Capt. DALY. That $47,000,000 was for cantonment construction, and it is not anywhere near sufficient to complete the construction. There is not a dollar of that available.

The CHAIRMAN. You have $3,000,000 in the other bill.

Capt. DALY. About $890,000 of that is for repairs or annual repairs. The appropriation of $3,000,000 is not all for repairs. There are many other items in there that must be taken care of from that appropriation.

The CHAIRMAN. There are a good many of those buildings that are not being utilized, and the wear and tear on them can not be as great now.

Capt. DALY. If you will take the amount of money that we ask for each year for annual repairs, you will find that it is generally less than the amount actually required for repairs. We make it less in order to keep the appropriation down. You take the buildings, for instance, and you will find that a great many of the buildings at the posts, particularly at the older posts, are of frame construction, and as the years go by they depreciate or deteriorate, and the amount of repairs necessary becomes greater. I do not know that at any time during the last five years has the total amount appropriated for or estimated for annual repairs been sufficient to keep up the current repairs at the posts.

The CHAIRMAN. What are the particular things estimated for here, Captain?

Capt. DALY. At Fort Pickens, it is the barracks, officers' quarters, and storehouses. At Fort McRee

The CHAIRMAN (interposing). How much is that first item?

Capt. DALY. $10,600 for Fort Pickens. At Fort McRee, tramway, water tanks, and wharves. That is $11,200. At Fort Barrancas, barracks, officers' quarters, noncommissioned officers' quarters, coal sheds, storehouses, mess halls, wharf, roads, gutters, track approaches, and sewers, $26,100. The damage to boats, or the boats lost and destroyed, amounted to $27,200.

The CHAIRMAN. What boats were those?

Capt. DALY. There was the launch Page, two mine-planting boats, and nine mine-planting yawls.

The CHAIRMAN. What happened to them?

Capt. DALY. They were destroyed by the storm.

The CHAIRMAN. Is there anything else?

Capt. DALY. No, sir; that is all I have here.

The CHAIRMAN. Are these very urgent?

Capt. DALY. The repairs to buildings are urgent.

The CHAIRMAN. Are they occupied now?

Capt. DALY. Partly so; yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. How is it that these things are badly needed when they have gone for a year without being attended to?

Capt. DALY. There was no money to do it with.

The CHAIRMAN. Were all the repairs made to the other buildings out of the appropriation? Were all the repairs made except these? Capt. DALY. I do not know about that. I can not answer that. I do not know that they were.

The CHAIRMAN. They had money available, and they must ing used it in the places where it was most needed. The aquired to whether you are distributing the money where it is mo

Capt. DALY. The answer to that is this: A great deal of the money appropriated for repairs to barracks and quarters, etc., was used in connection with the troops on the Mexican border.

The CHAIRMAN. All of it was not.

Capt. DALY. A great deal of it at that time was.

The CHAIRMAN. Money appropriated has been available for this purpose for three fiscal years, and if this was very urgent it should have been done. The repairs to boats would come under transportation. Boats come under the head of transportation.

Capt. DALY. Yes, sir; that comes under the head of transportation. The $27.000 for boats could come out of transportation.

The CHAIRMAN. I do not understand why, just because a storm does some damage, the department thinks it ought to be specially appropriated for.

Capt. DALY. It is an extraordinary matter, which was not anticipated in the annual appropriations. The annual appropriations are just for the ordinary wear and tear. The transportation item can be taken care of, but so far as the barracks and quarters appropriation is concerned, we have not the money for that.

RENT OF BUILDINGS IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

OFFICE OF DEPOT QUARTERMASTER.

The CHAIRMAN. For rent of buildings, you are asking $9,230 for office of depot quartermaster.

Capt. DALY. I think that can be cut out. It is not now desired to occupy the space contemplated when the estimate under consideration was submitted.

RECRUITING STATION.

The CHAIRMAN. Then you ask $1,000 for a recruiting station? Capt. DALY. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. What is that for?

Capt. DALY. That is for a recruiting station that the Regular Army requires here in the city. That estimate is made on the recommendation of The Adjutant General.

The CHAIRMAN. Have you one now?

Capt. DALY. They are using a tent on the avenue. The District Commissioners gave them the use of the ground, and they put a tent on the ground authorized.

The CHAIRMAN. They will simply hire a storeroom?

