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Government. It is requested this office be advised as to what action has been or is being taken with respect to that and similar matters of which this appears to be an instance.

With respect to the warrants under consideration there appears to be nothing of record showing what the contribution represents and for what purpose it was collected except apparently to supplement public funds appropriated by the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act of 1935, approved April 8, 1935, 49 Stat. 115, as supplemented by the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act of 1936, approved June 22, 1936, 49 Stat. 1597, 1608.

Action on said warrants will be withheld a reasonable time for a report as to what the funds represent, the specific purpose for which the contribution or donation was made, and under what authority of law it is proposed to accept and use the same.

It is requested your report in the matter be expedited so as not to unduly delay action on the pending warrants.

On the basis of such letter the Commissioner of Accounts and Deposits informally canceled the instructions in accounting procedure memorandum No. 71, supra, and reverted to the procedure of depositing and expending such funds as special deposits.

The extent to which such practice has grown is indicated by the following resolution passed by the Board of Estimate and Apportionment of the city of New York, under date of June 25, 1937:

Whereas at a meeting of the board of estimate and apportionment held on Friday, March 12, 1937, the following resolution was adopted:

Whereas at a meeting of the board of estimate and apportionment held on Friday, March 5, 1937, a resolution was adopted under which the comptroller was requested and authorized to confer and negotiate with the Administrator of the Works Progress Administration with the view of making arrangements for the purchase of materials, supplies, equipment, and hire of equipment during the months of March, April, May, and June 1937, to be used on city Works Progress Administration projects; the result of such conference and agreement to be submitted by the comptroller to the board of estimate and apportionment for such action as it may deem appropriate; and

Whereas in accordance therewith the comptroller reached an agreement with Col. Brehon Somervell, Works Progress Administration administrator, at a meeting held in the comptroller's office on Wednesday, March 10, whereby, for the desirable purpose of continuing the full contingent of approximately one hundred seventy-three thousand (173,000) Works Progress Administration workers in this city until June 30, 1937, the end of the Federal Government's fiscal year, it was agreed that an additional appropriation for the months of March, April, May, and June of two million eight hundred thousand dollars ($2,800,000) would be made from Emergency Relief revenues, the proceeds thereof to be used for the purchase of materials, supplies, equipment, and hire of equipment to keep men employed on Works Progress Administration projects during said period; and Whereas a mutually satisfactory method for the accounting and auditing of the bills for the purchase of such supplies and materials out of city funds appropriated for such purpose was reached and agreed upon at said meeting; therefore be it

Resolved by the board of estimate and apportionment, That the comptroller be, and he hereby is, authorized to allocate the sum of two million eight hundred thousand dollars ($2,800,000) (nonreimbursable) out of Emergency Relief revenue, to be used for the purchase of supplies, materials, equipment, and hire of equipment, less the sum of fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) authorized by this board on February 5, 1937 (Cal. No. 122), to provide nonreimbursable expenditures for traffic signal equipment for the police department, such equipment to be installed by the Works Progress Administration; and also less twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) authorized December 22, 1936 (Cal. No. 1), for the purchase of nonreimbursable materials for Marine Park, Borough of Richmond, both of which appropriations will continue available for the respective purposes as authorized; thus making the net amount two million seven hundred twenty-five thousand dollars ($2,725,000) to be additionally appropriated for the purposes hereinabove indicated for the period from March 1 to June 30, 1937.

Whereas, because of the cooperative arrangement between the City of New York and the Works Progress Administration, whereby the Works Progress 25974-37-4

Administration provided funds from its pay roll allotments to make the purchases for which it was reimbursed by the City of New York in accordance with the above resolution; and

Whereas authority to use such reimbursement funds to meet present pay rolls of the Works Progress Administration must, in accordance with requirements of the United States Treasury Department, be contained in the authorization received from the sponsor: Therefore be it

Resolved, by the board of estimate and apportionment, That the Works Progress Administration be and is hereby authorized to use the reimbursement funds received from the City of New York, pursuant to the above resolution, to meet its present pay rolls.

