Mr. MEEKER. That is correct. Mr. LUDLOw. How much land? Mr. MEEKER. I cannot give you a statement, offhand, in respect to that, but I can give you a statement about it in the record. Mr. CANNON. You may insert a statement about that in the record DISPOSAL OF SURPLUS AGRICULTURAL AND FOREST LANDS Mr. MEEKER. Section 23 of the Surplus Property Act establishes requirements for the disposal of surplus land. Mr. LUDLOW. What kind of land, and where? So far as the Department of Agriculture is concerned, it is agricultural and forest land. Mr. LUDLOW. How do you dispose of that land? Mr. MEEKER. The requirements of the act are such that there are eight different levels of priority, the most important of which is the former owner's. I would like to ask Dr. Warburton to explain in detail. Mr. CANNON. In view of the present situation, will you put a statement about that in the record? Will you include a statement abor that in the record, Dr. Warburton? Dr. WARBURTON. Yes. (The statement requested is as follows:) DISPOSAL OF SURPLUS AGRICULTURAL AND FOREST LANDS Since December 31, 1939, military agencies have acquired approximately 6: million acres of land from private owners, by far the greater part of which wa rural land. In addition, military agencies have utilized approximately 15 millier acres of land already in Government ownership, usually under agreement with the former managing agency to return it to that agency when no longer needed for military purposes. The lands which will be declared surplus when no longer needed for military use will come principally out of the 61⁄2 million acres purchased from private owners. These lands have been used for a wide variety of military purposes, such as training camps, bombing and artillery ranges, and munitions plants. Lands not utilized for industrial purposes or for housing developments | will, when declared surplus, be classified by the Surplus Property Board according to their most appropriate use as (1) agricultural, (2) forest, (3) grazing, ar (4) mineral lands. The Board has designated the Department of Agriculture as the disposal agency for surplus agricultural and forest lands and the Departmer! of the Interior as disposal agency for grazing and mineral lands. The Secretary of Agriculture has delegated the responsibility for disposal of agricultural and forest lands to the Governor of the Farm Credit Administration, who will utilize t facilities of the Federal Farm Mortgage Corporation and of the 12 Federal la. : banks in conducting the disposal operations. In appropriate instances the Governor of the Farm Credit Administration will call on other agencies of the Department, such as the Forest Service, Bureau of Agricultural Economics, Soil Conservation Service, and Farm Security Administration for advice and assistance. The selection of the Farm Credit Administration, and particularly of t Federal Farm Mortgage Corporation and the Federal land banks within ts: organization, as the disposal agency for agricultural and forest lands, is based the extensive experience of the Farm Credit Administration in appraising az′′cultural lands, including farm woodlands, in the making of Federal land bars and Land Bank Commissioner loans, and of the Federal land banks for the mselves and the Federal Farm Mortgage Corporation in the sale of acquired farms In the 3 years 1940, 1941, and 1942, the Federal land banks sold for themselves and for the Federal Farm Mortgage Corporation approximately 47,500 farris a materially greater acreage and number of parcels than will be involved in t disposal of surplus agricultural and forest lands. The Surplus Property Act establishes certain priorities to be observed ir disposal of surplus nonindustrial real estate. These are: (1) Federal governmental agencies; (2) State and local governmental agencies; (3) Former owners, or in the event the former owner is deceased, his widow or children; and (4) In the case of agricultural lands, tenants who occupied the land at the time of purchase by the Government if the former owner does not exercise his priority. The act then provides that after these four priorities are exercised what remains of the agricultural land is to be divided, so far as practicable, into economic familysized units and disposed of under the following additional series of priorities: (5) Veterans. (6) Owner-operators. (7) Tax-supported and certain other nonprofit institutions. (8) The general public. Former owners, under the provisions of the Surplus Property Act, may repurchase the tracts sold by them at the current market vaule of the land or at the price at which they sold it to the Government (less damage or plus the value of improvements during the period of military occupancy), whichever is the lower. Damage may be from the removal or deterioration of buildings and fences, the removal of top soil from portions of the farm in leveling operations, or many other changes which may have occurred. Benefits may result from such actions as the installation of a drainage system or the construction of a hard-surfaced road where no such road was previously near the farm but which will be taken over and continued in the local road system. In the sale to former owners it will be necessary to reestablish boundaries, which may require considerable expense in surveys, particularly in the Eastern States where land descriptions were by metes and bounds and original monuments have been obliterated. In any event, in practically every case there will have to be negotiation with the former owner who desires to repurchase the property to arrive at agreement on damages and benefits. As current sales prices of agricultural land are now well above those prevailing at the time these lands were purchased by the Government, it is expected that former owners will desire to repurchase a large portion of the land they sold unless it has been severely damaged during the period of military occupancy. If the former owner does not exercise his purchase privilege and