required to be submitted by "the heads " thereof to the Bureau of the Budget. The Commissioners of the District of Columbia (appointed by the President by and with the advice and consent of the Senate) undoubtedly occupy the position of "head" of the municipal government of the District. In addition to the various specific powers which Congress has conferred upon them, they are vested generally with " the executive power" and charged to "take care that the laws be faithfully executed ", such general powers having been vested in the Governor of the District of Columbia by Sections 3 and 6 of the Revised Statutes of the District and transferred to the Commissioners, after the office of Governor was abolished, by the Act of June 20, 1874, c. 337, 18 Stat. 116, and the Act of June 11, 1878, c. 180, 20 Stat. 102, 103 (D. C. Code, 1930, Title 20, Secs. 9, 11). Since passage of the Act of April 24, 1926, as I have been informed, upon inquiry, the estimates for appropriations for the office of Recorder of Deeds have been considered by the Commissioners and included in the total estimates for the municipal government. The Recorder of Deeds has at times questioned the propriety of this procedure but both the Commissioners and the Bureau of the Budget have insisted that it be followed. Apparently it has been the view of the Recorder of Deeds that he is accountable only to the President because the President appoints him. This, however, is unsound. The President has always appointed many subordinate officers, and it is established practice that the manner of their appointment does not relieve them of that accountability to their superiors, other than the President, which is essential to orderly administration. Considering the foregoing, it is my opinion that the Recorder of Deeds is an officer of the municipal government of the District of Columbia, is charged by statute with the duty of submitting his estimates for appropriations to the Commissioners of the District of Columbia in the same manner as other officers of the municipal government, and is required, as a necessary concomitant, to submit to hearings by the Commissioners concerning such estimates. Insofar as the third question may appear to comprehend matters other than estimates for appropriations, it is stated at the office of the Commissioners that the Recorder of Deeds does communicate directly with the departments and that they have not questioned his right to do so which, I think, makes further consideration of the question unnecessary at the present time. Respectfully, To the PRESIDENT. WILLIAM STANLEY, VALIDITY OF A PROPOSED BOND ISSUE OF PUERTO RICO The proposed bond issue of Puerto Rico in the amount of $75,000 for the retirement of bonds issued for financing the construction of the Isabella Irrigation System is authorized under the acts and Executive order cited herein; and the form of bond submitted complies with the law and the determinations of the Treasurer of Puerto Rico approved by the Governor. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, SIR: I have your letters of December 6 and January 5, stating that your Department has been authorized to sell for the account of the Government of Puerto Rico bonds of the face value of $75,000, the proceeds of which are to be used in the payment of the principal of bonds heretofore issued and sold in connection with the construction of the Isabela Irrigation System, and requesting my opinion concerning their legality. It is proposed to issue the bonds under authority contained in Section 3 of the Act of Congress approved March 2, 1917, entitled "An Act to provide a civil government for Puerto Rico, and for other purposes," as amended by the Act of March 4, 1927 (c. 145, 39 Stat. 951, 953; c. 503, 44 Stat. 1418; U. S. C., Title 48, sections 741, 745), and Act No. 59 of the Legislature of Puerto Rico, approved June 18, 1919, as amended by Act No. 61, approved July 21, 1923, and Act 29, approved May 1, 1934, as modified by the Joint Resolution of Congress approved June 5, 1933, "To assure uniform value to the coins and currencies of the United States " (48 Stat. 112), and by Executive Order No. 6726 of May 29, 1934, issued under authority contained in the Act of Congress of March 3, 1933 (47 Stat. 1489, 1517), providing for reorganizations within the executive branch of the Government. You state that they are to be issued in coupon form, in the denomination of $1,000 each, to be dated January 1, 1935, and to bear interest at the rate of 44 per centum per annum, payable at the Treasury of the United States semiannually on January 1 and July 1 of each year, the principal thereof to be payable January 1, 1974, reserving, however, to the People of Puerto Rico the right to redeem all or any number of the said bonds at 5 per centum above par, with accrued interest, on January 1, 1945, or on any interest payment date thereafter, upon giving six months' notice in such manner as may be prescribed by the Treasurer of Puerto Rico. A copy of the form of the proposed bond was submitted with your letter. Section 3 of the Act of March 2, 1917, as amended, provides: * and when necessary to anticipate taxes and revenues, bonds and other obligations may be issued by Puerto Rico or any inunicipal government therein as may be provided by law, and to protect the public credit: Provided, however, That no public indebtedness of Puerto Rico and the municipalities of San Juan and Ponce shall be allowed