to the property it receives, pay to the Department of Agriculture the amount of 20 per centum of the estimated value of said property, as fixed by the Secretary of Agriculture or under his direction, against which sum the said State may set off all freight charges paid by it on the shipment of said property, not to exceed, however, said 20 per centum.

The title to said vehicles and equipment shall be and remain vested in the State for use in the improvement of the public highways, and no such vehicles and equipment in serviceable condition shall be sold or the title to the same transferred to any individual, company, or corporation: Provided, That any State highway department to which is assigned motorpropelled vehicles and other equipment and supplies, transferred herein to the Department of Agriculture, may, in its discretion, arrange for the use of such vehicles and equipment, for the purpose of constructing or maintaining public highways, with any State agency or municipai corporation at a fair rental which shall not be less than the cost of maintenance and repair of said vehicles and equipment.

The provisions of the Act of July 16, 1914 (Thirty-eighth Statutes, page 454), prohibiting the expenditure of appropriations by any of the executive departments or other Government establishments for the maintenance, repair, or operation of motor-propelled or horse-drawn passenger-carrying vehicles in the absence of specific statutory authority, shall not apply to vehicles transferred, or hereafter to be transferred, by the Secretary of War to the Department of Agriculture for the use of the Department under the provisions of this Act, or under the provisions of section 7 of the Act of February 28, 1919, referred to in section 1 hereof: Provided, however, That nothing in this Act contained shall be held or construed to modify, amend, or repeal the provisions of the last proviso under the item entitled "Contingencies of the Army," as contained in the Act entitled “An Act making appropriations for the support of the Army for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1920, and for other purposes," approved July 11, 1919, except as to direction for the transfer of those articles enumerated in section 2 hereof. (Act March 15, 1920, c. 100, §§ 1-6.)

§ 6824b. Roads and trails within national forests.-There is hereby appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1919, the sum of $3,000,000, for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1920, the sum of $3,000,000, and for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1921, the sum of $3,000,000, available until expended by the Secretary of Agriculture in cooperation with the proper officials of the State, Territory, insular possession, or county, in the survey, construction, and maintenance of roads and trails within or partly within the national forests, when necessary for the use and development of resources of the same or desirable for the proper administration, protection, and improvement of any such forest. Out of the sums so appropriated the Secretary of Agriculture may, without the cooperation of such officials, survey, construct, and maintain any road or trail within a national forest which he finds necessary for the proper administration, protection, and improvement of such forest, or which in his opinion is of national importance. In the expenditure of this fund for labor preference shall be given, other conditions being equal, to honorably discharged soldiers, sailors and marines. The Secretary of Agriculture shall make annual report to Congress of the amounts expended hereunder. (Act Feb. 28, 1919, c. 69, § 8.)

§ 6824bb. Further provision concerning such roads and trails.—Out of the moneys in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, there is hereby appropriated for the survey, construction, reconstruction, and maintenance of forest roads and trails, the sum of $5,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1922, available immediately and until expended, and $10,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1923, available until expended.

(a) Fifty per centum, but not to exceed $3,000,000 for any one fiscal year, of the appropriation made or that may hereafter be made for expenditure under the provisions of this section shall be expended under the

direct supervision of the Secretary of Agriculture in the survey, construction, reconstruction, and maintenance of roads and trails of primary importance for the protection, administration, and utilization of the national forests, or when necessary, for the use and development of the resources upon which communities within or adjacent to the national forests are dependent, and shall be apportioned among the several States, Alaska, and Porto Rico by the Secretary of Agriculture, according to the relative needs of the various national forests, taking into consideration the existing transportation facilities, value of timber, or other resources served, relative fire danger, and comparative difficulties of road and trail construction.

