TELEGRAMS.

1. Departmental regulations. By order of the Assistant Secretary dated October 25, 1916, it was provided that-

All telegrams sent on official business by officials and employees must be marked: Paid; official business; Government rate.

Charge Reclamation Service.

This is necessary to secure under the accounting routine of the telegraph companies the originals of telegrams sent "Paid," to be used in settlement of claims rendered by telegraph companies for telegraph service.

Where telegrams relating to Government business are filed with the telegraph companies by Government officials or employees not having authority to transmit same "Paid; official business; Government rate," and by persons outside the Government service, and therefore sent "Collect," settlement will be made based on impression copies as furnished by the telegraph companies.

2. Commercial blanks. In an emergency necessitating the use of commercial telegraph blanks, the message should be plainly marked: Paid; official business; Government rate.

Charge Reclamation.

3. Unofficial messages.-Unofficial messages should not be sent on official blanks. Whenever unofficial messages are found charged to the service on the bills of the telegraph company, they will be eliminated from the bill and the sender will be required to deposit with the service the commercial rates, which will be paid to the company. 4. Voucher copies. The original messages or impression copies only of telegrams sent to the service in response to inquiries by outside persons or firms will be honored by the service in bills rendered by the telegraph companies. Copies which are not the originals of the transmitted message will be returned with request for originals.

5. Signature. "The sender's signature in full" should be written with pen or pencil in the heading of Form 7-132. The name of the sender may be written with typewriter at the end of the message. Where telegrams are sent to persons not in the service and to whom the signing official is probably not known by name, the official title should follow the typewritten signature. The word "Reclamation" or "Reclamation Service" should only be used in connection with the signature for identification purposes when sending telegrams to persons not in the Service.

6. Blanks. There should be no necessity for employees of the service using other than United States Reclamation Service telegraph blanks. The white form only should be filed in the telegraph office. All former instructions requiring the filing of an extra copy in the telegraph office are hereby revoked. Indian projects using Reclama

tion Service blanks should cross out the words "Reclamation Service" wherever they occur on the blanks and substitute the words, "Office of Indian Affairs."

7. Preparation.-Telegrams should be prepared without punctuation or capitalization and then read carefully to note whether the message is intelligible, or is liable to more than one meaning. Messages are, of course, received without punctuation or capitalization, and frequently the last word of one sentence, when transferred to the beginning of the next, completely alters the sense. Punctuation marks are not counted or sent except upon formal demand of the sender, in which case they are charged for. Telegrams should contain as few words as possible consistent with absolute accuracy and clearness of meaning. Care should be exercised to select words which can not be properly given a construction inconsistent with the meaning intended to be conveyed.

Telegrams should be sent at night rates where the delay will not be an inconvenience or when the message is sent so late in the day that it will probably not reach its destination until after office hours. Where two officers of the service are located in the same town the superior officer should be addressed simply as "Reclamation," followed by the designation of the town and State. The other officer should be named; as, "Smith, Reclamation, Phoenix, Arizona." Confirmations should always be sent at once by mail.

8. Code. The code should be used whenever it can be utilized to advantage. It is not necessarily confined to messages where secrecy is desired, but can be employed in shortening messages, particularly when it is desired to quote dates and figures, or descriptions of land. A confirmation copy of a telegram sent in code should be accompanied by a translated copy, for purposes of verification. The instructions in the code book should be read carefully. Copies of the departmental code are in all important offices of this service.

9. Coding numbers. Separate words are not provided for each number, but their arrangement is such that by combinations and a proper use of prefixes provided, commencing with the word "Testable" on page 173 of the code book, any number or series of numbers may be expressed. To insure correct transmission and translation, care should be used in connection with the tables on pages 19 to 21. Any word in this table, used without a prefix, reads to the right for translation. Use of the prefix "Testable" would reverse this and cause the translator to read to the left instead. This applies with equal force to code words throughout the book, as any word in it can be used as a numeral, if desired, by use of the proper prefix.

10. Cablegrams. If an occasion should arise making it necessary to communicate by cable, the message should be wired to the Washington office with request that it be transmitted by cable.

TELEPHONE SERVICE.

Section 7 of the act approved August 23, 1912 (37 Stat., 414), provides that no funds of the Government "shall be expended for telephone service installed in any private residence or apartment or for tolls or other charges for telephone service from private residences or private apartments except for long distance telephone tolls required strictly for public business," etc. November 12, 1912, the Comptroller of the Treasury held that the intention of the act was to prevent the Government's being charged with the cost of private and personal messages of employees, and not for the purpose of requiring Government employees to bear the expense of telephone messages on public business.

The above holding is reiterated by the Comptroller of the Treasury in opinion of August 19, 1913, relating to the use of the telephone in the Reclamation Service.

Where office and private residence are in different buildings, payment will not be allowed for telephone in the private residence.

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TESTIMONIALS.

The attention of all employees is called to the fact that letters from them commending particular machinery or other manufactures have been used occasionally for advertising purposes and sometimes in an embarrassing way. It is therefore directed that the employees of the service decline to give any written expression of their views in regard to particular machinery or other manufactures in such a way that it can be used as an official indorsement.

127

TRANSPORTATION OF PERSONAL EFFECTS OF EMPLOYEES.

1. Authority for use of Government bill of lading.-An officer or classified employee of the service, when transferred for the good thereof, from one official station to another for permanent duty, may, within the discretion and under the written instructions of the commission issued in advance, be allowed freight and drayage charges, including transfer by stage where necessary, for the transfer of his household effects and other personal property used in official work, not exceeding 5,000 pounds, and for professional books shipped independently of such household effects and other personal property, not exceeding 300 pounds. Payment of freight charges on the property herein authorized to be transported at the expense of the service shall be made subject to proper freight contract and deductions as explained under "Transportation of commodities," Accounting Manual. These allowances are in excess of the weights transported free of charge as baggage under the regular fare by public carriers, and they may be reduced in any case in the discretion of the commission.

2. Deposit to be made covering excess weight. Freight of the description shown in paragraph 1 in excess of the allowances provided for therein may be shipped upon the same bill of lading with the authorized allowance upon deposit with the fiscal agent, prior to issue of bill of lading, of a sum equal to the commercial freight charges on the excess, to be ascertained from or through the agent of the carrier at the point of shipment, less any deduction on account of freight contracts with railroads performing the service. The excess will not be shipped on Government bill of lading unless such deposit is first made.

3. Method of packing and valuation. The maximum tare weight of any of the foregoing allowances shall not exceed one-fifth of the gross weight. With this end in view, burlap and excelsior should be used as a substitute for crating, and the use of lumber should be limited as much as possible. All shipments will be made at a limited valuation of $10 per 100 pounds unless the owner requests shipment at an unlimited valuation in which case he will be required to deposit with the special fiscal agent the difference between the rate at a valuation of $10 per 100 pounds and that at an unlimited valuation, to be ascertained from or through the agent of the carrier at the point of shipment.