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Show IR-CBIIISGT CLOSING sin Settlement of Claims by Department Is Retarding Cancellation. WASHINGTON, March 20. Settlement of claims involving detailed inventories and reviews of accounts is slowing up cancellation of war contracts, the war department announced today in a statement state-ment which showed that of $?, 041,000, 000 in contracts recommended for cancellation cancella-tion he actual closing had reached a total of $18ii,13J.0GS on February 27. It was disclosed also that explosives valued val-ued at $12,000,000 had been transferred from surplus stocks to the interior department de-partment for land clearing, road building and similar work, and that more than half of the billion and a half pounds of surplus sodium nitrate valued at $57,-000,000 $57,-000,000 would be disposed of for agricultural agri-cultural and commercial purposes. The remainder is to be held for the- present by the ordnance department. The nitrate surplus represents acquisi tions st nee the beginning ot the war. The department of agriculture is to acquire ac-quire from the army 2S 4,000,000 pounds for use as fertilizer, paying cost price, while the remaining surplus in the United States will be handled through the nitrate board and the American nitrate ni-trate pool. The surplus in Chile, representing about a third of the total, will be handled han-dled through' the British pool at not 15S1T than cost price. The agreement reached with the American Amer-ican nitrate pool, it is stated, provides for the return of the surplus to the concerns con-cerns from which it was purchased, to. be sold at market price and without restriction re-striction in the period prior to the withdrawal with-drawal of importation barriers. After these restrictions have been withdrawn, the manufacturers and importers have agreed to one pound of government stock for every two pounds of their own. The explosives acquired by the interior department will be stored temporarily at war department magazines at 'Fort Win-gate Win-gate N. M.; Sparta, Wis., and Charleston, Charles-ton, S. C, the interior department being be-ing prepared to store itself about 4,000,-000 4,000,-000 pounds. Storage of explosives is giving giv-ing the war department some trouble. In order to facilitate the work of adjusting ad-justing contracts and agreements entered into prior to tho armistice, instructions have been issued that no discharge or resignation of any officer or civilian engaged en-gaged in the work of settlement of contracts con-tracts will be accepted, except with the t approval of Director of Munitions ICrowell. Attention again was invited today to-day to the fact that all claims growing out of informal contrai.-ls and agreements must be presented before June 30. |