AUDIT AND SETTLEMENT OF GOVERNMENT TRANSPORTATION ACCOUNTS

With a view to facilitating the payment of claims and demands of common carriers against the United States, and to effecting such payments in the most economical and efficient manner, the General Accounting Office on November 25, 1922, issued its General Regulations No. 13, reading in part as follows:

1. Beginning January 1, 1923, the claims and demands of common carriers against the United States, payable within the continental limits of the United States, for passenger, Pullman, freight, and express service, by rail or water, shall be settled by the General Accounting Office.

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4. Upon receipt of the bills on proper forms the administrative office will examine into the correctness thereof (except as to classification and tariff), make the proper certificate accordingly, and promptly forward same with such report as may be deemed advisable to the General Accounting Office, Transportation Division, for settlement. Administrative action should be limited to-certification as to the services performed; that the services were properly authorized, and necessary in the public service; and that the amount thereof has not been paid and is payable from the appropriation designated. The full and exact title of the appropriation, with fiscal year, if any, must be stated.

Following the issuance of the regulation most of the executive departments and establishments complied to the extent of forwarding transportation claims to the General Accounting Office for audit and settlement, but some of them retained a force of rate clerks for the purpose of checking rates, etc., in the course of the administrative examination. Also the War and Navy Departments, two of the largest users of both freight and passenger transportation, as well as the Department of Justice, refused to comply with the provisions of the regulations and continued to audit and pay transportation claims, thus making it necessary for the General Accounting Office to make a post audit of such items. Naturally such action required a large force of clerks qualified for this line of work. Practically all of the emergency agencies established during the past few years also follow the practice of auditing their own transportation vouchers, thus necessitating a post audit by the General Accounting Office.

The question of centralizing the audit and settlement of Government transportation accounts has recently been the subject of a study by the Federal Coordinator of Transportation, in connection with which there was submitted to the Coordinator a report by N. B. Haley, a consultant of his office, wherein the following recommendations are made:

First. That this report be submitted to the Comptroller General with request for his comments and suggestions; and

Second. That the matter then be placed before the President with the suggestion that an appropriate Executive order be issued, directing that all classes of transportation claims against the United States be given prompt administrative

examination and certification and punctually thereafter forwarded to the General Accounting Office for audit and settlement.

Comment on the report was made to the Federal Coordinator of Transportation by the Comptroller General by letter dated November 14, 1935, in which it was stated:

* I am confident that with the cooperation of all concerned delays in effecting payments to common carriers can be reduced to a minimum and that vast savings will be effected if such claims against the United States be given prompt administrative examination and certification and punctually thereafter forwarded to the General Accounting Office for audit and settlement, as recommended in the report.

The matter was then submitted to the President by the Federal Coordinator of Transportation in letter dated December 16, 1935, the last paragraph of which reads

Accordingly, the proposal is submitted for your information and consideration with the suggestion that recommendation be made to the Congress proposing legislation to remove any possible question of doubt as to authority for the proposed method of audit and settlement.

The President referred the matter to the Bureau of the Budget, and during the past summer several meetings were held, at which were present representatives of the Bureau of the Budget, the General Accounting Office, the Federal Coordinator of Transportation, and several of the large railroad companies. It is understood the Acting Director of the Budget recommended that no action be taken thereon. There is no question but that by the adoption of the plan recommended by the Federal Coordinator of Transportation of having the audit and settlement of all transportation accounts centralized in the General Accounting Office there will result not only enormous savings in personnel, records, and equipment, and a speeding up in the settlement of such accounts, but large sums now paid on the basis of administrative examinations and subsequently disallowed by the General Accounting Office will never leave the Federal Treasury. It is therefore recommended that the plan be adopted, for which purpose the following legislation is suggested:

Hereafter all claims and demands of common carriers against the United States, payable within the continental limits of the United States (for passenger, Pullman, freight, and express service, by rail, highway (bus or truck), air, or water), shall be submitted to, and settled by, the General Accounting Office, and the examination of such claims and demands as to classification and tariff which has heretofore been performed by administrative offices is discontinued.