The balance of such appropriations shall be expended by the Secretary of Agriculture in the survey, construction, reconstruction, and maintenance of forest roads of primary importance to the State, counties, or communities within, adjoining, or adjacent to the national forests, and shail be prorated and apportioned by the Secretary of Agriculture for expenditure in the several States, Alaska, and Porto Rico, according to the area and value of the land owned by the Government within the national forests therein as determined by the Secretary of Agriculture from such information, investigation, sources, and departments as the Secretary of Agriculture may deem most accurate.

(b) Cooperation of Territories, States, and civil subdivisions thereof may be accepted but shall not be required by the Secretary of Agriculture.

(c) The Secretary of Agriculture may enter into contracts with any Territory, State, or civil subdivision thereof for the construction, reconstruction, or maintenance of any forest road or trail or part thereof.

(d) Construction work on forest roads or trails estimated to cost $5,000 or more per mile, exclusive of bridges, shall be advertised and let to contract.

If such estimated cost is less than $5,000 per mile, or if, after proper advertising, no acceptable bid is received, or the bids are deemed excessive, the work may be done by the Secretary of Agriculture on his own account; and for such purpose the Secretary of Agriculture may purchase, lease, hire, rent, or otherwise obtain all necessary supplies, materials, tools, equipment, and facilities required to perform the work.

The appropriation made in this section or that may hereafter be made for expenditure under the provisions of this section may be expended for the purpose herein authorized and for the payment of wages, salaries, and other expenses for help employed in connection with such work. (Act Nov. 9, 1921, c. 119, § 23, 42 Stat.)

§ 6824c. Work on roads by soldiers, sailors, and marines.-No officer or enlisted man of the Army, Navy, or Marine Corps shall be detailed for work on the roads which come within the provisions of this Act except by his own consent: And provided further, That the Secretary of Agriculture through the War Department shall ascertain the number of days any such soldiers, sailors and marines have worked on the public roads in the several States (other than roads within the limits of cantonments or military reservations in the several States) during the existing war and also the location where they worked and their names and rank, and report to Congress at the beginning of its next regular session: Provided further, That when any officer or enlisted man in the Army, the Navy, or the Marine Corps shall have been or may be in the future detailed for labor in the building of roads or other highway construction or repair work (other than roads within the limits of cantonments or military reservations in the several States), during the existing war, the pay of such officer or enlisted man shall be equalized to conform to the compensation paid to civilian employees in the same or like employment and the amount found to be due such officers, soldiers, sailors, and marines, less the amount of his pay as such officer, soldier, sailor, or marine, shall be paid to him from the 1920

appropriation herein allotted to the States wherein such highway construction or repair work was or will be performed. (Act Feb. 28, 1919, c. 69, § 9.)

§ 6824d. Moneys and advancements to supply deficiencies in revenues for improvements of highways.-If the revenues of the Post Office Department shall be insufficient to meet the appropriations made by this Act, a sum equal to such deficiency of the revenue of said department is hereby appropriated, to be paid out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, to supply said deficiencies in the revenues for the Post Office Department for the year ending June 30, 1920, and the sum needed may be advanced to the Post Office Department upon requisition of the Postmaster General. (Act Feb. 28, 1919, c. 69, § 10.)

§ 6824e. Loan of tractors to States for highway improvement.-The Secretary of War be, and he is hereby, authorized and empowered, at his discretion, and under such rules and regulations as he may prescribe, to loan to any State of the Union, when so requested by the highway department of the State, such tractors as are retained and not distributed under the Act approved March 15, 1920, for use in highway construction by the highway department of such State: Provided, That ail expenses for repairs and upkeep of tractors so loaned and the expenses of loading and freight shall be paid by the State, both in transfer to the State and return to the Army. (Act March 1, 1921, c. 88, § 2, 41 Stat. 1155.)

§ 6824f. Distribution of additional tractors.-The Secretary of War is hereby authorized and directed to transfer and deliver to the Secretary of Agriculture for distribution among the highway departments of the several States for use on roads constructed in whole or in part by Federal aid one thousand two hundred and fifty tractors owned by the War Department. (Act March 3, 1921, c. 128, § 1, 41 Stat. 1349.)

