[B-96007]

Appropriations-Availability-Decalcomanias

Decalcomania transfers carried as stock items available at all times to the public generally and which do not require any printing operation after receipt of an order are not to be construed as printing required to be procured from the Government Printing Office pursuant to the act of March 1, 1919, as amended, so that the Soil Conservation Service may charge the cost thereof to its appropriation limitation for operations. 24 Comp. Gen. 608, distinguished.

Comptroller General Warren to W. R. France, Department of Agriculture, July 6, 1950:

There has been received your letter of June 6, 1950, forwarding a voucher stated in favor of Duro Decal Company, Inc., Chicago, Illinois, which has been presented to you for certification, and requesting a decision as to whether the purchase properly may be paid for from the appropriation stated on the voucher.

You state that the proposed payment is for decalcomania transfers used to letter and number Government automotive equipment and that the transfers are not printed exclusively for the Soil Conservation Service but are stock items available at all times to the public generally. For this reason, you propose to charge the expense to the appropriation limitation for soil conservation operations since payment from that fund would not appear to be in contravention of the act of March 1, 1919, 40 Stat. 1270, as amended, 44 U. S. C. 111. However, in view of the holding in 24 Comp. Gen. 608, you express doubt as to whether the expenditure may not be a proper charge against the appropriation limitation for printing and binding.

The act of March 1, 1919, as amended, supra, provides:

All printing, binding, and blank-book work for Congress, the Executive Office, the Judiciary (other than the Supreme Court of the United States), and every executive department, independent office, and establishment of the Government, shall be done at the Government Printing Office, except (1) such classes of work as shall be deemed by the Joint Committee on Printing to be urgent or necessary to have done elsewhere; and (2) printing in field printing plants operated by any such executive department, independent office, or establishment, and the procurement of printing by any such executive department, independent office, or establishment from allotments for contract field printing, if approved by the Joint Committee on Printing.

Provisions of this nature have been construed by the accounting officers of the Government as applying to instances where the items involved are to be printed for the procuring agency after the order for

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Germany are not assessed on a per capita basis, since such military trains are operated at the cost of the German economy, and no payment of U. S. Government appropriated funds is involved.

You make specific reference to Office decision dated July 15, 1948, B-77941, wherein the payment of mileage was denied John A. Townley, major, F. D., Office of the Chief of Finance, Frankfurt, Germany, for travel performed by privately owned automobile pursuant to orders dated November 13, 1947, authorizing said Army officer to proceed “from his present station to Salzburg, Hersching, Tulln and Vienna, Austria, on temporary duty for a period not to exceed eight (8) days," and upon completion thereof to return to his proper station. Paragraph 2 of Major Townley's orders provided, in pertinent part, as follows:

Travel by military aircraft, Government motor vehicle and/or rail transportation is authorized. Change in itinerary is auth, when traveling by air, as may be required by circumstances beyond the control of the traveler. TPA is auth on a non-reimbursable basis.

The cited decision held that under the provisions of section 12 of the Pay Readjustment Act (56 Stat. 364), as amended, officer Townley was not entitled to a money allowance of 3 cents per mile (in lieu of transportation) for travel performed by privately owned conveyance (and for which reimbursement was specifically precluded) since such travel could have been performed by rail (as authorized) at no expense to the Government or the traveler. Said decision was intended to apply only to personnel in the armed forces of the United States who travel by privately owned conveyance for personal convenience when transportation in kind is specifically authorized and is available for the travel directed. It has no application to the rights of a civilian employee of the Department of the Army to mileage for the use of a privately owned automobile whenever such mode of transportation is administratively authorized (or subsequently approved) as "more advantageous" to the Government. See paragraph 12 (a) (1). Standardized Government Travel Regulations: Civilian Per

me' Regulations 139.6–18 and T86-18 dated May 27, 1947, and Sextember 18 148 respectively. See, als section 3 of the act of Ange & the 50 Stat. 8. T. and section 4, act of June & 1042 & Stat. 18 Atas ersing en lan trave' regulations provide that all suchen mad tray's & by the mat ævinal oxid ̈y traveled more" ne kas ang line has been found regaining civilian emBlaves to t TATSOKA on kod Goremment means for the perfomga of dhe i travel where such means of trusportation is

not required by competent orders, or where the employees are given the privilege of selecting other modes of available transportation for travel to and from designated locations. However, the determination of the mode of travel to be used by an employee is vested in the administrative officials-not the employee-and in the event an employee elects to travel by a method different from that officially authorized, the amount that the Government is obligated to pay, generally, may not exceed what it would have cost had the traveler utilized the means of transportation prescribed.

With regard to the suspension raised on voucher No. 6176 of the September 1948 accounts of Major A. G. Merritt, F. D., Symbol No. 214-367, covering payment of mileage to William J. Anderson, former civilian employee, for travel by privately owned automobile from Berlin to Bremerhaven, Germany, during September 1947, it now appears that said suspension was improper because Mr. Anderson's travel orders dated August 30, 1947, specifically provided that said travel by private car "will be to the advantage of the Government." Concerning the mileage claim (No. 0859438) of Dexter G. Tilroe, former civilian employee, Headquarters, U. S. Forces in Austria, for travel performed by privately owned automobile from Vienna, Austria, to Bremerhaven, Germany, February 28 to March 3, 1948, pursuant to travel orders dated February 26, 1948, the record shows that Mr. Tilroe's orders authorized said land travel by "TPA" at the rate of 5 cents per mile "not to exceed 678 miles." In view of his travel orders and the administrative explanation subsequently furnished which indicated a reasonable basis for the "determination of advantage to the Government," allowance thereof in the sum of $33.90, authorized by settlement dated April 11, 1950, appears to have been correct.

Answering your question specifically, you are advised that this Office would not be required to object to the payment of mileage (not to exceed the statutory rates prescribed for the official distance involved) to civilian employees of your Department for official travel performed by privately owned conveyance within the occupied zones of Germany, in any case where "transportation in kind" is not required to be utilized by competent orders, and the use of a privately owned conveyance for official travel within Germany is administratively authorized (or subsequently approved) as "more advantageous" to the Government.