I think that covers practically all that can be said on that subject. Mr. STAFFORD. What two divisions are now in existence?

Col. KELLER. There are really five divisions in the office; but we have not asked for any increase for the fourth and fifth chiefs of division, because we do not believe that it is called for. He is carried as a clerk at $1,900.

Mr. STAFFORD. What chiefs of division are now receiving $2.000? Col. KELLER. The chief of the Record Division, the chief of the Military Division, and the chief of the Accounts and Contracts Division.

Mr. STAFFORD. There are only two provided for here, and you mentioned three.

Col. KELLER. The third is not listed as a chief of division. He is carried as a class 5 man at $2,000 on the allotment roll. We have at present two chiefs of division, as you see, carried on the regular roll at $2,000, and there are also two on the allotment roll at $1,900 each.

Mr. STAFFORD. What is that allotment roll that you refer to ? Col. KELLER. There is an authorization in the act which permits the expenditure of $50,400. We call that the allotment roll. The money is taken from the appropriations for fortifications, rivers and harbors, etc., and is used for the services of skilled draftsmen, civil engineers, and such other services as the Secretary of War shall deem necessary to be employed in the office of the Chief of Engineers.

Mr. BYRNS. Referring to this estimate here for three chiefs of division, is that for the purpose of transferring one to this roll, or is it for the purpose of promoting a clerk of class 4?

Col. KELLER. It is for the purpose of promoting a clerk of class 3 at $1,900 now on the allotment roll-Mr. Fletcher, of whom I was speaking-and for two of the chiefs of division that are now carried on the roll at $2.000 each.

Mr. BYRNS. That really would not bring about any promotion on the statutory roll if this were allowed?

Col. KELLER. No, sir. We recommend two promotions on the statutory roll, but there will be no promotions below. We do not intend to extend it through the list.

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 1916.

OFFICE OF THE BUREAU OF INSULAR AFFAIRS.

STATEMENT OF BRIG. GEN. FRANK MCINTYRE, CHIEF.

Mr. BYRNS. The estimates submitted for the office of the Bureau of Insular Affairs involve a net decrease of two employees and a decrease in the appropriation of $650.

Gen. MCINTYRE. Yes, sir.

Mr. BYRNS. You are asking for certain promotions?

Gen. MCINTYRE. I ask for a promotion or an increase in salary for the chief clerk and for three of the clerks of class 4. I drop out two

clerks in order to bring that within the appropriation. My theory is that the present appropriation ought to be ample, but the individual salaries are not by any means what the men who fill these positions should get. That is shown by the fact that I am losing these men from time to time, and it requires men of considerable ability to fill the positions. The chief clerk not only has to do with the clerical force in my rather small office, but he has to do with all of the appointments of Americans in the Philippine Islands and Porto Rico, as they are sent over, and a great deal of that work falls on him. Then, when they come back he has to look out for their transfer to service in the United States.

The principal clerk at $2,250 is usually responsible for many millions of dollars of Philippine funds deposited in the United States. Of course, he operates under the chief of the bureau, but he is the man who is responsible. The State Department recently had to look carefully for a man to go to Haiti as financial adviser to the Haitian Republic, and after spending some months in trying to pick out a man, they selected that man. The particular man that I had in the position last year is now the financial adviser to the Haitian Republic, and, of course, he is receiving there a salary that is some three times what I am here asking for.

Mr. BYRNS. The man for whom you are asking this increase is now a clerk of class 4?

Gen. MCINTYRE. Yes; and he was so carried. The particular man I had last year has left the service, and I have the man who had been his assistant for a number of years. He has been promoted to class 4, and I am now asking for him this increase.

Mr. BYRNS. You are making a distinction in the promotion of three clerks of class 4.

Gen. MCINTYRE. Yes, sir; the idea being to have a gradual promotion in the office in order that when a man reaches class 4 the outlook will not be wholly hopeless for him if he is a good man, and in order that there may be something above that he can receive in the office.

Mr. STAFFORD. When did this idea take hold of the department and bureaus of having principal clerks?