CHAPTER 10.

RAILWAY SERVICE.

§ 6869. Leases for terminal post offices.-Hereafter the Postmaster General may, in the disbursement of the appropriation for such purposes, apply a part thereof to the purpose of leasing premises for the use of terminal railway post offices at a reasonable annual rental, to be paid quarterly, for a term not exceeding twenty years. (Acts March 9, 1914, c. 33, 38 Stat. 391; April 24, 1920, c. 161, § 1.)

§ 6874. Compensation of assistant superintendents.

Note.-Act Feb. 28, 1919, c. 69, § 1, making appropriations for the railway mail service, contains the following item: "For per diem allowance of two assistant superintendents while actually traveling on official business away from their home, their official domicile, and their headquarters, at a rate to be fixed by the Postmaster General, not to exceed $4 per day, and for their necessary official expenses not covered by their per diem allowance not exceeding $700." This paragraph is repeated in Act April 24, 1920, c. 161, § 1.

§ 6874a. Salaries of officials of Railway Mail Service.-The annual salaries of officials of the Railway Mail Service shall be graded in even hundreds of dollars, as follows: Division superintendents at $4,200; assistant division superintendents at $3,200; assistant superintendents at $3,100; assistant superintendents in charge of car construction at $3,000; chief clerks at $3,000; assistant chief clerks at $2,500: Provided, That the clerks in charge of sections in the offices of the division superintendents shall be rated as assistant chief clerks at $2,500 salary, and the chief clerk in charge of car construction shall be designated as an assistant superintendent at $3,000 salary per annum.

(14 Barnes)

The salary of requisition fillers and packers in the division of equipment and supplies shall be as follows: One foreman, $1,800 per annum; ten requisition fillers and nine packers, each, $1,600 per annum. (Act June 5, 1920, c. 254.)

§ 6875. Railway postal clerks.-Railway postal clerks shall be divided into two classes, Class A and Class B, and into six grades as follows: Grade one-salary, $1,600; grade two-salary, $1,700; grade threesalary, $1,850; grade four-salary, $2,000; grade five-salary, $2,150; grade six-salary, $2,300; and laborers in the Railway Mail Service shall be divided into two grades, as follows: Grade one-salary, $1,350; grade two—salary, $1,450.

For the purpose of organization and establishing maximum grades to which promotions may be made successively, as herein provided, runs now in Class A and all terminal railway post offices and transfer offices shall be placed in Class A, and the remainder in Class B.

Road clerks shall be promoted successively to grade three for clerks, and to grade four for clerks in charge of Class A, and to grade five for clerks and to grade six for clerks in charge of Class B.

Terminal railway post office and transfer clerks shall be promoted successively to grade three for clerks of whom general scheme distribution is not required, and to grade four for clerks of whom general scheme distribution is required, and for clerks in charge to grade five in terminals or tours or crews in terminals consisting of not more than nineteen clerks or in transfer offices or tours in transfer offices of not more than four clerks, and to grade six in terminals or tours or crews in terminals consisting of twenty or more clerks and in transfer offices or tours in transfer offices of five or more clerks.

A clerk in charge is defined as a clerk in charge of a railway post office, terminal railway post office, or transfer office whether he performs service alone or has a crew of clerks under his supervision, or of a tour or a crew within a tour of a terminal railway post office or transfer office.

All clerks assigned to the office of division superintendents or chief clerks' offices shall be promoted successively to grade three, and in the office of division superintendent four clerks may be promoted one grade per annum to grade four, four clerks to grade five, and four clerks to grade six, and in the office of chief clerks one clerk may be promoted one grade per annum to grade four, one clerk to grade five, and one clerk to grade six.

Examiners shall be promoted successively to grade five and assistant examiners to grade four whether assigned to the office of division superintendents or chief clerks offices.

Laborers shall be promoted to grade two after one year's satisfactory service in grade one.

Promotion shall be made successively at the beginning of the quarter following a year's satisfactory service in the next lower grade.

