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Within a month or two after coming on the Board, Vardaman proposed and, the Board approved an increase in per diem from $10 to $12*50 for Board members, and from 5 to 6-1/U cents a mile when using a oar for official travel. He obtained a further liberalisation so that a Board member with physical disability could collect the extra railroad fare to oover a compartment or drawing-room. His office then notified our Administrative Services Division to expect his vouchers to show the extra fare necessary to oover the compartment or drawing-room and the extra cost of the accommodations. Attendance records show that Vardaman has been absent from the Board, whether or not out of town, on about as many work days as he was present. Since he came on the Board on April k, 19^6 and up until February 25, he was present 113 working days, away 111}, working days. (Weekends are excluded.) Travel. In the same period, his total expenses for travel, per diem, automobile mileage, e t c . , aggregated $3,2l4i — far in excess of any other member and actually more than a l l other members combined. Per diem amounted to $1,632. this compared with $223 of travel expense of the Chairman, of which the per diem was $78, a l l for the same period. In fact, Vardaman f s per diem exceeded by $155 that of the Chairman for the past ten years. these costs for Vardaman do not include $9U of expenses paid to the head chauffeur, who drove him to St. Louis and returned by train. At his instance, a special reservation office was created, which led to a particularly explosive episode when he returned from a trip and god-damned the reservation clerk and his superior because there were two mistakes in train reservations — neither the fault of the reservation clerk at the Board. Automobile use. Notwithstanding the s t r i c t provisions in the law against private use of Government automobiles (travel to and from home to work i s classed as not o f f i c i a l ) , he has constantly used a Board oar for this purpose. Of total trips in Board oars, his have been I46 per cent of the use. In addition, as to overtime paid to chauffeurs between April, 1<&6 and up to February 25, 19U7, 87 per cent of the overtime was for him, as compared with 5 P e r cent charged to the Chairman. And this while Vardaman was away from the office half of the time. Telephone c a l l s . April 11, 19U6 to February 12, 19U7 there were 30I4. long-distance phone c a l l s charged to the Board. Of these 183, or 60 per cent, were Vardaman*s, costing $505, or more than half the total cost for a l l other members combined. Of these official c a l l s , 10 were to Atlanta, 15 to Chicago, Ik to Detroit, 39 to St. Louis, 23 to Virginia Beach. Messengers, e t c . His messenger Is seldom seen at the office, and i s reported to be used almost entirely at his home. An engineer or mechanic has been sent to his home on several occasions to repair a radio, fix a door, o i l a refrigerator, e t c . He has requisitioned, at Board expense, such items as a brief bag, table lamp and shade, frame for consaaission, electric hot-plate, whistling tea kettle, flower pots and a drawing board.
@FedFRASER