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The CHAIRMAN. You are asking an increase in the compensation of the chief clerk from $2,000 to $2.250?

Col. WOOD. We never had a chief clerk before. It is the only bureau in the War Department that has not a chief clerk. The pay of our clerks after this is done will be: Chief clerk, $2,250; two clerks at $1,800 each; three clerks at $1,600 each; three clerks at $1.400 each; four clerks at $1,200 each; and five clerks at $1,000 each. Then there are the three Red Cross men, $1,200 each, $3,600. They ought to be pretty good men.

The CHAIRMAN. In the estimates submitted by the Inspector General for this fiscal year he asked for a chief clerk at $2,000 a year. Now, under this emergency he is asking to increase this man, instead of $200, $420?

Col. WOOD. That is on account of his increased duties. There [exhibiting] is a copy of the estimate we made.

The CHAIRMAN. That is merely because there is more work.
Col. WOOD. More work, and more important work.

The CHAIRMAN. Is this class of employees on the seven-and-onehalf-hour basis?

Col. WOOD. They are right now. They have been working more than that. Our work has not yet commenced. Our work is inspection work. Until the Army is increased it will not increase very much. We are having a lot of investigations to make of complaints about irregularities and frauds at the construction of the cantonments. We have to investigate those.

The CHAIRMAN. That is field investigation largely?

Col. WOOD. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. There has been no order issued that the hours of service shall be different for these clerks?

Col. WOOD. No, sir; it only depends on the business of the office. For a while they had to be there from half past eight 8 until 5 o'clock. Just now we have the same hours we had before. We expect to go back to that as soon as the troops come in. The Red Cross investigation next year will take a good many, because it averages about $4,000,000 a year, and next year will probably be $100,000,000. That is all we need this year-three.

The CHAIRMAN. You are proposing to promote every one of your old clerks?

Col. WOOD. I believe that is correct.

The CHAIRMAN. How does that come within the terms of the order of the Secretary?

Col. WOOD. They are all doing more important work, sir.

MONDAY, JULY 16, 1917.

OFFICE OF THE JUDGE ADVOCATE GENERAL.

STATEMENT OF COL. BLANTON WINSHIP.

TEMPORARY EMPLOYEES.

The CHAIRMAN. You are asking for what?

Col. WINSHIP. We are asking for 15 clerks and 2 messengers.
The CHAIRMAN. You have now how many clerks?

Col. WINSHIP. We are asking for 2 clerks of class 3, $3,200-they are $1,600 clerks; 2 clerks of class 2, $2,800; 5 clerks of class 1, $6.000; 6 clerks at $1,000 each, $6,000; and 2 messengers at $1,680. That is a total of $19,680. We already have 21 regular clerks of these same classes.

The CHAIRMAN. You have 21 clerks of those grades?

Col. WINSHIP. Yes, sir. Now, we have already taken on-would you like to know about that?

The CHAIRMAN. The ones you have taken on are part of these additional clerks?

Col. WINSHIP. No, sir; those are regular clerks, and we have asked for 17 of these others. Of those 17 additional clerks we have taken on one at $1,200, 5 at $1,000, and 2 assistant messengers.

The CHAIRMAN. Now, is it the purpose of the Judge Advocate General's office to promote the clerks there?

Col. WINSHIP. No, sir; we had not contemplated that at all, and that has not been done.

The CHAIRMAN. Does your increased work grow out of the draft? Col. WINSHIP. No, sir. The draft work, of course, is handled by the Provost Marshal General. That is a separate and distinct proposition from the Judge Advocate General's office.

The CHAIRMAN. This is different from the Provost Marshal General's office?

Col. WINSHIP. It is not connected with it in any way whatever. It is entirely separate and distinct from that. There is no use speaking of the increased volume of work?

The CHAIRMAN. If you have a statement of that, we will be glad to have it.

Col. WINSHIP. The volume of correspondence within the last three months has been trebled, and the court-martial cases have been doubled, and, of course, they have continued to increase.

MONDAY, JULY 16, 1917.

SIGNAL OFFICE.

STATEMENT OF COL. GEORGE S. GIBBS.

TEMPORARY EMPLOYEES-CLERKS-DRAFTSMEN.

The CHAIRMAN. What are you asking, Colonel?

Col. GIBBS. The Signal Office, due to the increase in the air service particularly, has to be tremendously expanded, and there was in H. R. 5236 a provision for taking on such clerical force as would be needed to take care of the expansion due to the air service, but was stricken out from that bill, which leaves the Signal Office without any provision for expansion in the way of clerical help.

The CHAIRMAN. Have you made an estimate which is included here?

Col. GIBBS. Yes; there is an estimate that was gotten up at the time when it was known there would be a large increase, but when it was not known there would be such a tremendous increase.

4400-17---5

The CHAIRMAN. Have you with you a statement, or are you able to make a statement, of what it is believed the organization should be as a result of the proposed new program?

Col. GIBBS. The program as submitted contemplated a force of 700 clerks, which would require $800,000.

The CHAIRMAN. That was not included here?

Mr. SCOFIELD. Yes; that was included in this.

Col. GIBBS. That was made up at a time when we anticipated that the building program would involve some $63,000,000; but now that it will involve $639,000,000, if it does, we will probably require more clerks. But I believe, and was so told in the office before I started down here, that the expansion to 700 would probably be all that we could accomplish under the circumstances between now and the end of December, at any rate, and it is doubtful if we could expand even to that extent. So that if funds for 700 clerks are provided it will probably represent all of the expansion that we will be able to undertake in that time.

The CHAIRMAN. Was this estimate based upon the appropriation made in the previous emergency deficiency bill?

Col. GIBBS. This number, 700, represents the total number that will be required in the office.

