Such changes ran over a million in January and had been on an increase for the previous 2 months. They have never run less than 700,000 per month and in 1942 even reached a peak of 4,000,000.

MEDICAL SURVEY PROGRAM

Mr. WIGGLESWORTH. What is the medical survey program calling for an increase of, roughly, $270,000?

General HERSHEY. The War Department and the Navy Department have had a great deal of difficulty in trying to decide whether or not registrants possess the emotional qualities they should have to go into the service, and we struggled with what Selective Service thought was a high rejection rate. We have not conquered that. At the request of the War Department somewhat over a year ago we attempted to get money to furnish social agencies in their attempt to accumulate the social histories of these individuals before they went to the induction stations, so that the psychiatrist would not only see the man but would see his school and work expereince. I suppose it was the hope of the Army that they would discover individuals that looked all right but were not; and I think it was the hope of Selective Service that they would discover many people who did not look so well, but really were all right; that they had held jobs and had done well in school.

Mr. WIGGLESWORTH. What has been the result?

General HERSHEY. I cannot say that it has brought the rejection. rate down to where I am satisfied-but perhaps as a procurer of men I expect too much. Obviously I would not be dabbling in age 26 and above, if I could have persuaded the Army to accept two or three hundred thousand that were under 26.

Mr. WIGGLESWORTH. Do you think the project is worth its cost? General HERSHEY. I consider it as an Army project. I am depending, I think, on their judgment, that they still think it is worth what it is costing.

Mr. WIGGLESWORTH. An individual goes from a medical survey set-up to the medical advisory board?

General HERSHEY. Not necessarily. The investigators find out from his teachers and from his employers his school and work record, and then they send this in to the induction station where it is used entirely by the Army. As a matter of fact, this is really a service which we as the procurers of men, obtain the funds for and then allocate them to other agencies of the Government for their disbursement.

Mr. CANNON. While this did not in any way affect the rate of induction, is it possible that it did affect the character of inductees? Is it possible that due to this you inducted men that otherwise would not have been inducted end that you failed to induct men that otherwise would have been inducted?

General HERSHEY. I think both of those things have occurred. The man who is perhaps a little fidgety when he gets out for the first time and is rushed from one thing to another would tend to make a psychiatrist feel that he should not be a soldier. If he had held a job for 2 or 3 years involving some responsibility, I think it would have a very marked influence on what the psychiatrist would find.

On the other hand, the fellow who is a "showman" and puts his best foot forward and rather deceives the psychiatrist about his imperfections he could read some of it from a report of this kind. We are dealing in something very nebulous when we deal with the emotional parts of these individuals. I have not found anything any better than this, and the armed forces still feel that it is worth while, and I feel it ought to be tried.

Mr. WIGGLESWORTH. How long has this been set up?
General HERSHEY. This is the second year.

EXPENSE IN CONNECTION WITH AWARDS

Mr. WIGGLESWORTH. I notice you have some language in your estimate about expenses incident to the granting of nonmilitary awards and so forth. What are those expenses?

General HERSHEY. I think there are at least two bills pending in Congress to permit the issuance of a selective-service medal to the uncompensated personnel of the system under such regulations as may be set up. We wanted to get authority, if the bills should pass, to use funds that we might save from other things to buy these medals which would be given to people who had worked in the Selective Service System.

CHANGES IN LANGUAGE

Mr. CANNON. Explain to us the various changes in language which you propose. Turn to page 176 of the bill. Your first amendment there is merely nominal. Your second and third amendments are merely changes in amounts. What about the fourth one? Colonel MITCHELL. That is with reference to penalty mail. The CHAIRMAN. That is self-explanatory, I suppose.

Your fifth one is a change in the number of passenger vehicles. Do you consider that essential?

Colonel MITCHELL. Yes, sir; we do. I might report that of the 30 that we had the authority to purchase this year we have acquired only 3. and it is anticipated that next year, if automobiles are available, it would be good business to trade in some of the older cars. We consider automobiles quite vital in the operation of our State headquarters, to go around and visit local boards.

