, but it could not be found, and I had just had a telegram prepared to send them, dishonoring the check, when we discovered a credit in the regular course of work. This particular deposit was made in a bank that did not usually receive deposits for the credit of this account. You can see what an embarrassment that would have been to the Army if the quartermaster in New Orleans had failed to get his check cashed so that the money could be shipped to the quartermaster on the border. Instances like that are constantly occurring, and unless we can keep that work up to date and know exactly what is in the morning's mail it is apt to cause serious embarrassment. It is work that can not be delayed.

Mr. BYRNS. What work is being allowed to get behind in order to keep that work current?

Mr. ALLEN. The work we have let accumulate when it is necessary to keep the other work current is the statements of the disbursing officers' accounts.

Mr. BYRNS. To go to the auditors?

Mr. ALLEN. Yes, sir. At the end of each month we go to work and arrange the paid checks in their numerical sequence, and we send the statement of the account to the disbursing officer himself, so he can check up his own account and ascertain whether the checks have been paid for the correct amount, and also the amount of his checks outstanding. He has to check this up with his account current which he renders to the auditor. The auditor must get the checks from us after we get the acknowledgment of the disbursing officer that we have paid the right amounts. Then the auditor goes through the account and makes a comparison between the checks and the vouchers to see that the proper expenditures have been made.