Capt. DALY. They will hire a room for recruiting purposes, and fit it up as an office and put the necessary paraphenalia in there, including scales, etc.

OFFICE OF ATTENDING SURGEON.

The CHAIRMAN. Under the same head, for the office of attending surgeon, you ask $1,500.

Capt. DALY. That is to enlarge the space in the building now occued by the attending surgeons. That is for four rooms and an attic. attenu CHAIRMAN. What do you mean by attending surgeons? Are The Cha recruiting service?

deficiency bill y

Capt. DALY. No, sir. Col. Fisher will explain that.

Col. FISHER. A great many Army officers and their families live in town, and it is necessary to have medical attendance for them. The CHAIRMAN. What is this for-rent?

Col. FISHER. Yes, sir: for rent.

The CHAIRMAN. How much rent do we pay now?

Col. FISHER. $3,000.

The CHAIRMAN. How much space have you?

Capt. DALY. The attending surgeons and dispensary occupies all of the second floor with the exception of four rooms. He occupies space on the second and third floors of the building at 1106 Connecticut Avenue.

The CHAIRMAN. How much space is there outside of those four rooms?

Capt. DALY. I can tell you in a moment. There are 4,448 square feet, and this gives an additional space of 2,820 square feet.

The CHAIRMAN. How many rooms has he?

Capt. DALY. I do not know the number of rooms. The number of rooms is not given in the list.

The CHAIRMAN. Is it for only one doctor?

Capt. DALY. No, sir; there are several doctors.

Col. FISHER. There are four or five.

Capt. DALY. There are four additional rooms and an attic which are to be used. The attic is to be used for storage purposes. The CHAIRMAN. Is this a dispensary?

Col. FISHER. Yes, sir; it is a dispensary. They furnish medical attendance, of course, to all the Army personnel in the city, and they have a dispensary. They give the various officers treatment and furnish medicines. They need this for the overflow. There is a certain amount of storage room required for medical supplies. They are very busy people, and they are in great demand.

Capt. DALY. The additional space covered by this estimate is 2,820 square feet. There are four rooms now occupied by an architect; that is, there are four rooms that we propose to get from him. He is going to give them up, and that will give the entire second floor to the attending surgeons.

The CHAIRMAN. Where is this building?

Capt. DALY. At 1106 Connecticut Avenue.

Mr. GILLETT. Where is 1106 Connecticut Avenue?

Capt. DALY. It is in the block between L and M Streets.

STOREHOUSE FOR FIELD MEDICAL SUPPLY DEPOT.

(See p. 336.)

The CHAIRMAN. The next item is:

Storehouse for field medical supply depot, from October first, nineteen hundred and seventeen, to June thirtieth, nineteen hundred and eighteen, inclusive, $36,000.

Capt. DALY. Col. Fisher is prepared to talk to you about that, Mr. Chairman.

Col. FISHER. On account of the war, we have had to increase our medical supply depot very largely, and this is an additional building adjoining the present medical supply depot, and it is required to accommodate additional supplies.

The CHAIRMAN. Does this come within the provisions of the statute? You have made a lease of this building, have you not?

Col. FISHER. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. For how long?

Col. FISHER. For the rest of the year.

Capt. DALY. A lease has been made for six years, and the amount asked for here is to cover the rental from October 1 to June 30, at $4,000 per month.

The CHAIRMAN. How many feet have you here?

Col. FISHER. One hundred and ninety-two thousand feet.

The CHAIRMAN. That is in the neighborhood of 25 cents per foot? Col. FISHER. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. They offered to rent this building at $40,000 a

year.

Capt. DALY. They agreed to lease it under a long-term lease for $40.000.

The CHAIRMAN. You paid the limit for rental.

Col. FISHER. The first proposition was a six-year lease, and they had to come down to a three-year lease. They felt that they could not make quite as advantageous terms for three years as for a sixyear lease.

The CHAIRMAN. The Secretary of War asked me to put a provision in the bill authorizing the department to make a lease for additional storage space for the Army medical supply depot in the District of Columbia at $40,000, and he asked for authority to make it for 10 years. I then called his attention to the statute which authorizes contracts for the lease for periods not exceeding six years, of modern fireproof storage accommodations, within the District of Columbia, at a rate not exceeding 25 cents per square foot. Then they immediately make a contract in excess of the price offered, and at the price fixed in the statute.