In the readjustment of the service to conform to the grades herein provided, grade one shall include clerks in present grade one, grade two shall include clerks in present grades two and three, grade three shall include clerks in present grades four and five, grade four shall include clerks in present grades six and seven, grade five shall include clerks in present grades eight and nine, and grade six shall include clerks in present grade ten.

Substitute railway postal clerks shall be paid the salary of grade one for service actually performed during the first calendar year of service, which shall constitute his probationary period, when, if his services are

satisfactory, unless sooner appointed a regular clerk, he shall be promoted to grade two and paid the salary of that grade for service actually performed until appointed a regular clerk.

Service of clerks shall be based on an average of not exceeding eight hours daily for three hundred and six days per annum, including proper allowance for all service required on lay-off periods. Clerks required to perform service in excess of eight hours daily, as herein provided, shall be paid in cash at the annual rate of pay or granted compensatory time at their option for such over-time.

Substitute railway postal clerks shall be credited with full time while traveling under orders of the department to and from their designated headquarters to take up an assignment, together with actual and necessary travel expenses, not to exceed 2 per day, while on duty away from such headquarters. When a substitute clerk performs service in a railway post office starting from his official headquarters he shall be allowed travel expenses under the law applying to clerks regularly assigned to the run. (Acts Aug. 24, 1912, c. 389, § 7, 37 Stat. 555; July 28, 1916, c. 261, § 1, 39 Stat. 419; March 3, 1917, c. 162, § 1, 39 Stat. 1065; July 2, 1918, c. 117, § 2; Feb. 28, 1919, c. 69, § 2; June 5, 1920, c. 254.)

Note. Acts Feb. 28, 1919, c. 69, § 1, and April 24, 1920, c. 161, § 1, making appropriation for the railway mail service, provides that "the appointment and assignment of clerks hereunder shall be so made during the fiscal year as not to involve a greater aggregate expenditure than this sum; and, to enable the Postmaster General to reclassify the salaries of railway postal clerks and make necessary appointments and promotions, he may exceed the number of clerks in such of the grades as may be necessary: Provided, That the number of regular clerks in the aggregate as herein authorized be not exceeded."

§ 6878. Travel allowances for railway postal clerks on leave.-Hereafter, in addition to the salaries provided by law, the Postmaster General is hereby authorized to make travel allowances in lieu of actual expenses, at fixed rates per annum, not exceeding in the aggregate the sum annually appropriated, to railway postal clerks, acting railway postal clerks, and substitute railway postal clerks, including substitute railway postal clerks for railway postal clerks granted leave with pay on account of sickness, assigned to duty in railway post office cars, while on duty, after ten hours from the time of beginning their initial run, under such regulations as he may prescribe, and in no case shall such an allowance exceed $2 per day. (Acts Aug. 24, 1912, c. 389, § 1, 39 Stat. 548; March 3, 1917, c. 162, § 1, 39 Stat. 1065; Feb. 28, 1919, c. 69, § 1.)

Note. See § 6875.

§ 6881. Time allowed clerks while deadheading.-Railway and substitute railway postal clerks shall be credited with full time when deadheading under orders of the department. (Acts July 28, 1916, § 1, 39 Stat. 419; March 3, 1917, c. 162, § 1, 39 Stat. 1065; July 2, 1918, c. 117, § 1, 40 Stat.; Feb. 28, 1919, c. 69, § 1; April 24, 1920, c. 161, § 1.)

CHAPTER 12.

POST OFFICE INSPECTORS.

§ 6908. Employment and salary of inspectors.-The Postmaster General may employ two post-office inspectors for the Pacific coast, and such number of other post-office inspectors as the good of the service and the safety of the mail may require. (R. S. § 4017; Acts June 8, 1872, c. 335, §§ 31, 32, 17 Stat. 289; June 11, 1880, c. 206, § 1, 21 Stat. 177; June 5, 1920, c. 254.)