ACCOUNTING. The field accounting was one of the most difficult tasks. The civilian personnel was under the regulations of the Civil Service Commission, whose eligible lists were inadequate to supply the demands for qualified accountants, timekeepers, and material inspectors. The field forces sometimes expanded as much as 5,000 men in a week, and clerical help could not be properly trained quickly enough to handle the large amount of timekeeping and pay rolls. The division auditors deserve much credit for their success in handling the work under such trying conditions. A conflict of authority, which caused some trouble, early arose in the field between the constructing quartermasters and the field auditors. It was apparently due to the following causes: (a) Uncertainty as to the intent of the letter of May 30, 1917, from the Secretary of War to the Quartermaster General. (b) The appointment of the chief of the accounting division as contracting officer by the chief of the Cantonment Division, who seemingly construed this letter to mean that the authority of the accounting division would be supreme as to the interpretation of the contract and the expenditure of funds in the field. (c) The organization plan, submitted to the officer in charge of the Cantonment Division by the committee on emergency construction of the General Munitions Board and adopted by him, which unfortunately set up two independent lines of communication between. the field and the central office at Washington. The situation above mentioned was remedied later by transferring the authority of the contracting officer to the chief of the Cantonment Division and by giving the constructing quartermaster full charge of all field construction operations. In general the standards and regulations instituted by the Instructions to Field Auditors were effective in handling the construction accounts, but the field auditor had to use his own accounting knowledge and common sense to secure satisfactory results. The completion reports from the various cantonments show general agreement, with divergencies of opinion on some accounting matters, especially with regard to the keeping of time and pay rolls. In some cases the opinion was expressed that the contractor should keep the accounts, but in other cases, where the contractor had the accounting of the time and pay rolls, it was thought desirable to transfer this work to the Government officials. As the Government must check all expenditures, review indicates that the field auditor's department should have charge of time accounting and making of pay rolls. Under such plan the auditing would be done along with the construction work and effect a considerable saving to the Government by avoiding the duplication of the accounting work by the contractor and the field auditor. The difficulties of the later accounting work are dealt with in Part III, in the section on "Field organization." SUSPENSIONS FILED AGAINST CANTONMENT DISBURSING OFFICERS. Section 1191, Revised Statutes of the United States provides: All officers of the Quartermaster, Subsistence, and Pay Departments, the chief medical purveyor and the assistant medical purveyor, and all storekeepers shall, before entering upon the duties of their respective offices, give good and sufficient bonds to the United States in such sums as the Secretary of War may direct, faithfully to account for all public moneys and property which they may receive. On December 12, 1916, pursuant to these requirements, the Acting Secretary of War fixed the amount of bonds to be furnished by officers of the Quartermaster Corps who were required to be bonded as follows: Colonels, $10,000; lieutenant colonels, $10,000; majors, $10,000; captains, $10,000; first lieutenants, $5,000; second lieutenants, $5,000; quartermaster agents, $5,000. PENALTY. The manual for the Quartermaster Corps, United States Army, states: SEC. 537. Accounts in the Treasury are never closed. In neither the legal nor mercantile sense of the terms is an account between the Government or one of its officers ever finally adjusted, nor is his official bond ever canceled or surrendered. SEC. 1965. All persons charged by law with the safekeeping, transfer, or disbursement of public moneys are required to keep accurate entry of each sum received and of each payment or transfer. SEC. 1966. Every officer or agent of the United States who, having received public moneys which he is not authorized to retain as salary, pay, or emolument, fails to render account for the same as provided by law shall be deemed guilty of embezzlement and shall be fined in a sum equal to the amount of money embezzled and imprisoned not more than ten years. An officer is required to render a monthly account current to his chief of bureau. The law requires ADMINISTRATIVE EXAMINATION. SEC. 1998. The chief of the bureau to which accounts pertain will cause each account current, with its accompanying papers, to be examined and transmitted to the Treasury Department with his decision indorsed thereon within 60 days from the date on which such account was received at his office. He will bring to the notice of the Secretary of War all matters of account that require or merit it. When a suspension or disallowance is made, the bureau will notify the officer that he may have the opportunity to submit explanations or take an appeal to the Secretary of War. SEC. 1999. Such errors or irregularities as are found in the administrative examination of the quartermaster's money account in the office of the Quartermaster General are reported to the quartermaster for such action as is necessary toward adjustment. The quartermaster's reply to such report is transmitted by the Quartermaster General to the Auditor for the War Department when necessary for consideration in the settle. ment of such accounts. * * Upon receipt of the settlement of differences from the auditor the quartermaster should immediately take action toward causing the removal of the suspensions or correction of other irregularities