to secure the purchase price of timber or the use of lands or resources of the National Forests such sums as may be found to be in excess of the amounts found actually due the United States, be, and is hereby, amended hereafter to appropriate and to include so much as may be necessary to refund or pay over to the rightful claimants such sums as may be found by the Secretary of Agriculture to have been erroneously collected for the use of any lands, or for timber or other resources sold from lands located within, but not a part of, the national forests, or for alleged illegal acts done upon such lands, which acts are subsequently found to have been proper and legal; and the Secretary of Agriculture shall make annual report to Congress of the amounts refunded hereunder.

UNITED STATES REVISED STATUTES.

claims.

SEC. 3469. Upon a report by a district attorney, or any special Compromise of attorney or agent having charge of any claim in favor of the United States, showing in detail the condition of such claim, and the terms upon which the same may be compromised, and recommending that it be compromised upon the terms so offered, and upon the recommendation of the Solicitor of the Treasury, the Secretary of the Treasury is authorized to compromise such claim accordingly. But the provisions of this section shall not apply to any claim arising under the postal laws.

Agricultural appropriation act of August 10, 1912 (37 Stat., 269).

GENERAL EXPENSES, FOREST SERVICE: To enable the Secretary of Agriculture to experiment and to make and continue investigations and report on forestry, National Forests, forest fires, and lumbering, but no part of this appropriation shall be used for any experiment or test made outside the jurisdiction of the United States; to advise the owners of woodlands as to the proper care of the same; to investigate and test American timber and timber trees and their uses, and methods for the preservative treatment of timber; to seek, through investigations and the planting of native and foreign species, suitable trees for the treeless regions; to erect necessary buildings: Provided, That the cost of any building erected shall not exceed six hundred and fifty dollars: And provided further, That no part of the appropriation made by this act shall be used for the construction, repair, maintenance or use of buildings or improvements made for forest-ranger stations within the inclosed fields of bona fide homestead settlers who have established residence upon their homestead lands prior to the date of the establishment of the forest reservation in which the homestead lands are situated, without the consent of the homesteader; to pay all expenses necessary to protect, administer, and improve the National Forests; to ascertain the natural conditions upon and utilize the National Forests; and the Secretary of Agriculture may, in his discretion, permit timber and other forest products cut or removed from the National Forests, except the Black Hills and Harney National Forests in South Dakota, to be exported from the State, Territory, or the District of Alaska in which said forests are respectively situated: Provided, That the exportation of dead and insect-infested timber only from said Black Hills and Harney National Forests shall be allowed until such time as the Forester shall certify that the ravages of the destructive insects in said forests are practically checked, but in no case after July first, nineteen hundred and fourteen; to transport and care for fish and game supplied to stock the National Forests or the waters therein; to employ agents, clerks, assistants, and other labor required in practical forestry and in the administration of National Forests, in the city of Washington and elsewhere; to collate, digest, report, and illustrate the results of experiments and investigations made by the Forest Service; to purchase law books, to an amount not exceeding five hundred dollars, necessary supplies, apparatus, and office fixtures, and technical books and technical journals for officers of the Forest Service stationed outside of Washington; to pay freight, express, telephone, and telegraph charges; for electric light and power, fuel, gas, ice, washing towels, and official traveling and other necessary expenses, including traveling expenses

for legal and fiscal officers while performing Forest Service work; and for rent outside of the District of Columbia, as follows:

For salaries and field and station expenses, including the maintenance of nurseries, collecting seed, and planting, necessary for the use, maintenance, improvement, and protection of the National Forests named below:

Absaroka National Forest, Montana, eight thousand two hundred and thirteen dollars;

Here follows an enumeration of all the National Forests, with the amounts appropriated for each; also certain provisions in the nature of permanent legislation, which will be found under the appropriate headings.

For fighting forest fires and for other unforeseen emergencies, one hundred and fifty thousand dollars.

