Evening star., 1919-01-25
Half-and-Half Principle.

Another limitation Spec1nCally re-
stores the operation of the half and
half principle in payment of expendi-
lures in the District under the first
deficiency bill. except the sum for car
rying out the provisions of the Dis
trict minimum wage law, which shall
be paid wholly out Of the revenues OF
the District.
propriations made by Congress fol
payment Of expenses to be incurred
by July / next, while the authoriza-
tions were the grant OF Congress te
the departments to make contracts
for expenditures to be covered by fu-
ture appropriations. Cancellation OF
contracts following the signing of the
arrpunt of the authorizations, the
Cancelled total of these having not
been obligated by the departments
Chairman Sherley of the committee
said.
With slightly less than $4,000, 900
900 available. the savings from the
Navy were obviously small as COM
pared with those from the military
establishment. The War Departments
savings amount to S6,S44,795,077 in
cash and $S,19O,029,294' in authoriza-
tion, while the aggregate provided for
the department was $24,235, ,425,260 in
cash and $9,S99,057.6O1 in authoriza-
1885, in cash. and $582,760,O00 in au-
thorizations, with it's savings 1884,
361,s66 cash and $31,000.000 authori-
cations.
While the savings were from numer-
GUS items of war expenses. deficits
bill provides $295,244,329 to meet
these expenses. Sufficient money also
is left with the departments to meet
their expenses for the remaining five
months of the fiscal year.
May Save More.
I'm recommending that various sums
shall be covered into the Treasury"
said a. report filed with the bill. the
committee does not mean to affirm
in any sense that the total of moneys
left with various bureaus is needed
or should be expended, or to approve
or disapprove of various activities.
There should and doubtless will be
large savings made from these bal
ances.
1.-The bill covers into the Treasury
great sums voted to the Army and
Navy for the prosecution Of the war
and now made unnecessary for ex-
penditure due to the signing of the
armistice last November. The repeal
Of appropriations and withdrawal of
authorizations has been confined to
the military and naval establishme ts
not because funds voted to other de-
rartments are all required, for such Is
by no means the fact, but because the
magnitude of the task made impos-
sible at this time a review Of other
departments and 1t is hoped that in
connection with other bills that many
of these surplus funds may be dealt
with.
what the committee has endeav-
ored to do is to cover into the Treas
ury sums that plainly are not need.
ed, but as it is necessarily uncertain
just what extent the government may
be able by cancellation of contracts
and discontinuance of projects to re-
duce it's obligations, the, committee
has deemed it wise to leave funds
amply sufficient to meet such obliga-
tions. To have undertaken to pass
judgment upon remaining activities
would have been to usurp the prerog-
atives of many of the other commit
tees and would have required a de-
tailed examination that would have
taken many additional months.
THE labors of the committee have
been greatly added to because of alb.
sence of any modern or uniform sys.
tenn of keeping accounts by the various
departments. and 1t desires to express
the hope that Congress may provide
soon for such system of accounting. p
The largest savings were from the
quartermaster and ordnance depart.
ments of the Army, the former giving
up $3,740,3S5,307 in cash and $15,75O,-
900 in authorizations, and the later
81, sos, 9,009 in cash and $7,7l4,279,294
in authorizations.