Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-01-19
MONEY FOR DEFICIENCIES
Intention to Strengthen the Act Of
Last Year.
WILL BREAK UP OLD CUSTOM
Practice of Asking for Emergency
Appropriations Criticised in
the House.

Consideration of the urgent deficiency ap-
preparation bill was begun today by the
House Of Representatives in committee of
the whole. with Mr.. Sherman IN W in the
chair. Mr.. Littauer IN W explained the
items in the BILL which aggregate $l5,215.-
5O5. including $3.50 7s6 for the Panama
canal
"Coercive appropriations by the executive
departments of the government was made
the subject of criticism by MIR. Littauer. He
said the practice had become we'll estab-
ished by long usage whereby the head of a
department arbitrarily forced Congress to
meet his demands for money. The most
common method of accomplishing this was
TO use UP any particular appropriation in
less than the year for which it was intended
to cover. and then demanding of Congress
deficiency appropriation.
The effort to remedy this by the last Con-
gress had been only partially successful,
and the pending bill. he said, went a step
farther. Last year 1T was enacted that all
appropriations should be apportioned to
cover the entire year. and penalty of dis
mfssal, fine and Imprisonment was applied
to heads of departments who should ask
Tor deficiency appropriations for emergen-
cies not required by law.
The provision. Mr.. Tawney interjected,
had not been violate directly but it's spirit
had been evaded.
AS perhaps the most striking Illustration
of this Mr.. Littauer cited a provision in the
pending bill which he read:
ITO reimburse the appropriation insect
laneous expenditures of the Department OF
Justice for the fiscal year 1906. the amount
expended for portrait of ex-Attorney Gen.
eral P. c. Knox, s2,615.''
who ordered that pfcture?' demanded
Mr. Gaines tTenn.), who repeated the Ques-
ton until Mr.. Littauer remarked that he
understood William H. Moody was the
present Attorney General.
Mr. Adams, asserting the illustration to
be an unfortunate" one, asked IL it had
not long been the custom for the portraits
of retiring cabinet officers to be painted at
government expense and hung in the offices
of the department.
The Pending Provision.
The reply was that this had been the Gus
tom, but If the provision in the pending
bill was adopted it would not hereafter be
the custom.
The provision referred to strengthens the
law of last year by making it unlawful
for a department head to ask an emergency
appropriation unless he can show that
something unusual has occurred since the
apportfonment of the appropriation to make
the emergency absolutely necessary.
Mr.. Littauer remarked that one of the
Oldest offenders, the State Department, had
come forward with a request that the act of
tingent fund. This request, of course, could
not be granted
Mr.. Brundidge (Ark.) followed Mr.. Lit
tauer, speaking in favor of the provision in
question and going with some detail into an
argument in favor of reducing the ex-
penses of collecting the revenues of the
government.
Speaking of the Knox portrait, Mr.. Brund-
lidge said that while, of course, it was a
valuable contribution to the art of the
country he knew of no law which author
lied such an expenditure. He characterized
such a practice as both vicious and extrava-
CANT and hoped it would be stopped
Mr.. Brndlidge criticised the slowness of
the Panama canal construction
They have been digging bitches and not
the canal" he said; laying sidewalks,
building hotels, fighting mosquitos-eyery
thing but building the canal"
Mr.. Livingston tGa.), the senior minority
member of the appropriations committee,
said that the departments We're not alone
to blame for sending in deficiencies. The
short session of Congress every other year.
he said, a cause of hurry on the part
of the committees of Congress and in both
houses, and resulted in much unsatisfactory
work.
But" interrupted Mr. Kahn (Cal.), 1.-The
Constitution provides that the Congress
shall meet the first Monday in December.
and every other year it expires by limita-
ton March -
1.-The Constitution says 1T shall meet the
first Monday III December until otherwise
provided - replied Mr.. Livingston. "AIl
you have 10 do Is to pass concurrent res
olution to change the date"