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SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION  629
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MADE BY BAKER-VAWTER CO. 
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ESTIMATES FOR NATIONAL ZOOLOGICAL PARK.

The Secretary stated that:

Estimates are at present submitted by the Smithsonian Institution to the District Commissioners (a copy is forwarded direct to the Bureau of Budget) for inclusion in the District of Columbia estimates. The Commissioners forward these to the Bureau of the Budget with all other estimates intended for the District of Columbia Appropriation bill. The Director of the Budget returns the complete estimates to the District Commissioners with a statement as to the maximum figure that will be allowed the District for the whole bill. It is the duty of the Commissioners to reduce the estimates to this figure and return to the Bureau of the Budget. 

The District Commissioners have their own troubles and urgent requirements, and, since the allotment made is far under their own estimates, it is only natural that they should give first consideration to items for which they are directly responsible ^[[-]] streets, sewers, fire and police protection, schools, etc.  In the three years since the Zoological Park has been included in the District bill, no hearings of any kind have been given the Institution on the Zoo estimates by the District Commissioners.  For two years the estimates were simply reduced to the figures for the previous year and returned to the Budget without the Institution even knowing the amount thus approved by the Commissioners. The Commissioners even changed all figures in the detailed statement accompanying the estimates to agree exactly with those of the preceding year, thus presenting to the Budget and later to Congress useless and misleading figures in explanation of the proposed expenditures.

Last year, owing to the fact that the Commissioners were obliged to call on the Institution for details regarding reclassification allotments before returning our estimates to the Budget, we were able, at the last minute, to learn the amount approved for the Zoo by the Commissioners, prepare an accurate revised statement to accompany the reduced estimates, and induce the District Auditor to submit two of the items, cut from our estimates by the District Commissioners, to the Budget in a supplemental estimate. There is no reason to suppose that we will have this information or opportunity in the future, any more than we did in previous years.

I do not think that the District Commissioners should be given the arbitrary power to control the finances of the National Zoological Park, which is placed by law under the direction of the Smithsonian Institution. 

It should be practicable to include the estimate for the Zoological Park in the Independent Offices bill along with the other estimates for Government bureaus administered under the direction of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution. The latter are held responsible for the care and administration of the Park and there should not be any divided responsibility in relation to the entire charge of all matters bearing upon its administration.

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