TELEGRAMS AND LONG-DISTANCE TELEPHONE MESSAGES.

GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS.

5. Judgment and discretion must be observed in the use of the wire, both in the matter of determining whether any real necessity exists for its use on a given occasion and in the matter of making messages as brief as possible. Charges for manifestly unnecessary or uselessly extended messages are subject to disapprova! and ultimate disallowance.

6. The cost of messages sent on official business only is chargeable against the Government. Each telegram should be marked "Official business," a copy retained for vouchering, and payment therefor made in accordance with Government rates, as fixed annually by the Postmaster General. Schedules showing such rates should be procured by application, to the Chief Clerk, Postoffice Department, Washington, D. C.

7. In counting the words of a telegram, exclude the date and place from which sent, and count the entire name of a city, town, village, State or Territory as one word.

8. The cost of telegrams and long-distance telephone messages is payable as follows:

(a) When sent by a judge, on purely judicial business; by the marshal, from “Miscellaneous Expenses, U. S. Courts."

(b) When sent by a district attorney, or any of his regular assistants, on official business; by the marshal, from "Salaries and Expenses of District Attorneys, U. S. Courts." (Office expenses.)

(c) When sent by the marshal, or any of his deputies, on official business; by the marshal, from "Salaries, Fees, and Expenses of Marshals, U. S. Courts." (Office expenses.)

(d) When sent by the clerk of the court, on business of the clerk's office; by the clerk, from his emoluments; if on court business as in Paragraph 8-(a).

(e) When sent by United States commissioners; by the commissioner, from private

resources.

(f) When pertaining to leave of absence from duty; by the sender, from private resources. (See 6th Comp., 422.)

(g) When sent under ordinary circumstances, to reserve rooms or other accommodations; by the sender, from private resources. (See 21 Comp., 292.)

(h) When sent by the Department of Justice; from contingent or special funds not disbursed by marshals.

VOUCHERS.

9. Payments by marshals covering telegrams and long-distance telephone messages should be vouchered in duplicate on Forms 177 and 178, respectively. All companies should be requested to render bills. promptly at the close of each month. All information contemplated by the forms should be shown thereon. The first certificate should be signed by the local representative of the company claiming payment, and the second by the administrative officer having knowledge of the facts and the necessity for the messages.

10. Copies of telegrams must accompany the vouchers. In ехсерtional cases, where it would be prejudicial to the public interests to have a message exposed, the filing of a copy may be waived, provided information is furnished which will enable the Attorney General to certify to its confidential nature. (See 4th Comp., 233.)

11. If a telegram is sent over more than one line, the names of the lines and the cost over each must be shown on the voucher. If charge is made for telephone service in connection with a telegram, this fact must be stated on the voucher and the additional cost specified.

12. The company which can reach directly over its own lines the point to which a telegram is to be sent must be used in every instance in preference to any other company.

OATHS TO EXPENSE ACCOUNTS AGAINST THE UNITED STATES.

13. The following officials and clerks are authorized and required under section 8 of the act of August 24, 1912, to administer oaths to expense accounts against the United States without charge

(a) Postmasters and assistant postmasters.

(b) Collectors of customs and of internal revenue.

(c) Chief clerks of departments and bureaus, or clerks designated by them.

(d) Superintendents, acting superintendents, custodians and principal clerks of Government reservations, and Indian superintendencies or agencies.

(e) Chiefs of field parties.

STATIONERY AND MISCELLANEOUS SUPPLIES.

GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS.

14. Stationery and miscellaneous supplies will be furnished directly from the Department of Justice for judges, attorneys, marshals, and for use in court rooms. Only those supplies necessary to the expeditious transaction of public business should be requisitioned. No freight charges should be paid on supplies shipped from the department.

15. Use Form 17A in making requisitions for such supplies. The instructions printed upon the form must be carefully observed. Give all needed data. Samples of articles which may not be easily described should be attached to the requisition.

16. Separate requests should be made by each official. They should cover the estimated needs for a period of six months. Sixty days should be allowed for the delivery of printed envelopes, 45 days for letterheads, and 30 days for all other articles.

17. The law requires all blanks and letterheads for judges and other court officials (unless the expense is payable from emoluments),

to be printed at the Government Printing Office upon forms prescribed by the Department of Justice. (See 28 Stat. L., 624.) The names of officials, excepting judges, will be omitted from letterheads, envelopes, and blanks.

BLANK FORMS AND DOCKETS.

18. The forms in use by court officials and the dockets furnished by the department are listed in a separate publication.

INK, MUCILAGE, AND PASTE.

19. Such supplies can only be shipped during warm weather. Annually about May 15 each marshal will make requisition on Form 17A for the mucilage, paste, and various inks which will be needed by the judges, attorney's office, marshal's office, and for court purposes during the fiscal year beginning July 1 following.

20. Such requisitions should show separately the quantity of each item on hand and the additional quantity required for each officer and for court purposes.

21. Shipments will be made on quartermaster's bill of lading to the marshal, who will cause proper distribution to be made.

RECORDS OF GOVERNMENT PROPERTY.

