chanical equipment, and the care, maintenance, and operation of the Capitol power plant, which supplies heat and air-conditioning refrigeration for the Capitol and the Senate and House Office Buildings; heat for the Library of Congress buildings, United States Botanic Garden, United States Supreme Court Building, and the legislative garage; and steam heat for the Government Printing Office and Washington City Post Office;

Subject to the approval of the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration as to matters of general policy, the structural, mechanical, and domestic care and maintenance of the Senate Office Building, including the maintenance and operation of the mechanical equipment;

Subject to the joint action of the Vice President of the United States

and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the jurisdiction and control, including the care and maintenance, of the legislative garage.

In addition to these maintenance and repair activities, the Architect of the Capitol is charged with the planning and construction of such buildings as may be committed to his care by Congress from time to time.

Under the direction and supervision of the Joint Committee on the Library, serves as Acting Director of the United States Botanic Garden.

Over and above these functions, the Architect of the Capitol serves as a member of the Capitol Police Board and of the District of Columbia Zoning Commission. Approved.

J. GEORGE STEWART,
Architect of the Capitol.

Acting Director___

CREATION AND AUTHORITY.-The United States Botanic Garden was founded in 1820 under the auspices of the Columbia Institute for the Promotion of Arts and Sciences, an organization which was the outgrowth of an association known as the Metropolitan Society and which received its charter from Congress on April 20, 1818. The Garden continued under the direction of this Institute until 1837, when the Institute ceased to exist as an active organization.

It remained abandoned until 1842 when it became necessary for the Government to provide accommodations for the botanical collections brought to Washington, D. C., from the South Seas by the United States Exploring Expedition of 1838-42, under the leadership of Capt. Charles Wilkes. The collections were placed temporarily on exhibition at the Patent Office upon return of the expedition in June 1842. The first greenhouse for this purpose was constructed in 1842

under the direction and control of the Joint Committee of Congress on the Library, from funds appropriated by Congress. The collections of the exploring expedition were put under the custodianship of the Commissioner of Patents by the Library Committee and remained thereunder until 1850, although the actual care of the botanical collection was under the supervision of Capt. Wilkes.

In 1849 Congress authorized the construction of an extension to the Patent Office Building and, in order to allow for construction, it was necessary to relocate the Botanic Garden greenhouses annexed thereto.

The act of May 15, 1850 (9 Stat. 427), provided "for the removal of the public greenhouse, and the botanical collection thereat, to some suitable site on the public grounds, and for the erection of such other greenhouses as may be deemed necessary by the Joint Committee on the Library, five thousand dollars, to be expended by the direction of the said Joint Committee, and under the supervision of the Commissioner of Public Buildings."

The site selected by the Joint Committee on the Library for the relocation of the Botanic Garden was at the west end of the Capitol Grounds and was practically the same site as that occupied by the Botanic Garden during the period it functioned under the Columbia Institute.

This site was later enlarged, and the main area continued to serve as the principal Botanic Garden site from 1850 until 1933, when the gardens were relocated to their present site.

Action toward the relocation of the gardens to their present site was initiated by Congress on January 7, 1925, and the project, which was thereafter authorized by Congress, was brought to completion on January 13, 1933.

Although the Botanic Garden began functioning as a Government-owned institution in 1842, the records indicate

that it was not until 1856 that the maintenance of the Garden was specifically placed under the direction of the Joint Committee on the Library, and a regular, annual appropriation was provided by Congress (11 Stat. 104).

The legislation governing the employment of personnel at the Garden, act of March 3, 1873 (17 Stat. 491; 40 U. S. C. 216), reads as follows: "There shall be a superintendent [Director] and assistants in the Botanical Garden and greenhouses who shall be under the direction of the Joint Committee on the Library."

At the present time the Joint Committee exercises its supervision through the Architect of the Capitol, who has been serving as Acting Director since 1934.

PURPOSE.-Originally, the purpose of the Botanic Garden was to collect, cultivate, and distribute the various vegetable production of this and other countries, whether medicinal, esculent, or for the promotion of arts and manufacture.

