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Show 580 Based on a review of several of the foregoing and other simi- lar provisions, the Court of Claims in 1880 observed that:463 A reading of these provisions will show conclusively, we think, that Congress have restricted in every possible way the expenditures and expenses and liabilities of the government, so far as executive officers are concerned, to the specific appropriations for each fiscal year. But the fiscal year bears only an artificial relation to the con- struction process. Construction of dams may extend over a period of several years, and short-term contracts for less than a year may cover parts of two fiscal years, since the latter end on June 30. Moreover, the appropriation process is often lengthy, and errors may be made in decisions as to the amount of money required by a proposed project. Congress has enacted modifications of the foregoing rules variously reconciling fiscal requirements to the needs of construction. But such modifica- tions differ from agency to agency. Construction.-One method employed to relax the restric- tive effects of the general rules is to broaden the scope of the appropriation statute. Thus, instead of an individualized appropriation for each project, the practice of making a lump-sum appropriation for a group of projects or activities affords flexibility within the amount of the total appropriation. Since 1920, this has been the legislative practice with respect to water-resource projects prosecuted by the Army Engineers.464 In 1950, Con- gress employed this practice in making appropriations for con- struction and rehabilitation by the Bureau of Reclamation.465 Another possible modification facilitating contract sched- 498 Wilder v. United States, 16 Ct. 01. 528, 543 (1880). Among the pro- visions previously cited herein, those referred to by the Court included R. S. §§ 3678, 3679,3690. So far as pertinent here, none of these provisions appears to have been significantly altered since 1880. 484 See supra, n. 174, p. 105. 498 Act of September 6, 1950, ch. VII, § 101, 64 Stat. 595, -. Previously, appropriations were made on an individualized project basis, with an ex- press prohibition against exceeding construction amounts appropriated from the Reclamation Fund for any project and a limitation on expenditures from the Fund to its total amount. Act of October 12,1949, § 1, 63 Stat. 765, -. |