BUREAU OF ENTOMOLOGY.

AFTERNOON SESSION.

TUESDAY, January 22, 1907. The committee reassembled at 3 o'clock p. m., Hon. Charles E. Littlefield (chairman) in the chair.

STATEMENT OF DR. L. O. HOWARD, CHIEF OF THE BUREAU OF ENTOMOLOGY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

Doctor Howard was sworn by the Chairman.

The CHAIRMAN. You are the head of the Bureau of Entomology!
Doctor HOWARD. Yes.

The CHAIRMAN. How long has that bureau been in existence?
Doctor HOWARD. Two years, I think.

The CHAIRMAN. Two years?

Doctor HOWARD. I think so.

The CHAIRMAN. Was there any work of that character being carried on in the Department of Agriculture prior to the organization of the bureau?

Doctor HOWARD. Yes; for a number of years it was carried on as a division, as an independent division.

The CHAIRMAN. Who was at the head of that division?

Doctor HowARD. I was. I have been since 1894. Prior to my occupancy Professor Riley was at the head of it.

The CHAIRMAN. Was divisional work going on prior to your being head of the division of that character?

Doctor HOWARD. Yes; under Professor Riley. It was the first office of a Department to be called a division.

The CHAIRMAN. And since 1894 you have been connected with it either as a division or a bureau?

Doctor HowARD. Yes.

The CHAIRMAN. In 1904 it was organized as a bureau?

Doctor HOWARD. I think that was the year.

The CHAIRMAN. Was that because of legislation or by administrative action?

Doctor HOWARD. It was by legislative authority.

The CHAIRMAN. That is, the appropriation bill provided for the establishment of this bureau?

Doctor HOWARD. Yes-that is to say, it simply changed the name. The CHAIRMAN. Was there any change in either the work of the bureau or the personnel when it went from a division to a bureau? Doctor HOWARD. No, sir.

(Witnesses: Howard, Zappone.)

The CHAIRMAN. There has been no increase in expense?

Doctor HOWARD. The appropriations have been gradually increasing from year to year; but there was no marked increase at the time of the establishment of the bureau.

The CHAIRMAN. Was there any change in the executive organization from the division to the bureau?

Doctor HOWARD. None at all, except the change of the title of the chief from chief of a division to chief of a bureau.

The CHAIRMAN. There was no change in the salaries?

Doctor HOWARD. There was no change in salaries. Now, one moment. I am not sure, but there may have been a slight increase in my own salary. And if you will pardon me, I think it was in 1905 that it was made a bureau, instead of 1904.

The CHAIRMAN. You say two years, predicating that from 1907? Doctor HowARD. Yes.

Mr. ZAPPONE. I find that it was 1905, Mr. Chairman.

The CHAIRMAN. There was, you say, a slight increase in your own salary?

Doctor HowARD. I think so.

The CHAIRMAN. How much was that?

Doctor HOWARD. From $2,500 to $2,750.
The CHAIRMAN. It is now $3,250?

Doctor HOWARD. It is now $3,250; yes, sir.
The CHAIRMAN. An increase of $250?

Doctor HOWARD. Yes. I am not quite certain but what that increase was made prior to that time.

Mr. ZAPPONE. I have the law before me. In 1904 the salary of the entomologist was $2,750. In 1905, the next year, in which the division was made a bureau, the salary of the chief was $2,750, the

same

Doctor HOWARD. With the proviso that there was $500 extra during the incumbency of the present occupant. Is not that there?

Mr. ZAPPONE. Yes; and for additional compensation while the office is held by the present incumbent, $500." That made it $3,250. The CHAIRMAN. The regular salary is $2,750 now, with the addition of $500 for yourself?

Doctor HOWARD. It was in 1905. In 1906 the salary was $3,000, with $250 additional.

The CHAIRMAN. What was the occasion for that peculiar provision?

Doctor HOWARD. I have no idea.

Mr. ZAPPONE. They made the same kind of a provision in the case of the chief of the Bureau of Animal Industry. The predecessor of Doctor Melvin received $5,000. The regular salary was $4,500, with $500 additional while the office was held by Doctor Salmon. When Doctor Melvin succeeded to the office the $500 allowed to Doctor Salmon as additional compensation had to be turned back into the Treasury. The wording of the law is identical in these two cases, and it means that should someone succeed Doctor Howard the additional amount would have to be turned back into the Treasury. The CHAIRMAN. The regular salary is now $3,250?

Doctor HOWARD. No; it is $3,000, with $250 additional.

Mr. ZAPPONE. $250, instead of $500, is still appropriated in this way.