to me about doing it, but if he has asked you to make any provision for extending the blind division or any other division and putting it in the cellar and the request is approved, this item should stand. He did talk to me about wanting to do it last year, but if he does not want it, I do not care anything about the item. We can not move any part of a division to the cellar now without fixing it up, because it is not at all suitable for such use.

RELATIVE IMPORTANCE OF ITEMS.

Mr. BYRNS. Please state what you regard as the more important of these new items, or indicate their relative order of importance. Mr. AVERILL. You are speaking of the fuel, lights, and repairs item?

Mr. BYRNS. I am speaking of all these new appropriations that you are asking for, providing for additional conveniences, beginning on page 56, for fire hose and fittings, etc.

Mr. AVERILL. I will put that one first.

Mr. BYRNS. As the most important one?

Mr. AVERILL. Yes, sir. I would not want to have the responsibility of a fire on my hands and. to be asked "where is the fire hose?" or to take down the fire hose and find that water would not run through it. I would put that item first.

Mr. BYRNS. I do not mean to intimate by my question that all of these items are not necessary, but at the same time the committee would like to know which you regard as the most important.

Mr. AVERILL. I intended to put them in the order of their imporiance. I would say that the book tunnel would come next, and then the $3,600 for repairing and reconstructing the passenger and freight elevators and inclosures. You just want the order of their importance; you do not want me to eliminate any?

Mr. BYRNS. I just want to have you state them in the order of their importance.

Mr. AVERILL. I would like to put in after that elevator item the item for installing a cooling and circulating drinking-water system in the Library Building, because that I think would be in the end a money saver, besides being a sanitary precaution. Then would come the item for interior lighting, and the other two are not so important. The building has needed pointing up probably for six or eight years, but the need for pointing will not be very different next year from what it is now.

Mr. BYRNS. Which of the items on page 58 do you regard as the most important? Have you stated the items there in the order of their importance?

Mr. AVERILL. Yes, sir. I assume that you will not grant the last two anyway. The first three are stated in the order of their importance, and if you omit any of them I would omit the revolving doors. Mr. BYRNS. Is there anything else you would like to say in addition to what you have said?

Mr. AVERILL. I think not.

Mr. BYRNS. We are very much obliged to you.

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 1916.

BOTANIC GARDEN.

STATEMENT OF MR. GEORGE W. HESS, SUPERINTENDENT.

SALARIES OF SUPERINTENDENT, ASSISTANTS, AND LABORERS.

Mr. BYRNS. Mr. Hess, of course, we want every fact which is pertinent and essential relative to the various increases for which you have asked, but we want to confine the hearing, of course, strictly to the estimates submitted, in order that we can conclude the hearings as quickly as possible and report the bill to the House.

Mr. HESS. Mr. Chairman, I have a few facts here which I should like to submit. I have asked for an increase for the superintendent from $1,800 to $2,500, an increase of $700. To my mind good taste forbids any statement from me relative to this item.

I have also asked for an increase for the assistant superintendent from $1,200 to $1,400, an increase of $200. Mr. Paget has been in the employ of the Botanic Garden for over 13 years and has always performed his duty in a very satisfactory and intelligent manner. The pay of the assistant superintendent has remained the same since the position was established some 20 or 30 years ago. The pay of assistant superintendents of other botanic gardens varies from $2,500 to $1,440 per annum.

The next increase is for Mr. C. V. Stiefel, from $900 to $1,200, an increase of $300. The duties of this clerk are various, all of them requiring a peculiar experience. He has charge of the office work; keeps the books and records; and looks after the disbursement of approximately $40,000. Similar clerks of other botanic gardens receive from $1,200 to $1,800 per annum.

The next increase is for Mr. B. F. Diedrich, from $960 to $1,020, an increase of $60. Mr. Diedrich has been employed at the Botanic Garden for over 16 years, and is a man well able to perform the duties required in a position of this kind, having had considerable greenhouse experience before coming to the garden. Similar positions elsewhere pay from $1,200 to $1,400 per annum.