For the purchase and maintenance of necessary field, office, and laboratory supplies, instruments and equipment, one hundred and fiftyfive thousand dollars;

For investigations of methods for wood distillation and for the preservative treatment of timber, for timber testing and the testing of such woods as may require test to ascertain if they be suitable for making paper, and for other investigations and experiments to promote economy in the use of forest products, one hundred and seventy thousand dollars, and the Secretary of Agriculture shall investigate the best methods of distillation of Douglas fir and other northwestern species of fir and timber, and ascertain the yield of distillates of various species, and the refining and commercial use of the distillates;

For experiments and investigations of range conditions within national forests, and of methods for improving the range by reseeding, regulation of grazing, and other means, twenty thousand one hundred and eighty dollars;

For the purchase of tree seed, cones, and nursery stock, for seeding and tree planting within National Forests, and for experiments and investigations necessary for such seeding and tree planting, one hundred and sixty-five thousand six hundred and forty dollars: Provided, That the Secretary of Agriculture may procure such seed, cones, and nursery stock by open purchase without advertisements for proposals, whenever in his discretion such method is most economical and in the public interest, and when the cost thereof will not exceed five hundred dollars;

For silvicultural, dendrological, and other experiments and investigations independently or in cooperation with other branches of the Federal Government, with States and with individuals, to determine the best methods for the conservative management of forests and forest lands, eighty-three thousand seven hundred and twenty-eight dollars;

For market and other miscellaneous forest investigations, and for collating, digesting, recording, illustrating, and distributing the results of the experiments and investigations herein provided for, thirty-one thousand three hundred and sixty dollars;

For the construction and maintenance of roads, trails, bridges, fire lanes, telephone lines, cabins, fences, and other improvements necessary for the proper and economical administration, protection, and development of the National Forests, four hundred thousand dollars; Provided, That no part of the money herein appropriated shall be used to pay the transportation or traveling expenses of any forest officer or agent except he be traveling on business directly connected with the Forest Service and in furtherance of the works, aims, and objects specified and authorized in and by this appropriation: Provided further, That no part of this appropriation shall be paid or used for the purpose of paying for, in whole or in part, the preparation or publication of any newspaper or magazine article, but this shall not prevent the giving out to all persons without discrimination, including newspaper and magazine writers and publishers, of any facts or official information of value to the public.

That an additional ten per centum of all moneys received from the National Forests during the fiscal year ending June thirtieth, nineteen hundred and twelve, shall be available at the end thereof to be expended

by the Secretary of Agriculture for the construction and maintenance of roads and trails within the National Forests in the States from which such proceeds are derived; but the Secretary of Agriculture may, whenever practicable, in the construction and maintenance of such roads, secure the cooperation or aid of the proper State or Territorial authorities in the furtherance of any system of highways of which such roads may be made a part.

In all, for general expenses, three million one hundred and seven thousand two hundred and eighty-five dollars.

Not to exceed fifteen per centum of the total of all sums appropriated under "General expenses, Forest Service," may be used in the discretion of the Secretary of Agriculture as provided above under general expenses for Forest Service for all expenses necessary for the general administration of the Forest Service.

Total for Forest Service, five million three hundred and forty-three thousand and forty-five dollars.

DECISIONS RELATING TO FISCAL MANAGEMENT, APPROPRIATIONS, AND REFUNDS.

IN GENERAL.

Where judgments are recovered in actions for trespass on National Forests, such amounts thereof as represent punitive damages, costs of suit, or amounts to cover replanting are not such revenues of the National Forests as are subject to the 25 per cent deduction for distribution to the states and territories in which the National Forest concerned is located. (17 Comp. Dec., 688.)

A force employed in the District of Columbia to supervise and control the field work of employees engaged in making examinations, surveys, etc., under the Weeks' forestry law of March 1, 1911, can not be paid from the appropriation made by that act. (17 Comp. Dec., 780.) Publications of advertisements affecting National Forests made by supervisors or rangers pursuant to written instructions from the Forester, issued under authority of the Secretary of Agriculture, specifying the newspapers to be used are publications authorized by Revised Statutes, section 3828. (13 Comp. Dec., 446.)

