Adjusted compensation estimates as of Dec. 31, 1936-Continued (1) Certificates against which liens are outstanding__ Total number of certificates outstanding.. Face amount of adjusted-service certificates issued and on 1 49, 659 2 62, 742 112, 401 $94, 710, 691. 00 $842. 61 1 Represents certificates held by Veterans' Administration as security for loans. 2 Includes certificates held by banks as security for loans and not yet redeemed by the Veterans' Administration. General HINES. Mr. Chairman, there is nothing further to that story other than what I have said to you. It is an item which is, of course, in no way controlled, if they prove their eligibility. The CHAIRMAN. This is just $1,000,000 to meet any liabilities that develop by reason of veterans presenting applications for the bonus, or adjusted-service certificates, who have heretofore failed to do it? General HINES. Yes; that is one part of them-the ones where the amounts are less than $50, and those where the veterans died before making the application and their relatives are making the applications. The CHAIRMAN. A veteran who died before the law was passed providing the bonus does not get anything? General HINES. Yes; his dependents can, if he was entitled to it. Most of those, of course, that died before the act was passed have really been paid, either in amounts or in quarterly installments. But these are new amounts. UNEXPENDED BALANCES OF APPROPRIATIONS Mr. TABER. General, have you any unexpended balances in sight on the appropriations for the Veterans' Administration which might be used to make up this $1,000,000, by a transfer? General HINES. The only unexpended balance that pertains to this item is the amount that Congress appropriated for administration expenses to pay off the bonus. You will recall that you appropriated about $5,500,000 to do that. I think it would be a little risky to attempt to reappropriate that until we get through. We are still certifying to the Treasury claims currently filed also the audit by the Comptroller General is still in progress. We are hopeful of finishing the greater bulk of the work by June 30, when the appropriation runs out, and I am also hopeful that there will be a balance there, probably as great as this; but I would be speculating if I told you the amount at this time. Mr. TABER. And there are no other funds for the Veterans' Bureau at all that you could use? General HINES. No, sir. You reappropriated last year, $42,000,000 of the balances that we had. MONDAY, JANUARY 18, 1937. DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA STATEMENT OF MR. DANIEL J. DONOVAN, AUDITOR, AND MR. THEODORE COGSWELL, REGISTER OF WILLS AND CLERK OF THE PROBATE COURT BOILER INSPECTION AND REGULATION The CHAIRMAN. We have before us a deficiency estimate for the District of Columbia for the fiscal year 1937, amounting to $3,000, for boiler inspection and regulation. Who will explain that? Mr. DONOVAN. I will, Mr. Chairman. That appropriation is required to carry into effect an act of Congress approved June 25, 1936, too late to include in the appropriation budget for 1937. Prior to the effective date of this act, the boiler inspection was a fee service. It was the only remaining fee service in the entire service of the District of Columbia. Congress made that change, and placed the employees upon a statutory basis, and this $3,000 is to provide for the salaries, including $709 for miscellaneous expenses for the 5 months beginning February 1, 1937, and ending June 30, 1937. The CHAIRMAN. The question is why it is necessary to commence to put this service into effect for 5 months when for over 6 months you have not had any such service. Mr. DONOVAN. The act of Congress did not become effective until 6 months after the date of approval, which made the effective date, December 25, 1936. The CHAIRMAN. Prior to that time it was on the fee basis. Mr. DONOVAN. It was on a fee basis up to and including December 25, 1936. The CHAIRMAN. This is to provide inspection for the safety of boilers. Mr. DONOVAN. It is for the inspection of boilers; yes, sir. Mr. DONOVAN. It is for the inspection of steam boilers in the District of Columbia. It is for the safety of the boilers. There is a schedule of fees to be prescribed, but those fees will be paid into the Treasury of the United States to the credit of the revenues of the District of Columbia. The CHAIRMAN. How many employees are involved, and what are the salaries? Mr. DONOVAN. I might say that this estimate