Such of the personnel now employed in the several departments and establishments in connection with the examination and verification of transportation claims and demands as may be determined by the Comptroller General, are hereby authorized and directed to be transferred to the General Accounting Office, together with such portions of appropriations as may be necessary to care for the salaries of employees so transferred.

There shall be transferred to, and become the property of, the General Accounting Office such books, tariffs, and records as may be considered necessary by the Comptroller General.

The Comptroller General shall prescribe such transportation and other forms and procedure as he may deem necessary to effectively carry out the provisions of this act.

PERSONNEL of the goOVERNMENT, DECEASED; SETTLEMENT OF CLAIMS FOR AMOUNTS DUE TO

It not infrequently occurs that employees in the military, naval, and civilian services of the United States are separated from their posts of duty by death at a time when an amount of money is due them from

the Government. For instance, a salaried civilian employee who dies within a pay period may be entitled to several days' accrued pay-and this amount becomes an asset of his estate for distribution in accordance with the law of his last domicile.

In situations of this nature considerable difficulty is frequently encountered in determining the proper persons entitled by law to the amount held by the Government. State laws differ widely relative to the distribution of estates. In some States the payer of the funeral expenses or the expense of last illness is a preferred distributee, while in others no such preference exists; in some jurisdictions the widow of the deceased is entitled to a preferential award in a specified amount, while in others no such award is provided or is different in amount. In all cases, of course, it is necessary to see that the distribution conforms to applicable legal principle and precedent.

A considerable exchange of correspondence is often necessary to an accurate determination respecting the order of preferences, whether they have been satisfied in whole or in part, who is entitled to the balance after all preferences have been satisfied, etc. Not infrequently a delay of several months takes place in the settlement of an admittedly valid claim due to this necessity of completing the factual record so that distribution of the amount held by the United States will be correctly made.

As early as 1906 officials of the Army recognized the desirability of simplifying this procedure, so far as accounts of deceased officers or enlisted men were concerned. As a result, on June 30 of that year, the following provision was enacted into law:

Hereafter, in the settlement of the accounts of deceased officers or enlisted men of the Army, where the amount due the decedent's estate is less than five hundred dollars and no demand is presented by a duly appointed legal representative of the estate, the accounting officers may allow the amount found due to the decedent's widow or legal heirs in the following order of precedence: First, to the widow; second, if decedent left no widow, or the widow be dead at time of settlement, then to the children or their issue, per stirpes; third, if no widow or descendants, then to the father and mother in equal parts, provided the father has not abandoned the support of his family, in which case to the mother alone; fourth, if either the father or mother be dead then to the one surviving; fifth, if there be no widow, child, father, or mother at the date of settlement, then to the brothers and sisters and children of deceased brothers and sisters, per stirpes: Provided, That this act shall not be so construed as to prevent payment from the amount due the decedent's estate of funeral expenses, provided a claim therefor is presented by the person or persons who actually paid the same before settlement by the accounting officers. (34 Stat. 750).

Two years later a similar statute (act of May 27, 1908, 35 Stat. 373) was enacted with respect to the Navy and Marine Corps Services.

Distribution under these statutes has proven satisfactory in practice, and a great deal of time and effort has been eliminated in the proper settlement of these accounts. No comparable statute has been passed to cover the settlement of accounts of deceased civilian employees and service employees of the Coast Guard, Coast and Geodetic Survey, and the Public Health Service.

