(Witnesses: Olmsted, Zappone.)

Mr. OLMSTED. For several years; I do not know how long before my time.

The CHAIRMAN. Had that tangle existed all the time?

Mr. OLMSTED. Well, sir, I can not say, because I had not been there all the time. I had been in the Philippine Islands for a year before. The CHAIRMAN. You had the tangle before you went to the Philippine Islands, did you?

Mr. OLMSTED. Before I went to the Philippine Islands the tangle was existing to some extent; but it had grown worse-a great deal worse. I think it was largely due to the fact that this man's health had failed, and the work of the Bureau had largely grown, and he was not equal to it.

The CHAIRMAN. I know; but where was the head of the Bureau having charge of its efficiency?

Mr. OLMSTED. Well, I can not say. I am not here to condemn or defend the chief of the Bureau.

The CHAIRMAN. He is not here now?

Mr. OLMSTED. He is absent, on the other side of the water, and I am not responsible for him.

The CHAIRMAN. The long and the short of it is, then, that the Bureau was all tangled up?

Mr. OLMSTED. That part of the work was in bad shape when I took charge of it, sir-very bad shape.

The CHAIRMAN. Was that one of the important features of the work?

Mr. OLMSTED. It is one of the most important features of the work that is required of us.

The CHAIRMAN. So that in one of the most important features of the Bureau, for the last couple of years or so, as the result of Mr. Hyde's administration, the affairs were in a bad tangle?

Mr. OLMSTED. It was during his administration.

The CHAIRMAN. And the head of that branch was inefficient? Mr. OLMSTEAD. Well, I suppose so. I know how it was when I took charge of it. How it was before that I can not say. When I took charge of that work, after my appointment as chief of the Division of Domestic Crop Reports, I found things in very bad shape. Mr. Hyde told me that the man he had had in charge of that work was wholly inefficient; his health was giving way, and he must have some one there that could run the thing properly and reorganize it, and that he could not wait any longer; that I must come back.

The CHAIRMAN. And that was in April, 1904?

Mr. OLMSTED. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. During what period of time did this controversy arise that has been going on in connection with that particular Bureau?

Mr. OLMSTED. That arose in 1904, I think; or was it 1905, Mr. Zappone?

Mr. ZAPPONE. I think it was in 1905.

Mr. OLMSTED. I did not occupy an administrative office before. that time; I simply had charge of this tabulation; getting in reports and tabulating them.

The CHAIRMAN. To what period of time did that apply that is, to statistics and occurrences that took place during what time? I

(Witness: Olmsted.)

understand that you had not the responsible charge. Of course you appreciate that I am not intimating anything of that kind. Mr. OLMSTED. Yes.

The CHAIRMAN. But I simply want to get at your knowledge of it. In what particular period of time were these controversies located that afterwards arose-that is, in 1905?

Mr. OLMSTED. They were located between the time of my appointment as chief of the Division of Domestic Crop Reports and my appointment as Associate Statistician. Now, I am like all statisticians, Mr. Littlefield-you will have to pardon me I never saw a statistician in my life that could carry any figures in his head. They always refer to the data. There are so many figures that they always make them a matter of record and refer to them. I am a little dubious on figures and dates therefore when I try to remember them; but that is a matter of record.

The CHAIRMAN. It is a matter of record; but your recollection would be that the statistics and occurrences that gave rise to that controversy, whatever it was, developed after April, 1904?

Mr. OLMSTED. Yes; they developed in 1905. I know now that they did.

The CHAIRMAN. In 1905?

Mr. OLMSTED. Yes; I remember now that they developed in 1905. The CHAIRMAN. Of course, as I understand, you have not had responsible charge of that Bureau until lately?

Mr. OLMSTED. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. That is right, is it not?

Mr. OLMSTED. That is correct.

The CHAIRMAN. And when those things developed the Bureau was under the responsible charge of Mr. Hyde?

Mr. OLMSTED. It was; yes, sir.

- The CHAIRMAN. And in connection with the work of what particular officials did that matter develop?

Mr. OLMSTED. The scandal which was given ventilation developed in connection with the work of Mr. Edwin S. Holmes, jr., the Associate Statistician, and Mr. Hyde, himself, the Statistician and Chief of the Bureau.

The CHAIRMAN. It developed between them?

Mr. OLMSTED. They were the parties drawn into the controversy against whom allegations of mismanagement or malfeasance were made.

The CHAIRMAN. Improper conduct?

Mr. OLMSTED. Yes; and it finally centered down, I believe, to Mr. Holmes himself individually. There was nothing developed to implicate Mr. Hyde in any wrongdoing.

The CHAIRMAN. And nothing that indicated any inefficiency or improper conduct on the part of any officials below Holmes? Mr. OLMSTED. No, sir; nothing at all.

The CHAIRMAN. So that whatever occurred is simply centered around Holmes?

Mr. OLMSTED. Around Holmes; yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. Of course that is something for which he would be individually responsible?

(Witnesses: Olmsted, Zappone.)

Mr. OLMSTED. He is under indictment now, awaiting trial for his conduct of the office.

The CHAIRMAN. You may state briefly, so that we will have it in the record, what the nature of that controversy was.

Mr. OLMSTED. The charges that were made were to the effect that Mr. Holmes had given advance information as to what the report of the Bureau regarding cotton would indicate; that he had profited by it, sold it, and that he had himself manipulated the figures of the report so as to affect the price of cotton, and profited by it personally. That, in substance, was the charge. That is correct, is it not, Mr. Zappone, as I have stated it?

Mr. ZAPPONE. There is one thing that I do not believe you have added that is, that it was through the stock market.

Mr. OLMSTED. Through the stock market; yes. I never heard any charge against him as to wheat, or oats, or corn, or anything else. The only charges that I know of were in relation to his handling of the reports regarding cotton.

Mr. ZAPPONE. I have never seen anything on any other subject. The CHAIRMAN. Do we understand that all of your time during office hours was occupied in the Department of Agriculture after your appointment to the position you have spoken of?

Mr. OLMSTED. Yes, sir; except that perhaps two or three times a week, as I kept a wheel, I would run over to the Census Bureau for half an hour in connection with some point they would telephone me about. I would run over there, with the consent of the chief of the Bureau, always letting him know, never being absent more than half an hour at a time, and come right back again on my bicycle, at times when it would not interfere with the conduct of business anywhere in the Department of Agriculture. I took just a few moments at a time. The CHAIRMAN. Then, with the exception of half an hour occasionally, all of your time was devoted to your work in the Department of Agriculture?

Mr. OLMSTED. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. During the whole working day?

Mr. OLMSTED. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. You were right there at your desk in the Department the whole time?

Mr. OLMSTED. Yes, sir; and I will say, Mr. Littlefield, that to make up for that I was very conscientious about it-I made it a point to always get to the office from half an hour to an hour before 9 o'clock in the morning, so as to more than compensate for any little time I might take during the day when I would run over to the Census Bureau.

The CHAIRMAN. Whatever you did in that line you did with the approval of your superiors?

Mr. OLMSTED. Always with my superior's consent and with his knowledge. And then I would like to say further that during that time I did not take any annual leave from the office to the extent that I might have taken, simply because I did not want it to appear that I was using the annual leave for the purpose of working on the Philippine Census. I thought somebody might think I was doing it for that purpose, so I did not take it, and stayed at the office all the time. The records will show that.

(Witnesses: Olmsted, Zappone.)

The CHAIRMAN. As Chief of the Bureau of Statistics, will you state in detail the character of the statistics that are being collected now

by your Bureau?

Mr. OLMSTED. It is pretty extensive. If I could file my recent annual report as my answer, it would answer that question completely. Mr. ZAPPONE. I have your annual report here.

The CHAIRMAN. I want to get these things in as short a form as I can, so as not to take up unnecessary space. I just want the subjects to which your statistics relate. I will hand you your report and you can refresh your recollection from it. Of course, in the first place, I want it full enough to do justice to the Bureau.

Mr. OLMSTED. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. And then I want it as concise as you can make it, without taking up unnecessary space.

Mr. OLMSTED. There is one place there that gives it very concisely. Mr. ZAPPONE. I think the duties of that Bureau are expressed in the Congressional Directory better than anywhere else that I have seen them. The duties specified there have been gone over very carefully by each chief of bureau. I have quoted from the Congressional Directory once or twice and I think that if this is turned over to Mr. Olmsted, the Chief of the Bureau of Statistics, he will find that it fully covers the scope of his work. It is largely based upon the wording of the law, which is here.

The CHAIRMAN [after examining the book referred to]. This does not include any subjects, however.

Mr. OLMSTED. Well, I have it right here. I can give it to you. The CHAIRMAN. Just state the subjects briefly; confine yourself to the subjects.

Mr. ŎLMSTED. Yes. Continuous inquiry is made regarding agricultural areas, conditions, and yields, as far as the principal products of the soil are concerned, while many minor crops are dealt with from month to month throughout the year. The number and value of farm animals and the loss of such animals annually resulting from disease and exposure are reported upon, and the information from month to month regarding crops and farm animals is placed in comparison with similar information at corresponding dates in preceding years. Cotton is reported upon seven times, wheat eight times, corn and oats each six times, barley, rye, buckwheat, hay, grass, potatoes, tobacco, fruit, rice, and forty other minor products, from two to eight times each year.

The CHAIRMAN. Those are agricultural products?

Mr. OLMSTED. All agricultural and primary products of the soil. During the year plans were formulated and carried into effect for securing information enabling the making of monthly reports upon twenty-five crops not previously dealt with by the Bureau. Now, those crops are crops that are of some local importance in certain sections of the country, but not of national importance--for instance, the peanut crop, the cranberry crop, the orange crop, and, while I can not carry them all in my head, many minor crops of that kind. The CHAIRMAN. Crops that are indigenous to particular sections? Mr. OLMSTED. That is the idea exactly. But the great principal . farm crops of the country we handle, just as we have always handled them, by estimating the area devoted to them in the planting season;

(Witness: Olmsted.)

and then from month to month we report on the condition of the growing crop, so that those interested may know what the probable yield will be and can lay their plans accordingly. Then at the end of the year we make estimates as to the total production of those crops that is, wheat, corn, oats, barley, rye, buckwheat, and the other principal crops of the country, including tobacco and cotton. The CHAIRMAN. How long has the Census Bureau been in existence as a permanent Bureau?

Mr. OLMSTED. The United States Census Bureau?

The CHAIRMAN. Yes.

Mr. OLMSTED. It was made a permanent Bureau since the completion of the Twelfth Census. I do not know the date. I was not

connected with it, of course.

The CHAIRMAN. That is what I wanted to get at. To quite an extent these statistics that you collect are duplicates of the statistics collected by the Census Bureau, are they not?

Mr. OLMSTED. Not at all; not at all.
The CHAIRMAN. Not at all, you say?

Mr. OLMSTED. No, sir; because the Census Bureau takes an agricultural census once in ten years only, while the

The CHAIRMAN. Yes; but under this new act they are making a yearly census.

Mr. OLMSTED. Not of agricultural products. They make a report as to the number of bales of cotton ginned-just one crop out of the whole lot.

The CHAIRMAN. Do they make any census of farm animals?
Mr. OLMSTED. They do not.

The CHAIRMAN. Then the Census Bureau, which is created for the purpose of permanent statistical work, does not do anything that your Department does, except prepare statistics on the question of cotton production?

Mr. ÓLMSTED. That is all, and that is a very small matter with us, compared with the great mass of our work.

The CHAIRMAN. So that there is absolutely no duplication between the work in your Department and the work in the Census Bureau?

Mr. OLMSTED. No, sir; there is no duplication. In point of fact, I will say, Mr. Littlefield, that our Bureau does the work that the Census Office does not do. We supply information, as far as we can, that is demanded by the public that the Census Office can not give them. The Census Office gives it once in ten years. We undertake to give it in every way each year.

The CHAIRMAN. Of course they do not give it to them oftener, because they only take the census once in ten years.

Mr. OLMSTED. That is the idea; while we make annual estimates of these things, based on the best information that can be secured. There is a bill now before Congress providing that a quinquennial agricultural census shall be taken by the Census Bureau, but it has not passed yet.

The CHAIRMAN. Are there any statistics that are collected by your Department on any of these items that are duplicates of statistics collected by any other bureau of the Government?

Mr. OLMSTED. No, sir; except this: That in our division of foreign markets (a small division of the office, for which less than $5,000