The CHAIRMAN. Based on the appropriations recently made for airplanes, or was it based on the contemplated additional appropriations that is, appropriations over those already made?

Col. GIBBS. If I understand you

The CHAIRMAN (interposing). Congress, in the regular military bill and in the emergency war bill, appropriated for the airplane service. Now, is this estimate based upon the needs of the Signal Office because of those appropriations or based upon the expected additional increase?

Col. GIBBS. It was based upon the expected additional increase in funds for that service to the amount of some $63,000,000.

Mr. GILLETT. How large a force have you now?

Col. GIBBS. We have now about 142 clerks; that is, just clerks and not counting the technical employees at all.

The CHAIRMAN. The legislative bill authorized 20 and you have already obtained about 120 additional?

Col. GIBBS. We have 142 all together in the office. We have a lump sum roll now amounting to $53,000.

The CHAIRMAN. That is out of the appropriations already made? Col. GIBBS. Yes; and if that sum were increased to $800.000– The CHAIRMAN (interposing). Can you state the positions and compensation of the persons on that roll?

Col. GIBBS. Only this, that any clerical force will have to be a balanced force; we will have to have chiefs of divisions and experienced clerks who can direct the work of the other clerks.

The CHAIRMAN. I mean, as far as you have gone, have you that

information?

Col. GIBBS. Only in a general way.

The CHAIRMAN. As far as the signal office is concerned its ability to expand would not be any more than the provision made in this particular appropriation?

Col. GIBBS. That is believed to be true; yes, sir. That is for the present; of course, what the needs of this air service are going to bring us to in the expansion no man can anticipate very closely.

The CHAIRMAN. The opinion of the office is that the expansion here proposed is as large an expansion as would be possible between now and the time when there will be an opportunity to submit further requests?

Col. GIBBS. Yes, sir; that is the opinion of the office.

The CHAIRMAN. The technical employees are not included in that paragraph?

Col. GIBBS. No, sir; these are just clerks.

The CHAIRMAN. Whatever employees of that character are required will be

Col. GIBBS (interposing). The technical employees are paid out of the funds appropriated for the technical service.

The CHAIRMAN. Do these 700 clerks include your draftsmen?

Col. GIBBS. No draftsmen; they are all clerks. Draftsmen are technical employees.

The CHAIRMAN. You will need more men in Washington, will you not?

Col. GIBBS. Some additional draftsmen, inspectors, and other technical employees will be required, but they will come within the total of $800,000, if that amount is provided.

MONDAY, JULY 16, 1917.

OFFICE OF THE QUARTERMASTER GENERAL.

STATEMENT OF CAPT. CHARLES P. DALY.

TEMPORARY CLERKS.

The CHAIRMAN. You have asked for what?

Capt. DALY. Seven hundred and eighty-five additional clerks. The CHAIRMAN. To cost?

Capt. DALY. $981,280.

The CHAIRMAN. How many have you in your permanent establishment?

Capt. DALY, Two hundred and sixty-four clerks in the permanent establishment. The additional force is based on a rate of $1,200. The CHAIRMAN. That is the average rate?

Capt. DALY. Yes, sir; we can not get suitable men at $1,000.
The CHAIRMAN. What is the maximum?

Capt. DALY. $1,200; there are no promotions figured in this.
The CHAIRMAN. You figure $1,200—

Capt. DALY (interposing). For the 785.

The CHAIRMAN. What do you base your estimate on?

Capt. DALY. Well, on the volume of the increase of work to begin with. You see, the work has increased up to date, quadrupled, as a

matter of fact. Take incoming mail, for example. In March the total incoming mail was 28,760 pieces, as I remember it; that is correspondence, and I do not refer now to returns and money vouchers and things of that kind, but just correspondence. In June the total correspondence was 65,000; in July, up to date, it is 44,000, and that is for the first 15 days of July. In addition to that the number of returns and the number of money accounts has increased at least four times. Considering the number of men required to perform the work under normal conditions the 785 asked for will about work it out. That does not contemplate 71⁄2 hours a day.

The CHAIRMAN. What does it contemplate?,

Capt. DALY. It contemplates about 12 or 14 hours, as that is the number of actual hours they are putting in.

The CHAIRMAN. Are they working more than 7 hours a day now? Capt. DALY. Some of them.

The CHAIRMAN. What proportion are working more than 7 hours a day?

Capt. DALY. Quite a large proportion, and nearly all of the men in charge of the clerks, men who have charge of the work; I do not mean officers, but I mean clerks who have charge of the different sections of the work in the office are putting in 12 or 14 hours, and some of the clerks under them. In some cases we have night shifts, of course, eight-hour shifts.

The CHAIRMAN. That is, you are working in two shifts?

Capt. DALY. Yes; in some cases we can do that, but we can not do it throughout the office; we can not do it where we have to handle administrative work, but we can do it in the examination of accounts and the examination of property returns.

Mr. SCOFIELD. The Adjutant General is also working in two shifts in some of his divisions.

Mr. CANNON. The new clerks you propose, in the aggregate, will cost $1,200 apiece?

Capt. DALY. Yes, sir.

Mr. CANNON. You will promote from your present force those who deserve promotion, and then even up from among the $1,200 clerks, paying some $800 and some $900?

Capt. DALY. Well, we will probably get some at $1,000, but no less than $1,000.

Mr. CANNON. And you will use between that and the $1,200 for promotions in your present force?

Capt. DALY. Yes; if it is the policy to promote; but I do not think we have considered promotions in this estimate. I think the Quartermaster General's office has made all the promotions they intend to make.

Mr. CANNON. Then there will be none over $1,200 in this new force?

Capt. DALY. I think not, sir, unless something comes up that warrants a change, but as far as I know now I think not.

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