94 THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



By act of July 7, 1884,= Congress imposed upon the Sec- 

 retary of the Treasury the duty of classifying, compiling, 

 indexing, and printing what is known as the " Book of Esti- 

 mates." The centering of this function in one place resulted 

 •in greater uniformity than had been possible previously, but 

 . each year there were numerous changes in substance as well 

 as in the sequence of items. In order to secure greater con- 

 tinuity in the form of the estimates. Congress, by act of 

 Tune 22, 1906,'' required that thereafter the estimates for 

 the expenses of the Government, except those for sundry 

 civil expenses, should be prepared and submitted each year 

 according to the order and arrangement of the appropria- 

 tions acts for the year preceding. Any changes in such order 

 and arrangement, and any transfer of salaries from one 

 office or bureau, and any consolidation of offices or bureaus, 

 desired by the head of any executive department were re- 

 quired to be submitted by note in the estimates. 



Section three thousand six iiundred and sixty-nine of the 

 Revised Statutes says : " All annual estimates for the public 

 service shall be submitted to Congress through the Secretary 

 of the Treasury." This section was subsequently modified 

 so as to require that "hereafter all estimates of appropria- 

 tions and estimates of deficiencies in appropriations intended 

 for the consideration and seeking the action of any of the 

 Committees of Congress shall be transmitted to Congress 

 through the Secretary of the Treasury, and in no other 

 mauucr."* 



By act of March 3, 1901,'' officers authorized to make esti- 

 mates are required to furnish them to the Secretary of the 

 Treasury on or before the fifteenth day of October of each 

 year. If they fail to do this as required, it is the duty of the 

 Secretary of the Treasury to cause to be prepared, on or 

 before the first day of November, estimates for such appro- 

 priations as in his judgment shall be requisite. 



23 Stat. L. 254. 



•''34 Stat. L. 448. 

 * 2^ Stat. L. 254. 

 " 31 Stat. L. 960. 