Mr. WIGGLESWORTH. How many do you have now?
Colonel MITCHELL. A hundred and thirty-two.

Mr. WIGGLESWORTH. These are for replacements?

Colonel MITCHELL. Yes, sir; replacements only.

Mr. CANNON. As to your expenses incident to the granting of nonmilitary awards in recognition of faithful and meritorious services, is that an innovation?

General HERSHEY. Yes. The law has not yet been passed.
Mr. CANNON. You consider it desirable?

General HERSHEY. Yes, sir.

ATTENDANCE AT MEETINGS OF SOCIETIES

Mr. CANNON. Page 177, the 7th amendment, including attendance at meetings of societies, and so forth. What occasion is there for that additional authorization?

Colonel MITCHELL. That is currently contained as a general provision in the current appropriation act, and we feel that it is quite important in our operations.

Mr. CANNON. It is an extension of existing legislation?
Colonel MITCHELL. Yes.

Mr. WIGGLESWORTH. How much do you expect to spend for that?
Colonel MITCHELL. It would be difficult to estimate.

I do not

think it would amount to more than a few thousand dollars at the outside.

Mr. WIGGLESWORTH. Three thousand dollars?

Colonel MITCHELL. About that, sir.

Mr. WIGGLESWORTH. If we put a limitation of $3,000 on it, would that cover what you have in mind?

Colonel MITCHELL. I would think so.

Colonel BOONE. I would think that was a little low; $5,000 I think would be sufficient.

REIMBURSEMENT FOR USE OF AUTOMOBILES

Mr. CANNON. The provision for reimbursement of employees for the use of their automobiles in official service-will you explain that? Colonel MITCHELL. That is a continuation of existing legislation. Mr. CANNON. What about the elimination of most of page 178? Colonel MITCHELL. That is considered to be not necessary.

ALLOWANCES FOR TRAVEL EXPENSE ON MILEAGE BASIS

Mr. CANNON. The last item on that page, No. 10, is a provision for allowances for travel expense on a mileage basis.

Colonel MITCHELL. That was written in by the Bureau of the Budget. I might state that we are now operating on the same basis as are the War and Navy Departments.

Mr. CANNON. Under amendment No. 10 what is the differentiation. from your present routine?

General HERSHEY. You mean, about travel?

Mr. CANNON. Yes. What change will this provide?

Colonel MITCHELL. It will provide that they will travel on the basis of transportation plus per diem rather than on the basis of mileage at 8 cents a mile.

Mr. CANNON. What is the advantage of that?

General HERSHEY. The presumption was that it was going to save the Government some money. The War Department went into it last year, and the Director of Selective Service has to handle Army and Navy personnel. The Navy personnel was left on mileage. So we stood on that last year. Then the Navy went on the basis of transportation plus per diem, so we followed. I think, as a matter of fact, if you make a short trip it is probably to the advantage of the traveler. If he makes a long trip it is very much to his disadvantage. He makes a long trip reasonably rapidly.

Mr. CANNON. Your last amendment on page 179 is merely a readjustment to fit in with penalty mail provisions?

Colonel MITCHELL. That is right, sir.

Mr. CANNON, Are there any other questions, gentlemen?
Mr. WIGGLESWORTH. No questions.

Mr. CANNON. Thank you, General Hershey and gentlemen, for the information.

FRIDAY, APRIL 27, 1945.

COMMITTEE ON FAIR EMPLOYMENT PRACTICE STATEMENTS OF MALCOLM ROSS, CHAIRMAN; GEORGE M. JOHNSON, DEPUTY CHAIRMAN; THEODORE A. JONES, EXECUTIVE OFFICER; WIIL MASLOW, DIRECTOR OF FIELD OPERATIONS; JOHN A. DAVIS, DIRECTOR OF REVIEW AND ANALYSIS; G. JAMES FLEMING, REGIONAL DIRECTOR (PHILADELPHIA)

Mr. CANNON. We have an estimate of appropriation for the Committee on Fair Employment Practice. The appropriation for 1945 includes $7,600 transferred from the Division of Central Administrative Services. The estimate for 1946 is $599,000. However, the appropriation for 1945 included $53,800 for overtime pay, which is not included in the 1946 estimate, so the increase is $145,200.

