(T. D. 33074.)

Common carrier.

Approving bond of San Francisco & Portland Steamship Co. as a common carrier for the transportation of dutiable merchandise and for the lading and unlading of bonded goods under the act of February 13, 1911.

TREASURY DEPARTMENT, January 9, 1913. SIR: The bond, in duplicate, transmitted with your letter of the 27th ultimo, of the San Francisco & Portland Steamship Co. as a common carrier for the transportation of dutiable merchandise under sections 3000, 3001, 3005, and 3006 of the Revised Statutes the act of June 10, 1880, and all acts relating thereto, and also under the provisions of the act approved February 13, 1911, relating to the lading and unlading of merchandise, has been approved, and one copy thereof is inclosed herewith to be placed upon the files of your office.

This bond is in lieu of that of the company named approved June 1, 1908, a copy of which is on file in your office.

You should note the fact and the date of the rebonding of the company upon the copy of the bond approved, as above stated, June 1, 1908, and retain the same in your possession without cancellation to meet any liability which may have accrued thereunder.

Respectfully,
(18532.)

JAMES F. CURTIS,
Assistant Secretary.

COLLECTOR OF CUSTOMS, San Francisco, Cal.

(T. D. 33075.)

Regulations relating to the making of contracts for miscellaneous supplies.

[Circular No. 3.]

TREASURY DEPARTMENT, January 4, 1913.

To all whom it may concern:

Section 4 of the act of June 17, 1910 (36 Stat., 531), provides as follows:

That hereafter all supplies of fuel, ice, stationery, and other miscellaneous supplies for the executive departments and other Government establishments in Washington, when the public exigencies do not require the immediate delivery of the article, shall be advertised and contracted for by the Secretary of the Treasury, instead of by the several departments and establishments, upon such days as he may designate. There shall be a general supply committee in lieu of the board provided for in section thirtyseven hundred and nine of the Revised Statutes as amended, composed of officers, one from each such department, designated by the head thereof, the duties of which committee shall be to make, under the direction of the said Secretary, an annual schedule of required miscellaneous supplies, to standardize such supplies, eliminating

all unnecessary grades and varieties, and to aid said Secretary in soliciting bids based upon formulas and specifications drawn up by such experts in the service of the Government as the committee may see fit to call upon, who shall render whatever assistance they may require. The committee shall aid said Secretary in securing the proper fulfillment of the contracts for such supplies for which purpose the said Secretary shall prescribe, and all departments comply with, rules providing for such examination and tests of the articles received as may be necessary for such purpose; in making additions to the said schedule; in opening and considering the bids, and shall perform such other similar duties as he may assign to them: Provided, That the articles intended to be purchased in this manner are those in common use by or suitable to the ordinary needs of two or more such departments or establishments; but the said Secretary shall have discretion to amend the annual common supply schedule from time to time as to any articles that, in his judgment, can as well be thus purchased. In all cases only one bond for the proper performance of each contract shall be required, notwithstanding that supplies for more than one department or Government establishment are included in such contract. Every purchase or drawing of such supplies from the contractor shall be immediately reported to said committee. No disbursing officer shall be a member of such committee. No department or establishment shall purchase or draw supplies from the common schedule through more than one office or bureau, except in case of detached bureaus or offices having field or outlying service, which may purchase directly from the contractor with the permission of the head of their department: And provided further, That telephone service, electric light, and power service purchased or contracted for from companies or individuals shall be so obtained by him.

In pursuance of the foregoing, the following regulations are prescribed:

1. The General Supply Committee shall prepare and submit to the Secretary of the Treasury for his approval not later than February 1 of each year a schedule and specifications of supplies that in its judgment should be covered by the general supply contracts. Such schedule shall include all supplies of a kind that are used in common by two or more of the executive departments and Government establishments in the city of Washington. In preparing said schedule the committee. shall carefully consider the needs of the respective departments and establishments and make provision for such articles as are best suited to the requirements of the service, eliminating all unnecessary articles and all unnecessary grades and varieties of articles.

2. The General Supply Committee shall, a sufficient time before preparing each annual schedule, send to the executive departments and other Government establishments a copy of the current General Supply Schedule, and, if any article furnished under existing contracts has proven to be unsatisfactory or unsuited to the needs of any such department or establishment, such department or establishment shall, after the receipt of the schedule, and not later than December 15 of each year, transmit to said committee a statement in writing, giving reasons why such article is not suited to its requirements, and suggesting such changes in its specifications as it may consider desirable. Each department and establishment shall include in its statement a detailed description of all articles of common supplies

which it desires to have added to a schedule for its use. If any such department or establishment desires to have included in the schedule any article or articles not used in common by two or more departments or establishments, said statement shall contain a detailed description of such article or articles, the purpose for which they are to be used and the estimated number or quantity of each that will be required; and if, in the judgment of the Secretary of the Treasury, such articles can as well be thus purchased, they shall be included in the schedule.

