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BONDS OF CLERKS AND MARSHALS OF UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURTS.

FEBRUARY 22, 1913.-Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be printed.

Mr. CLAYTON, from the Committee on the Judiciary, submitted the following

REPORT.

[To accompany H. R. 28764.]

The Committee on the Judiciary, having had under consideration the bill (H. R. 28764) to amend section 2 of an act entitled "An act regulating fees and costs, and for other purposes," approved February 22, 1875, report the same back with the recommendation that the bill do pass.

The subject matter is treated of in a letter addressed to the chairman of your committee by the Attorney General under date of December 31, 1912, in which he says as follows:

I desire to present for your consideration the question of the propriety of increasing the maximum amount of the bond which may be required from a clerk of a United States district court, from $40,000, as at present, to $100,000.

The necessity for such increase, which has been suggested to the department a number of times in various ways, is illustrated by the following excerpt from a recent report by an examiner of this department upon the office and accounts of Thomas Alexander, now deceased, but lately clerk of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York:

*

"Bond.-Mr. Alexander is bonded in the sum of $40,000, the bond at present in force being dated December 29, 1911. ** The surety upon the bond is the American Bonding Co., of Baltimore, Md., which surety is deemed good and sufficient for the amount of the bond.

At

"With regard to the amount of the bond, however, the situation in this district appears to be somewhat unique. The bond has been increased to the maximum provided by the law, but it still appears to be entirely insufficient in amount. the time of making my examination there was deposited to the credit of the clerk in bankruptcy cases approximately $90,000, to the credit of the clerk's general account approximately $10,000, and balances due parties turned over by the clerk of the circuit court about $48,000, in addition to approximately $100,000 in the registry of the court, making a total of nearly a quarter million dollars protected only by the one bond of $40,000. About $150,000 of this money is subject to withdrawal or disbursement of the clerk without the approval of the court.

From a report made to this department by the clerk of the United States district court for the district of Massachusetts, showing moneys in the custody of the court and clerk June 30, 1912, it appears that there was in bank on that date to the official credit of the clerk the sum of $103,284.43 besides the sum of $35,448.66 in the registry

of the court. The report of an examiner on that office for the period ended December 31, 1911, showed moneys in the custody of the court and clerk on that date amounting in all to the sum of $459,452.15, of which amount $27,481.82 was deposited to the credit of the court and the remainder of $431,970.33 to the official credit of the clerk.

In each of the districts above referred to the bond of the clerk is drawn in the sum of $40,000, the maximum now provided by law.

Referring to moneys deposited to the credit of the court, it is true that such moneys are to be disbursed only upon an order of the court and there may be some question as to the liability of a clerk's bond for moneys which he has deposited to the credit of the court in accordance with section 995, Revised Statutes; but it is also true that such moneys are handled by the clerk when received and it is understood that in at least one recent instance they have been disbursed by the clerk without having been deposited as required by that section. The department has also had before it recently the case of an ex clerk whose deputy received an amount of $78,588.07, which was paid into court by check and was deposited by the deputy clerk to his personal credit, he being at that time, as it appears, practically the head of the office. The clerk in this case was at that time under a bond of $15,000.

The law upon this subject as it now stands is found in sections 2 and 3 of the act of February 22, 1875 (18 Stat. L., 333), which reads in part as follows:

"SEC. 2. That whenever the business of the courts in any judicial district shall make it necessary, in the opinion of the Attorney General, for the clerk or marshal to furnish greater security than the official bond now required by law, a bond in the sum not to exceed $40,000 shall be given when required by the Attorney General, who shall fix the amount thereof.

"SEC. 3. That the clerks of the Supreme Court and the circuit and district courts, respectively, shall each, before he enters upon the execution of his office, give bond, with sufficient sureties, to be approved by the court for which he is appointed, to the United States, in the sum of not less than $5,000, and not more than $20,000, to be determined and regulated by the Attorney General of the United States, faithfully to discharge the duties of his office, and seasonably to record the decrees, judgments, and determinations of the court of which he is clerk."

TERM OF COURT AT SUNBURY, PA.

FEBRUARY 22, 1913.-Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be printed.

Mr. CLAYTON, from the Committee on the Judiciary, submitted the following

REPORT.

[To accompany S. 7802.]

The Committee on the Judiciary, having had under consideration the bill (S. 7802) to amend section 103 of the act entitled "An act to codify, revise, and amend the laws relating to the judiciary," approved March 3, 1911, report the same back with the recommendation that the bill do pass.

The sole purpose of this bill is to create a term of court for the middle district of Pennsylvania, to be held at Sunbury on the second Monday in January. Section 103 of the Judicial Code is amended for this purpose by the addition of the words appearing in lines 17 and 18, page 2, of the bill as follows: "at Sunbury on the second Monday in January."

The establishment of the court at Sunbury is desired by the judge, the bar jurors, litigants, and people generally of the district. No additional expense will be entailed thereby. The erection of a public building at Sunbury has been authorized.

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DEPOSITS OF GOVERNMENT FUNDS.

FEBRUARY 24, 1913.-Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be printed.

Mr. GOEKE, from the Committee on Expenditures in the Treasury Department, submitted the following

REPORT.

The question as to the proper method of dealing with the surplus money in the Treasury of the Government, included in the general fund and commonly referred to as the working balance in the Treasury, as well as the policy heretofore pursued by the several Secretaries of the Treasury for the past 26 years, has been before this committee for investigation from time to time since the beginning of the present session of Congress. A large volume of documentary evidence, statistical in form, covering the manipulation of the funds of the Government in a large number of national banks is accurately and explicitly set out, in tabular form, cheerfully and promptly prepared by the officials of the Treasury Department at the request of the committee. The oral testimony of several witnesses, including the present Secretary of the Treasury, his assistants, as also bankers, was heard, and all the evidence thus taken and considered by the committee has been ordered printed. From a careful consideration of this evidence the committee finds

First. That since the year 1868 Government money in large sums has been deposited in certain national banks of the country, the amount thereof depending largely upon the ability of the Government to furnish the money out of its surplus.

Second. That banks carrying these deposits prior to 1898 were designated as regular depositories and subsequent thereto they were divided into two classes, one known as regular or active depositories and the other as inactive or temporary depositories.

Third. That in order to receive such Government deposits the bank was required to furnish certain United States bonds of the value equal to the amount intended to be deposited in such bank.

Fourth. That the number of such depositories increased rapidly until in the year 1908 they numbered 1,436.

Fifth. That the creation or designation of banks as Government depositories is a matter wholly within the power of the Secretary of the Treasury.