Bituminous Coal Division for the fiscal year 1942. This is to provide for 715 positions in Washington at a net cost of $1,550,200 and 434 positions in the field service at a net cost of $882,800-a total of 1,149 positions at a net cost of $2,433,000. This estimate also provides a total of $817,000 for obligations other than personal services.

I am submitting for the record in some detail an analysis of the positions provided for by the estimate. A summary table of the detail referred to is attached hereto.

To summarize the justification for this estimate: In compliance work we have at the present time a backlog of 858 charges of violation of the price schedule-359 others having been disposed of-50 hearings on off-highway mine prices, 100 hearings on adjustment of prices into consuming centers served by truck, and pending examinations of costs on lake and tidewater coals.

In addition to the foregoing, there are more than 200 hearings remaining to be held on petitions filed under section 4 II (d) of the act for price adjustment or original scheduling of prices. Some 500 such hearings have heretofore been held. We anticipate the filing of such petitions at the rate of approximately 30 per week, which with the backlog of cases will require decisions at the rate of approximately 40 cases per week. In addition to the cases to be heard, there are pending an additional 200 cases in which hearings have been held but decisions not yet rendered. Also, we face the necessity of a Nationwide hearing relating to redetermination of costs which must be handled with the utmost expedition.

This large number of hearings, including those on charges of violation as well as those for the original fixing and revision of prices, necessitates increasing somewhat the staff of trial examiners. These examiners act in a quasi-judicial capacity analogous to trial justices.

The Marketing Branch is composed of technical experts and their clerical assistants. These technical experts must be, and are, qualified to make accurate analyses in the very complex field of the distribution and marketing of coal, price levels, and the multiplicity of grades, classes, and sizes of coal, and relevant traffic matters. The large number of hearings heretofore mentioned necessitates an increase in this technical staff and their clerical assistants on the same basis as related in the cases of attorneys and trial examiners.

The Economics Branch is composed of technical experts qualified in the fields of accounting, statistics, and economics. The hearings held by the Division require the services of people skilled in these fields in order that accurate data may be presented as to costs and distribution of coal and realization resulting from sales. The increased number of hearings necessitates some addition to this technical staff. This branch is responsible also for the collection, processing, and compilation of all the Division's statistics. The production of coal has greatly increased in the last 2 years and this has resulted in an increase in the number of documents filed with the Division which serve as statistical source material. The increase in the number of such documents is estimated to be not less than 15 percent. The Division is already in arrears in the processing of those statistics and they must be brought to a current basis in order to permit the administration of the act to the greatest advantage.

The volume of work heretofore described has resulted in an enormous increase in the records to be kept, both in the official dockets and in the maintaining of accurate lists to insure, among other things, proper

service of legal documents, proper notification of decisions rendered and orders issued, and the furnishing of accurate information to the Bureau of Internal Revenue as a basis for the collection of taxes imposed by the act.

Similarly, there has been a doubling of mail received, more than a doubling of mail dispatched, a corresponding increase in filing, and a greater activity in the accounting work because of increased activity in the field, such as travel of compliance officers. These increased activities necessitate an increase in the staff of the Administrative Section.

PRESENT NUMBER OF PERSONNEL AND ADDITIONAL NUMBER REQUESTED FOR 1942

There is a comparatively small increase in the number of field positions, practically all of which is accounted for by the tremendous increase in compliance work. Twenty-two of these additional employees will be compliance officers, and most of the additional clerical personnel will be needed for increased clerical work in connection with compliance.

With your permission, Mr. Chairman, I shall submit both this summary and the more detailed statement for the record. I shall be pleased to answer any questions the members of the committee may wish to ask.

The following is a summarization of personal services in the Division:

Summarization of persons and annual salaries on the Bituminous Coal Division rolls and those included in the 1942 budgetary request

Mr. RICH. Now, I notice, Mr. Gray, that you have requested this year the sum of $3,250,000. Last year for a 10-month period you had $2,250,000, which would mean for the full 12-month period $2,700,000.

