Department of Justice and Public Instruction……….. 318,208.00 Including office of secretary; University of Santo Domingo $23,700; Santiago professional institute $8,820; 2 jail schools; subventions to many municipal schools, private and special schools, about $180,000; 33 scholarships, $23,870; pensions $23,988.
Department of Agriculture and Immigration………….. 18,740.00
Including office of secretary; experiment fields in
Santiago $3,000; weather bureau $3,980.
Department of Development and Public Works…………. 332,596.00 Including office of secretary; lighthouses $13,282; postal service; telegraph, telephone and wireless service; upkeep of dredge "Ozama."
Chamber of Accounts……………………………… 7,980.00
Miscellaneous…………………………………… 61,872.00
Contingent expenses……………………………… 25,000.00
Constitutional assembly………………………….. 10,000.00
Total estimated disbursements, besides debt service … $2,651,119.30
The figures in the budgets were not, absolute but were subject to modification by transfer of appropriation through presidential decree. The contingent expense fund and the military appropriations were thus frequently swelled at the expense of other services.
The budget above shown was the last one enacted under the old conditions. It was never applied, but is given as a sample, because, while differing only slightly from the old budget which continued in force, it better illustrates conditions at the beginning of American occupation. The military government made numerous changes in the budget and rendered the appropriations for salaries of the president and cabinet secretaries available for other purposes, as the American naval and marine officers now performing the duties of these positions receive no compensation from the Dominican treasury. A comprehensive new budget, the first one of the period of transition and providing for some of the innovations recently introduced, was expected to become effective early in 1918.