V. Assistant Attorney General Robert H. Lovett: 1. All claims against the Government, except those relating to— (a) Shipping acts. (b) Railroad control act. (c) Telephone and telegraph act. (d) Food and fuel control act. (e) War-risk insurance. (f) Federal employees' compensation act. War Finance Corporation act. (h) Taxation. (i) Alien property. 2. Patents and copyrights. 3. Requests for opinions on all matters relating to the foregoing 1. Public lands. 2. Forest reserves. 3. Indian lands and affairs, except crimes. 4. Condemnation proceedings. 5. Reclamation and irrigation projects. 6. All claims in favor of the Government, except those growing out of war-time contracts. 7. Conservation of natural resources. 8. Matters of finance, including (a) National bank act, except criminal. (b) Federal reserve act. (c) Federal farm loan act. (d) War Finance Corporation act. (e) Capital Issues Committee. (f) Negotiable instruments. 9. Insular and territorial affairs, except those specifically assigned. 10. Requests for opinions on all matters relating to the foregoing subjects. VII. Assistant Attorney General Mabel Walker Willebrandt: 1. Insurance (a) War risk insurance (civil) exclusive of claims in favor of the Government. (b) Federal employees' compensation act, except claims in favor of the Government. (c) Pension matters, other than claims. 2. All matters arising under the national prohibition act. 3. Introducing liquor into Indian country and sale of liquor to Indians. 4. All matters pertaining to importation, exportation, transportation, manufacture, and traffic in liquor and other liquor statutes, such as (a) Proceedings against breweries for illegal manufacture of beer. (b) Disposition of liquors, cars, stills, and other seized property. 5. Customs and Admiralty statutes as applied to liquor. 6. Taxation, other than customs, such as 7. Superintendent of prisons-General supervision of Federal penítentiaries and the inspection of prisons and prisoners; appropriation "Support of prisoners"; also contracts relating to this position; is chairman of parole board and custodian of records of parole matters. 8. Requests for opinions on all matters relating to the foregoing subjects. (a) Frauds in the United States, except public-land and Indian-land frauds. (b) National banking act. (c) Postal laws. (d) Naturalization act. (e) Immigration act. Criminal prosecutions under internal revenue laws. Crimes on Indian reservations, except dealing with (i) Stealing from interstate shipments. (j) Fraudulent bills of lading act. (k) All other Federal crimes not related to subjects specifically assigned. 2. Criminal practice and procedure in general. (a) Indictments. (b) Grand juries. (c) Search warrants. (d) Bail. 3. Pardons and parole. 4. Extradition. 5. Crimes and offenses related to the war, other than those arising out of war-time contracts. act. (6) Belective servi, Tales I, III, IV, IX, X, XII, and sec. 7 of Title V. (c) Section 19, trading with the enemy act. (d) Sabotage act. (e) Treason and sedition. 6. Alien enemies. 7. Passports. 8. Explosive act of October 6, 1917. 9. Requests for opinions on all matters relating to the foregoing matters. IX. Assistant Attorney General Albert Ottinger: 1. Admiralty. 2. Foreign relations. 3. Shipping acts. 4. Trading with the enemy act. 5. State Department matters, except passports and crimes. 6. Customs matters, except importation of liquors. 7. Bankruptcy matters, except crimes. 8. Civil service matters, including Federal employees' compensa tion and retirement acts, except criminal. 9. Minor regulations of commerce (a) Hours of service act. (b) Twenty-eight hour act. (c) Safety appliance act. (e) Pure food act. Meat inspection act. Game and bird act. (h) Insecticide and fungicide act. Virus act. 10. Requests for opinions on all matters relating to the foregoing subjects. X. Assistant Attorney General William W. Hoppin (office New York City): 1. Reappraisement and classification of imported goods and all litigation incident thereto. Effective June 25, 1923. H. M. DAUGHERTY, Attorney General. RENT OF DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE BUILDING. Mr. HOLLAND. Mr. Chairman, for fear I may be detained before the other committee, I perhaps had better testify now concerning the item for rent of buildings of the Department of Justice. Mr. SHREVE. We will be glad to have that information from you now. Mr. HOLLAND. I herewith submit a statement to you showing the situation which obtains regarding the building occupied by the Department of Justice. The legislative, executive, and judicial act of May 10, 1916, authorized the Attorney General to contract for the lease of a modern, fireproof building, as follows: The Attorney General is authorized to enter into a contract for the lease of a modern, fireproof office building for the use of the Department of Justice, for a period not to exceed five years, renewable, at the option of the Government for an additional period not to exceed five years, at an annual rental not