Mr. BYRNS. What is he getting now?

Mr. HESS. He is now getting $960.

Mr. BYRNS. And he is the gardener in charge of the greenhouses? Mr. HESS. Yes, sir. There are four gardeners whom I would like to increase from $900 to $960, a total increase of $240. These men have been in the service of the Botanic Garden from 2 to 10 years, and are experienced in their particular line, such as propagators, rose growers, and carnation growers. Similar positions in other botanic gardens and commercial places pay from $900 to $1,100 per annum. The next increase is asked for outside foreman, D. H. von Bottger, from $720 to $900, an increase of $180. The duties of the outside foreman are to look after the grounds, flower beds, and the pruning and care of the trees and shrubs. He has been in the service for two years, and is a man of considerable experience. He has been in this business all of his life.

The next increase is asked for the shipping clerk, Mr. A. S. McClanahan, from $720 to $780, an increase of $60. This position requires a knowledge of plants, their care, and the proper way in which they should be packed for shipment. Mr. McClanahan is a thoroughly reliable and capable man for this position. He has been in the employ of the Botanic Garden for a little over two years. The next increase is for the skilled laborers and laborers from $1.75 to $2 per day, or a total increase of $6,832.62.

Under this heading are included the greenhouse assistants, or helpers, outside laborers (men who look after and take care of the grounds, trees, and shrubs), and the firemen. All of these positions require a knowledge much more advanced than the usual skilled laborer or laborer. The majority of these men have been in the employ of the Botanic Garden for a considerable length of time, ranging from 2 years to 40 years. They are faithful public servants, always ready and willing to perform good service. Skilled laborers in the several State botanic gardens, parks, and commercial places receive from $1.75 to $2.75 per diem for the performance of duties very similar to these performed by the laborers of the United States Botanic Garden. Heretofore it has been customary for the superintendent to furlough some of these men during the year owing to a scarcity of funds. The work of the Botanic Garden has been increasing from year to year, and it is hoped that these increases will be allowed in order that these men may be employed the year around, thereby increasing the efficiency of the garden considerably. It is almost needless to call attention to the ever-increasing cost of foodstuffs, fuel, and the various necessities of life; but the price of commodities in general have advanced so greatly that it is impossible for a man to live comfortably on the same salary or wages which he received 5 or 10 years ago. This is the first time in the history of the United States Botanic Garden that such a plea has been made, and I earnestly hope that it will receive due consideration by this honorable committee.

PURCHASE OF MATERIAL AND SUPPLIES.

In addition to the above an increase of $2.664.23 is estimated to purchase additional materials and supplies. The annual distribution of plants, through the Senators and Representatives in Congress, has been increasing from year to year until now it has reached great proportions. During the fiscal year 1916 over 4,000 requests were complied with, representing a distribution of approximately 300,000 plants, trees, and shrubs. This necessarily calls for additional materials, such as plants, seeds, bulbs, fertilizer, moss. leaf mold, pots, plant tubs, labels, tools, etc.

MAINTENANCE OF MOTOR TRUCK.

The sum of $300 is estimated to take care of and sustain the motorpropelled delivery vehicle authorized by the legislative appropriation act for the fiscal year 1917.

OFFICE FURNITURE.

The Botanic Garden is badly in need of new office furniture, and for this purpose $527.28 is asked.

ASSISTANT SUPERINTENDENT.

Mr. BYRNS. Mr. Hess, that is a very clear and comprehensive statement as to the estimates you have submitted. Did I understand you to state how long the present assistant superintendent has been at the garden?

Mr. HESS. About 14 years.

Mr. BYRNS. About what age man is he?

Mr. HESS. I judge he is 40 years of age.

Mr. BYRNS. How long has your present clerk been employed at the garden?

Mr. HESS. I think about four years.

Mr. BYRNS. All of these positions for which you estimate here heretofore have been paid out of a lump-sum appropriation? Mr. HESS. Yes, sir.

NEW POSITIONS.