The withholding of moneys due a corporation by the United States is not authorized as a set-off against the liability of such corporation to the United States for indefinite profits arising out of a timber trespass committed by another person. (15 Comp. Dec., 113.)

Costs adjudged against forest officers in the prosecution by them, before a justice of the peace, of one arrested for setting a fire which spreads to National Forest lands, are not chargeable against the United States and cannot be paid from Forest Service appropriations. (Comp. Dec. of May 6, 1912; 2 Sol. Op., 693.)

Expenses of Government officers in going, returning, and in attendance on court, when sent away from the usual place of their duties, as witnesses, for the Government, as the result of knowledge obtained in the discharge of their official duties, are payable from the appropriate appropriation of the department from which they are sent, and not from the judicial appropriations for fees of witnesses. (12 Comp. Dec., 391; see also 14 Comp. Dec. 80 and 516; 15 Id., 154, 298 and 757.)

Where authority is exercised by a special class of officers in the arrest of persons for violations of the laws of the United States, all expenses incident to such arrests are defrayed by the Government and paid out of appropriations made for certain purposes, and not until prisoners come into the custody of the United States marshal by virtue of a duly recognized authority can it be said that a judiciary appropriation may be available for the payment of such expenses.

(8 Comp. Dec., 127; 11 Id., 753; 15 Id., 602; 16 Id., 371; 17 Id., 566.) When an offender is arrested by a forest officer for violation of the forestry laws or regulations and taken before a United States Commissioner, the liability of the judiciary appropriations would commence with the complaint and warrant; but in no case would such appropriations be liable for any fees or expenses of the forest officer where it is his duty to aid in the detection, prosecution, and punishment for violations of such laws and regulations. (14 Comp. Dec., 113.)

The appropriation for general expenses of the Forest Service can not be used to pay for the support of a prisoner confined in a State jail for violation of the rules and regulations relating to the forest reserves under a commitment issued by United States Commissioner. Such payments are chargeable to the judiciary appropriation. (14 Comp. Dec., 113.)

The appropriation for the general expenses of the Forest Service can not be used to pay an impounding fee under a village ordinance for horses of the Government taken up and impounded by the village authorities. (1 Sol. Op., 642.)

A forest officer keeping a privately owned automobile for official business cannot receive compensation for carrying another forest officer in the car, both being on an official trip. (2 Sol. Op., 782.)

GENERAL EXPENSES.

The expense of transporting horses of employees of the Forest Service, needed in the performance of their official duties, is payable from the appropriation for general expenses. (1 Sol. Op., 350.)

The expenses of identification and eradication of poisonous plants within the National Forests may be paid from general expenses under the appropriation for 1910. (1 Šol. Op., 199.)

The fire-fighting fund provided under general expenses in the act of March 4, 1911, is available for paying the cost of repairs to a vehicle unavoidably damaged while under hire to the Forest Service for conveying men to a forest fire, with the express agreement to be responsible for damages. (2 Sol. Op., 740.)

Salaries of stream gaugers working under cooperative agreement with the Geological Survey are payable from the appropriation for general expenses of the Forest Service. (2 Sol. Op., 719.)

Telephone lines consisting of insulated wire laid upon the ground and temporarily used in one part of the forest and then removed and used in the same way in another part should be charged, under general expenses, for the "purchase and maintenance of all necessary field * * * supplies," etc. (1 Sol. Op., 651.)

Labor employed in constructing such lines should be paid for from the appropriation for general expenses, as a field expense of the particular forest. (1 Sol. Op., 651.)

Expenses of a forest officer in attending, in his official capacity, the examination or trial of a person charged with violation of the laws relating to timber trespass on National Forests are payable from the general expenses for the Forest Service. (1 Sol. Op., 383.)

