or fortunately I am not, but we will assume that the statistical information which you might give me indicating the rate of absenteeism in my plant as compared to the rate of absenteeism in similar plants engaged in the same industry would be helpful to me in determining whether or not I have an extraordinary rate of absenteeism in my own plant? Mr. HINRICHS. Correct. Mr. KEEFE. And which would stimulate me, as an employer, then, to take action and endeavor to find out what the cause is, if I have an unusual rate of absenteeism; whereas, if I find that I am down to approaching the bedrock base minimum of absenteeism, I then can proceed, as you have indicated, with other problems in connection with my industry, with assurance that this talk about absenteeism is a lot of bunk, and that, so far as my plant is concerned, there are no more absences than would be normally expected at any time in the operation of that plant from the usual hazards which cause absences in industry. Mr. HINRICHS. It is an ideal statement, because if you are a manufacturer, I am not trying to solve your problem, because I cannot. I am trying to help you solve your own problem. When you wrote to me that you had a 3-percent absence rate and you were scared stiff and thought it was high, I wrote a letter to you reassuring you as best I could and furnishing comparable information which showed where you stood. When you wrote me and said you had an absence rate of 18 percent and were not worried about it, I did not regard it my function to say, "You ought to be scared stiff," but I did send along a chart showing the whole record of the industry, with a check mark against your plant, and said, "That is where you stand with reference to other people. The causes of absenteeism are varied and local. Your statement of what we are trying to do is a better one than I have been able to make. I am simply trying to be helpful to you as a manufacturer. Mr. KEEFE. How long do you think it would be before you would have spot checks completed that would enable you with some degree of certainty to segregate or break down this question of absenteeism into voluntary and involuntary absenteeism, and so on? Do you get what I mean? Mr. HINRICHS. I can throw significant light on the causes of absence within a 90-day period, provided I have funds for the work. Mr. HARE. Doctor, we would like to finish this item. There is an amount of $37,000 requested for aircraft plant utilization, and there is a request for $169,020 for a survey of wartime prices, including industrial prices and consumers' prices. There is a request for $101,980 for tenant rent survey, and a request of $55,000 for cost of living, territories. ADDITIONAL PERSONNEL FOR AIRCRAFT PLANT UTILIZATION STUDIES Do I understand that you have 18 employees for the aircraft plant utilization work and 61.2 for survey of wartime prices? In other words, how many additional employees are you requesting for this supplemental estimate of $258,478? Mr. HINRICHS. 121.6. Mr. KEEFE. Is that man-years, again? Mr. HINRICHS. Man-years. Mr. HARE. That will be 121 employees for the year? Mr. HINRICHS. That is correct. Mr. HARE. I can understand that. I do not understand man-hours or man-years, but if you say a man is working a year I know what you are driving at. Mr. KEEFE. They have six-tenths of a man there. Mr. HARE. Yes. I see that. Mr. KEEFE. Six-tenths of a year. Mr. HINRICHS. There are already 67 of those employees on our present supplemental appropriation and there will be more than that before the year is over. Mr. HARE. Where did you get the funds for the employing of these 67 already employed? Mr. HINRICHS. In the first deficiency appropriation. There was in that bill an item of $12,300 and $51,000, a total of $63,300 as supplemental for this year. SURVEY OF WARTIME PRICES In connection with the item of $169,020 for "Wartime Prices" and $101,980 for the "Tenant Rent Survey," I think that those items can best be understood if I can describe rather briefly the kind of work that we are doing in the Price Branch, which is the third of the branches of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and the problems that we are encountering at the present time in maintaining an adequate price series. Mr. KEFFE. You are doing this for whom? For whom do you do this work? Mr. HINRICHS. The Bureau of Labor Statistics has been the official agency of the Federal Government. Mr. KEEFE. I know that, Doctor, but for whom are you doing this particular work here? Is this all the work or is this just an addition to your regular work? Mr. HINRICHS. This represents necessary developments of our regular work if we are going to have price series which can be used by the O. P. A., by the War Production Board, by the War Labor Board, by the President, and by the Congress in interpreting what is going on in the field of prices and the cost of living. You can rather readily appreciate the problems which we are up against in a situation that is totally new with respect to the markets. Goods are disappearing. Substitutes are being offered. Manufacturers who used to supply us with price quotations are no longer making the articles on which they furnished prices. We have to go out and find people who are currently making those items. When the production of stoves was concentrated, for example, we had had stoves in our wholesale price index. There was not a single manufacturer who had reported the price who remains in the stove business. We had to collect stove prices from those people who were currently engaged in the manufacture of stoves. We had to substitute goods in the cost of living index. Silk stockings were no longer available. We had to substitute rayon. Rationing has come along, and we have had to change the weights of our items to take into account what people are going to buy. The meat and fat rationing program and the rationing of canned goods seriously threaten the validity of our cost