NATIONAL SHRINES OR MONUMENTS Mr. FITZPATRICK. I want to ask a question right here. During the last year, how many places did your department approve for national shrines or monuments because of their historical background? Mr. DEMARAY. In order to give you an accurate statement I would have to furnish it for the record; but there have been several of that nature in which, instead of having the operation cost fall upon the Federal Government, we have arranged contracts with historical societies who are interested and who will take over the maintenance and operation of those historical shrines. Mr. FITZPATRICK. But they are approved by your department? Mr. FITZPATRICK. How do you go about making the investigations and making those approvals? Mr. DEMARAY. We have an item for a historic-site survey, for which you appropriate funds annually, and there is considerable discussion of that in the justifications which we have presented to you. Those investigations are made by trained historians, and then they are passed upon by an advisory board of 11 members which was set up by the Historic Sites Act. Mr. FITZPATRICK. They receive no salary? Mr. DEMARAY. They receive no salary. Mr. FITZPATRICK. Ånd are they located in different parts of the country? Mr. DEMARAY. They are located in different parts of the country. Mr. FITZPATRICK. Do they turn down many of the sites that are recommended after the investigation is made? Mr. DEMARAY. Yes, sir. They turn down, I believe, many more than they approve. Mr. FITZPATRICK. Have you ever made an investigation as to the historical background of those that they approved and those that they disapproved? Mr. DEMARAY. The research work is done largely by our own people, and then these advisers, who are competent historians in their own right-or a number of them are-are competent to judge the value of the research work that was done, and in most instances they approve of the work which has been done for them by the National Park Service. Mr. FITZPATRICK. I ask you that because I have introduced a bill on several occasions relating to a place in my congressional district, and it would have been approved by the committee except for the fact that they did not want to set a precedent. I understand that an investigation has been made by your department, and the advisory committee has not approved it. Mr. DEMARAY. The prescription in the Historic Sites Act is that it shall be of national significance. Now, in many instances of historic shrines the studies have not been carried along far enough with regard to shrines of similar character. They want to know, first, which are of outstanding significance and which ought to be handled by States or local patriotic societies. So the research work has not been carried on fast enough, with the amount of money that has been approved, to get a general survey of shrines of a similar character. 311522-41-pt. 1-29 Mr. FITZPATRICK. The freedom of the press, as I understand, was started right in the yard of St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Mount Vernon, N. Y., by a man named John Peter Zenger, who could not get the returns of a local election published in the one newspaper in the Colony, which was under the complete domination of the Royal Governor. From that day up to the present time I understand that historians claim it is the birthplace of the "freedom of the press." There are many other things connected with it, but for some unknown reason they will not approve it. Mr. DEMARAY. Which church is that? Mr. FITZPATRICK. St. Pauls Church, in Mount Vernon, N. Y., has a great historical background. Many persons active in the Revolutionary War were members of this church, and many of them were buried in the churchyard. Mr. DEMARAY. We will make a note of that and look into it. I am not personally familiar with it. Mr. FITZPATRICK. I wish you would. I get a good many communications from various organizations in my district advocating that this church be made a national shrine because of its historical background, and I cannot understand why it has never been approved. Mr. DEMARAY. I might say in that regard that we feel that many cases of the kind that are presented to us are with the idea that they can get some funds out of the Federal Government to do certain things. Realizing the necessity of being always within reason in our requests before this committee, we have attempted in the last few years, in connection with our work, to see whether we could not arrange with the interested societies, that in the event an area was designated as a historic site, they would take over, under a contractual arrangement with the Secretary of the Interior, the upkeep and maintenance of those sites. Mr. FITZPATRICK. I am quite sure that this church would agree to that. Mr. DEMARAY. That has been our effort in the last few years. I am not familiar with this case, but I will look it up. Mr. JONES. Do you have available the internal-revenue records in order to check and see that the Government is getting its fair share? Mr. DEMARAY. Yes, sir. We are constantly checking with the Internal Revenue Bureau, because their financial statements have to agree with ours. Mr. JONES. And you have found them in every case to agree? Mr. DEMARAY. Well, there will be items on which a company may perhaps have a dispute with the Internal Revenue Bureau as to whether they are taxable or not. Mr. JONES. But as to the amounts that they report? Mr. DEMARAY. No; they have been no discrepancies of that char acter. PRINTING AND BINDING Mr. SCRUGHAM. Let us get down to the financial details. On