make a full equipment. I thought that was an excessive estimate, but that was the estimate they put in, and gradually as we have had the money we are introducing it, but it hampers us because we spend so close to our appropriation for ordinary necessities.

ADJUTANT GENERAL'S OFFICE.

STATEMENT OF BRIG. GEN. GEO. ANDREWS, THE ADJUTANT GENERAL, UNITED STATES ARMY.

Mr. JOHNSON. The item for The Adjutant General's Office is on page 144 of the bill. I see that you have made a reduction of about 50 people.

Gen. ANDREWS. Yes, sir.

REDUCTION OF FORCE.

Mr. JOHNSON. How is that done, General.

Gen. ANDREWS. That is a reduction of 8 per cent of the 1913 appropriation, and 49 of them are clerks of the $1,000 class, and 1 is an assistant messenger.

Mr. JOHNSON. Was it found that the reduction could be made without embarrassing the office?

Gen. ANDREWS. The reduction has not quite been made. There are 33 vacancies, and 3 transfers are to be ordered.

Mr. JOHNSON. Do you contemplate not filling the vacancies as they occur until the whole number shall equal 50-is that it?

Gen. ANDREWS. Yes, sir.

Mr. JOHNSON. Was it found that practically the entire 5 per cent reduction called for by the legislative bill could be made in one bureau? What about the other bureaus? Can they stand any of it? Gen. ANDREWS. I do not quite understand the question.

Mr. JOHNSON. The legislative bill provided that vacancies in the War Department should not be filled until the whole number of vacancies equals 5 per cent of the number of employees.

Gen. ANDREWS. Yes, sir.

Mr. JOHNSON. And I was asking you why two-thirds of all the reduction required under this 5 per cent provision could be made in one office or one bureau.

Gen. ANDREWS. The 33 vacancies were casualties, resignations, deaths, etc., and none of these could be filled because of the legislative requirement. The three transfers directed were to prevent reductions in other offices, I understand, which the Secretary supposed could not bear their share of the reduction without embarrassment at this time. The reduction in my office has apparently caused no embarrassment at the present time. There is a certain kind of work that will continue for a number of years, and delay due to the reduction is not observable in the current work. I refer to such work as is directed in the legislative, executive, and judicial appropriation act of February 25, 1903, authorizing and requiring the compilation, under the direction of the Secretary of War, from such records as are in the possession of the United States and from such other authentic records as may be obtained by loan from the several

States and other official sources, of a complete roster of the enlisted men and officers in the Union and Confederate Armies.

Mr. JOHNSON. You speak about the reduction in your office and say that so far you have not been embarrassed by reason of it. Is there any possibility that when Congress meets and Members of Congress begin to call upon you for the records of soldiers the work of your office will increase? Is not that office closer to the Members of Congress than any other office in the War Department?

Gen. ANDREWS. Yes, sir; it is; and the work will increase when Congress convenes.

Mr. JOHNSON. That is why I asked that question. You stated that thus far the reductions made have not embarrassed the office, but I wondered if you have had a fair test of it yet until Congress is in session?

Gen. ANDREWS. Scarcely a fair test as yet. a fair test as yet. The recent pension bill adjusting pensions according to age and length of service has necessitated my transferring to that work some 20 clerks. The calls from the Pension Office run from 400 to 1,100 a day. The transfers have been made from that work which I have called continuous, and further transfers may have to be made when Congress comes into session. The result will be further delay in the compilation of the statistics and information relating to the Civil War.

Mr. JOHNSON. Is there any other item in the bill in which you are interested?

Gen. ANDREWS. The clause that the employees provided for the Adjutant General's Office shall be exclusively engaged in the work of that office during the fiscal year had its origin in the Record and Pension Office, for which certain clerks were provided for the purpose of bringing the records up to date, so that they could be used expeditiously. This clause has remained in the appropriation bill ever since. There appears to be some need or desirability of retaining this clause now, as heretofore, and for the same reason; that is, that a large portion of these clerks are engaged in the very same work which refers exclusively to records and pensions.

Mr. JOHNSON. If a large number of them are still engaged in that kind of work, the reason that impelled Congress originally to provide that they were not to be interfered with and carried to other bureaus would still obtain, would it not?