Capt. DAY. It seems that on May 2, Mr. F. B. Poe, who seems to be the agent or owner of the property, amended his offer of April 12. His offer of April 12 was for $40,000 a year for 10 years. He amended it on May 2, making it $48,000 a year for a period of six years.

The CHAIRMAN. That was after he got this information that under the statute the Secretary could make a lease for six years at the rate of 25 cents per square foot. What was the department doing in a thing like that to let them jump the price from $40,000 to $48,000 ? Col. FISHER. It was the proposition of a longer lease. They could not make as advantageous a lease for a shorter period. The CHAIRMAN. Yes; you could get it for six years. You could make a six-year lease. He makes this offer on the 12th of April, and the Secretary wrote to me on the 14th of April. In about 10 days I sent him a reference to the statute. When did this man modify the offer?

Capt. DAY. On May 2.

at 25 cents That is the

The CHAIRMAN. That was just about the time I sent the letter to the Secretary. I wrote to the Secretary on April 26. Then, when they found that they could make a contract for six years per foot, they agreed to give $18,000 for this building. worst piece of business management I have seen yet. building arrangement, is it not?

This is a

Col. FISHER. It is under way now; yes, sir.
The CHAIRMAN. There was not even a building there at the time.
Col. FISHER. No, sir; it had to be built.

The CHAIRMAN. How many stories are to be in the building?
Col. FISHER. Two stories.

The CHAIRMAN. They offered to make it three stories with elevators, at a rental of approximately 20 cents per square foot. Then, when I sent the Secretary this letter calling attention to the fact that they could make a six years' lease at not exceeding 25 cents per square foot, they made this contract. I will put these letters in the record.

(The letters referred to are as follows:)

Hon. JOHN J. FITZGERALD,

Chairman Committee on Appropriations,

WAR DEPARTMENT, Washington, April 14, 1917.

House of Representatives.

MY DEAR MR. FITZGERALD: The accumulation of field medical equipments for the military force which is immediately in prospect will require a very great enlargement of the capacity of the depot for field medical supplies now located at 21 M Street NE., this city.

The rented buildings at present occupied by the depot are satisfactory in character and admirably located for access to railroads. The only difficulty with them is their inadequacy to meet the new conditions.

A representative of the owners of the adjacent unimproved property lying to the east of the present depot indicates their willingness to build thereon a concrete fireproof warehouse two stories high, giving a floor space of about 192,000 feet, on the basis of a 10-year lease, at $40,000 a year. This approximates a rate of near 25 cents a square foot, comparing very favorably, it is understood, with space rates paid by other branches of the Government in this city. I inclose herewith the agent's offer. The same is conditioned, it will be observed, upon acceptance on or before the 10th proximo, and upon the procurement by the Government of the right, franchise, and right of way to construct a spur railroad from the neighboring lines to the site of the proposed building. It seems to me the proposal is in every way adapted to the needs of the Government. Whether this particular proposal be accepted or not, some provision is urgently needed in that line. I earnestly recommend, therefore, that an item be inserted in one of the pending appropriation bills (preferably the sundry civil bill, under the heading Medical Department,” or in one of the deficiency bills now approaching enactment) to the following effect:

"Army medical supply depot: For rental of additional storage space for the Army medical supply depot in the District of Columbia, $40,000.

"The Secretary of War is hereby authorized to enter into a contract for the leasing of a modern, concrete, fireproof building in the District of Columbia for the use of the Medical Department, United States Army, as a medical supply depot for a period not to exceed 10 years, renewable at the option of the Government, for an additional period not exceeding 5 years, at an annual rental not exceeding $40,000, and at a rate per annum per square foot of available floor space not to exceed 25 cents.

The Secretary of War is hereby further authorized to enter into an agree ment or agreements with such railroad company or companies as he may deem proper for the purpose of establishing, maintaining, and operating a sufficient and satisfactory track connection or connections with said medical supply depot as said depot now exists or may be hereafter established: Provided, That so much of said track connection or connections with appurtenant turnouts and sidings as can not be constructed over any right of way or property now or hereafter owned or occupied by such railroad companies or companies may be located and constructed in, upon, over, and through public grounds, space, and streets of the United States as the same are now or may be hereafter ascertained and established."

An identical letter is this day sent to the Hon. Thomas S. Martin, United States Senate.

Very truly, yours,

NEWTON D. BAKER,
Secretary of War.