Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-02-24
j. s. CLERKS DAY
ONE HOUR LONGER,
IF BILL IS PASSED
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government employees. the bill carries
| no legislative rider aimed at upsetting
the civil service or ousting older
clerks. One legislative limitation
strikes at a practice which the sub
| committee uncovered quite by accident
This was the discovery that several
government employees are drawing sal
| aries for work supposed to be done IN
| Washington, while in reality they are
detailed in some faraway post, drawing
per diem expenses and attending to
| nothing that their Washington salary
calls for.
| The bill makes the government de-
clare that it will pay 70 cents thou
sand feet for gas. and not cent more
This method of cutting the gas bills OF
| the United States departments WITHIN
the District OF Columbia is set forth
in one legislative sentence. declaring
| that no money appropriated in this OF
any other act shall be used to pay gas
| bills at higher rate.
Lease of Office Buildings.
| The bill authorizes the leasing of
two new office buildings for fve-year
periods, for the Department of Justice
and the Department of Labor.
| The committee has been furnished
| with a mass of figures outlining the
reorganization of the Post Office De-
partment, where an economy and eff1-
cheney service has been at work. 1t Is
the understanding of committee menu
bers that as result many deserved
promotions are taking place there.
Further legislation to reduce the PEN
sion bureau force in included in the
bill, following out the policy OF not
filing positions as they become vacant.
| The reductions from the estimates as
submitted are as follows in general
Of Congress, $50. 1000; State Department.
| 10000; Treasury. $425,000: War De-
| partment. $4,000; public buildings and
grounds Office. $1,000; State. War and
ment, $4,000; Interior Department.
$22s. 900: Post Office Department. So
0e0 Department of Justice. $1,000, and
Labor Department, 100000.
The largest cut from the estimates
Is shown in the Department of Com
| merce. where the bill Is about mill
| lion dollars less than was asked for.
The principal reductions there are
found in the failure to appropriate al!
| the Secretary asked for in the way OF
commercial attaches. ana plans 10 DE-
velop foreign trade.
Changes and Interesting Features.
The changes from last years bill and
Interesting features of the big measure are
set forth completely in the report on the
bill prepared for the appropriations COM
mittee by James c. Courts. clerk. and
Marcellus C. Shield, assistant clerk to the
committee. The report states:
The total appropriations made for the
current fiscal year 1916 for the objects
provided for in the accompanying bill
amount to $s7.os6,164;75. which sum IN,
cludes $131,365 carried in deficiency and
other appropriation acts for 1916 for va
rious branches of the public service that
are taken up in the accompanying bill for
1917.
s37. e01.53s.25 and provides for 1890 spe-
Compared with tho appropriations for
the current year 1919. and with the esti-
suing fiscal year, 1917. the following Diff
| ferences are shown:
The bin appropr.atss., - s5 e. So, more
than was appropriated ior the same serv-
l. Ice for the fiscal year 1915.
II appropriates $2.629,34s less than was
| submitted to Congress In the estimates
of the executive departments.
1t provides for 81 fewer specific sala-
ries than were appropriated for this
year and 400 less than are specifically
called for In the estimates.
Principal increases made.
The principal increases in this bill over
the current appropriations include the fol-
lowing items:
Expenses of collecting the income tax.
ssso. 600 additional force in the Office of
the commissioner Of internal revenue on
account Of income tax work. $24.soe; ad-
d,+,onal clerical force In the State Depart
ment necessitated by war conditions in
Eurone. $4,000; clerical force for the Of
Ace Of naval operations. which office was
BY the lasf MAYA.
other employees In the patent Office au-
thorized at this session Of Congress. $751;
S50: for promotion and development Of
ana ~sh ce0aral asd south
A AMERICA, $4,000: for additional in
snectors for the steamboat-inspection
service. s52,5OO; for additional inquiries
and Investigations by the bureau of stand
ards, $4,000.
Main Reductions in Bill.
The principal reductions made in this
hill under appropriations for the cur
rent year include the following:
once of treasurer of the United
s.at..-A further reduction Of twenty
four employees with salaries amounting
N $40 $40 is made in the Office of the
treasurer of the United States as a re-
s,,Ia NJ the recent reorganization of
That ONCE At the last session the
force was reduced by twenty-six per-
.on. with annual compensation amount
inn to $4,000. Thus for the current
ana ensuing fiscal years the whole
force In this once will have been re-
duced in all by Atty persons. with an
mai nav of $4,000. This desirable re-
smit has been brought about by the
co.operative labors of the Treasury
Depsrtment and the division (now the
bureau1 OF efficiency in the application
! Of Improved and modern methods 0f