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at Washington, and of the Office of the Secretary of the Interior, outstandingly able representatives of the field forces, representatives of the Bureau of the Budget and of the Comptroller General, and possibly representatives of responsible and constructive private organizations interested in the advancement of the Indians.

Emphasis must be placed on the desirability of representatives of the Bureau of the Budget and the General Accounting Office, because these two organizations have certain regulations and controlling powers over the Indian Service and the Department of the Interior. It is imperative that these powers be exercised with real knowledge and understanding of the conditions under which work in the Indian Service must be done. A ruling of an office familiar chiefly with conditions in other services may work a real hardship on conscientious field employees in the Indian Service, and may lead to evasion by others not so conscientious. These evasions may be more costly than the practice against which the rule is directed.

A specific instance is the ruling that an employee who leaves his post after 8 A. M. and returns before 6 P. M. is not in traveling status and therefore is not entitled to reimbursement for his expenses. Under this rule a superintendent or other employee, who ordinarily eats his noon meal at home with his family, cannot be reimbursed for his expenditures for a meal when his work takes him to a remote part of his reservation unless his absence exceeds the limits thus set up. Although he ordinarily eats with his family and does not pay commercial rates for his meals, he is obliged by his official duties to make this special expenditure from his own pocket, unless his absence exceeds the prescribed limits. Salaries in the Indian Service are so low that the aggregate of those petty expenditures constitutes a considerable item for an employee who may from time to time be required several times a week to spend the best part of the day away from headquarters. The means of evasion are obvious. Be absent more than the minimum limit, even if that involves two meals instead of one and possibly a night’s lodging. The government which balks at the smaller item will pay the larger one without serious question. The rule puts a premium on a leisurely program, a penalty on a crowded or full day.

Purchasing. In the field of purchasing it is particularly necessary that the controlling bodies have a clear understanding of the special