Mr. BYRNS. Are you creating any new positions?

Mr. HESS. There is only one new position, which I created last year, and that was for an extra clerk, Mrs. Reynolds, my predecessor's widow. The work became so heavy that the one clerk could not possibly do it all himself.

Mr. BYRNS. Do you propose to have any other positions paid for out of this sum, other than those mentioned in the estimates?

Mr. HESS. No, sir; except there may be a few laborers employed when we need them.

Mr. BYRNS. I understand that; I referred to regular office positions. Mr. HESS. No, sir; we do not propose to create any additional ones.

LABORERS.

Mr. BYRNS. About how many laborers do you employ at the garden on an average, Mr. Hess?

Mr. HESS. The total number of employees now is 37 and the number of laborers is between 20 and 25.

Mr. BYRNS. How many of those are regularly employed and how many employed from time to time?

Mr. HESS. All those we have now are regularly employed. We put on a few extra laborers in the spring when we begin bedding out, and as soon as that is over we lay them off. Then in the fall, when it is necessary to take in the plants, we sometimes have to put on one or two additional men. But the help that we have now is the help we keep all the time.

SHIPPING CLERK.

Mr. BYRNS. Is the time of your shipping clerk entirely consumed in the duties applying to that particular kind of position?

Mr. HESS. Yes, sir; there is seldom a day in the year we do not have something to ship. In the winter we ship to California and Florida, while in the spring and early fall we ship to practically all parts of the United States. When his time is not so occupied, he is busy preparing the plants for shipment-labeling, pruning, cleaning, and heeling them in, so that they can readily be gotten at during the winter months. Therefore, you might say, he is engaged on shipping work practically all the time.

FERTILIZER, SOIL, TOOLS, ETC.

Mr. BYRNS. On page 60 you are asking for a slight increase, and you are asking some additional language in order to include skilled laborers and laborers at not exceeding $2 per diem. Is not that a repetition of language contained in the previous paragraph?

Mr. HESS. Mr. Byrns, we have always paid our laborers $1.50 and $1.75 a day. We are now asking for $2 a day for the skilled laborers, and $1.75 a day for ordinary laborers.

Mr. BYRNS. Then I understand you have been employing laborers under the head of services in this paragraph, as well as under the language of the previous paragraph?

Mr. HESS. You will understand, Mr. Byrns, that we call the firemen on the rolls, laborers, also the men who assist in the greenhouses instead of calling them assistant gardeners, as they are called in some places. There are three of these men on the rolls as laborers who have been there between 18 and 20 years and they have been getting $1.75 a day. They would get $2 or $2.50 a day at any commercial place doing the same kind of work. They are very efficient men and one of them has been there about 28 years.

Mr. BYRNS. Then the only reason for this additional language is that you want to pay them $2 per diem instead of $1.50 and $1.75, as you have been doing heretofore?

Mr. HESS. Yes, sir; that is it, exactly.

Mr. BYRNS. You do not contemplate the employment of any more laborers?

Mr. HESS. No, sir; that is not our intention at all.

MAINTENANCE OF MOTOR TRUCK.

Mr. BYRNS. You are asking $300 for the care of the automobile which you purchased last year.

Mr. HESS. Yes, sir; that is for repairs, gasoline, etc.

Mr. BYRNS. How much did you pay for that under the appropriation of last year?

Mr. HESS. $880.

Mr. BYRNS. Who runs that machine?

Mr. HESS. One of the men who is on the roll as laborer. He gets $1.75 a day and has been in our employ 20 years.

Mr. BYRNS. This $300 is intended solely for the maintenance of

the machine and the purchase of gasoline?

Mr. HESS. Yes, sir; for the upkeep of the machine.

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 1916.

CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION.

STATEMENT OF MR. JOHN A. McILHENNY, PRESIDENT CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION.

SALARY INCREASES.

Mr. BYRNS. Mr. McIlhenny, I notice that in these estimates you have asked for certain increases that were asked for last year and that were not allowed. As I remember, those estimates were gone