During the past year Judge E. H. Gary and Archibald Kains, Esq., have resigned from the United States section, and Peter W. Goebel, of Kansas City, Kans., formerly president of the American Bankers' Association, and Prof. John H. Wigmore, dean of the Northwestern University Law School and member of many associations for the advancement of juristic science, have been appointed by the President. The United States section is fortunate in its closer association through these gentlemen with important financial and legal organizations of national extent.

INTERNAL REVENUE.

The immensity of the task imposed upon the Internal Revenue Service by the war-revenue act of October 3, 1917, is best illustrated by a comparison of the total collections for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1917, which amounted to $809,366,207, with the sum of $3,400,000,000, the estimated revenue to be collected during the fiscal year 1918. For the year 1917, 780,000 income-tax returns were made to the bureau. In 1918, it is estimated that there will be more than 6,000,000 income-tax returns and almost as many more of other kinds of returns under the various provisions of the war-revenue act. The problems of administering the new act are most difficult and are receiving earnest consideration. It is essential that each taxpayer shall be able to obtain accurate information as to how to compute the amount of tax due by him and the time, place, and method provided for its payment. This is indispensable because the law puts upon the taxpayer the burden of making the returns upon which his tax is measured. It is the duty of the department to collect from every citizen the full amount which Congress has determined to be his just contribution to the Nation's need with the least possible inconvenience to the citizen and to business.

To attain these ends is a task of organization and administration. A new alignment of the forces of the Internal Revenue Service has been projected, additional divisions have been created, responsibility and authority rearranged and defined, and preparation made for the necessarily large increase of personnel.

The new law presents many problems of construction and interpretation that are fraught with grave consequences to the public revenue and to business. With an earnest desire to solve these problems in the light of the most constructive business and legal knowledge and experience available, the Secretary has accepted the tender of services from representative men in the field of business and law. These men will assist the Commissioner of Internal Revenue to a thorough and intimate understanding of business conditions as affected by the new law.

Steps have been taken to bring the tax-gathering machinery of the Government into closer relationship with the taxpaying public. An office known as the Division of Taxpayers' Cooperation has been created for the purpose of keeping the bureau constantly in touch with the public. Under the direction of this office a nation-wide organization of cooperation is being developed. By this means it is purposed to convey essential information in the most direct manner to each taxpayer.

Through the cooperative effort of these agencies and such further expansion of the machinery already at hand as may be necessary a uniform and universal enforcement of the law is assured.

CUSTOMS.

Despite the fact that approximately $12,500,000 were collected as duties and tonnage taxes during the past fiscal year in excess of the amount collected in the preceding fiscal year, the work incidental to collecting the customs revenue was performed with a decrease in expenses of about $40,000. And this decrease in operating costs has been made also notwithstanding the manifold extra duties imposed upon the Customs Service by the war. For instance, guards had to be placed on board the German and Austrian ships when they were taken into custody in April, 1917, in order to protect them from further injury and deterioration; customs officers are charged with preventing the shipment of unlicensed cargoes;. passports of returning American citizens are taken up or canceled by customs officers, and these officers examine all passports of persons going abroad; examiners, by reason of their technical knowledge, render great service to the War Department in examining articles purchased for that department to determine whether they meet with the contract specifications.

This decrease in expenses does not wholly show the saving made to the Government, for, following the practice of the past few years, the installation of improved methods and systems has been continued. The original cost of these improvements was, of course, paid for from the appropriation for the past fiscal year and necessarily would not permit the true saving to be shown. However, later years will show

the benefits of lower operating costs. The past year has found a great demand for space in Federal buildings, due to the many additional officers who must be accommodated. This, together with the desire to reorganize and redistribute the working forces of the Customs Service to enable the public to transact business, so far as possible, on the main floor of a building, and also to enable each office to handle its work with the least effort and delay, has caused a reorganization of the forces,

principally at Boston and New York. By this readjustment of space and employees six floors of the customhouse at Boston have been turned over to other Government agencies, and now 90 per cent of the public may transact its customs business on the main floor. This saving to the Government and the public is obvious, but, of course, can not be well stated in dollars and cents.

A like readjustment is being made at the customhouse at New York, and already considerable floor space has been placed at the disposal of other branches of the service, but a complete reorganization is delayed pending an appropriation of $35,000 which the Congress has been requested to make to complete the various changes. Upon the completion of these changes the force will be so placed as to permit the transaction of business with fewer employees, more accuracy, and greater convenience to the public.

It is the intention of the department to apply the same businesslike organization to all other ports which are not organized along these lines.

While it has been the endeavor to reduce operating expenses by simpler and more businesslike methods, with the result that the number of employees has been decreased from 6,881 in 1916 to 6,727 in 1917, the policy has been followed of increasing the salaries of efficient employees. Under this head are two classes in particular, first, those employees possessing unusual knowledge or training, and, second, those employees who receive salaries relatively smaller than those paid for similar duties outside of the Government service.

