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to them to pay sums of money to specific persons who, in a proper case, have the right to appeal to the courts to force such officers to carry out the provisions of the law. In Roberts v. United States (176 U. S., 222) "the Treasurer of the United States was directed to pay to the owners, holders, or assignees of all board of audit certificates redeemed by him under the act approved June 16, 1880, the residue of 2.35 per cent per annum of unpaid legal rate interest due upon said certificates from their date up to the date of approval of said act providing for their redemption."

Upon an appeal from a judgment of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia ordering a writ of mandamus to the Treasurer of the United States, the Supreme Court of the United States, in an opinion affirming the judgment, said:

In this case we think the proper construction of the statute was clear, and the duty of the Treasurer to pay the money to the relator was ministerial in its nature, and should have been performed by him upon demand.

METHODS OF LOCATING RESPONSIBILITY FOR ECONOMY AND EFFICIENCY

IN EXPENDITURES.

There are two methods of locating responsibility for economy and efficiency of expenditure of public money, viz:

1. Requiring that such accounts be kept and such reports be made as will make currently available to Congress and to the country information with respect to results obtained.

2. By a system of general appropriation and administrative allot

ment.

Already a statement has been made with respect to the character of information provided through accounts and reports. Only a first step has been taken toward a system of general appropriation and administrative allotment. It was with this general purpose in view that section 3679 of the Revised Statutes was amended by act of February 26, 1906 (34 Stat., 49). Before the passage of this act the Congress had sought to enforce responsibility by requiring that

No executive department or other Government establishment of the United States shall expend, in any one fiscal year, any sum in excess of appropriations made by Congress for that fiscal year, or involve the Government in any contract or other obligation for the future payment of money in excess of such appropriations unless such contract or other obligation is authorized by law. The law of 1906 added this further condition:

All appropriations made for contingent expenses or other general purposes, except appropriations made in fulfillment of contract obligations expressly authorized by law, or for objects required or authorized by law, without reference to the amount annually appropriated therefor, shall on or before the beginning of each fiscal year be so apportioned by monthly or other allotments as to prevent expenditures in one portion of the year which may necessitate deficiency or additional appropriations to complete the service of the fiscal year for

which said appropriations are made; and all such apportionments shall be adhered to, and shall not be waived or modified except upon the happening of some extraordinary emergency or unusual circumstances which could not be anticipated at the time of making such apportionment.

While this provision is significant in that it does not attempt to place upon officers responsibility for determining in advance what apportionment of an appropriation for general purposes could best be used for this, that, or the other thing, coming properly within the act, the following difficulties are to be noted:

1. That the head of the department is handicapped by being required to apportion all of the appropriation "on or before" the beginning of the fiscal year.

2. He is further handicapped in that he is not permitted to modify this first or preliminary apportionment "except upon the happening of some extraordinary emergency or unusual circumstance which could not be anticipated at the time of making such apportionment." 3. The law of allotment is indefinite in its terms and is subject to misinterpretation.

4. The law of allotment is evidently aimed to cure particular abuses which have resulted either in improper use of public funds or in excessive expenditure of lump-sum appropriations during a part of the year, thereby forcing the Congress to add to the appropriation in order to keep the service in operation.

Three distinct interpretations have been given to laws of apportionment or subappropriation by heads of departments, viz:

1. An interpretation which is evidenced by the practice of making allotments on or before the beginning of the year without having these allotments made a part of the accounts or in any manner reflected in the reports, thereby giving to the head of the department and to the Congress no current information with respect to the proper enforcement of the law.

2. An allotment on the basis of a definite amount for the accomplishment of specific ends or purposes or for the doing of each class of work which is conducted under each appropriation.

3. An allotment on a time basis or a definite amount for a period of time, the balance to be held in reserve.

With respect to the last two methods of apportionment, accounts and reports may or may not be kept and rendered for the information of officers. Usually, however, there is a definite accounting and reporting on the subject.

IX. CLASSIFICATIONS OF APPROPRIATIONS.

As bearing on the subject of the character of discretion which may be exercised and the uses to which funds may be put, the appropriations of the Government may be classified from three different viewpoints:

a. The method of determining the amount of the grant.

b. The period during which the funds are available.

c. The manner of their administrative use.

a. Classification from the viewpoint of the method of determining the amount of each grant.

From the viewpoint of the method of determining the amount of each grant the appropriations to officers of the Government of the United States may be classified as follows:

I. Appropriations, the amounts of which are fixed by Congress. II. Appropriations, the amounts of which are determined by officers to whom grants are made.

III. Appropriations, the amounts of which are determined by existing conditions or by maturing obligations.

Appropriations of the first class are those which are made by Congress, either (a) in regular appropriation bills, or (b) in miscellaneous acts and resolutions. Appropriations of the latter class may be found in any act of legislation which carries with it as an incident. the expenditure of money, examples of which may be found in the act of March 1, 1911 (36 Stat., 961), establishing the Appalachian Forest Reservation, and the act of March 3, 1911 (36 Stat., 1081), providing for a memorial and centennial celebration of Perry's victory on Lake Erie.

