Evening star., 1932-04-10
FUNDS
REDUCTIONS MADE
Committee SIashes to Be
Considered by Senate
This Week.

The Senate probably will determine
this week whether funds for the paw
ment of personnel in number of Gov
eminent agencies are to be pared down
to cover part of the total reduction of
10 per cent the Appropriations Com
mittee was ordered to make in the IN
terror bill and in the bill for the State.
Justice, Commerce and Labor Depart
mentS.
In applying the Senate's 10 per cent
reduction order to the State. Justice,
Commerce and Labor bill yeserday. the
Appropriations Committee made reduc-
tions aggregating approximately a mil
lion dollars in items for the payment
OF salaries, scattered through various
bureaus of those four departments. Cuts
also were made in other allotments
which are used partly for payment of
personnel, where the exact amount ap-
plicable to salaries is not known. but
which will swell the extent of the cut.
Affect Only Lump Sums.
These cuts in the lump sum allot-
ments carried in the appropriation bills
for personnel have nothing to do with
the question being discussed In Con-
greSs OF reducing salary rates in the
Government service, it was explained
at the Capitol. The rates of nav for
positions in the Government service are
fixed by law. What the committee has
done is to reduce the lump sums that
would be available in certain offices for
payment for personal services.
1t means, however, that the bureaus
in which the lump sum allotments for
salaries are pared down will have that
much less available for the employment
Of personnel during the next fiscal year.
II the committee changes are agreed to
by the two branches of Congress.
one Government official familiar
with personnel problems pointed out,
however, that there is nothing in exist
ing law to prevent a department from
adopting the method of brief furloughs
as a means of keeping its present per
sonnel within a reduced allotment for
salaries.
Reductions Are Made.
Items for the payment of salaries in
number of branches OF the State.
Justice, Commerce and Labor Depart
ments were reduced by the Senate
Committee yesterday by the following
amounts:
State Department-Off1ce of the Sec
retary, $4,000; foreign service officers,
$4,000; clerks in the foreign service,
SITS, 900; foreign service officers, $685.
800: salaries, foreign service officers
while receiving instructions, $4,000.
Department of Justice-Office of the
Attorney General, S153,780; Court of
Claims salaries, S12,623; Prohibition
Bureau, for personal services in the
District OF Columbia, reduction of
$4,000.
Department of Commerce-Secreta
office, $31,l42; Steamboat Inspection
Service salaries, $4,000, and clerk hire,
$26,890; Bureau of Navigation salaries,
$8,3l3, and clerk hire, $l1 sos; Bureau
OF Standards salaries, 5000; Bureau
OF Lighthouses salaries, S11, 100; Bureau
OF Fisheries salaries in commissioner
Office, $23. 3.480; Bureau OF Mines salaries
and general expenses, S10,350.
Department of Labor-Salaries In
Secretarys Office, $4,000
In reducing the appropriation for
prohibition enforcement rom Sl1,369,-
500 to $l0,250,000, the Senate Commit
tee provided that Of tins amount not
to exceed 1885, 100 may be expended for
personal services in the District Of Co
lumbia, as compared with $370,120 al
lowed by the House for personal serv-
ices In the District, or a reduction of
$35, 900 for personnel here.
Other Parings.
In applying the 10 per cent cut order
to the Interior bill several days ago,
the Senate Committee pared down a
number of lump-sum salary allotments
by the following amounts: In the Sec
retary's office, $4,000; Indian Office,
$72, 900; Reclamation Bureau, salaries
and expenses, $l3,360; Geological Sur
vey, $25,O00, and education Office,
$4,000.
These reductions in the amounts for
payment of personnel constitute only a
part OF the total amounts the commit
tee had to eliminate from these two
appropriation bills In order to comply
with the mandate given by the Senate
when it adopted the motion of Senator
Mcclellan, Democrat, of Tennessee, to
reduce the total of each bill 10 per cent
below the House totals. For the In
terror bill this meant a cut of $5,047,-
76O, and in the State, Justice, Com
merce and Labor bill yesterday, 1t
meant a cut of approximately $12,-
100000.
All of the items pared down in max
ing these total cuts will have to be
acted on by the Senate, and also con-
sidered by the House, after conference
The Interior bill probably will be
debated in the Senate tomorrow and
acted on early in the week, followed
by the State, Justice, Commerce and
Labor measure.
Training School Funds Cut.
TWO cuts were made in committee
yesterday in the items for the Ma
tional Training School for Boys, in this
city, which comes under the appropria-
t1onS for the Justice Department. For
general expenses, including salaries
and wages at the institution, the amount
was reduced from S265, $50 to $248, 900.
For construction, repairs and purchase
OF machinery at the training school,
the amount was reduced from $124,000
to $4,000.
The committee also reduced yester-
day from $4,000 to $4,000 the item
carried under the State Department for
expenses in connection with the four
teenth annual convention of the French
Veterans Of the World War, to be held
In Washington in September.
Amendments to Be Taken Up.
Among the amendments to be con-
sidered when the Interior bill is taken
up tomorrow are two affecting Howard
University, the committee having rec
commended elimination of 100000 to-
ward the building of a heat, light and
power plant, and 100000 toward the
building of a library at the university
In both the Interior bill and the
State, Justice, Commerce and Labor
bill, the Senate Committee followed
the precedent established by conferees
on the Agriculture bill with respect to
the House provisions relating to normal
promotions and the restricting of new
appointments in the Government serv-
ice. This agreement eliminates the
ban on promotions, but retains in mod
ified form the restriction on new ap-
pointments. 1t provides that vacancies
could only be filled In essential cases,
with the approval of the President. IT
would also permit temporary, emer-
gency, seasonal and cooperative posi-
tionS to be filled.