The present purpose of the United States Botanic Garden is to collect, cultivate, and grow the various vegetable production of this and other countries for exhibition and display to the public and for study material for students, scientists, and garden clubs.

ACTIVITIES.-The Botanic Garden contains a large variety of palms, cycads, ferns, cacti, orchids, and other miscellaneous tropical and subtropical plants, many of which are rare species. There are special displays during most of the months of the year, and in their proper seasons banana, papaya, orange, lemon, tangerine, kumquat, averrhoa, coffee, and surinam cherry are to be seen in luxuriant fruiting. The entire collection of the Garden includes over 10,000 species and varieties of plant growth. The collection attracts many visitors annually, including botanists, horticulturists, students, and garden club members.

General Accounting Office, which was created by the Budget and Accounting Act of June 10, 1921 (42 Stat. 23; 31 U. S. C. 41), is vested with all powers and duties of the six auditors and the Comptroller of the Treasury, as stated in the act of July 31, 1894 (28 Stat. 205), and other statutes extending back to the original Treasury Act of September 2, 1789 (1 Stat. 65; 5 U. S. C. 241). The scope of activities of the accounting officers of the United States was extended in the Budget and Accounting Act of June 10, 1921, and has been further extended by subsequent legislation, including the Government Corporation Control Act (59 Stat. 597; 31 U. S. C. 841), section 206 of the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 (60 Stat. 837; 31 U. S. C.

JOSEPH CAMpbell.
FRANK H. Weitzel.
ROBERT F. Keller.
ROBERT F. BRANDT.
JOHN F. FEENEY.
T. A. FLYNN.
WALTER F. Frese.
ROBERT L. LONG.
A. B. THOMAS.

E. L. FISHER.

WILLIAM L. ELLIS.

HARRELL O. HOAGLAND. C. M. BAILey.

60), sections 205 and 206 of the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 (63 Stat. 389, 390; 40 U. S. C. 486, 487), the Post Office Department Financial Control Act of 1950 (64 Stat. 460; 39 U. S. C. 794), and Part II of the Budget and Accounting Procedures Act of 1950 (64 Stat. 834; 31 U. S. C. 65).

PURPOSE. The purpose of the General Accounting Office, an agency in the legislative branch of the Federal Government, is to perform an independent audit of Government financial transactions to provide a basis for the settlement of accounts and to determine how well the agencies are managing their financial affairs; in so doing, exercise the power of disallowance based on the finality of the Comptroller General's settlement of accounts

and claims, and report to the Congress in special and annual reports its findings as to financial conditions in the Government.

In order to accomplish its purpose, the General Accounting Office has responsibility: for performing an independent Government-wide audit of receipts, expenditures, and use of public funds; for prescribing principles, standards, and related requirements for accounting to be observed by the executive agencies, and cooperating with the agencies in carrying out their primary responsibilities for the development of their own accounting systems; for settling claims by or against the United States; for rendering legal decisions pertaining to governmental fiscal matters; for performing investigations relating to the receipt, disbursement, and application of public funds; for reporting to the Congress the results of its activities including recommendations to further the effectiveness of governmental financial operations; and for other related functions.

ORGANIZATION.-The General Accounting Office is under the control and direction of the Comptroller General of the United States, who is appointed by the President, with the consent of the Senate, for a term of 15 years. It includes the Office of the Comptroller General, the Division of Personnel, the Office of Administrative Services, the Office of the General Counsel, the Office of Investigations, the Accounting Systems Division, the Division of Audits, the Claims Division, the Transportation Division, and the European Branch. A large part of the activities of the Office are carried on at various locations throughout the United States, its Territories, and elsewhere in the world, either at established field offices or otherwise, depending on the demands of the work. However, field offices or field parties perform no function independent of the headquarters of the Office

at Washington, D. C., to which they are subordinate. Final authority in the General Accounting Office is vested in the Comptroller General. In the absence or incapacity of the Comptroller General, the Assistant Comptroller General, the General Counsel, the Assistant to the Comptroller General, and an Associate General Counsel have been designated in the order named to act in his stead.

