account of which the same is made, but shall not be charged' as a part of the construction or operation and maintenance cost payable by the water users under the project. (43 Stat. 703.)

NOTES

Cross references.-Omnibus adjustment act, approved May 25, 1926 (44 Stat. 636), was enacted as result of survey and report made under subsection K. For this report see H. R. Document No. 201, Sixty-ninth Congress, first session. Act of January 20, 1925 (43 Stat. 753, 755), appropriated $150,000 to carry out the provisions of subsection K.

Miscellaneous.-C. L. 1369, February 11, 1925. Approval of contract with water users' association for taking over management of project must await ascertainment of facts, authorized under subsection K, with respect to existing projects.

C. L. 1384, March 23, 1925. Instructions regarding payment of vouchers, appropriation accounting, etc., under appropriat on to carry into effect the provisions of subsection K.

Interpretation of subsection G, act of December 5, 1924, in its relation to subsection K. (51 L. D. 216.)

Subsec. L. [On adjustments all unpaid charges shall be added to obligation of water user.]-That in any adjustment of water charges as provided in this section all due and unpaid charges to the United States, both on account of construction and on account of operation and maintenance, including interest and penalties, shall be added in each case to the total obligation of the water user, and the new total thus established shall then be the construction charge against the land in question. (43 Stat. 703.)

NOTES

Repeal. Subsections E, F, and L of this act repealed, with certain exceptions, by section 47, act of May 25, 1926 (44 Stat. 636).

Date when adjustment of charges occurs. In this subsection the words, "in any adjustment of water charges," are understood to indicate the time which will determine what charges are due and unpaid, and what charges will thereafter be added in each case to the total obligation of the water user. It is believed that the adjustment of water charges occurs on the date when the adjustment contract is made, and that the charges due and unpaid on that date are the charges added in each case to the total obligation. So far as the construction charges are concerned, the provisions of subsection L and the provision of the last sentence of subsection F may overlap if the adjustment contract is made at a date later than December 1, 1925. (51 L. D. 214.)

Subsec. M. [Exchange of farm unit-Construction payments credited— Preference right of ex-service man.]-That every entryman or assignee on a project farm unit not yet patented which unit shall be found by the Secretary to be insufficient to support a family and pay water charges shall have the right upon application to exchange his entry for another farm unit of unentered public land on the same or another project located in the same State, in which event all installments of construction charges theretofore paid on account of the relinquished farm unit shall be credited on account of the new farm unit taken in exchange: Provided, That where two entrymen apply for the same farm unit under the exchange provision of this subsection, only one of whom is an ex-service man, as defined by the joint resolution of January 21, 1922 (Forty-second Statutes, page 358), the ex-service man shall have a preference in making such exchange.

NOTES

For reference to this and other subsections see 51 L. D. 216, or C. L. 1389, March 27, 1925.

All exchanges made under Subsection M must be within the same State. (Dec. of Sol. Int. Dept., February 25, 1927, M-21655.)

Subsec. N. [Advance payment of operation and maintenance charges.]— That all contracts providing for new projects and new divisions of projects shall require that all operation and maintenance charge shall be payable in advance. In each case where the care, operation, and maintenance of a project or division of a project are transferred to the water users the contract shall require the payment of operation and maintenance charges in advance. That whenever an adjustment of water charges is made under this section the adjustment contract shall provide that thereafter all operation and maintenance charges shall be payable in advance. (43 Stat. 704.)

NOTES

Regulations. For instructions regarding collection of operation and mainte nance charges in advance under this subsection see C. L. 1447, August 5, 1925. Subsec. O. [Expense of Washington office and of general investigations not chargeable to water users.]-That the cost and expense after June 30, 1925, of the main office at Washington, District of Columbia, of the Bureau of Reclamation in the Department of the Interior, and the cost and expense of general investigations heretofore and hereafter authorized by the Secretary, shall be charged to the general reclamation fund and shall not be charged as a part of the construction or operation and maintenance cost payable by the water users under the projects. (43 Stat. 704.)

NOTES

Allotment of funds.-As the appropriation act for the fiscal year, 1926, did not provide a stated amount for the Washington office, it became necessary to provide for an allotment of funds for that office by deducting 12 per cent from the amount stated in the appropriation act for each project. (C. L. 1425, June 26, 1925.)

Transfer of operation and maintenance to water users. In an interpretation of subsection G of act of December 5, 1924, concerning apportionment to projects of costs, the department holds there is no reason for applying the provisions of subsection G to the items under subsection O. (51 L. D. 217; C. L. 1389, March 27, 1925.)

Subsec. P. [Reservation of easements or rights of way.]-That where, in the opinion of the Secretary, a right of way or easement of any kind over public land is required in connection with a project the Secretary may reserve the same to the United States by filing in the General Land Office and in the appropriate local land office copies of an instrument giving a description of the right of way or easement and notice that the same is reserved to the United States for Federal irrigation purposes under this section, in which event entry for such land and the patent issued therefor shall be subject to the right of way or easement so described in such instrument; and reference to each such instrument shall be made in the appropriate tract books and also in the patent. (43 Stat. 704.)