Examples of appropriations of the second class are found in the act creating the Monetary Commission, which permitted that body to spend whatever amount was deemed necessary to carry out the purposes of the act; in the act giving to officers of the War Department the power to spend whatever amount is needed to operate and maintain certain canals; and in the act giving to officers of this department the right to determine what amount shall be expended for the removal of wrecks.

Of the third class there are two general subdivisions, viz: (a) Authorizations to pay the public debt and other obligations of the Government as they mature which have not accrued under acts of appropriation, such as interest, sinking-fund accruals, matured prin

cipal of the public debt, treaty obligations, the principal of trust obligations, and refunds; (b) payments made out of special and trust funds.

b. Classification from the viewpoint of the period during which grants are made available.

From the viewpoint of the period during which they are made available appropriations may be classified as follows:

1. Appropriations made once for all, which are available without any further action on the part of the Congress until the object for which they are made has been accomplished. These appropriations are commonly designated as " permanent "; they may be either specific or indefinite in amount. An example of a permanent specific appropriation is to be found in an appropriation of a certain sum for a public building, the amount being fixed by the Congress, but continuing available until the object or purpose has been attained. The amount of the permanent indefinite class may be fixed either by the executive officer or by conditions which operate independently of executive action. Examples of permanent indefinite appropriations have already been given; the character of legislation giving rise to an obligation which it is the duty of the officer to meet without any previous consideration on his part is shown below:

REPAYMENT TO IMPORTERS EXCESS OF DEPOSITS (CUSTOMS).

That whenever it shall be shown to the satisfaction of the Secretary of the Treasury that in any case of unascertained or estimated duties, or payments made upon appeal, more money has been ascertained by final liquidation thereof than the law required to be paid or deposited, the Secretary of the Treasury shall direct the Treasurer to refund and pay the same out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated. The necessary moneys therefor are hereby appropriated, and this appropriation shall be deemed a permanent indefinite appropriation; and the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authorized to correct manifest clerical errors in any entry or liquidation for or against the United States at any time within one year of such entry, but not afterwards: Provided, That the Secretary of the Treasury shall in his annual report to Congress give a detailed statement of the various sums of money refunded under the provisions of this act or any other act of Congress relating to the revenue, together with copies of the rulings under which the payments were made. (Acts of June 10, 1890, vol. 26, p. 140, sec. 23; Aug. 5, 1909, vol. 36, p. 103, sec. 28.)

2. Appropriations which are made once for all and which are available for a specific period other than annual and which at the expiration of the specified period cease to be available. These appropriations may be specific or indefinite in amount. Thus section 3685, Revised Statutes, provided:

Appropriations for establishing lighthouses shall be available for two years after acts of State legislatures ceding jurisdiction over sites take effect.

3. Appropriations which are made once for all and which are recurrently available without further action by the Congress, but

which provide for expenditures to be made during either annual or other specified periods. These are commonly called "permanent." They may be specific or indefinite in amount. An example of a permanent annual specific appropriation is the appropriation made in 1906 of $3,000,000 a year for the purposes of meat inspection. An example of a permanent annual indefinite appropriation is that for the payment of the interest on the public debt.

4. Appropriations made for the purpose of current annual expenditure which cease to be available after the expiration of the fiscal year for which they are made. These are commonly designated as "annual." They may be specific or indefinite in amount.

The distinction of these various classes of appropriations is important for a number of reasons.

In the first place, those appropriations designated as "annual" find their distinctive characteristic in that each year the activities supported by them must come annually before the Congress for review. Their purpose is thus to give to the Congress direct and continuous legislative control over the amounts to be expended and legislative review of the administrative economy and efficiency of their use. Those appropriations designated as "permanent" find their distinctive purpose in that they provide for continuity of administrative policy. An administrative service which acts under permanent appropriations is in large measure independent of legislative control. An administrative service which acts under annual appropriations is unable to make any comprehensive plans for the future, for legally it is impossible for an officer to make any valid contracts or engagements after the expiration of the fiscal year for which the appropriations are made.

PERMANENT APPROPRIATIONS.

The distinction above adverted to is found in the appropriations of nearly all governments. The following are some of the most important expenditures of the United States Government for which provision is made by permanent appropriations:

1. Public debt and trust fund expenditures.

2. Expenditures for the carrying on of certain enumerated Government services, such as:

1. Collection of the customs revenue.

2. Arming and equipping the militia.

3. Operating canals and other works of navigation.

4. State agricultural colleges.

5. Reclamation of arid lands.

6. Meat inspection.

7. Acquisition of lands for protection of watersheds of navigable streams (expires on June 30, 1915).

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