the land was operated by a tenant at the time of sale to the Government, the tenant has the right to purchase on the same terms as the former owner. After it has been determined what agricultural lands are to be purchased by governmental agencies, former owners, and tenants, the Surplus Property Act provides that the remaining agricultural lands are to be divided into economic family-sized units, with veterans of the present war having first preference in the purchase of such units. In the establishment of economic family-sized units, the Farm Credit Administration intends to consult farm management specialists of the Bureau of Agricultural Economics and of appropriate State land-grant colleges, both in determining the acreage to be included in such units under varying soil, climatic, and other conditions, and the price at which these units are to be offered to veterans. The expenses which will be incurred in the disposal of agricultural and forest lands are primarily: (1) Care and guarding of the land pending sale, particularly if there are improvements on it; (2) Surveys, especially to establish boundaries where the former owner desires to repurchase the land; (3) Appraisal to determine appropriate selling price, or, in the event of sale to the former owner, to determine adjustments to be made for damage or improvement; (4) Cost of advertising, including, as required by the act, sending notice to each former owner at his last known address; (5) Sales costs; and (6) Costs of accounting and disposal of proceeds of sales. The major items of expense will be for personnel, travel, and advertising. It is expected that, so far as they are available, experienced personnel of the Land Bank Division of the Farm Credit Administration, land-bank appraisers, and employees of the Federal land banks will be utilized in this work." When any considerable volume of land is made available for sale, it will be necessary to employ project managers, surveyors, salesmen, and, in appropriate instances, a guard force. In addition to the sale of surplus agricultural and forest lands, it now appears that the Farm Credit Administration will in certain instances be. the disposal agency for buildings erected on these lands during the period of military occupancy, particularly temporary buildings for training camps. On one such training camp which has been declared surplus to the Surplus Property Board, it is our understanding there are 3,000 or more buildings, including 1,600 barracks, 20 by 100 feet, and nearly 200 mess halls: Disposal and removal of these buildings will greatly increase cost of the land-disposal operation. While every effort will be made to salvage as much of the material as possible and to make return to the Treasury over and above the cost of salvage, there may be little or no net return from such salvage operations, especially where the camps are located in thinly populated sections. In most cases the military agencies have not yet determined what tracts will be declared surplus or when such declaration will be made. Frequently these decisions must be based on factors which are as yet unknown, such as the need for training additional personnel for the war in the Pacific and the size of the military establishment to be maintained after the war. It is our understanding that less than 100,000 acres have so far been declared surplus, and no adequate estimate can be made of the acreage of agricultural and forest lands which wil become available for sale during the fiscal year 1946. Because of these and other uncertainties it is not possible to make any accurate estimate at this time of the disposal cost during the fiscal year 1946 nor of the personnel required. Our view is that the Farm Credit Administration should have a tentative allotment of $2,000,000 to $2,500,000, with the understanding that this allocation might be increased or decreased as the work develops and experience is acquired. It must be remembered that no land has as yet been turned over to the Farm Credit Administration for disposal, and we have no experience in operating under the Surplus Property Act and practically no information on which to base estimated costs. SERVICE OF DR. D. C. WARBURTON Mr. CANNON. Dr. Warburton, you and I have sat across the table in hearings on the Agricultural Department appropriation bill for many years, and it is a pleasure to see you here again. How long have you been in the Department of Agriculture? Dr. WARBURTON. I came into the Department of Agriculture 42 years ago. Mr. CANNON. You have had a long and distinguished service. Will you give us a brief résumé of your service since coming to Washington in 1903? Dr. WARBURTON. Yes, sir. I have been continuously with the Department of Agriculture since that time, except for about a year and a half when I was assistant editor of an agriculture paper. After about 20 years in research work in the Bureau of Plant Industry I was 16%1⁄2 years Director of Extension Work for the Department, and for a little over 5 years have served as Deputy Governor of the Farm Credit Administration. For the last 3 years I have been in charge of the liaison office in Washington since that organization moved to Kansas City. My present job is to try to keep the Farm Credit Administration informed as to what is happening in Washington of interest to them. and to keep the Department of Agriculture informed on what the Farm Credit Administration is doing. Mr. CANNON. I am not in a position to testify as to the first 22 years of your work, but for the last 20 years I can testify from personal observation that you have rendered a distinguished and invaluable service to the Department, the Government, and to the Nation. Dr. WARBURTON. I thank you. Mr. CANNON. I congratulate you on your anniversary, and wish for you many more, and an ever-widening field of service. Dr. WARBURTON. There is not anyone from whom I appreciate such a statement more than I do from you, sir. Mr. CANNON. Thank you, Doctor. TUESDAY, MAY 22, 1945. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR DISPOSAL OF SURPLUS GRAZING AND MINERAL LANDS IN THE UNITED STATES AND CERTAIN SURPLUS PROPERTIES IN THE TERRITORIES STATEMENT OF BENJAMIN W. THORON, DIRECTOR Mr. CANNON. Mr. Thoron, will you tell us what type of property you will have, which the Department of the Interior will handle in the Surplus Property program? Mr. THORON. Mr. Chairman, by the regulations of the Surplus Property Board the responsibility for the disposition of grazing and mineral lands in the continental United States and of all classes of property except airplanes and parts, marine equipment and ships, agricultural products and food in the Territories and possessions of the United States has been assigned to the Department of the Interior. CLASSES OF PROPERTY TO BE HANDLED Mr. CANNON. I wonder if you can break that down into the minor classes? Do you have a tabulation with you that would give the various classes of property that you handle? Mr. THORON. Mr. Chairman, we frankly are still at a loss as to the extent and the types of property which will be declared surplus. We have communicated with the agencies which we have thought would probably have the greatest amount of property in the territories the War Department and the Navy Department. They have been unable to give us any estimate of the quantity or types. I have here a couple of letters which give some very general indi cation. Here, for instance, is a letter from the headquarters of the Army Service Forces with a list of items surplus to the needs of the War Department in Alaska. That includes such things as mine cars, generator units, hoists, fire pumps, electric transformers, tractors, high pressure pumps, road scrapers, wagons, plows, tractors, 40 cubic tons of rock, and so forth. I have a list of the various items, including medicinal products, gas engines, in need of repairs-practically every kind of thing that has been declared surplus to the R. F. C. SOURCES OF SURPLUS PROPERTY Mr. CANNON. How many sources have you from which you expect to receive surplus property, and will you designate them? Mr. THORON. The principal sources will be the Army and the Navy. In the Canal Zone there will also be the Panama Canal. had several small declarations from them. We have In addition to the sale of surplus agricultural and forest lands, it now appears that the Farm Credit Administration will in certain instances be the disposal agency for buildings erected on these lands during the period of military occu pancy, particularly temporary buildings for training camps. On one such training camp which has been declared surplus to the Surplus Property Board, it is our understanding there are 3,000 or more buildings, including 1,600 barracks, 20 by 100 feet, and nearly 200 mess halls: Disposal and removal of these buildings will greatly increase cost of the land-disposal operation. While every effort will be made to salvage as much of the material as possible and to make return to the Treasury over and above the cost of salvage, there may be little or no net return from such salvage operations, especially where the camps are located in thinly populated sections. In most cases the military agencies have not yet determined what tracts will be declared surplus or when such declaration will be made. Frequently these decisions must be based on factors which are as yet unknown, such as the need for training additional personnel for the war in the Pacific and the size of the military establishment to be maintained after the war. It is our understanding that less than 100,000 acres have so far been declared surplus, and no adequate estimate can be made of the acreage of agricultural and forest lands which wil become available for sale during the fiscal year 1946. Because of these and other uncertainties it is not possible to make any accurate estimate at this time of the disposal cost during the fiscal year 1946 nor of the personnel required. Our view is that the Farm Credit Administration should have a tentative allotment of $2,000,000 to $2,500,000, with the understanding that this allocation might be increased or decreased as the work develops and experience is acquired. It must be remembered that no land has as yet been turned over to the Farm Credit Administration for disposal, and we have no experience in operating under the Surplus Property Act and practically no information on which to base estimated costs. SERVICE OF DR. D. C. WARBURTON Mr. CANNON. Dr. Warburton, you and I have sat across the table in hearings on the Agricultural Department appropriation bill for many years, and it is a pleasure to see you here again. How long have you been in the Department of Agriculture? Dr. WARBURTON. I came into the Department of Agriculture 42 years ago. Mr. CANNON. You have had a long and distinguished service. Will you give us a brief résumé of your service since coming to Washington in 1903? Dr. WARBURTON. Yes, sir. I have been continuously with the Department of Agriculture since that time, except for about a year and a half when I was assistant editor of an agriculture paper. After about 20 years in research work in the Bureau of Plant Industry I was 161⁄2 years Director of Extension Work for the Department, and for a little over 5 years have served as Deputy Governor of the Farm Credit Administration. For the last 3 years I have been in charge of the liaison office in Washington since that organization moved to Kansas City. My present job is to try to keep the Farm Credit Administration informed as to what is happening in Washington of interest to them, and to keep the Department of Agriculture informed on what the Farm Credit Administration is doing. Mr. CANNON. I am not in a position to testify as to the first ?? years of your work, but for the last 20 years I can testify from personal observation that you have rendered a distinguished and invaluable service to the Department, the Government, and to the Nation. Dr. WARBURTON. I thank you. |