- 22. All Government property (other than stationery and fuel) should be listed of record in the office of the official in whose custody it may be and who will be held responsible therefor. Additional articles received from time to time should be added to the record, and articles authorized to be dropped should be eliminated, with notation of the cause. (See sec. 197, R. S. U. S., and Sup. R. S., vol. 2, p. 174.)

23. In order to fix responsibility for the possible loss of accountable property of the Government, officials should keep a memorandum record of all such property located at points other than general headquarters where an office is maintained, charging it to the subordinate official or employe in charge at such point.

SALE OF GOVERNMENT PROPERTY NOT IN LITIGATION.

24. Old material or other Government property not involved in suits should be sold only under authority from the Department of Justice. The net proceeds of such sales should be deposited directly with the Treasurer of the United States. (See par. 143 and 146(d).)

25. There may be paid from the proceeds of the sale of old material only the expenses directly pertaining to the sale, such as auctioneer's fees, cartage to place of sale, etc. Such expenses must be fully itemized and supported by proper vouchers. (See act of June 8, 1896, and 3 Comp. 149 and 190.)

LEAVE OF ABSENCE FROM DUTY.

26. Leave of absence from duty for marshals and district attorneys rests entirely in the discretion of the Attorney General. Application therefor should be made only when it may be granted with a minimum interference to the public service. (See 20 Op. Atty. Gen., 728.)

27. If the public service permits, marshals may grant salaried deputies and United States attorneys may grant their regular assistants and clerks leave of absence from duty not exceeding 30 days in any calendar year. They may also, in cases of sickness or unavoidable incapacity, grant such employees sick leave not exceeding 30 days in any calendar year. (See 30 Stat. L., 316, 653, and 890; 20 Op. Atty. Gen., 303 and 607; 22 Op. Atty. Gen., 77-82.)

28. A deputy marshal, assistant attorney, or clerk employed during a portion of a calendar year may be granted leave only at the rate of two and one-half days per month.

29. Proper deduction should be made from salaries covering unauthorized absence from duty.

30. Leave is not cumulative. Employees who are prevented by the requirements of the service or otherwise from availing themselves of the regular annual leave will not be entitled to it or any portion thereof in a subsequent year. Leave to be used in a given year and charged to a subsequent year can not be granted.

31. Sundays, legal holidays, and holidays by Executive order will be charged against the employee only in leave without pay.

32. When an employee has been exposed to a contagious disease for which the medical authorities quarantine the patient, he should immediately file a certificate from the attending physician or proper health authority stating that in his judgment the presence of the employee in the office would jeopardize the health of fellow clerks. Application for leave with pay for the time lost must be accompanied by a certificate from the health office showing that a case of contagion existed on the premises during the time covered by the application; and the attending physician must certify that all danger from contagion has passed.

33. Leave without pay may be granted only when in the opinion of the head of the office the public business will not suffer and when reasonable cause is shown.

JUDGES' STENOGRAPHERS AND MESSENGERS.

34. Stenographers and messengers for judges may be employed and paid from the appropriation "Miscellaneous expenses, United States courts," only when authorized by the Attorney General. Such employees are payable by the marshal upon vouchers certified by the judge for whom the service was rendered.

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35. Every change in the person employed under a given authorization should be promptly reported to the department.

36. The services of messengers and stenographers to judges terminate with those of the judges. In case of the death of a judge, however, his stenographer is hereby authorized to remain on duty for a reasonable time to arrange papers, records, etc., for the incoming judge. It must be affirmatively shown that services were actually rendered subsequent to the death of the judge to entitle the stenographer to compensation therefor.

37. Near the close of each fiscal year, judges who desire to have their stenographers accompany them away from headquarters to the various places of holding court within the district, to aid in the dispatch of public business during the approaching fiscal year, should make application to the Department on Form 25B, for the authorization of such expense.

EXPENSES OF TAKING JURY TO VIEW LANDS.

38. Unless the appropriation for the proposed improvement provides specifically for such expenses, they are payable from judicial appropriations. (See 2 Comp., 201.)

39. Expenses of travel and subsistence of the marshal or the district attorney, incurred in this connection, are payable in the usual manner, subject to the usual limitations, from the appropriations "Salaries, Fees, and Expenses of Marshals, U. S. Courts," and "Salaries and Expenses of District Attorneys, U. S. Courts," respectively. 40. The expenses of the jurors and bailiff in charge are payable after they have been duly authorized by the Attorney General from the appropriation "Miscellaneous Expenses, U. S. Courts."

THE EXTRADITION OF FUGITIVES FROM THE UNITED STATES IN FOREIGN JURISDICTION.

41. The following instructions apply to cases involving violations of the Federal statutes and are for the guidance of United States attorneys and officers of the United States courts generally.

42. The preparation of the papers in accordance with the instructions will save labor and delay, the latter resulting in some instances in the release of the fugitive in the foreign jurisdiction.

ESSENTIALS THAT MUST PRECEDE THE INSTITUTION OF EXTRADITION PROCEEDINGS.

43. Before making application to the Attorney General, the United States attorney should assure himself of the existence of the following essentials:

(a) The warrant of arrest issued in this country can not be served owing to the flight of the accused to a known locality in a foreign country.