McCarl Retrenches

Controller General McCarl, watch dog over the public treasury to prevent raids on it by any other department of the Government, once more collided with the Secretaries of War and Navy. He ruled that allowances to " indigent parents " of army and navy officers are illegal, and made his ruling retroactive; so some officers will have thousands of dollars deducted from their future pay. Secretaries Weeks and Denby are powerless and must wait till Congress reassembles to get relief for their subordinates. Mr. McCarl's ruling was based on the fact that in some cases the privilege had been abused to get extra pay for officers whose families are well-to-do.