DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA APPROPRIATION BILL FOR 1917.

HEARINGS BEFORE SUBCOMMITTEE OF HOUSE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS, CONSISTING OF MESSRS. ROBERT N. PAGE, JAMES M'ANDREWS, WILLIAM SCHLEY HOWARD, CHARLES R. DAVIS, AND C. BASCOM SLEMP, ON THE FOLLOWING DAYS.

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 5, 1916.

STATEMENTS OF MR. OLIVER P. NEWMAN, MR. LOUIS BROWNLOW, AND LIEUT. COL. CHARLES W. KUTZ, COMMISSIONERS OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

ESTIMATES.

[See p. 7.]

Mr. PAGE. Mr. Newman, before entering into the details of the various items making up these estimates you have submitted, the committee would like to have from you, if you can make it, a general statement touching the estimates.

Mr. NEWMAN. Mr. Chairman, in general the estimates represent, of course, the opinion of the commissioners as to the needs of the District for the fiscal year 1917. The present administration of the District government, beginning soon after the present national administration began, is now two years and a half old. While there have been some changes in personnel there has been practically continuous maintenance of organization under the Wilson administration.

The commissioners limited themselves the first year in making estimates quite rigidly as to new positions and increases of compensation for employees, feeling that we were new to the job and that we wanted to spend some time familiarizing ourselves with the organization and determining, as a result of our own investigation, whether new positions or increased compensations were needed; and, if so, to know as a result of our own investigations where those were needed. In the second set of estimates which we sent up, which was last year, we endeavored to hold them as close to the existing law as possible without absolute injury to the District, because we knew that in all departments of the Government it would be desirable to economize. This year, after practically the same group of men had studied the District for two years and a half, we are presenting to you our conclusions, in which we go further than we have in either of the other two groups of estimates because we believe we now know more about the operation of the District government and the needs of the various departments and services; and as we go along, item by item, we believe we are prepared to justify the changes which we suggest.

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