Gen. ANDREWS. Yes, sir. If the same efficiency and promptness in the dispatch of the work is to be expected, and provided also that there were any disposition to use these clerks elsewhere, that is true. I have no knowledge of any such intention.

OFFICE OF JUDGE ADVOCATE GENERAL.

STATEMENT OF BRIG. GEN. ENOCH H. CROWDER, JUDGE ADVOCATE GENERAL, UNITED STATES ARMY.

CHIEF CLERK.

Gen. CROWDER. I have asked for but a single increase.
Mr. JOHNSON. You want the salary of the chief clerk increased?

Gen. CROWDER. Yes; increased from $2,500 to $3,000.

Mr. JOHNSON. Was that asked for in the last bill?

Gen. CROWDER. It was, and has been for a number of years. I am simply continuing the policy of my predecessor in repeating the recommendation. The clerk in whose behalf it is made has been in the service about 24 years. He has acquired expert knowledge of the river and harbor work and handles all of the questions in the first instance that arise under the appropriations for improvement of rivers and harbors. In my office is prepared all the instruments which are issued by the Secretary of War in connection with river and harbor improvements, building of piers, construction of wharves and all those marine structures necessary in the execution of our navigation laws.

Mr. JOHNSON. How long since he was promoted?

Gen. CROWDER. He was promoted in 1907 from $2,000 to $2,250, and in 1911 was given further promotion to $2,500; $2,500 is his present salary.

In this connection may I call attention to the hearing before the Senate committee on House resolution 24023, document of May 20, 1912, pages 22 to 31, inclusive, and the testimony of the Secretary of War on pages 306 to 308, inclusive. Congress treated me with liberality last year and gave me the increases I asked for except this

one.

OFFICE OF CHIEF OF QUARTERMASTER CORPS.

STATEMENT OF MAJ. GEN. J. B. ALESHIRE, UNITED STATES ARMY, CHIEF OF THE QUARTERMASTER CORPS.

Mr. JOHNSON. General, pages 148, 149, and 150 are all consolidated on page 150, and you are in charge of the consolidated bureau? Gen. ALESHIRE. Yes, sir.

Mr. JOHNSON. General, we will be glad to hear any statement you desire to make.

Gen. ALESHIRE. These separate estimates-the one appearing on page 148, under the Quartermaster General's Office; 149, under Office of the Commissary General; and the one on 149, under Office of the Paymaster General-were all submitted before the consolidation was effected. Then under date of the latter part of September the Acting Secretary of War directed that these separate estimates be recalled and directed the consolidated office to submit a consolidated estimate, and the one appearing on page 150 is that estimate. That calls for 315 employees, at the amount of $404,220, which is net, after making a deduction of 24 employees in accordance with the instructions of the Secretary of War. I have his letter here, which directed this consolidated department to reduce 24 employees under the act of Congress requiring a reduction of 5 per cent. These 24 employees were a little in excess of 5 per cent. However, we could spare them, in view of the consolidation, and it was made. I think it was a little over 7 per cent of what we had.

Now, that brings us to this estimate on page 150. I now have a further reduction to recommend, and that will reduce this estimate to $378,670, which is a net reduction of $25,550.

This is a draft of a bill which is proposed for the consolidated department, and carries in it increases for a chief clerk and four

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principal clerks, the total increase being $1,450, but, considering the proposed increase, our net reduction is $25,550. The total of the increases amounts only to $1,450. The chief clerk, I think, should have $2,750, an increase of $250 per year. He is now getting $2,500. I would like five principal clerks at $2,250. We now have one at $2,250 and three at $2,000. This would involve an increase of $250 per year for each of three clerks, making $750 more; and then I would like to promote one $1,800 man, a class 4 man, to a $2,250 place, as a principal clerk, involving an increase of $450. The reason for this, Mr. Chairman, I will explain when I show you a diagram of the organization. That makes the total of increases $1,450 as against a gross reduction of $27,000, leaving a net reduction of $25,550.

Mr. JOHNSON. General, last year we increased the pay of some of the men in some of the bureaus that were consolidated.

Gen. ALESHIRE. You increased it in the Pay Department $250 and in the Quartermaster General's office $500.