in excess of 10 per centum of the aggregate tax valuation of its property * * *. In computing the indebtedness of the people of Puerto Rico, municipal bonds for the payment of interest and principal of which the good faith of the people of Puerto Rico has heretofore been pledged and bonds issued by the people of Puerto Rico secured by bonds to an equivalent amount of bonds of municipal corporations or school boards of Puerto Rico shall not be counted, but all bonds hereafter issued by any municipality or subdivision for which the good faith of the people of Puerto Rico is pledged shall be counted." * * Your letter and the documents submitted by you show that the aggregate assessed valuation of real and personal property in Puerto Rico on July 1, 1934, amounted to $297,119,629, that on the said date there were outstanding bonds of the Government of Puerto Rico of the face value 144790°-37-vol. 38-14 of $27,675,000, and notes evidencing temporary loans of the face value of $863,494.54, that since the amendatory act of March 4, 1927, the good faith of the people of Puerto Rico has been pledged to the payment of principal and interest on outstanding municipal bonds aggregating $1,235,500, which under the statute must be added to the foregoing, making a total of $29,973,994.54. From this amount, however, there is to be deducted $503,043.16, representing the amount accumulated in the various sinking funds, pledged by statute and applicable only to the payment of unmatured obligations included in the foregoing total figures. (35 Op. 9, 14; 37 id. 30, 32.) This makes a net total of $29,470,951.38 to be considered as the present indebtedness of the Government of Puerto Rico within the meaning of the Act of Congress, and the contemplated issue will not increase this to an amount beyond 10 per centum of the aggregate of the assessed valuation, the maximum permitted by law. The Act of the Legislature of June 18, 1919, as amended by the Act of July 21, 1923, authorized a total bond issue of $3,325,000 for construction of the irrigation system, to mature in series of $75,000 each on January 1 of the year 1929 and subsequent years. The bonds were duly issued and approved as to validity (34 Op. 331), and one such series will mature on January 1, 1935. Section 2 authorized the issuance of refunding bonds to pay the principal of issues falling due in years when the special assessments provided for such purpose should be insufficient. Later acts of the legislature authorized several series of bonds both for refunding and for operation and maintenance to meet exigencies which had required temporary reductions in assessments, and such bonds have also been duly issued and approved. (Opinion of Oct. 21, 1933, 37 Op. 300.) The authority contained in Section 2 is now to be availed of, and that section, as amended by the Act of May 1, 1934, reads as follows: "SECTION 2. Should the proceeds of the special assessment as provided for in the Act above mentioned (Section 29), be insufficient in any year to meet the entire amount of the payment of the principal on outstanding bonds falling due that year in addition to the other necessary pay ments, as provided in the aforesaid Act, then the Treasurer of Puerto Rico may, with the approval of the Governor, issue new refunding bonds to the amount necessary to pay the principal falling due during the said year; Provided, That should no tax be paid on iands in the temporary or permanent irrigation district during any year as provided for in Sections 24 and 29 of the above-mentioned Act, or should the amount received from taxes upon the lands in the said district be so reduced because of the operation of the said sections as to require it, then the Treasurer of Puerto Rico may, with the approval of the Governor, issue such additional bonds as may be necessary to cover all expenses and to meet all the obligations of the irrigation system for the said year; Provided, That the total amount of such additional bonds, issued to cover expenses and to meet obligations of the irrigation system during any year or years in which in accordance with the provisions of Sections 24 and 29 of the aforesaid Act, no tax is paid on lands in the said irrigation district, in which the amount received from taxes is insufficient to meet the said expenses and obligations of the irrigation system, shall not at any time exceed the total amount of irrigation bonds previously authorized; And provided, further, That the aforesaid refunding bonds shall be issued in series which shall not exceed seventy-five thousand (75,000) dollars each, of like denominations, and under the same terms and conditions, and shall bear interest at the same rate provided in Section 4 of this Act. The said refunding bonds shall mature in series in the order of their issue. The first series of refunding bonds shall mature January 1, 1974, and each of the following series shall mature on the first day of January of each of the following years; but any or all of the series of refunding bonds may be redeemed, at the will of The People of Puerto Rico, ten years after the date of their issue, at five (5) per cent above par, and accrued interest, on any interest payment date, by giving six months notice in such manner as may be prescribed by the Treasurer of Puerto Rico." The 1919 Act provides, in particulars which are unchanged, that the bonds may be in coupon or registered form, in denominations of one thousand, five thousand and |