By reason of the savings which have been made it has been possible to make a number of deserved promotions in both classes. These promotions, while deserved, have served the greater purpose of causing renewed effort to win recognition not only by those promoted but by the force in general. In other words, a healthy rivalry for better service has been created.

Since 1913, when the cost of conducting the service, exclusive of enforcing navigation laws and compiling statistics for the Department of Commerce and Labor, was $10,285,613.95, a reduction in annual expenses of $1,245,600.78 has been made. As this saving was due in great measure to cooperation on the part of officers and employees of the service, it is suggested that the annual appropriation be not further reduced, but that any subsequent saving be diverted in part to paying higher salaries. This is necessary in order to retain the services of technically trained men who are frequently offered higher salaries outside the service.

This opportunity is taken to invite attention to the fact that the Customs Service is operating under many laws which were passed in the eighteenth century. It was suggested in the reports of last year and the previous year that certain of these laws be repealed as

obsolete and that others be amended. It is now suggested that a complete revision be made of the customs administrative laws. This is essential to further the purpose of making the service a real businesslike organization. As an illustration of the inadequacy of these old laws, which may have served a useful purpose when they were passed, but which now tend to block efficient administration, may be mentioned those laws which require three and sometimes four independent officers at some ports. Obviously, no matter how harmoniously these officers may work together, maximum efficiency can not be obtained until one officer is made supreme and the others subordinate.

During the past year the efficiency board of the service has visited a number of districts, with the view of securing the best practices at each and installing them at the others. This practice, of course, tends to not only improve the service, but also makes the practice at all ports uniform. Too much credit can not be given the members of this board for the increased efficiency which has been attained.

The C. V. R. (classification and valuation reports) bureau, which was established several years ago for the purpose of standardizing the manner of classifying and placing the same market value on similar importations, has been brought to a high plane of efficiency. As a result of the labors of this bureau uniformity in the classification and valuation of merchandise at all ports has been attained.

PUBLIC HEALTH.

As soon as the entry of the United States into the war became imminent the Surgeon General of the Public Health Service submitted a plan for the sanitation of the zones in immediate contiguity to those occupied by the military forces. This is rendered necessary not only for the prevention of the interstate spread of disease but also for the protection of the health of the military forces against the disease of the civilian community. In addition it was realized that by the concentration of large bodies of armed men an additional burden would be thrown upon the civilian sanitary institutions. Since this burden was created by an act of the General Government, it was but logical that the General Government should assist the State and local health organizations in meeting the unusual situation.

When the War Department made available the list of places which would be occupied by military forces for the training of troops sanitary survey parties were ordered by the Surgeon General of the Public Health Service to make inspections of surrounding zones for the purposee of determining the existing sanitary situations, the sanitary problems which would arise upon the arrival of the troops, and

the State and local health machinery and funds which would be available for the purpose of controlling the spread of disease. Upon the request of the State and local health authorities, the Public Health Service assumed administrative control of the sanitation of the extra cantonment areas. Usually this was a zone about 10 miles in diameter, including not only rural districts, but municipalities and smaller centers of population as well. The State, county, and municipality delegated to the Public Health Service their police power for the better accomplishment of the work in hand. In those instances in which the local health authorities were willing and able to perform these functions a copy of the report of the survey was filed with them for their assistance. The Public Health Service has assumed administrative control in the areas surrounding the following places: Newport News, Va.; Camp Lee, Va.; Camp Jackson, S. C.; Camp Gordon, Ga.; Camp Pike, Ark.; Camp Sherman, Ohio; Camp Zachary Taylor, Ky.; Camp Dodge, Iowa; Camp Funston, Kans.; Camp Lewis, Wash.; Camp Greene, N. C.; Camp Wadsworth, S. C.; Camp McClellan, Ala.; Camp Sevier, S. C.; Camp Wheeler, Ga.; Camp Sheridan, Ala.; Camp Shelby, Miss.; Camp MacArthur, Tex.; Camp Bowie, Tex.; Camp Beauregard, La.; Camp Logan, Tex. In addition sanitary operations are being carried on at Fort Leavenworth, Kans., and Fort Oglethorpe, Ga.

The aim at each of these places is to establish an adequate system of health control. This includes special measures for the collection of morbidity and mortality data; intense rural sanitation operations; the installation of sanitary devices for excrement and garbage disposal; the maintenance of the purity of water, milk, and food supplies; the medical inspection of schools; the conduct of special operations for the prevention of the spread of venereal disease; recognition, isolation, disinfection, and other necessary measures to prevent the spread of communicable disease; in fact, the employment of every means for the maintenance of the health of the civilian population. In this way the unusual sanitary situation caused by the sudden influx of a large population has been met. Malaria, typhoid fever, smallpox, and many other diseases which threaten the civilian and the military population alike have been prevented. The spread of disease to extra State points has been controlled, the efficiency of communities upon which military forces must rely for food has been increased, and local health organizations built up which will continue to functionate long after the Federal forces have been withdrawn. This is without doubt the largest health demonstration which our country has ever witnessed. That good results will follow in its train can not be doubted.