Subsec. Q. [Donations-May be reconveyed to grantor.]-That where real property or any interest therein heretofore has been, or hereafter shall be, donated and conveyed to the United States for use in con

nection with a project, and the Secretary decides not to utilize the donation, he is authorized without charge to reconvey such property or any part thereof to the donating grantor, or to the heirs, successors, or assigns of such grantor. (43 Stat. 704.)

Subsec. R. [Swamp and cut-over timberlands-Appropriation from General Treasury.]-That there is hereby authorized to be appropriated from the General Treasury, the sum of $100,000 for investigations to be made by the Secretary through the Bureau of Reclamation to obtain necessary information to determine how arid and semiarid, swamp, and cut-over timberlands may best be developed. (43 Stat. 704.)

Sec. 5. [Title of act.]-That this act hereafter may be referred to as the "Second deficiency act, fiscal year 1924.”

ADDITIONAL APPROPRIATIONS FOR CIVILIAN FIELD SERVICE EMPLOYEES, FISCAL YEAR 1925

[Extract from] An act making additional appropriations for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1925, to enable the heads of the several departments and independent establishments to adjust the rates of compensation of civilian employees in certain of the field services. (Act December 6, 1924, ch. 5, 43 Stat. 704)

[Adjustment of compensation to classification act.]-That to enable the heads of the several departments and independent establishments to adjust the compensation of civilian employees in certain field services to correspond, so far as may be practicable, to the rates. established by the classification act of 1923 for positions in the departmental services in the District of Columbia the following sums are appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, for the service of the fiscal year ending June 30, 1925, namely:

[Reclamation Service.]-For the Reclamation Service, $365,400; for general investigations, $7,620; in all $373,020, payable from the reclamation fund. (43 Stat. 708.)

[Use of amounts irrespective of salary restrictions.]-The appropriations herein made may be utilized by the heads of the several departments and independent establishments to accomplish the purposes of this act notwithstanding the specific rates of compensation and the salary restrictions contained in the regular annual appropriation acts for the fiscal year 1925 or the salary restrictions in other acts: which limit salaries to rates in conflict with the rates fixed by the classification act of 1923 for the departmental service. (43 Stet. 712.)

NOTES

Regulations. For instructions see C. L. 1397, April 18, 1925. See also C. L.. 1411, May 18, 1925.

C. L. 1418, June 10, 1925, gives a list of field positions excepted from allocation.

Provisions of act applicable to all field employees. The provisions of the act of December 6, 1924 (43 Stat. 704), authorizing the adjustment of compensation of field employees to correspond to the rates fixed by the classification act of March 4, 1923 (42 Stat. 1488), are applicable to all civilian field employees, whether presidential appointees or otherwise. (4 Comp. Gen. 625.) Manner of determination of maximum per diem rate.-Under the provisions of act of December 6, 1924 (43 Stat. 704), providing appropriations to enable adjustment of the rates of compensation in certain field services for fiscal year 1925 to correspond to rates fixed by the classification act of 1923, the maximum per diem rate authorized to be paid for personal services in the Reclamation Service (Bureau of Reclamation), one of the field services mentioned in the appropriation act, after December 6, 1924, is to be determined in accordance with the decision in 3 Comptroller General 877; i. e., by dividing by 360 the annual rate authorized by the classification act for a corresponding position. Payments made to field employees for services rendered on and prior to December 6, 1924, at rates authorized under laws in effect prior to said date, will not be disturbed. (4 Comp. Gen. 755.)

Adjustment of pay when employees are furnished quarters, maintenance, etc.— When field employees whose compensation is subject to adjustment under the classification act of 1923, as extended to the field by the acts of December 6, 1924 (43 Stat. 704), and January 22, 1925 (43 Stat. 764), are furnished in kind any item of quarters, maintenance, or equipment for their personal use, their cash compensation must be reduced to an amount which, together with the cash value of the items of quarters, maintenance, or equipment furnished, equals the rate of compensation for the position corresponding to the rate fixed by the classification act for a similar position in the departmental service in the Dis trict of Columbia. In the absence of express statutory authority, the practice of contracting for personal services in the field partiy on the basis of quarters, maintenance, or equipment furnished in kind by the Government must cease on June 30, 1926, and thereafter compensation paid solely on a cash basis. (5 Comp. Gen. 37.)

On and after July 1, 1926, in the absence of statutory provision otherwise, all employees under the Reclamation Service (Bureau of Reclamation) must be charged a reasonable rental for living quarters furnished by the Government. (5 Comp. Gen. 236.)

Maximum rate of compensation for field employees.-Field employees of the Reclamation Service (Bureau of Reclamation) may not be paid compensation at a rate in excess of $20.83% per diem, which is the equivalent of the rate of $7,500 per annum, the maximum rate fixed by the classification act of 1923 for positions in the District of Columbia. (5 Comp. Gen. 73.)