3. A copy of the preliminary schedule, compiled from information furnished as provided under section 2, and as approved by the Secretary of the Treasury, shall be forwarded by the Superintendent of Supplies to the several executive departments and Government establishments for estimates. Each of said departments and establishments shall, immediately upon receipt thereof, insert opposite each item an estimate of the number of articles or quantity of material which will be required by it during the proposed contract term, and return such schedule to the Superintendent of Supplies. If the head of a department who has a field service under his jurisdiction desires to purchase for said service articles described in the schedule he shall include estimates for said service and inform the Secretary of the Treasury of his intention to purchase such articles under the general supply contracts.

4. To the General Supply Committee is assigned the following additional duties:

a. It shall open and consider all proposals for furnishing supplies described in the annual schedules, and recommend to the Secretary of the Treasury such action as in its judgment should be taken.

b. It shall aid the Secretary of the Treasury in securing the proper fulfillment of contracts, and in making additions to the schedules.

5. The General Supply Committee is authorized to call upon experts in the Government service for advice and assistance in the preparation of specifications and in passing upon proposals and samples submitted with proposals.

The Superintendent of Supplies shall be ex officio secretary of the General Supply Committee and shall have the custody of all records, bids, samples, correspondence, and other papers pertaining to general supply contracts. He shall supervise the preparation of all such contracts; conduct for the committee, under its direction, all correspondence concerning the same; and shall perform such other duties in connection with the purchase of supplies for the departments and Government establishments as the Secretary of the Treasury may direct.

All contracts shall be executed in triplicate, and after execution by the contractor and before execution by the Secretary of the Treasury

they shall be examined as to form and execution by the Solicitor of the Treasury; and when executed by the Secretary, the original contract shall be filed with the Auditor for the Treasury Department, one copy with the Superintendent of Supplies, and one copy transmitted to the contractor.

Each executive department and other Government establishment shall, as frequently as once a month, furnish the General Supply Committee with a written statement showing all purchases of supplies (giving item numbers) made under existing general supply contracts during the period covered by such statement, which shall also show a record of all articles not included in the schedule, which have been purchased by said department or establishment upon authorization by the Secretary of the Treasury to provide for exigencies or special requirements. On such statements should be entered any complaints as they may arise respecting the quality of supplies furnished under contract, whether such supplies are in accordance with the specifications or sample, and any complaints against the contractors for failure to make prompt deliveries of supplies ordered.

It shall be the duty of each purchasing and inspecting officer in procuring supplies, which have specifications involving laboratory tests, to, as far as possible, purchase such materials in large lots, and such officer shall draw a sample for test from all orders of such material amounting to $50 or over. The testing of smaller orders is left to the discretion of the purchasing or inspecting officer, but he should, as far as possible, convince himself that all goods accepted comply with the specifications.

FRANKLIN MACVEAGH, Secretary.

(T. D. 33076.)

All Government disbursing officers' checks to be drawn on the Treasurer of the United States.

[Circular No. 4.]

TREASURY DEPARTMENT, January 9, 1913.

To United States Government disbursing officers:

Beginning February 1, 1913, all funds advanced to disbursing officers of the Government on requisitions will be placed to their official credit with the Treasurer of the United States. All disbursing officers' checks will be drawn on the Treasurer. It is desirable that all such officers receive a supply of the new form of check prior to that date, and to that end you are requested to make requisition at once for a sufficient quantity to meet your needs for two months. It will be necessary to limit the number ordered in this requisition to actual immediate requirements in order that all disbursing officers may be

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supplied. You may follow this first requisition with another for the quantity you are accustomed to obtain.

Checks will not hereafter be furnished through the assistant treas

urers.

A circular descriptive of the new procedure will be furnished you at an early date. (See T. D. 33077.)

FRANKLIN MACVEAGH, Secretary.

(T. D. 33077.)

All warrants and checks to be drawn on the Treasurer of the United States, payable by any assistant treasurer or any active designated depositary bank.

[Circular No. 5.]

TREASURY DEPARTMENT, January 9, 1913. To disbursing officers of the United States, assistant treasurers, designated depositary banks, and others concerned:

For the purpose of bringing the ordinary fiscal transactions of the Federal Government more nearly into harmony with present business practices, it has been determined that the daily receipts of the Government shall be placed with the national-bank depositaries to the credit of the Treasurer of the United States. Disbursements will be

made by warrant or check drawn on the Treasurer, but payable by national-bank depositaries, as well as by the Treasury and subtreasuries, in accordance with the following regulations:

1. On and after February 1, 1913, every deposit of funds to the official credit of a disbursing officer shall be made with the Treasurer of the United States, except as provided in paragraph 10. All moneys standing to the official credit of disbursing officers with assistant treasurers and active designated depositary banks at the close of business January 31, 1913, shall be transferred to the official credit of such disbursing officers with the Treasurer of the United States, through the medium of the general account of the Treasurer of the United States.

2. On and after February 1, 1913, all Treasury Department warrants, Post Office Department warrants, disbursing officers' checks, checks in payment of interest on the public debt, and Secretary's special deposit checks shall be drawn on the Treasurer of the United States, except as provided in paragraph 10.

3. It is contemplated that each active designated depositary bank shall pay Treasury Department warrants, Post Office Department warrants, disbursing officers' checks, checks in payment of interest on the public debt, pension checks, and Secretary's special deposit checks, dated on and after February 1, 1913, and drawn on the Treasurer of the United States, when presented in due course of