JUSTIFICATION OF ESTIMATES

Mr. GRAY. Yes, sir. I submit for the record the following justification in support of the estimates for the fiscal year 1942:

JUSTIFICATION IN SUPPORT OF ESTIMATES FOR THE FISCAL YEAR 1942

In general, it may be said that the justification for the requested increases in personnel over the present staff of the Division, as included in estimates previously submitted, are attributable to the number of hearings now required in handling petitions under section 4-II-(d) of the act for establishment of new prices and revision of prices fixed; the development of the compliance problem involving both investigation and the holding of hearings; and in no small measure to the loss of personnel because of the imminent expiration of the act and inability to recruit replacements and additional personnel for the same reason. It will be appreciated that the present staff is considerably below the staff authorized by the Budget estimates approved for the current period.

The justifications are set out in more detail in the attached break-down by Branches and sections.

Comparative statement showing persons and annual salaries on the Bituminous Coal Division rolls and those included in the 1942 budgetary request

Comparative statement showing persons and annual salaries on the Bituminous Coal Division rolls and those included in the 1942 budgetary request-Continued

OFFICE OF DIRECTOR AND ASSISTANT DIRECTOR

To coordinate the activities of the various offices of the Division in connection with the work that will develop with the subcommittee of the House Ways and Means Committee appointed to follow the activities under this act and to coordinate procedures between the various offices of the Division in connection with the basic hearings mentioned above, it is believed that the services of an individual assigned to the Director's office will be more economical than would similar activities of various staff members in the branches. Consequently the services of a technical expert have been included in the estimate.

Increase in compliance work. The compliance work will increase during the coming year, because:

1. The charges of violation have been increasing since the beginning. The average for the first 3 months was 156 charges per month. The average for the past 3 months was 227.

2. The above increase in charges was during the best prices the industry has had in many years. During the summer months the prices regularly drop, because of the inability of producers to get rid of the large domestic sizes. The past price-cutting will be represented by violations.

3. War prices, even for the small sizes, regularly bring large numbers of new mines into production which compete for existing prices, and will create a condition of violation.

4. The past shortage of personnel in the field has led to a break-down of compliance in certain areas, and instead of a few charges, many will have to be brought to restore a condition of general compliance.

5. The shortage of personnel in the General Counsel's office has resulted in a lag in bringing cases to trial, which will not be caught up for 6 months even with the proposed General Counsel's office personnel, and the result has been a breakdown of the belief that offenders will be punished. As of March 31, that lag was 199 cases, many of them over 2 months without action. The increase in lag over February 28, was 78 cases. The increase in lag in April will be over 100 cases, leaving 300 untouched at the end of April.

6. The new prices resulting from the wage increases will mean that about 10,000 truck-mine operators will have to be revisited by the compliance officers and checked on their new prices, and instructed in them. At present in districts 8 and 9, for example, the average compliance officer in the field covers 3,000 square miles and 400 mines. This visiting of all mines is in addition to the usual compliance work.

7. The coming summer will have 100 hearings on consuming area prices for truck-mine deliveries, which will take 3,000 man-days of the compliance officers, and 50 hearings on off-highway truck prices which will take 525 man-days of compliance officers, a total of 3,525 man-days, or full time for 30 men for 4.7 months of 25 days. This will further retard and bunch up the compliance work. 8. The compliance officers will have to appear as witnesses at approximately 100 hearings per month as soon as the General Counsel's office begins to catch up with its lag of cases, which will be 300 by the end of April. That will take approximately 2 days for 2 men on each case. This will further retard the usual compliance work and result in increases in violations. Backlog of Compliance Work.-(1) Charges of Violation:

In addition to the backlog of charges there are: (2) Fifty hearings on off-highway mine prices, each hearing involving an average of 13 mines. The work of the compliance officers before the hearing will be one-half day per mine and at the hearing one-fifth day per mine, a total for 750 mines at seven-tenths days, or 525 man-days.