Gen. MCINTYRE. Well, I think it arose in this way: It was almost impossible to use the old designation and get the appropriation. That was really the point. The idea was to use a name that would distinguish it from the old name to which a certain salary seemed to be fixed, and which it seemed impossible to overcome. Personally I do not care whether the name is changed or not, and I do not know that the man would. He continues to be the highest man in the office, and he is the man who should be able to do anything that comes up in the absence of the officers over him.

Mr. STAFFORD. In which branch or grade of clerk do you lose the most clerks?

Gen. MCINTYRE. In the recent past we have lost men who spoke the Spanish language-that is, men who had been in Cuba and the Philippines and had acquired a knowledge of the Spanish language, and who, in addition, had some knowledge of finance. Now, for instance, the National City Bank has a man in Argentina who received all of his training in this bureau, but of course, their particular reason for getting him was that he had a knowledge of the Spanish

language. He had left us to go to Porto Rico and the Philippines, but he spoke the Spanish language and had a knowledge of accounts and of the details of the customs service. These men, or a number of them, have become acquainted with that sort of work. My idea, as you will see, is to promote or get increases, not for young men who come in as stenographers and typewriters at $1,000 and do not expect to remain, but those who will remain permanently in the service. That compensation is a fair one for the young man who does not expect to remain permanently, because he perhaps studies law while here, and improves himself in some other way, but for the other men. who are undertaking this work more or less permanently the lower salaries are not by any means sufficient.

Mr. BYRNS. You propose to call your chief clerk an assistant and chief clerk?

Gen. MCINTYRE. Yes, sir.

Mr. BYRNS. Is there any reason for giving him that title?

Gen. MCINTYRE. No, sir; it is intended to make it more descriptive. There is no reason for it at all, except that it is to some extent descriptive, but it is to justify the change in the salary. It is to show why he should get that increase of salary.

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 1916.

MILITIA BUREAU.

STATEMENTS OF BRIG. GEN. W. A. MANN, CHIEF, AND CAPT. A. E. WILLIAMS, OF THE MILITIA BUREAU.

Mr. BYRNS. General, you are asking for some increases. You propose to increase the salary of the chief clerk from $2,000 to $2,250, and you propose, also, to create the position of chief of division at $2,000. Then you ask an increase of four clerks.

Gen. MANN. Yes, sir; four clerks in addition to the chief of division.

Mr. BYRNS. We will be glad to have any statement you wish to make, General, concerning the necessity for these increases.

Gen. MANN. In 1909 when the salary of the chief clerk of the office was fixed by the Secretary of War, the salary of the chief clerks in the several bureaus was $2,000. The personnel of the office then was 2 officers and 16 clerks, but since that time, as you are aware, the salaries of chief clerks of other bureaus have been raised to $2.250 or more, while the salary of this chief clerk has remained at the same figure. The office force has increased to 14 officers and 36 clerks. It seems to me to be in keeping with the importance of the office that he should have this slight raise in pay. The necessity for increasing the number of clerks can be shown simply by stating the number of outgoing communications handled. I have had that looked up, and it averaged in May 151, in July 181, and in November 207 per day, or a total in November of 5,186 outgoing communications. That does not include the incoming communications that have to be recorded and filed. So you will find that the clerical force is too small for the work that has to be done.

Mr. BYRNS. Is that increase largely due to the mobilization of the National Guard on the border?

Gen. MANN. I do not consider it so, because we have two-thirds of the militia now on the border who are out of our control, but when they come back I fear we will have a tremendous increase. Mr. BYRNS. Now they are under the control of the Adjutant General?

Gen. MANN. Yes, sir. What is called the national-defense act, which was passed at the last session of Congress, has increased the militia bureau from one of the minor bureaus of the department to, as it strikes me, a rather important part of the machinery.

Mr. BYRNS. So you really think that the work will increase by reason of the withdrawal of the National Guard from the border?

Gen. MANN. Yes, sir. Then, the property returns of the National Guard are to be examined in our bureau under a recent order of the War Department. All of those returns must be audited, and I do not know how we will handle it.

Mr. BYRNS. Do your clerks work overtime now?