Will you give us a statement, Mr. Ross, outlining the work of your agency and any changes you have made or may have in prospect, or any changes in procedure?

GENERAL STATEMENT

Mr. Ross. Mr. Chairman, we became acquainted last year, so I do not think I need to review any of the fundamental aspects of our work or our past history. I should like to talk briefly of some of the major phases of our work during the course of the year.

We are at a crossroads, with VE-day approaching, which will probably cause a shifting of our activities. So I think a brief look at where we came from may be useful to your committee.

UTILIZATION OF MINORITY GROUP WORKERS

In the matter of utilization of minority group workers, taking the calendar year, we find that there were 17,000,000 workers in manufacturing in the beginning of 1944 and 16,000,000 at the end of the calendar year. That is a decrease of 1,000,000. It may reflect an attitude on the part of white workers to leave war industries for the possible security of peacetime work.

During that same period, at the beginning of it, there were 1,200,000 Negroes among that 17,000,000. At the end of the calendar year there were 1,350,000. So 150,000 Negroes were added to the working force during the calendar year 1944 at the same time 1,000,000 workers were leaving.

Mr. CANNON. Who would not have been added but for this provision?

Mr. Ross. We feel, sir, that we have cleared the employment lanes so they can get there.

Negroes have been probably the largest pool of unused labor, and they have been brought into the labor market, I think, very much under the aegis of our Executive order. I mention Negroes first because they are about 75 percent of our problem and also form the largest economic minority group.

Mexican-Americans also are a very important group. We find about 96,000 Mexican-Americans in aircraft plants today and large numbers in the very essential copper mines. During the course of

the year, a change has occurred in the use of Mexican-American skills. Today about 20 percent of the Mexican-Americans in copper mines have skilled or semiskilled jobs. That is a very distinct change from the past when they were kept at the lowest menial work.

The question of religious discrimination is not one that you can pin down to any economic pattern. About 7 percent of our cases involve Jewish workers, but they are sporadic cases and not representative of a large economic group as with the Negroes and Mexican-Americans.

LOS ANGELES RAILWAY CASE INVOLVING EMPLOYMENT OF NEGROES

I think we have done considerable in relieving tense situations during the past year. If you wish, I will describe one or two examples. We held a hearing in the Los Angeles railway case in August, where preceding that for about a year there had been a very restless spirit among the Negroes of Los Angeles. There were many violent incidents on the street railway there, and when I arrived somewhat in advance of our committee hearings the mayor of Los Angeles was very anxious that we should not hold them. He had supposed that any public hearing would increase tension and that there would be trouble.

I persuaded him and some other citizens of the town that in a case like that the best way to relieve restlessness is to tackle the thing head-on. I told him that our hearings were objective and courteous and that we could handle it.

We had a hearing and the company and the union decided that they would try to allow the upgrading of Negroes as motormen and conductors. Within 10 days they had put on 10, and the number now stands at 70 or 80, I think, with a great over-all increase of morale among a hundred thousand Negroes of Los Angeles. When one of these cases becomes a focal point of interest, something has to be done about it or it will perhaps explode.

GENERAL CABLE CO. CASE IN ST. LOUIS, MO.

I should like to pay tribute here to an individual employer who in the last month has done an extraordinary piece of work. We claim no credit for this.

The General Cable plant in St. Louis, Mo., is an important maker of very critical communications wire for use in military areas. There was an agreement on the part of the company with us to upgrade some Negro girls, Negro girls being a very good source of labor supply, and the company being desperately in need of workers.

There was objection from some of the white women workers and a threat of work stoppage. The Army and ourselves were greatly concerned about this.

At that juncture, Mr. Dwight Palmer, president of the company, flew down from New York, called the girls off the line, gave them an excellent talk, and asked them to accept this thing in good grace. He stayed there for all three shifts and solved the problem out of hand, and has extended the use of Negro labor to other departments. That, I think, is a good example of what a man of intelligence and forcefulness can do in these situations.