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 It is reported that the officilasofficials [sic] in question are directly in charge of the operation of the Alaska Railroad; that the telephones in their private residences are deemed essential in order that the officials may be reached promptly in case of necessity; and that it is usual to provide such facilities for the proper and efficient operation of a railroad.

Section 7 of the act of August 23, 1912, 87 Stat. 414, provides as follows:

The language of the section quoted is plain and comprehensive and has been uniformly construed in a long line of decisions to prohibit the furnishing at public expense of personal telephone service to a Government officer or employee in his private home or quarters, See 19 Comp. Dec. 198, 202, 212, and 350; 21 id, 248; 22 id. 602.

The act of March 12, 1914, 38 Stat. 303, was an act authorizing the President to locate, construct, and operate railroads in the Territory of Alaska. It is provided in said act, page 307:

The paragraph last quoted has been construed in a number of decisions of the Comptroller of the Treasury and has been held to confer broad powers upon the President. See 22 Comp. Dec. 463; 23 id. 269; 70 MS. Comp. Dec. 154; 74 id. 189. The broad powers conferred by the act of March 12, 1914, are, however, subject to statutory limitations in the same manner as in other instances in which administrative or executive discretion is vested. The discretion is a legal discretion and not an unlimited discretion. You are advised, therefore, that the appropriation, "Maintenance and operation of the Alaska railroads" is not available to pay for the service in question.

Section 3 of the act of March 12, 1914, 38 Stat. 307, provides: