that our population has been decreased by the movement of large numbers of our people to the nearby Maryland and Virginia areas.

If a law should be passed establishing a State of Columbia and giving it a form of Home Rule I believe that the boundary of such a State should be the outer Beltway. Such a boundary would give us a balanced city population which we now lack. It would also increase our income since the many people living between our present District line and the outer Beltway, many of whom work within our city, would pay appreciable real estate, sales, income and automobile taxes. Such added income would make possible needed inner city improvements which would benefit all including those who work in the city but now live outside the boundary and now are paying no part of this cost.

I do not want to see a step by step repetition of the forms of government which failed between 1800 and 1874. In my opinion the most efficient government of this Nation's capital city and its Federal relationship would be a return to the three man Commissioner form of government with one Republican and one Democratic Commissioner and one Engineer Commissioner from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Mr. MCMILLAN. Thank you very much, General Prentiss. We certainly agree with your statement. I have been around Washington here for at least forty years and I guess I know as much about Washington as a lot of these people who pretend to know everything. I've had something to do with the Government ever since I've been here. I'm wondering-I believe you stated in your statement how much it cost for three Commissioners to operate the District Building, $300,000 and some.

Is that right?

General PRENTISS. I said that under one of these bills that is proposed here the payroll would amount to $350,000 for the Mayor and the City Council on the basis of $40,000 and $38,000 annual salaries. Mr. MCMILLIAN. Do you remember how many people you and the Commissioners had in the building under your immediate jurisdiction, your employees?

General PRENTISS. Well, I don't remember how many there were, no, sir.

Mr. MCMILLAN. I heard there were fifty. I don't know if that's

correct.

General PRENTISS. That may have been, but I know we did not have a crowded building.

Mr. MCMILLAN. I understand there are about 250 employees in the building, and the expense of operating the government has just about tripled in the past five years. I don't have anything against the Commissioner. I think they're doing the best they can, but I don't think the job can be handled by one man. It was tough enough on three Commissioners.

General PRENTISS. I think the biggest budget that we had when I was Commissioner was in the last year that I was there and it was

$148 million and that included the District's share of a large public construction program which was designed to replace and repair the buildings that had been neglected as a result of World War II. Mr. MCMILLAN. Do you remember how much the District received in grants at that time?

General PRENTISS. As I recall, when I first went in the District, the Federal contribution was about $10 million a year and then that was increased to about $22 or $23 million when I left.

Mr. MCMILLAN. Yes, I remember that, but I was wondering about outside grants.

Now, we had about $450 or $500 million in grants made by individual government agencies to the District last year. I was just wondering if you remembered just what it was when you were Commissioner? General PRENTISS. No, I don't recall.

Mr. MCMILLAN. We have some late figures on that, which will be made part of the record at this point. Also, on District Government employment.

FEDERAL PAYMENTS

The phenomenal increase in the Federal contribution to the District. is shown by the following table:

* Plus $8,000,000 for salary increases; plus $5,000,000 for court system and drug problem.

Whereas the Federal payment of $20 million in 1956 amounted to 18.1 percent of the General Fund revenues of the District, the 1973 payment authorization at $190 million represents 39 percent of the General Fund revenues.

TOTAL FEDERAL AID

The total Federal aid to each of the 50 States, its population, and per capita aid, are shown in the following excerpts from the Treasury Department's 1970 report.

FEDERAL AID TO THE STATES AND TO THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, FISCAL YEAR 1970-SUMMARY

1 The 1971 figures, just released, show the Federal Aid to District of Columbia to be $608, 822,943, or $804 per capita. Source: Department of the Treasury, Fiscal Service, Bureau of Accounts, Division of Government Financial Operations document entitled "Federal Aid to States, Fiscal Year 1970."

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES COMPARED WITH STATE

EMPLOYEES

In explanation or justification of the unprecedented number of city employees on the District of Columbia government payroll, the local officials offer as one excuse the claim that Washington has more functions than most municipal governments, that its situation is unique in this country, and that it should more fairly be regarded as a State when employee comparisons are presented.

The following tabulation, secured from the Library of Congress, shows the number of full-time government employees (State and local) in the 14 States having populations of less than 1 million persons, and therefore comparable to the District of Columbia.

In this grouping, the District ranks No. 2 in total number of fulltime government employees:

Source: U.S. Department of Commerce: "Public Employment in 1969" (Government Employment GE 69 No. 1).

Pursuing the "doing state functions" argument, it is found when making a comparison of the District of Columbia with 13 of our states having a population of less than one million and therefore comparable to the District, that the District still outranks most if not all these states in the various categories of comparison.

Source: Financial and Statistical Report, 1969-70, Government of the District of Columbia.

Information furnished to our Committee by the District of Columbia government indicates that the number of authorized permanent personnel increase from 31,944 in 1967 to 42,735 in 1970, or a 106.6percent increase in 4 years. Pertinent charts, furnished by the District of Columbia Government, follow:

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA GOVERNMENT EMPLOYMENT STATISTICS, FISCAL YEAR 1955-70

Source: District of Columbia Government, Office of Budget and Executive Management, Jan. 14, 1971.

1 List of comparable cities from p. 1421, Senate hearings before the Committee on Appropriations, District of Columbia Appropriations, H.R. 18706, 90th Cong., 2d sess., fiscal year 1969.

2 Population statistics are from the 1960 census, except those marked which are from later census. All figures are rounded off to the next higher thousand.

3 The number of city employees is based on data compiled in October 1967, by the Bureau of the Census.

Using the District of Columbia Government's 1970 budget-protected 45,657 employees and using the population figure for the District of an estimated 809,000, gives the District 5.64 percent of city employees to population.

Source: Legislative Reference Service, Library of Congress, Apr. 4, 1969.