RULES, REGULATIONS, AND DECI

SIONS. The Comptroller General makes such rules and regulations as deemed necessary for carrying on the work of the General Accounting Office, including those for the admission of attorneys to practice before it. Under the seal of the Office, he furnishes copies of records from books and proceedings thereof, for use as evidence in accordance with the act of June 25, 1948 (62 Stat. 946; 28 U. S. C. 1733).

All decisions of the Comptroller General of general import are published in monthly pamphlets and may be obtained for a nominal fee from the Superintendent of Documents, United States Government Printing Office. These decisions also are published in an annual volume entitled "Decisions of the Comptroller General of the United States." The appendix to this volume contains general regulations of the General Accounting Office, including those applicable to the public, and rules and regulations prescribed by the Comptroller General pursuant to the Government Corporation Control Act, as amended.

WARRANTS.-Approval of appropriation warrants is the initial control of appropriated funds exercised by the General Accounting Office. These warrants, when authorized by law and signed by the Secretary of the Treasury, become valid when countersigned by or in the name of the Comptroller General.

AUDITS.—The financial transactions of the executive, legislative, and judi

cial agencies, including but not limited to the accounts of accountable officers, are audited by the General Accounting Office in accordance with such principles and procedures and under such rules and regulations as may be prescribed by the Comptroller General of the United States. Due regard is given to generally accepted principles of auditing, including consideration of the effectiveness of the internal control, accounting organizations and systems, and related administrative practices of the respective agencies.

INVESTIGATIONS AND REPORTS RELATING TO PUBLIC FUNDS.-It is the duty of the Comptroller General to investigate, at the seat of government or elsewhere, all matters relating to the receipt, disbursement, and application of public funds; also, to make recommendations to the President, when requested by him, and to Congress, concerning legislation necessary to facilitate the prompt and accurate rendition and settlement of accounts, as well as concerning such other matters as he may deem advisable in regard to the receipt, disbursement, and application of public funds and economy or efficiency in public expenditures. It is the duty of the Comptroller General also to furnish to the Bureau of the Budget such information relating to expenditures and accounting as it may request from time to time.

The Comptroller General is required to make investigations and reports when ordered by either House of Congress or by any committee of either House having jurisdiction over revenue, appropriations, or expenditures, furnishing assistants from his office to aid such committees when requested to do so, and to report to Congress every expenditure or contract made by any department or establishment in any year in violation of law. He also reports to Congress upon the adequacy and effectiveness of departmental inspection of the offices and accounts of fiscal officers, and is au

thorized by law to have access to and to examine any books, documents, papers, or records-except those pertaining to certain funds for purposes of intercourse or treaty with foreign nations of all departments and establishments for the purpose of securing information regarding the powers, duties, activities, organization, financial transactions, and methods of business of their respective offices.

REPORTS RELATING TO ANALYSES OF

EXPENDITURES.-The Comptroller General is required by law to make an expenditure analysis of each agency of the executive branch of the Government, including Government corporations which, in the opinion of the Comptroller General, will enable Congress to determine whether public funds have been economically and efficiently administered and expended, and to submit related reports to the Committees on Expenditures in the Executive Departments, to the Appropriations Committees, and to the legisÎative committees having jurisdiction. over legislation relating to the operations of the respective agencies, of the two Houses.

ACCOUNTING SYSTEMS.-Under the Budget and Accounting Act, the Budget and Accounting Procedures Act of 1950, and related acts, authority and responsibility for prescribing principles, standards, and related requirements for accounting to be observed by the executive agencies is in the Comptroller General of the United States. However, this responsibility must be exercised so as to permit the executive agencies to carry out their duty for establishing and maintaining systems of accounting and internal control.

ADVANCE DECISIONS.-Upon the application of disbursing officers, the head of any executive department or any independent establishment not under the executive departments, or certifying officers, the Comptroller General is required to render his advance decision upon any question in