reported therein, and reply direct to the auditor, stating action taken. If additional evidence satisfactory to the auditor can not be furnished, collection of the overpayment should be made from the payee, if practicable, or from the responsible officer, if any; otherwise refundment shall be made by the quartermaster. The accounts current made by disbursing officers went to the Quartermaster General's office, now the office of the Director of Finance, without passing through the Construction Division. The office of the Director of Finance, which is in no way responsible for construction, has no special interest in closing the accounts of disbursing officers, which are often delayed a year after the completion of the work. It is now difficult if not impossible, after such lapse of time, to secure all required receipts and other supporting documents. On December 31, 1918, suspensions or disallowances were standing against every disbursing officer on the original 32 cantonments and camps. Many of these were inevitable under the emergency conditions of this construction. The principal causes for suspensions are payments not properly supported by receipts, improperly signed receipts, clerical errors in pay rolls or vouchers, and contracts not filed with auditors. With reference to that last-mentioned cause it is to be noted that the contracts for the original construction work were filed in the Quartermaster General's office and not with the Cantonment Division. The suspension accounts in the Cantonment Division, as of September 30, 1918, arising from alleged irregularities in detail work, are as follows: The causes stated for these suspensions and the amounts are as follows: No receipts of any kind (employees).. No pay rolls... Material: No bills.... Bills not receipted... Vouchers not signed.. Vouchers not filed.. Improperly signed pay receipts..... Total payments not properly supported by receipts.. $1,452, 045. 47 4, 008, 199. 42 3, 471, 623. 84 2, 163, 735. 03 87, 182. 13 1, 335, 731. 15 12, 518, 517. 04 3,069. 56 12, 521, 586. 60 Clerical errors: This amount is about 9 per cent of the total expenditures on these 35 projects. As the instructions in the Quartermaster's Manual were definite as to securing proper supporting papers it is not clear how so many omissions could have occurred. In commercial transactions such difficulties are usually adjusted between the interested parties, but in Government transactions and accounting no official has such authority and every technical requirement of the regulations must be satisfied. QUALITY OF CONSTRUCTION. The board has studied cantonment plans and specifications and inspected the type and quality of construction used in a number of these projects. Its conclusions thereon are as follows: All facilities that were important and reasonably warranted were furnished. The general health, comfort, and convenience, and the physical, mental, and social welfare of the troops were provided for as fully as was practicable. The barracks were of modern housing type, reasonably well provided with ventilation, window screens, heat, and electric light. An adequate supply of pure water was furnished for drinking and bathing, with modern plumbing and sewerage systems. The kitchen, bakery, and steam laundry equipments were first class. Facilities furnished for reading, recreation, amusement, and comfort included libraries, theaters, and post exchanges. The civic improvements equaled in character those of many suburban cities and included walks, paved roads, street lighting, and fire protection. In some cantonments the buildings were painted. This added to the life and decidedly improved the appearance of the structures. The difference between the construction standards used for the National Army cantonments and those of the National Guard camps was due to the fact that the former were built for training successive contingents of troops throughout the war and as possible permanent camps. In consequence they were constructed of wood and fully equipped. The latter were built for temporary occupancy only by the National Guard troops amd would probably not be much needed after they went overseas. The sites were chosen for favorable living and climatic conditions, usually in the Southern States, and tents instead of wooden barracks were used. SPEED OF CONSTRUCTION. This board shares the generally expressed opinion that the cantonments and camps were built with remarkable speed. The designs were as economical as the requirements and as due provision for the health and reasonable comfort of the troops permitted. Delays occurred, due to lack of competent workmen and mechanics. Some loss of time was caused by lack of proper supervision of labor. Most of the delays were due to unavoidable causes and emergency conditions, and all were so overcome that the construction was ready as and when needed. As has elsewhere been pointed out, in reviewing war results obtained and difficulties overcome by the industrial home army or the overseas combatant army, the essential test is believed to be the degree of success achieved and not the size of the organization or of its pay-roll. In order to have the necessary workmen for this construction on hand when needed, it was impossible to avoid having and paying for a labor surplus when progress was slowed up by lack of materials or other causes. It is reported that the contractor on one of the cantonments stated that he could increase the speed or output 25 per cent if he doubled the working force and that he was at once instructed to do so. This instance shows how cost, the usual criterion of economy, had to be subordinated to speed in order to complete the cantonment work on time. For these reasons the board believes that, in a review of the cantonment and camp work done in 1917, for the tests of speed, quality, and cost must be substituted speed and quality. The reported total cost of the 16 National Army cantonments and camps as of December 31, 1918, was somewhat under $200,000,000 |