The effectiveness in operation of these statutes relating to the Army, Navy, and Marine Corps inspires the recommendation that a similar statute be enacted into law to cover these other groups. It is believed that such a statute would not only lessen in a material degree the cost of adjusting and settling accounts of deceased civilian and service employees, but also would result in a saving of from 3 to 6 months' time in the disposition of many such claims.

CONSERVATION OF PERSONAL ESTATES OF AMERICAN CITIZENS DYING WITHIN CONSULATES

Reference is made to H. R. 6310, Seventy-second Congress, which was pending at the close of that Congress before the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate (print of February 24, calendar day February 25, 1932), which reads

That section 1709 of the Revised Statutes, as amended by the Act of March 3, 1911 (36 Stat. 1083), and section 304 of the Budget and Accounting Act, 1921 (42 Stat. 24), is hereby further amended by substituting for fourth, fifth, and sixth paragraphs new paragraphs fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh, reading as follows:

"Fourth. To sell at auction, after reasonable public notice, such part of the estate as shall be of a perishable nature, and such further part, if any, as shall be necessary for the payment of his debts incurred in such country, and, at the expiration of one year from his decease, the residue, if no legal claimant has appeared: Provided, That investments of bonds, shares of stocks, and notes of indebtedness, and also articles of a purely personal or sentimental value, such as jewelry, heirlooms, keepsakes, and so forth, shall not be sold unless necessary for the payments of debts incurred in such country.

"Fifth. To transmit the balance of the estate to the General Accounting Office to be holden in trust for the legal claimant; except that if at any time before such transmission the legal representatives of the deceased shall appear and demand his effects which are in the hands of such consul or vice consul, said consul or vice consul shall deliver them up, being paid their fees, costs, and expenses, and shall cease their proceedings.

"Sixth. The Comptroller General of the United States, or such member of the General Accounting Office as he may duly empower to act as his representative for the purpose, shall act as conservator of such parts of these estates as may be received by the General Accounting Office or are in its possession, and for their protection he may order such effects to be sold as may consist of bonds, shares of stock, notes of indebtedness, and also of jewelry or other articles which have heretofore or may hereafter be so received, and pay the expenses of such sale out of the proceeds, provided application for these effects shall not have been made by the legal claimant within six years after their receipt. The Comptroller General is authorized, in the name of the deceased, to receive any balances due to such estates, to draw therefor on banks, safe deposits, trust or loan companies, or other like institutions, to indorse all checks, bills of exchange, promissory notes, and other evidences of indebtedness due to such estates, and take such other steps as necessary for their collection, and to do and perform all and any other acts necessary for the conservation of such estates. The net proceeds of such sales, together with such cther moneys as may be collected by him, shall be deposited into the Treasury to a fund in trust for the legal claimant and reported to the Secretary of State.

"Seventh. If no claim to the effects the proceeds of which have been so deposited shall have been received from a legal claimant of the deceased within six years from the date of the receipt of the effects by the General Accounting Office, the funds so deposited, with any remaining unsold effects, less transmittal charges, shall be transmitted by that office to the proper officers of the State or Territory of the domicile of the deceased citizen, if known, or, if not, such funds shall be covered into the general fund of the Treasury as miscellaneous receipts on account of proceeds of deceased citizens, and any such remaining unsold effects shall be disposed of by the General Accounting Office in such manner as, in the judgment of the Comptroller General, is deemed appropriate, or they may be destroyed if considered no longer possessed of any value: Provided, That when the estate shall be valued in excess of $500, and no claim therefor has been presented to the General Accounting Office by a legal claimant within the period specified in this paragraph or the legal claimant is unknown, before disposition of the estate as provided herein, notice shall be given by publishing once a week for four consecutive weeks in a newspaper published in the county of the last known domicile of the deceased, the expense thereof to be deducted from the proceeds of such estate, and any lawful claim received as the result of such advertisement shall be adjusted and settled as provided for herein."

The existing law on the subject is found in section 1709, Revised Statutes, as amended by acts of March 3, 1911 (36 Stat. 1083), and

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