For the purpose of carrying on the descriptive work relating to accounting and reporting, the commission has had the assistance of not only the special committees appointed at the request of the President in each department and establishment, but also of a joint committee made up of representatives of all departments. The subjects of inquiry and of reports submitted on these related subjects are the following:

Reports submitted, but not sent to Congress.

1. Constructive recommendations with respect to the forms of expenditure documents to be used in the several departments.

This report was the result of the work of the joint committee on expenditure documents and of the many conferences with department representatives beginning in October, 1910. On May 6, 1911, the commission transmitted this report with a suggested pro forma draft of order to be issued by the Department of the Treasury. On May 20 an order was promulgated by the Comptroller of the Treasury as Circular No. 35.

2. Constructive recommendations with respect to the principles which should govern expenditure accounting and reporting.

The recommendations were the result of the work of the joint committee on accounting and reporting and of many conferences with representatives of departments beginning in November, 1910. The report to the President carried with it a suggested pro forma draft of an order to be issued by the Comptroller of the Treasury under authority given by section 5 of the Dockery Act. On May 20, 1911, an order was promulgated as Treasury Circular No. 34. 3. Outlines and definitions of classes of expenditures.

This was the result of cooperation of committee work and cooperation with a large number of representatives of technical branches of the service beginning in October, 1910. The report carried with it a recommendation for the issuing of an order by the Department of the Treasury. On June 20, an order was issued on the subject as Treasury Circular No. 36.

4. Accounting forms submitted by the Department of the Treasury. This was a memorandum expressing the opinion of the commission on accounting forms submitted by the Department of the Treasury to the President under order issued by the President, June 8, requiring that all departments before submitting accounting forms for the approval of the Comptroller of the Treasury, pursuant to Circulars Nos. 34 and 35, should first transmit them to the White House.

5. Accounting forms submitted by the Department of Commerce and Labor.

Memorandum expressing the opinion of the commission on account

ing forms submitted by the Department of Commerce and Labor under the order described above.

6. Accounting forms submitted by the Department of Agriculture. Memorandum expressing the opinion of the commission under the order described above. Following this a complete set of forms was approved and an installation has been made in the Department of Agriculture which gives to that department more complete information about its business than is at present found in any other department since the new installation was begun on July 1. 1912, and four monthly balance sheets have been taken off. While the amount of information produced is very much larger than heretofore, the work requirements will ultimately be reduced.

7. Accounting forms submitted by the Department of the Navy.

Memorandum expressing the opinion of the commission under the order described above.

8. Special report at the request of the President on the subject of the organization and methods of the Bureau of Supplies and Accounts, Department of the Navy.

This report was prepared on order of the President and by request of the Secretary of the Navy. First an interim report was submitted, which was followed by a very detailed descriptive, critical, and constructive report, which has been used as a basis for cooperation in the preparation of forms for use during the current fiscal year. The forms submitted having been adopted, installation has been made covering all appropriation accounts, cash accounts, contracts, approved requisitions, and other encumbrances on funds. There remains to be developed a systematic handling of the analysis of expenditures of stores and property accounts in the central office at Washington.

9. Accounting methods and procedure of the Bureau of the Census, Department of Commerce and Labor.

This is a detailed descriptive, critical, and constructive report containing specific recommendations with respect to the business of accounting and reporting of the bureau. Drafts of forms of accounts have also been prepared and are ready for detailed consideration by officers of the bureau and department.

10. Detailed description of accounting methods and procedure employed in each of the bureaus and offices in which accounts are kept in the Department of Commerce and Labor. These have been submitted and checked as to their accuracy. At the request of the Secretary the commission has undertaken to cooperate in constructive work. 11. Detailed description of the accounting methods and procedure employed in each of the bureaus and offices of the Department of the Interior. These have been submitted and checked as to their accuracy. At the request of the Secretary the commission is cooper ating with representatives of this department in constructive work. 12. Detailed description of the accounting methods and procedure employed in each of the bureaus and offices in which accounts are kept in the Department of Justice. These have been submitted and checked.

13. Detailed description of the accounting methods and procedure employed in each of the bureaus and offices in which accounts are kept in the Department of State. These have been submitted and checked and in cooperation a complete new installation has been made in the central office at Washington.

Forms submitted by the Comptroller of the Treasury for the opinion of the commission:

14. Fifty-six reports have been submitted to the Comptroller of the Treasury and other departmental officers from time to time, containing opinions of the commission on the detail forms transmitted under the requirements of circulars 34, 35, and 36.

14a. Report to the Secretary of the Navy on the handling of stores under the law providing for the making of requisitions under a general account of advances, and the purchase of stores chargeable against appropriations only when issued.

The report was submitted February 12, 1912. The report, with
recommendations, was referred to the Attorney General for decision
on certain legal aspects. Upon return of this opinion, it was re-
ferred by the department to bureau heads for consideration and
report as to the action to be taken by the Secretary to better adapt
the procedure of the department to the needs of the service.
15. Circulars issued by the commission as a basis for cooperation between
department representatives.

(a) Circular No. 6.-Description of expenditure documents and pro-
cedure for the purchase of supplies, materials, equipment, and
services other than personal and for the distribution of sup-
plies and material from stores-submitted by the joint commit-
tee on expenditure documents-issued February 27, 1911, by
direction of Mr. Norton, Secretary to the President.
(b) Circular No. 13.-Description of accounting forms suggested as
a means of obtaining the information needed about appropria-
tions and funds, stores, expenses, capital outlays, etc.-pre-
pared with special reference to the conclusions reached by the
departmental representatives pertaining to expenditure ac-
counts, and submitted as a basis for discussion by the joint
committee on accounting and reporting-issued from the White
House May 18, 1911.

