Evening star., 1914-01-27

felt. showed a congressional purpose to
broaden the authorization. and wouid per
nit the purchase Of an automobile. ABOUT
100 advance decisions are rendered every
month and about 130 decisions upon
appeal from the rulings Of auditors
Upon occasion the controllers de-
cisions have practically reversed the az
cisions Of the courts. In the NeW an an
case the United States Supreme Court oe
cided that the federal government shouid
repay the interest on the loans which the
states had made to send troops 70 the
civil war. The principal already had pee,.
paid Various states recovered lnteresl
subject to certain limitations imposed ps
the court of claims in case lnvolV!hS
the state of Maine. Shortly Thereafter IN
diana made claim for the repayment OF
100000 in interest. and the then con-
troller. Robert j. Tracewell of Indiana
passed upon it. Refusing to be bound by
the limitations of the Court OF CLAIMS de,
cision in the Maine case, which wouid
have restricted the Indiana claim TO
about 500, 900. he approved the claim for
100000, with the suggestion that since no
money had been appropriated for the plif-
pose Congress might decide which was
right Congress voted Indiana Sfoo,uo
and stipulated that other states whose in
terest claims had been settled should be
similarly treated, with the result that
they obtained about 100000 additional
Controllers decisions sometimes turn
upon the placement of a comma or
the gra M
Decisions Turn Upon matical con-
Placement of Comma. sentence
The determination of the intent of Con-
gress is often an intricate process wherein
long line of legislative enactments is
studied The matter of allowances to
heads of departments produces many
puzzing questions. An Attorney General
desired to put his coachman into livery at
the public expense.
The controller said it could not be
done The Attorney General sent for
him and demonstrated. whereupon the
controller informed the Attorney Cen
eral that in law he was allowed no
coachman or footman. but that these
functionaries were carried on the rolls
as "laborers,' and had been transfer
red without authority to the box of
his carriage. Although the heads OF
departments since the civil war have
been allowed carriages. no appropria-
tion is made for lap robes, and the con-
troller of the Treasury during the Taft
administration disallowed an expendi
ture of $50 for a lap robe for Secretary
MacVeag CHS carriage.
An employe at a military hospital
found a bulldog stationed behind
paling fence. He found fun in thrust
ing his head between the palings and
quickly drawing it out when the dog
jumped at him. Finally his head
caught and the bulldog nipped his
nose. The injured man obtained medi-
cal treatment and sravely submitted
the bin to the federal government, be-
ing greatly disappointed when the con-
trolled vetoed its payment.
Since the government annually spends
about s30,000.000 in the construction
of public buildings, numerous disputes
arise with contractors. About 80 per
cent of these are adjusted in the con-
trollers office without reaching the
courts. In the administration of con-
tract law this division of the govern
ment does more business than any
other law office in the world It is not
difficult to realize the variety of dis
putes arising. for instance. in the dis
bursement of the s15.000.o00 that Uncle
Sam annually expends for transporta-
ton of his public servants and freight.