corresponds with the estimate submitted by the District of Columbia for the fiscal year 1938. It proposes the employment of one boiler inspector (P-3), at $3200, and one assistant boiler inspector (SP-7), at $2,300, and miscellaneous expenses amounting to $709. The CHAIRMAN. Those are the standard salaries for other boiler inspectors and assistant boiler inspectors? Mr. DONOVAN. Those are standard salaries. They are what I might call standard salaries in the Federal Government. As a matter of fact, they are the salaries approved by the Civil Service Commission under the Classification Act. The CHAIRMAN. Is that the yearly salary of the boiler inspector? Mr. DONOVAN. Yes, sir; it is $3,200 a year. The CHAIRMAN. The estimate is based on 5 months. Mr. DONOVAN. Yes, sir; beginning February 1. The salaries amount to $2,291, and $709 is estimated for miscellaneous expenses, making an even $3,000. EMPLOYEES' COMPENSATION FUND The CHAIRMAN. The next item is $10,000 for the employees' compensation fund of the District of Columbia, 1937. Mr. DONOVAN. That is an appropriation over which we have no control. The appropriations made to the District of Columbia for this purpose are in accordance with the findings of the United States Employees' Compensation Commission for the compensation of employees of the District of Columbia who are injured in the performance of their duties. We have spent out of the appropriation of $35,000 for the fiscal year 1937, and by that I mean down to December 31, 1936, or for one-half of the fiscal year, $28,354.23. That leaves a balance of only a little over $12,000 for the remaining 6 months of the fiscal year, ending June 30, 1937. This additional $10,000 is on the basis of the experience for the first 6 months of the fiscal year, and it is necessary in order that we may have sufficient funds to pay the compensation of those who are on what we call the injured pay roll. Mr. LUDLOW. What was the estimate for 1937? Mr. DONOVAN. The appropriation for 1937 is $35,000. Mr. DONOVAN. The same amount. Mr. LUDLOW. How did you happen to make such an erronrous estimate? Mr. DONOVAN. It is pretty hard to estimate it. What we predicate the estimate on is he experience of the previous year. That experience varies from year to year. Mr. LUDLOW. You predicated the estimate on a normally low year. Mr. DONOVAN. Yes, sir; it is not only that, but under the appropriation for 1937 we have to take care of a number of employees who perform some form of relief work, and the District provides compensation for those employees if they become injured. The CHAIRMAN. It is not so important, because you must get it anyway. Mr. DONOVAN. As I said, it is a variable appropriation. We try to make the best guess we can as to the amount. OFFICE OF REGISTER OF WILLS The CHAIRMAN. The next item is $3,000 for the office of register of wills. Mr. DONOVAN. Mr. Theodore Cogswell, the register of wills, will explain that item. Mr. COGSWELL. Mr. Chairman, this appropriation is necessary, I am glad to say, because of the large increase in the business of the office. During the fiscal year 1936, the total revenues of the cffice amounted to $99,805.63, whereas for the first 6 months of this present fiscal year our revenue has amounted to $62,395.02, an increase of 20 percent over last year, which will give you an idea of the business that we are doing. There has been an increase in the business of the office for a number of years. The CHAIRMAN. Tell us about the condition of the funds appropriated for your office for this fiscal year. Mr. COGSWELL. Under the present situation, we have expended from the appropriation of $9,000 the sum of $6,627.38, leaving a balance of $2,372.62 available for the remaining 6 months. That means that we have an available appropriation on hand to run for only 2 months. Mr. DONOVAN. I would like Mr. Cogswell to tell you of a saving he has made over his estimate. Mr. COGSWELL. On this estimate for file cases and shelving, amounting to $800, I ascertained that the Procurement Division had for sale certain file drawers that would just meet the requirements of our office. Those drawers were offered to me at $3 apiece, and I was finally able to obtain them for $2 apiece, as against a total cost of $18 apiece if we had purchased them new. Thus we were able to save, by purchasing from the Procurement Division these 400 file drawers, a total of $6,400. Mr. DONOVAN. That shows the true spirit of economy. Mr. TABER. Will you be able to absorb