of living index, and we have used the supplemental funds that have been approved to revise the method of weighting our cost of living index so as to take into account the changes which have actually occurred. Mr. KEEFE. Doctor, those changes are taking place almost from day to day, are they not? Mr. HINRICHS. That is correct. Mr. KEEFE. So it requires a continuous study of the changing figures in order to get the true picture of the cost-of-living standards? Mr. HINRICHS. That is correct. We were able, by hook and by crook, to keep our figures reasonably representative and in line with market conditions up to the first of this year. From then on conditions changed so rapidly that with the funds that we had it would have been completely impossible for us to have maintained an index which would have been valid to the end of this year. Mr. HARE. This is a national defense appropriation entirely? Mr. HARE. Is there any reason why your Bureau should be required to furnish the funds in place of the War Manpower Commission and the other agencies referred to? Mr. HINRICHS. This is a type of work which has been the responsibility of the Bureau of Labor Statistics from time immemorial. Every agency of Government-Congress and every other agency-looks to the Bureau of Labor Statistics to have accurate price information. We are serving not one, but a dozen agencies with this information. Mr. KEEFE. Are you furnishing the Department of Agriculture with that information? Mr. HINRICHS. They make extensive use of our materials. On farm prices the source of our information is the Department of Agriculture. On the prices of industrial goods, we furnish information to the Department of Agrculture. Mr. KEEFE. They have a Bureau of Agricultural Economics that is constantly making studies of agricultural prices; do they not? Mr. HINRICHS. Yes. They also are engaged in making a study of the prices that farmers pay. Mr. KEEFE. In connection with that, does your work overlap? Mr. HINRICHS. I think it has been believed that it does not overlap. because our studies are confined for the most part to the larger industrial cities. The Department of Agriculture's prices are collected more largely in rural communities. I think that it would be a question for the Division of Statistical Standards to determine whether there has been any overlapping there. Their opinion, I believe, is that there is not an overlapping of work. We are not collecting prices in the same areas. Mr. HARE. Is the continuation of these surveys contemplated following the emergency? Mr. HINRICHS. NO; I would contemplate that we could go back to the procedures which we had followed, which would be to revise our figures once in 5 or 10 years, rather than every 2 or 3 months. SUMMARY OF NATIONAL DEFENSE SUPPLEMENTAL ESTIMATES Mr. HARE. I think it best to insert in the record at this point page 1 of the justifications and the last two pages. I do not believe they are numbered, but I will number them 2 and 3. (The justifications are as follows:) OTHER OBLIGATIONS Travel--- Survey of wartime prices.. An estimated 1,400 manufacturers, dealers and trade authorities are to be interviewed, some particularly consumers' goods, at least twice a year for the duration of the war, and about 100 industrial firms, particularly in the field of metal, at least once a year, for descriptions of new products and new selling conditions. A Nation-wide recurring survey by means of field interviews is also to be conducted, specializing in certain industrial, e. g., metals, chemicals, canned foods, clothing, etc. For the fiscal year 1944 it is estimated that approximately 42 months of travel at $275 will be required in the survey of wholesale prices, and approximately 54 months of travel at $285 for the consumers' price study; a total of $27,100. Tenant survey, residential rent__ It is proposed to extend the present survey of residential rent data now being obtained by interviews with tenants in 33 cities to include 39 additional cities. For the fiscal year 1944 it is estimated that 7 months of travel at $300 will be made out of Washington, and field representatives will travel 48 months at $275; a total of $15,300. Cost of living indexes for the Territories__ This amount provides for 11 months of travel including transportation costs to Alaska, Puerto Rico, and Honolulu. Labor and plant utilization, aircraft industry In addition to providing measures of labor and plant utilization of approximately 250 manufacturers of complete airframes, engines, and propellers, basic information will be analyzed for approximately 2,000 important producers of aircraft parts and accessories. Some of the required data can only be obtained by personal interviews and travel is estimated as 8 months at $300, totaling $2,400 for the fiscal year 1944. Communications__ The estimates for the fiscal year 1944 average approximately $30 per man-year for the new employees covered by the estimate. $50,000 27, 100 15,300 6,000 2,400 3,330 Rents 200 This item covers emergency rental of machinery or equipment in the Teritories. Printing and binding--- 1, 200 This estimate covers the printing of schedules and forms for the following projects: Survey of wartime consumers' prices_ 600 400 200 Other contractual services_---- 45, 400 Tenant survey-Residential rents.. 37,000 The estimate submitted provides for the contract collection of rental data in 72 cities and covers a total of 288 collections. The average cost per city per collection is approximately $130 at an estimated total cost of $37,000. Cost of living-Territories____ 8,400 This estimate of $8,400 includes the collection by contract of rental data and charges paid for services included in the cost of living index as well as the cost of obtaining schedule of actual family buying. Supplies and materials.. The estimates for the 1944 fiscal year average approximately $30 per man-year for the new employees covered by the estimate. 3,592 |