page 38 of the bill the first item relating to the National Park Service is printing and binding. There is an increase from $92,000 to $109,155. What is the reason for that extra amount asked for? Mr. DEMARAY. It is this general question, Mr. Chairman, of an adequate number of publications for the public. Mr. SCRUGHAM. There is a large increase in the number of visitors at many of the parks, and they are asking for information? Mr. DEMARAY. We have over 16,000,000 visitors to the parks. There are still numbers of areas on which we have no printed literature, and at least 40 percent of our literature is mailed out to prospective visitors. That is the only means of advertising that the Federal Government has. SALARIES, OFFICE OF DIRECTOR Mr. SCRUGHAM. On page 478 of the bill we have the item for salaries for the Director of the National Park Service and other personal services in the District of Columbia. The estimate for 1942 is $275,960, as against an appropriation for 1941 of $270,000. JUSTIFICATION OF ESTIMATE Mr. DEMARAY. The following justification is submitted for the record: National Park Service, salaries Amount included in 1942 Budget__. Increase, 1942 over 1941___ $275, 960 270,000 5, 960 The increase, plus $18,800 representing the salaries of five positions transferred to the Fish and Wildlife Service under the provisions of Reorganization Plans Nos. II and III, would provide $1,240 to cover increased salaries resulting from job reclassifications effected during the 1940 fiscal year, and $23,520 for establishing nine additional positions. The positions listed below were reclassified during the 1940 fiscal year by the United States Civil Service Commission, and the increase of $1,240 is needed to cover the additional resulting costs: The most urgent problem of the Service is the lack of sufficient regular personnel in its Washington office. Duties have expanded and increased greatly due to the vast growth of field activities; establishment of new national parks, monuments, and sites; demand of the great number of visitors for additional services and conveniences; requests from the public for information; and requirements of the General Accounting Office, United States Civil Service Commission, the Bureau of the Budget, the Department, and other Government agencies for additional and more detailed scientific, technical, accounting, budget, and personnel reports and statements. Provision of additional personnel has not kept pace with increased duties. Accordingly, it has been necessary for the available personnel to work overtime 18,442 hours during the calendar year 1940 and to fail to undertake or to curtail drastically required features of the work. It has been only with the assistance of emergency and Civilan Conservation Corps administrative personnel that the most important functions of the Service's regular work could be kept from getting hopelessly in arrears. However, reduc །། tions in emergency and Civilian Conservation Corps personnel during the past several years have curtailed that assistance greatly, placing additional burdens on the already overtaxed regular employees. The increase of $23,520 is No. 1 priority of the general needs of the Service and is recommended for employing the following additional personnel : Director's staff, $7,500 Additional associate director position (CAF–14). $7,500 The number of areas administered by the National Park Service has increased from 37 when the Service was created in 1916 to 162 in 1940, exclusive of the 54 recreational demonstration areas and the State parks being developed under the Emergency Relief Administration and Civilian Conservation Corps programs with Service supervision. Other allied work also has been assigned, involving the former Office of Public Buildings and Public Parks of the National Capital, of which administration of the National Capital Parks has been retained by the Service; membership in the District of Columbia Zoning Commission and the National Capital Park and Planning Commission; supervision of the United States Travel Bureau; the historic sites and buildings survey; and the park, parkway, and recreational area study. The development of State parks under the Civilian Conservation Corps program is supervised by the National Park Service. The recreational demonstration project activities were transferred from the Resettlement Administration. This vast expansion of activities resulted in the impairment of the health of the Director to such an extent that he requested to be relieved of the burdens of the directorship. The former Director is now serving as a regional director, but it is requested that an additional position of Associate Director be established to which he can be appointed to assist the Director in discharging the heavy administrative burden he is now required to carry. Accounts Section, Branch of Operations, $4,900 Assistant section chief (CAF-8) Clerk (CAF-5) – Total $2,900 2,000 4,900 There are now 30 employees in the Accounts Section, 3 additional Civilian Conservation Corps clerks having been provided in 1941 as a result of the increased accounting work caused by the objective classification control provision included in the 1941 Civilian Conservation Corps appropriation. Two regular employees also were provided in 1941. The section chief, 12 clerks, 2 field auditors, and 2 stenographers are paid from regular funds; 11 clerks and 1 stenographer from Civilian Conservation Corps funds; and 1 clerk from Emergency Relief funds. The work of the section involves the maintenance and operation of accounting procedures