Gen. MANN. No, sir; they are not working overtime.

Mr. BYRNS. How about the work in your office-is it kept up to date?

Gen. MANN. We try to keep it up, except that we have not yet started on the property returns. We have not yet started to audit the property returns.

Mr. BYRNS. Will this increased work, in your opinion, be of a permanent nature or character?

Gen. MANN. I think so that is, if we maintain our National Guard. Because of these salaries-I do not know of any other reason-7 clerks out of a total of 36 have resigned within the past few months.

Mr. BYRNS. Do you know where they went?

Gen. MANN. They told me that they left with the intention of seeking transfers to other bureaus where the opportunities were better.

Mr. STAFFORD. What pay did those seven clerks receive?
Gen. MANN. I have not that information.

Mr. STAFFORD. I assume that they were of the lower grade of clerks.

Gen. MANN. I think they were.

Mr. STAFFORD. You do not make any recommendation for increasing the lower grade of clerks, except one. You do not make any recommendation for any increase for the lower grade of clerk, unless the committee should grant you an increased number of clerks in the upper grades?

Gen. MANN. No, sir.

Mr. STAFFORD. You do not even make any recommendation that those now receiving $1,000 shall receive $1,200. You do not recommend the promotion of those clerks.

Gen. MANN. We will try to make those promotions in the bureau if we can.

Mr. STAFFORD. Kindly answer in the record my question as to what salaries those seven clerks who resigned were receiving.

Gen. MANN. I will do so. Four of the clerks who resigned were receiving $1,200 per annum; two of them were reappointed in other

departments, and two accepted positions in civil life. Three who resigned were receiving $1,000 per annum; two of them left to accept. positions in civil life, and one was reappointed in another department. Mr. STAFFORD. Have you any difficulty in securing men in the $1,000 grade?

Capt. WILLIAMS. Yes, sir; there is considerable difficulty, and it took quite a time to fill two or three of those places.

Mr. STAFFORD. Because of the want of eligibles?

Capt. WILLIAMS. Yes, sir; nobody wanted the position.

Mr. STAFFORD. There were plenty of people on the eligible list, but they declined to take the appointments.

Capt. WILLIAMS. Yes, sir. As an instance, four names were certified by the Civil Service Commission for a vacancy in the grade of clerk, at $1,200 per annum, and each of these declined appointment in this bureau.

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 1916.

OFFICE OF CHIEF OF COAST ARTILLERY.

STATEMENT OF MAJ. STANLEY D. EMBICK, ASSISTANT CHIEF.

CLERKS.

Mr. BYRNS. Under the estimate for the office of the Chief of Coast Artillery, which was created by the act of June 3, 1916, you are asking for an appropriation of $22,360. This office is now in existence, and I wanted to ask whether or not you have the same number of clerks now employed that you are asking for the year 1918?

Maj. EMBICK. The number asked for here, 15, is the number apportioned to the office of the Chief of Coast Artillery from the number carried in the Army appropriation act for 1917 for the office of the Chief of Staff. We have only 13 clerks at present. There are two vacancies which are held awaiting decision as to whether they shall be filled by transfers from the office of the Chief of Staff or by original appointment.

Mr. BYRNS. Are they of the same grades?

Maj. EMBICK. Yes, sir.

Mr. BYRNS. Have you a chief clerk at $2,000?

Maj. EMBICK. We have at present one chief clerk at $2,000; one clerk of class four; one clerk of class three; three clerks of class two; four clerks of class one; and three clerks at $1.000. It was originally decided that one clerk of class three and one clerk of class one should be transferred to the office of the Chief of Coast Artillery from the office of the Chief of Staff, but the matter is still under consideration. Mr. BYRNS. So that those two clerks have not been dropped? Maj. EMBICK. They are dropped from the estimates of the office of the Chief of Staff and are included in this estimate. The way that came about is this: Prior to the act of June 3, 1916, the national defense act, the office of the Chief of Coast Artillery was called the Coast Artillery Division of the office of the Chief of Staff. The clerks in the Coast Artillery Division were carried as clerks in the office of the Chief of Staff, and appropriations for their pay were