exceeding $36,000 and at the rate per annum per square foot of available space not to exceed 36% cents. Under authority of the above-mentioned act, the then Attorney General, Thomas W. Gregory, on May 26, 1916, entered into a contract and lease with Harry Wardman and Thomas P. Bones for the erection of a building by the lessors, on the northeast corner of Vermont Avenue and K Street, at an annual rental of $36,000, to be occupied by the department in the month of January, 1917. The first lease began on January 10, 1917, and ended on June 30, 1917. Mr. TINKHAM. How could that be? That is only for six months. Mr. HOLLAND. That is only for six months, and, if you will notice, the statute reads as follows: The Attorney General is authorized to enter into a contract for the lease of a modern, fireproof office building for the use of the Department of Justice, for a period not to exceed five years, renewable. And so forth. In the first instance they did not enter into the lease for five years, but they entered into a lease for about six months. with a renewal of five years. Why that was done, I do not know, and I have never been able to discover. Mr. GRIFFIN. Perhaps there was a difference in rent. Mr. HOLLAND. There was no difference in rent. I understood from Mr. Harris, who was in the department at that time, that Mr. Wardman refused to enter into a first lease for five years which would carry with it a renewal clause for another period of five years. In other words, he was unwilling to rent the building for a period of 10 years. Mr. TINKHAM. He did lease it for six months and subsequently leased it again for a period of time? Mr. HOLLAND. The first lease was for six months, and that carried with it the right to renew for a period of five years. Mr. GRIFFIN. Was there a general provision in the lease providing for renewal at the end of the five-year period? Mr. HOLLAND. No; not at the end of the five-year period. Mr. GRIFFIN. There is no right in the Government to renew the lease at the end of five years? 92263-24- -2 Mr. HOLLAND. No; that right was given in the first lease, which, if Mr. Wardman had agreed, might have run for five years, but which, as a matter of fact, only ran for six months, at the expiration of which the option of the Government to renew for five years was exercised. As I said, the first lease began on January 10, 1917, and ended on June 30, 1917, and provided that the lessee would furnish its own light, heat, water, and janitor service, and would make all ordinary repairs not due to defective material or workmanship. The lease further provided that the lessee should have an option of renewal for an additional period of five years, or such lesser term as the Attorney General should elect, for the same annual rental. Mr. GRIFFIN. That is the question I asked you. It does contain an option for renewal? Mr. HOLLAND. That is the first lease; that is the six months' lease. Mr. GRIFFIN. Were there two specific leases made for the building, one for six months, with a renewal for five years Mr. HOLLAND (interposing). The first lease was for six months. Mr. GRIFFIN. And they renewed it for five years? Mr. HOLLAND. They renewed it for five years, I think. Mr. GRIFFIN. And the six-months' lease contained an option for renewal for five years? Mr. HOLLAND. Yes. Mr. GRIFFIN. That is what you are speaking of now? Mr. HOLLAND. Yes. The files disclose that there was considerable discussion with respect to the option for renewal on the expiration of the second lease, but that Mr. Wardman refused to contract for the second renewal except upon the basis of an annual rental of $50,000. Mr. GRIFFIN. When did that lease expire? Mr. HOLLAND. In June. Mr. GRIFFIN. And the first lease was for six months, and that would expire in December, would it not? Mr. HOLLAND. No; the first lease began on January 10, 1917, and that ended on June 30, 1917. It was a six-months' lease. Then the five-year lease was executed on June 30, 1917, and expired on June 30, 1922. The last lease expired on June 30, 1922, and there was considerable discussion at that time as to whether the department would vacate, and if not, the amount of rental it would pay. A figure of $90,000 per annum was mentioned, but we finally included in the estimate an amount of $75,000, and the department has since been paying at that rate as a month-to-month tenant, inasmuch as the owners, the Columbia Building Corporation, refused to enter into any lease and asked instead that the department vacate at its earliest opportunity. The same amount, $75,000, was appropriated for the current year and a like amount is included in the estimate for 1925. Mr. TINKHAM. Do I understand that the owners of the building are insisting that you either pay more rent or vacate? Mr. HOLLAND. They are not doing that from day to day. Mr. TINKHAM. Or from month to month, or from six months to six months? Mr. HOLLAND. Not from month to month. Shortly after the expiration of this lease and for some period of time the owners made |