Relation of the Federal Government to Research 



needed for a study. Aside from restrictions on hiring 

 and discharging of personnel, which is not essentially 

 a financial matter, there are frequent budgetary limita- 

 tions on the amounts that can be spent for printing 

 and binding, books and journals, travel, per diem com- 

 pensation for consultants, and purchase of certain arti- 

 cles such as automobiles. Some of these objects of 

 expenditure require specific authorization or mention 

 the language of the appropriation act, or detailed 

 reports on intentions. 



Intra-Agency Transfer of Funds 



Freedom to transfer funds from one research project 

 to another within the same agency is limited by the 

 scope of appropriation paragraphs. In fact, a rough 

 measure of flexibility in this sense would be the pro- 

 portion of the agency's total appropriations for re- 

 search that is contained in an appropriation para- 

 graph, although there would be some qualifications if 

 there were unusual restrictions in language. While 

 in a few instances, especially among the older bureaus, 

 the Congress may have insisted upon separate appro- 

 priations for each minute investigation of an agency, 

 the usual congressional procedure at present, under 

 persuasion of the Bureau of the Budget, is to appro- 

 priate a lump sum for all the expenses of one rather 

 homogeneous broad function, in the exercise of which 

 several separate projects are proposed to be carried 

 out. Within the broad limits of the total appropria- 

 tion for the specified function, such as for example, 

 "mineral mining investigations" or "research and de- 

 velopment," there is nothing except expediency and 

 the probability of a pai'ticularly pointed inquiry at the 

 next budget hearing to prevent the agency from shift- 

 ing amounts from one previously announced project 

 to anotliier, subject, however, to the limitations or 

 prohibitions on expenditures for certain objects, such 

 as printing, books, etc. Furthermore, the tendency 

 has been for new appropriation paragraphs to become 

 more inclusive, and for older appropriations that were 

 confined to single small activities, to be combined into 

 general consolidated provisions covering wide groups 

 of functions. As a result of this budgetary policy 

 many agencies carrying on research have practically 

 unlimited freedom to transfer funds from one of their 

 research projects to another. Recently organized re- 

 search agencies especially, are free from the numerous 

 detailed appropriations for narrowly limited purposes, 

 because they have accumulated no debris from previous 

 years. 



Flexibility would be achieved for most purposes, 

 with even the most narrowly defined appropriations, if 

 it were possible to transfer small amounts from one 

 appropriation paragraph to another with the limita- 



79 



tion that the amount involved would not be more than 

 a certain percentage of the original amount carried in 

 either paragraph. This device is well established in 

 the financial practices of many governments and is 

 not unknown in the Federal budget.** However, the 

 principle is not favored by congressional appropria- 

 tion committees. For example, the bill including ap- 

 propriations for the Department of Justice for the 

 fiscal year 1939 contained, in addition to the usual 

 permission to transfer a small percentage of funds 

 between penal institutions, a similar provision to be 

 applicable to the amounts for eleven oflBces and divi- 

 sions in the Attorney General's office. The new pro- 

 vision was passed by the House but was stricken out 

 in the Senate. 



An interesting laboratory test of the use that Fed- 

 eral research agencies would make of a generous allow- 

 ance for internal transfers was provided during the 

 fiscal year 1933. Section 317 of the Economy Act of 

 1932 permitted not more than 12 percent of any appro- 

 priation for the fiscal year 1933 to be ti'ansferred to any 

 other appropriation under the same Department or in- 

 dependent establishment provided that no appropria- 

 tion was to be increased more than 15 percent by such 

 transfers. The results of this permission to effect in- 

 ternal transfers without separate Congressional ap- 

 proval for each case are shown in a statement appearing 

 in the Budget of the United States, 1935.^ It appears 

 that the research woi'k of only 7 agencies was benefitted 

 by additional amounts in 39 such transfers of research 

 appropriations, and that the gross amount of such trans- 

 fers was $420,000, of which over half was used by the 

 U. S. Geological Survey. As the fiscal year 1933 was a 

 period of drastic wholesale cuts in appropriations with 

 the probability that research functions were harder 

 hit than other activities, the number of transfers and 

 the total amounts involved in 1933 probably represent 

 an extreme that would not be reached in ordinary 

 years. Interestingly enough, in spite of the frequent 

 complaint about restriction of printing funds, only two 

 transfers were made to increase appropriations for 

 printing and binding, and only one of these was for 

 research publications. 



Inter-Agency Transfer of Funds '° 



Transfers of funds between agencies are different, 

 both in iDurpose and procedure, from transfer of funds 

 within the same organization. Inter-agency transfers 



' For exnmple, see provisions in Budget of the United States, 1SS9, 

 for the Nntlonal Paris Service, p. 450: Department of Justice, "penal 

 and correctional Institutions." p. 500 ; Office of Indian Affairs, "con- 

 servation of healtli." p. 392; and "irrigation and drainage." p. 372; 

 Social Security Board, grants to States, p. 79 ; and Department of 

 State, "foreign intercourse," p. 5G8. 



•pp. Al 32-135. 



>° See also introduction, p. 64. 