(c) Circular No. 14.-Proposed business and accounting procedure
of the United States Indian Service, Department of the Inte-
rior-submitted through the committee on economy and eff-
ciency of the Department of the Interior, and published by
the commission for the information of representatives of other
departments and offices cooperating in the preparation of
forms and procedures.

(d) Circular No. 18.-Suggestions as to schedules of documents and
as to registers of documents and schedules for use in de-
veloping a uniform system of controlling accounts and sum-
mary reports.

(e) Circular No. 20.-Suggested forms for reporting assets and lia-
bilities, revenues and expenses, funds and appropriations, to-
gether with definition of governmental accounting and report-
ing terms.

Work in progress.

16. Detailed report descriptive of the accounting and reporting methods
and procedure in each department and establishment of the
Government not above noted.

To the present time this detailed descriptive work has been com-
pleted in the Departments of the Interior, Navy, Justice, State,
and Commerce and Labor. In the Department of War all the
material has been gathered, but the report not rendered, and

several of the bureaus of the Treasury Department have been covered. Following the descriptive reports which are first submitted as statement of fact without comment, the method of the commission is to submit a critical statement; this is followed by constructive recommendations; after conference definite forms and procedures are prepared with a view to bringing uniformity into accounting and reporting practices, and at the same time making complete, accurate, and prompt statements of fact available to officers about the business in hand, as well as to Congress at the end of the fiscal year. It is expected that the reports on these departments will be completed soon.

17. Digest of laws pertaining to accounting and reporting in each branch of the service.

It has been found that there are 80 or 90 statutes requiring different accounts and reports containing financial data, many of which are conflicting in requirements and none of which proceeds from any broad consideration of the needs of the service. 18. Digest of forms of reports at present rendered by each department and establishment under existing provisions of law.

This will show analytically and comparatively the character of the information which is at present produced and published through reports with recommendations with respect to unification.

19. General report with recommendations looking toward the establishment of uniformity of accounting and reporting practices under general provisions of law making it the duty of the Comptroller of the Treasury to prescribe the methods of keeping and rendering all public accounts except the accounts of the Post Office Department.

With respect to this the comptroller has expressed his hearty approval and willingness to cooperate. He has also solicited

and has received cooperation of the commission in passing on the forms which are submitted to him under requirements of cir culars Nos. 34 and 35 of the Treasury.

20. Departmental administrative codes pertaining to accounting and reporting methods and procedures.

This would be supplementary to the more general requirements of the comptroller. In their preparation the aim is to bring the detail accounting and reporting procedures in departments in harmony with general and uniform requirements, and at the same time to enable the departments to adapt the general rules to the specific and detail requirements of each office.

21. The accounting and auditing methods employed in the New York customs office.

This work was begun in July, 1912, and has been continuously in progress since that time. The purpose of the investigation is to ascertain exactly how the customs revenues are handled in the largest office one in which practically all of the administrative problems are present. It is further to be noted that this is an office in which most of the constructive work has been done to cut out waste and increase efficiency. A large part of the descriptive work has been completed and the statements of fact verified by the officers in charge. No draft of report containing critical and constructive suggestions has as yet been prepared and submitted.

INQUIRIES AND REPORTS OF THE COMMISSION RELATING TO OFFICE PRACTICE AND EQUIPMENT.

While the general inquiries pertaining to organizations and work were necessary to an intelligent consideration of details, the ultimate purpose of the investigation has been to recommend changes in business methods and technique that would result in increased efficiency or savings. To complete such an inquiry would necessarily take years. Recommendations of this kind could be safely made only after a detail inquiry into the methods employed in each office. While only a small part of the entire service could be covered within a year, part of the staff of the commission has been thus engaged from the beginning. The subjects of inquiry and report of this kind are the following:

Reports sent to Congress.

1. Use of window envelopes in the Government service.

Transmitted with the message of February 5, 1912, and contained in
Senate Document No. 293, recommending the use of window en-
velopes wherever they are adapted to the service and estimating
an economy in such use of not less than $250,000 a year.
Window envelopes are now used quite generally and their use is
being extended gradually to every class of correspondence and
circular work to which it is applicable.

2. Use of photographic process for copying printed and written docu-
ments, maps, drawings, etc.

Transmitted with the message of February 5, 1912, and included in Senate Document No. 293, recommending the use of photographic processes for copying wherever such process may be employed to advantage, showing that in offices where they have been introduced on the recommendation of the commission there had been an actual saving reported in clerical time amounting to over 75 per cent and estimating a large saving if employed for work in the various offices where photographic copying may be done to the same or better advantage than handwork.

The use of the photographic process for making copies is now quite common in the departmental service at Washington.

3. The centralization of distribution of Government publications. Transmitted with the message of February 5, 1912, and contained in Senate Document No. 293, also supplementary report contained in House Document No. 670, recommending the centralization in the Government Printing Office of the distribution of all public documents, estimating an annual saving in the distribution of documents of departments alone amounting to not less than $242,000 a year.

The recommendations contained in this report, so far as legislation was needed, were enacted into law by a clause in the appropriation act of August 23, 1912, requiring Government publications to be wrapped, addressed, and mailed from the Government Printing Office.