covering transactions of the Washington office and the maintenance of control accounts to record and control accounting and disbursing activities of the field offices. Each such function entails all the usual work associated with similar accounting procedures, but the latter which provides the administrative officers with fiscal data and protects the expenditure of appropriated funds for the whole Service is more important. The position of assistant chief of the Accounts Section is recommended to assist the chief in handling the large volume of mail, vouchers, and other accounting documents so he can properly supervise the section and perform other important duties. An average of more than 2,600 documents a month pass over the desk of the section chief to be reviewed and signed, including accounts current, vouchers, letters, schedules of disbursements, and other aecounting and disbursing forms. If the proper amount of time is devoted to each item, the section chief is unable to perform other duties which are extremely important. The work of the section should be supervised closely to ascertain that regulations and instructions are being followed, to determine whether improvement in procedure is necessary or possible, and for general administrative purposes. Correspondence must be handled personally, new regulations of the General Accounting Office and Treasury Department studied and interpreted for the field offices, and accounting procedures revised from time to time. The duties of the section chief necessitate a considerable amount of research work and contacts with the General Accounting Office and the Treasury Department. An assistant could absorb much of the detailed work and provide time for the chief to carry out the important functions. A clerk at $2,000 is necessary to audit and review the accounts-receivable registers submitted by the field offices and those prepared in the Washington office. This work has not been accomplished previously, but the General Accounting Office has recommended that it be done. The miscellaneous-receipts deposits of the National Park Service during the 1940 fiscal year exceeded $1,900,000, but it has not been possible to audit accounts-receivable registers to determine that all billings have been made properly and that collections are effected promptly or referred to the General Accounting Office for collection. Personnel and Records Division, Branch of Operations, $3,240 1 assistant clerk (CAF-3) 1 assistant clerk-typist (CAF-3)-- Total_____ $1, 620 1, 620 3,240 An additional assistant-clerk position for the Appointment Section is needed for the general personnel work of the Service. The force is now inadequate and the work is far in arrears. In addition, the Department recently transferred to this office the audit of Civil Service Form 4-A, reports of personnel changes submitted by the field offices. This work is over 2 years in arrears. Additional help is also needed, due to the many statistical reports required for the preparation of the annual Budget estimates and for submission to the Civil Service Commission. An assistant clerk-typist position is needed in the Pay Roll Section for the examination of pay rolls, leave applications, and attendance record forms for nonappointive per diem and per hour when actually employed employees in the field service; the maintenance of pay, leave, and attendance, and retirement record cards; the handling of correspondence concerning furloughs and separations, Overpayments and underpayments, discrepancies in leave granted and in leave due; and answering inquiries submitted by field offices on leave problems peculiar to this class of employees. Maintenance of records in the Washington office for this class of personnel was not required prior to January 1, 1940, and, while some progress has been made in the examination of leave applications and the maintenance of leave cards, it has not been possible with the 2 employees now on the rolls to commence work on the pay rolls and pay cards for any of these employees. Park Operators Division, branch of operations, $4,640 Senior accountant (CAF-9). Total $3,200 1, 440 4, 640 No permanent employees are now available to carry on the rate review work which was handled in the past by the part-time use of emergency technical employees, no longer authorized, and temporary stenographers secured from various Sources. It will not be possible to comply with a request of the Secretary's office to give increased attention to rate studies unless a Rate Review Section is established on a permanent basis. It was necessary last year to cancel a study of cafeteria and low-cost facilities in Yellowstone National Park designed to bring about lower prices for the visiting public because of the lack of personnel. Rate schedules for the all-year parks should be approved prior to December 31 annually and those for the so-called summer parks should be approved prior to March 1. Practically no schedules were approved prior to December 31, 1939, and 39 rate schedules were not approved until after June 1, 1940. The Service is being severely criticized by railroads and tourist bureaus because of the delay in getting out rate schedules for tourist publications. Unless additional personnel is provided, it will be necessary to take the senior accountants now engaged on field audit work and assign them to rate review work, thus putting the audit work, now approximately 4 years in arrears, still further behind. An increase of $4,640 is requested to employ a senior accountant and a junior stenographer to establish the Rate Review Section. |