Mr. JOHNSON. Are those the same men you are asking us to increase again?

Gen. ALESHIRE. Not the $2,250 man, but the $2,500 man.

Mr. JOHNSON. You want us to increase his salary $250?

Gen. ALESHIRE. Yes, sir.

Mr. JOHNSON. General, you have taken care of all the high-priced men in the three bureaus in this consolidation?

Gen. ALESHIRE. No, Mr. Chairman; this reduction contemplates a real reduction.

Mr. JOHNSON. What will become of those people? You do not propose to turn them out, do you?

Gen. ALESHIRE. Of course, if you do not appropriate money for them, we will have to do something with them; and my hope is that the civil service may be able to provide places by transferring them when requests are made for classified employees, and that we may be able to transfer them to vacancies that may occur not only throughout the War Department, but in the other departments, and in that way absorb them.

Mr. JOHNSON. So far, in making the reductions under the 5 per cent rule, you have been able to take care of them by vacancies, have you not?

Gen. ALESHIRE. Yes, sir.

Mr. JOHNSON. Do you know about how many vacancies have occurred?

Gen. ALESHIRE. We have taken care of our 24 and we have 2 now left in addition to the 24. This bill would contemplate a further reduction of 19, I think.

Mr. JOHNSON. In the ordinary run of things, how many of those vacancies will you have by the 1st of July? How many could you reasonably expect?

Gen. ALESHIRE. I would hardly know.

Mr. JOHNSON. I presume the War Department is in sympathy with your purpose and would take care of these people if there were vacancies in other bureaus and divisions?

Gen. ALESHIRE. Yes, sir.

In reference to the statement I made last year about the consolidation, the total amount of the appropriation for the fiscal year 1912

was $429,150, which was for 343 employees. Now, this proposition brings us down to 296 employees and the total amount of $378,670, and that would show a net reduction in dollars of $50,480 as compared with the 1912 estimate.

Mr. JOHNSON. About $50,000, including the 5 per cent reduction and the reductions you have made by reason of the consolidation?

Gen. ALESHIRE. Yes, sir. Of course I did not anticipate the 5 per cent reduction clause in the bill when I said we would make the reduction.

Mr. JOHNSON. General, before these three bureaus were consolidated, how many heads were there of these various little subdivisions? How many have you been able to eliminate by consolidating all three of the bureaus?

Gen. ALESHIRE. I am not familiar with the organization that the Subsistence and Pay Departments had, but we have only added to our organization the subsistence branch and enlarged upon the Finance and Accounting Division to accommodate the pay of the Army branch. We had an organization like the one shown on the diagram here before, and you see, Mr. Chairman, we are not at the end of the reduction of employees because of this consolidation, but this is as large a number as I dare suggest now.

Mr. JOHNSON. Your purpose is to work another year and then if you see where you can make still further reductions to do so?

Gen. ALESHIRE. Yes, sir. For instance, take our Mail and Record Division; we increased the number of employees in that division by six, thinking that it would require at least that number to handle the additional mail. I find that all of those men are not required, and I believe since we commenced it we have reduced it by two, and it is going to be so all over the office.

OFFICE OF THE SURGEON GENERAL.

STATEMENT OF BRIG. GEN. GEORGE H. TORNEY, SURGEON GENERAL, UNITED STATES ARMY.

Mr. JOHNSON. General, will you tell us what you want in your bureau? You have some very copious notes here.

Gen. TORNEY. Yes, sir; that is an explanation of the requests made. It is all incorporated in these notes. That is really all I have to offer. The chief clerk is now receiving $2,000, and I have asked that his pay be increased $500 in order to bring it on a plane with the salaries of the chief clerks in the other bureaus. He is doing the same duties and is also the chief of a large division. He is responsible for the administrative affairs of the office, and he is a most competent man for that purpose. The chief clerks of other bureaus are receiving higher pay than this chief clerk.

Mr. JOHNSON. Were there any increases made in this bureau last year or in recent years?

Gen. TORNEY. No, sir; no increase at all.

Mr. JOHNSON. Did you ask for these increases in the last bill?
Gen. TORNEY. Yes, sir; I asked for them in the last bill.

Mr. JOHNSON. And you made substantially the same argument in support of them that you are making now?