The appropriation for the construction and maintenance of roads, trails, bridges, etc., in the appropriation act of August 10, 1912, is not exclusive, but is interchangeable with the item for general expenses "to pay all expenses necessary to protect, administer, and improve the National Forests." (Solicitor to his Assistant at San Francisco, Sept. 7, 1912.)

IMPROVEMENTS.

Enlargement and improvement of ranger stations. See under "Operation," page 17

ante.

The installation for the first time of bathroom fixtures in the Fort Valley experiment station, in the same manner as similar fixtures are usually installed in the ordinary city house, are not repairs in the meaning of the appropriation act. (2 Sol. Op., 768.)

Fruit trees, grapevines, and rose bushes purchased for planting on ranger stations can not be paid for out of any appropriation for the Forest Service made in the appropriation act of 1911. (1 Sol. Op., 556.)

FIRE-FIGHTING FUND.

Fees of an employment agency for services in securing fire fighters may be paid from the appropriation for fighting forest fires and other unforeseen emergencies. (1 Sol. Op., 349.)

REFORESTATION.

The appropriation for the year 1911 of $166,640 "For silvicultural and other experiments," etc., is available, in the discretion of the Secretary, for allotment to the various forests, not for experiments and investigations merely but to carry on the work of reforestation. The amounts allotted may be used cumulatively with the amounts authorized in the appropriations for the various forests by name. (2 Sol. Op., 705.)

SUPPLIES.

Supplies ordered under annual contracts for one fiscal year, but not delivered in that year, may be paid for at prices fixed by the contracts out of the appropriations for the succeeding year. (1 Sol. Op., 311.)

If the need for ordering wire existed in the fiscal year 1910, and the contract in question was properly made under the appropriation for that year, the purchase price may be paid from that appropriation, even though the wire was not delivered until the next annual appropriation has become effective, and it can not be put to physical use until some time in the next fiscal year. (Same.)

REFUNDS.

The refund provision in the agricultural appropriation act of March 4, 1907, contemplates cases of sales of National Forest products and does not apply to erroneous or excess collections for trespass on National Forest lands or to erroneous collections for products of lands not a part of the National Forests. (17 Comp. Dec., 204.)

No refund can be made, under the act of March 4, 1907, of money paid for timber cut in the construction of an irrigation ditch under permit from the Forest Service, pending approval of maps filed with the Secretary of the Interior, even though the lands affected have been eliminated from the National Forest. (2 Sol. Op., 676.)

Where a timber sale contract expired by limitation before all the timber paid for was cut, the right to damages, either actual or liquidated, became vested in the United States, and could not be waived or released by any officer of the Government. If, in such case, the contract provided for liquidated damages, or if the United States sustained actual damages by reason of the breach, and the amount deposited did not exceed the sum of the purchase price of the timber cut and removed plus the amount of such damages, then no refund could be made. (Case of Orleans Longacre, Comp. Dec., Dec. 27, 1911.)

The provision in a timber-sale contract that "all moneys paid or promised under this agreement" shall become the property of the United States "as liquidated damages and not as a penalty," on the failure of the purchaser to fulfill "all and singular" the numerous requirements of the contract, some of which are comparatively trivial and if broken can result in little damage, is, in legal substance and effect, a provision for a penalty, and a refund can be made where money has been deposited in excess of the actual damages suffered. (2 Sol. Op., 831.)

The provision in timber-sale Form 202 that refunds will be made "only at the discretion of the Forester, except when the amount of such deposits is more than the value of the timber on the cutting area covered by this agreement," does not empower the Forester to make refunds without limitation and without reference to the damages which may accrue to the Government by a breach of the contract. (2 Sol. Op., 831.)

Where an applicant for a timber-sale contract deposits money to cover the cost of advertising the sale, and dies before submitting a bid, the deposit may be regarded as made "to secure the purchase price on the sale" of forest products, and may be refunded to his legal representatives after deducting any expense incurred by the United States in consequence of the application. (Case of C. W. Dutrow, Comp. Dec., Dec. 27, 1911.)

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