Evening star., 1929-06-29
ACCOUNTING OFFICE
WARNS OF RISK IN
SALARY ADVANCES
Monday to Be Awaited in Va
rious Departments Where
Service Ends Today.
EASY TO OBEY LAW,
is INTERIOR VIEW
Some of City Employees Will Be
Paid Ahead of Those En-.
gagged Sunday.

With Government pay day ranging
from Friday to Monday, the General
Accounting ONCE pointed out today that
all disbursing officers who pay in ad-
vance Of service rendered are taking a
decided risk.
mo advance of public money shall be
made in any case whatever" reads the
language of section 3648, Revised Stat
uteS Of the United States, it was pointed
out in the ONCE of Controller General
McCarl. Employees of McCarl's Office
will not be paid until Monday. after
they have completed in full, not only
the actual service but the time-for
the Is days for which they get paid
do not expire until Sunday night. OF
course, none in the controller generals
Office will work tomorrow, but the time
will not expire until tomorrow night,
end they will then be paid the next
morning. The controller general be-
lieves IN following his own advice in
regard to handling the accounts Of his
own Office.
Legal Language Plain.
The law in the matter further reads:
And In all cases of contracts for the
performance Of any service or the de-
I livery Of articles Of any description for
the use of the United States payment
shall not exceed the value of the serv-
ice rendered, or of the articles delivered
previously to such payment" Certain
qualifications are made in the law,
concerning public engagements" of
officers of the United States, and the
pay OF military and naval service en-
ployed at such distant stations that
the pay could not otherwise be regu-
larly effected unless money was sent
in advance.
But there is still another risk that
Government officers take in paying In
advance, it was pointed out at the Cen
eral Accounting Once. On the standard
Government payroll for personal serv-
ices" approved by the controller general
and in use by all Offices in the Federal
service, the personnel officer must form
ally certify to the disbursing ofice. that
the services for which the pay Is being
made have already been completed. The
language reads: II certify that the
within payroll in sheets, is correct; that
it appears from the records Of my office
that the persons named thereon were
legally appointed, and each has per-
formed the services required by law and
regulation during the period mentioned;
that such services. except as otherwise
indicated in the column Of remarks
have been performed under my super
vision, and that no person whose name
appears OH the W1CIlul pdyEOu ID pdlu IOI
any period Of absence in excess of that
allowed by law
Easy to Obey Law.
sharp commentary upon the whole
situation was offered from the ONCE
of the disbursing clerk of the Interior
Department when inquiry was made
as to when the pay would be diSbursed.
In announcing that it would not be
paid out until Monday, an ofncial said
with some emphasis: You can say
for the Interior Department that the
disbursing ONCE flnds it just as easy
to obey the law as to violate the law"
The only large and important Gov
ernment departments and establish
ments which are waiting until Monday
to pay of are the Treasury Department,
Interior Department, War Department
and General Accounting once.
Some city employees will be paid today
and some of them have to wait until
Monday for their pay checks. For
those employees whose duties do not call
for labors on Sunday, their months
work will be completed at 1880 pm.
today and they will be paid. But for
policemen, firemen, guards at the Dis
trict jail and other institution workers
who must perform Sunday duty, pay
day will be Monday.