this deficiency? Mr. DONOVAN. That purchase was not contemplated by this year's appropriation. Mr. LUDLOW. Where did the Procurement Division get those file cases? Mr. COGSWELL. They received them from the Veterans' Administration. They were used for bonus files, and were surplus property. CONTINGENT AND MISCELLANEOUS EXPENSES POSTAGE The CHAIRMAN. The next item is $3,000 for contingent and miscellaneous expenses, fiscal year 1937. That seems to be for postage. Mr. DONOVAN. Our appropriation for postage for 1937 is $25,000. Through the end of December, we expended $15,810.61, and that left us a balance of $9,189.39. We need an additional $3,000 to supply the needs from now until the end of the fiscal year. The CHAIRMAN. How much do you have on hand now? Mr. DONOVAN. We have the difference between about $15,000 and $25,000. We have $9,200. This would not allow us to go through the balance of the year and provide for our official postage needs. I might say that the postage situation in some of the departments of the District government have become so acute that they are asking people to send in postage stamps in order to obtain replies to their correspondence. Mr. TABER. Is not that a good idea? Mr. DONOVAN. No, sir; I do not think that it is good business to ask people to send postage stamps. If they write a letter to you on official business, asking information that they are paying taxes for, they are entitled to have it. I do not think it is fair or good business to expect them to send postage stamps in order to get replies. That is a service the Government should render. It should furnish the postage. This appropriation is used to mail out tax bills, blank forms for automobiles, and mail matter of the public schools. They have to pay postage to mail out notices to parents about children not attending school, and so forth. The Police Department has to have postage, and so on down the list, including every department of the District Government. The break-down of the appropriation shows for the Alcohol Beverage Board, $250; the assessor's office, $2,300; the office of the collector of taxes, $1,600, for mailing out tax receipts; the director of traffic, $5,800; the disbursing officer, $1,500, for mailing out checks; the Public Library, $1,100, mailing out notices of overdue books; the Health Department, $8,200; the public schools, $4,200. That gives you some idea of the demand for postage. The CHAIRMAN. The Government gets something back on that. Mr. DONOVAN. The Post Office Department gets it back. I might say that this additional $3,000 would make $28,000, which is the amount approved by the Budget Bureau for the next fiscal year. We proved to them that we would require this $3,000. PRINTING AND BINDING The CHAIRMAN. The next item is $5,000 for printing and binding, fiscal year 1937. Mr. DONOVAN. That is another case where the appropriation is not sufficient to carry us through the year. This appropriation a few years back, in 1932, was $75,000. Then by a series of cuts it has been reduced until at the present time we have an appropriation of only $43,000. The CHAIRMAN. They were doing pretty well. Mr. DONOVAN. They were doing too well. That is the trouble. The cuts made by the Budget Bureau and Congress have been too drastic. Mr. TABER. How much bave you expended during the first 6 months? Mr. DONOVAN. We spent during the first 6 months $33,804.73 out of the appropriation of $43,000. Mr. TABER. Has all of your printing been done? Mr. DONOVAN. No, sir; I have here a list of the printing required to be done, and that is now waiting to be done. I have here the total for the various services of the District government, amounting to $12,000, and we have only about $7,000. We need this additional $5,000 because it affects every department of the District government. Mr. LUDLOW. Is all of your printing done at the Government Printing Office? Mr. DONOVAN. I would say that 50 percent of it is done at the Government Printing Office. Mr. LUDLOW. Is the rest of it done by private contract? Mr. DONOVAN. No, sir; under the terms of the law it cannot be done by private contract. It must be done in one of three ways: At the Government Printing Office, at the central duplicating plant of the District Government, or at the printing shop operated at the Lorton Reformatory. Mr. LUDLOW. Do you do considerable mimeographing? Mr. DONOVAN. Yes, sir; we do a great deal of mimeographing. We need in our own office $800 for printing pay rolls and vouchers; the |