APPROPRIATION BILL FOR 1939 J! HEARINGS BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE SEVENTY-FIFTH CONGRESS A6 75th 1,14 ** COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS EDWARD T. TAYLOR, Colorado, Chairman CLARENCE CANNON, Missouri THOMAS S. MCMILLAN, South Carolina J. BUELL SNYDER, Pennsylvania JOHN F. DOCKWEILER, California GEORGE W. JOHNSON, West Virginia JAMES M. FITZPATRICK, New York LOUIS C. RABAUT, Michigan JOACHIM O. FERNANDEZ, Louisiana J. BURRWOOD DALY, Pennsylvania JOHN TABER, New York ROBERT L. BACON, New York RICHARD B. WIGGLESWORTH, Massachusetts J. WILLIAM DITTER, Pennsylvania ROSS A. COLLINS, Mississippi CHARLES H. LEAVY, Washington WILLIAM D. MCFARLAND, Texas JOSEPH E. CASEY, Massachusetts MARCELLUS C. SHEILD, Clerk SUBCOMMITTEE ON STATE, JUSTICE, COMMERCE, AND LABOR DEPARTMENTS DEPARTMENT OF LABOR APPROPRIATION BILL FOR 1939 HEARINGS CONDUCTED BY THE SUBCOMMITTEE, MESSRS. THOMAS S. MCMILLAN (CHAIRMAN), MALCOLM C. TARVER, JAMES MCANDREWS, LOUIS C. RABAUT, MILLARD F. CALDWELL, ROBERT L. BACON, AND ALBERT E. CARTER, OF THE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, IN CHARGE OF THE STATE, JUSTICE, COMMERCE, AND LABOR APPROPRIATION BILL FOR THE FISCAL YEAR 1939, ON THE DAYS FOLLOWING, NAMELY: WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 26, 1938. STATEMENT OF HON. FRANCES PERKINS, SECRETARY OF LABOR; AND RICHARDSON SAUNDERS, ASSISTANT TO THE SECRETARY GENERAL STATEMENT Mr. MCMILLAN. We have with us this morning the Secretary of Labor. At this time, Madam Secretary, we shall be glad to have you give us, if you will, a summary of the activities of the Department of Labor for the past fiscal year. ESTIMATES, FISCAL YEAR 1939 There was an estimate submitted to the committee of $24,540,260 for the next fiscal year, which represents an increase of $763,840 over the current fiscal year. The committee has had a number of the Bureau officials appear in behalf of the items in which they are concerned. But we shall be glad to have you at this time give us a general statement covering the Department as a whole. INCREASED ACTIVITIES OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR Secretary PERKINS. I thank you very much for this opportunity, sir. I want to say that I am very glad that you have heard some of the bureau heads and have had an opportunity to question them. I also want to say, in explanation of this budget, that we have the advantage, throughout the Department of Labor, of having a very competent Budget officer in whom everybody in the Department has great confidence. The bureau heads have been, I think, in the formulating of their budget and in their respective requests, very largely guided by his experience. He is thoroughly familiar not only with the actual financial needs but the way in which their work has developed and is developing. I want to indicate to you in asking a Budget of $24,540,000, although this seems a large increase over the appropriation of 1933, practically |