ences in historical background, administrative structure, and legislative framework and appropriations.

The Bureau advises the States in the preparation of their public assistance plans and, in cooperation with the appropriate bureaus and offices in the Social Security Administration and with the office of the general counsel of the Federal Security Agency, examines these plans (and modifications thereof) for conformity with the requirements of the Social Security Act and established Federal standards and policies. It is on the basis of approval of these plans that certifications of grants-in-aid are made to the States to assist them in financing their programs for aid to the needy aged, to children deprived of parental support or care, and to the needy blind. The Bureau reviews the operation of these plans periodically for continuing conformity with the act, and offers to the States technical consultative services on public assistance administration. It also serves the States as a clearing house for the exchange of public assistance information and experience. The Social Security Act merely defines the limits and scope of Federal financial participation; the State plan may be broader. Federal participation is restricted to administrative costs of the programs and money payments (as distinct from services or payments in grocery orders and the like) to persons, who are needy, who are not inmates of public institutions, and who meet certain eligibility conditions. The eligibility conditions preclude Federal sharing in old-age assistance to persons under age 65, or to children age 18 and over (or age 16 and over if not attending school), or to children who are living with someone not included in a specified list of relatives in a residence maintained by such relative as a private home. In all other respects, Federal sharing, within the maximums specified, is conditioned on the State's action in determining eligibility for assistance under its plans and in providing funds for the operation of the program. Until July 1, 1950, the Federal contribution will be more than one-half and as much as twothirds of the State's assistance payments, depending on the average amount of the payments made by the State. The Federal Government does not participate in that portion of an assistance payment that is in excess of $45 in old-age assistance and aid to the blind, or in that portion of the payment for aid to dependent children in excess of $24 for the first child aided and $15 for each additional child in the home.

CHILDREN'S BUREAU

The Children's Bureau was created on April 9, 1912, by act of Congress (37 Stat. 79) and was placed in the Department of Labor by act of March 4, 1913 (37 Stat. 736). By the President's Reorganization Plan No. 2, effective July 16, 1946, the Bureau was transferred to the Federal Security Agency, except for its Industrial Division (through which the Bureau had exercised its functions under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938), which remained in the Department of Labor. Under an Agency order, the Bureau is now placed in the Social Security Administration, where it continues to exercise all the functions for which it was previously responsible under title V of the Social Security Act.

In carrying out the responsibilities assigned by its organic act, namely, to study and report on all that pertains to the welfare of children, the Bureau makes studies, compiles statistics, develops standards, gives advisory service, and issues publications, both technical and popular. Three of the Bureau's most widely used publications for parents are Prenatal Care, Infant Care, and Your Child from One to Six.

The Bureau administers grants to State health agencies for extending and improving health services for mothers and children authorized by title V, part 1, of the Social Security Act. Among these services are maternity clinics for prenatal and postnatal care of mothers; child-health conferences for supervision of the health of children under school age by physicians, assisted by public health nurses and other professional and technical workers in the health field; health services for school children, including health supervision by physicians, dentists, public health nurses, and nutritionists; dental care for children; nutrition education; inspection and licensing of hospital maternity services. The Bureau provides medical (obstetric, pediatric, and orthopedic), dental, nursing, and medicalsocial consultation services to State health agencies administering the program. Since 1943, Congress has appropriated funds, administered by the Bureau, for a temporary program of emergency care of wives and babies of men in the lowest four pay grades of the armed forces and of aviation cadets. This program is now being concluded, and funds appropriated by Congress for the fiscal years 1948 and 1949 provide for the completion of all cases for which care was authorized before June 30, 1947, and for the authorization of new cases that were otherwise eligible as of that date.

The Bureau administers grants to State agencies for extending and improving services for crippled children authorized by title V, part 2, of the Social Security Act. These agencies, usually in the health or welfare departments, use the funds to provide medical, surgical, corrective, and other services and care for children who are crippled or suffering from conditions that may lead to crippling, and to provide facilities for diagnosis, hospitalization, and aftercare for these children. Each State maintains a register of the crippled children found within its borders. The Bureau provides consultation service to the State agencies on methods and procedures, on standards for the selection of physicians, surgeons, and hospitals participating in the care of crippled children, and on provision of medical and social aftercare services.

Grants to State public welfare agencies, authorized by title V, part 3, of the Social Security Act, are administered by the Children's Bureau to extend and strengthen, especially in predominantly rural areas, public welfare services for the protection and care of homeless, dependent, and neglected children and children in danger of becoming delinquent. For each State public welfare agency, the Bureau plans and directs the program for child welfare services. Federal funds are used in part to provide State personnel to supervise the development of county or other local child welfare programs. Most of the State agencies use Federal funds to pay part of the cost of a child welfare program within the selected counties or other local subdivisions. In the administration of these grants the regional staff participates in the joint development of plans and gives advisory and consultant service to the State agencies.

The Bureau receives information and responds to requests for information and advice on services for children and youth from agencies in other countries and from international organizations such as United Nations agencies. The Bureau cooperates with the other American Republics under a program sponsored by the Department of State through the Interdepartmental Committee on Scientific and Cultural Cooperation. Consultants on maternal and child health and social services are assigned to the other countries on request, and administrators of health and social services are invited to the United States for observation and training. Spanish, Portuguese, and French editions of the Bureau's publications for parents, translated by the Department of State, are distributed in the other American Republics by the diplomatic missions of the United States.

BUREAU OF ACCOUNTS AND AUDITS

The Bureau of Accounts and Audits is responsible for the conduct of accounting, financial reporting, auditing, and fiscal advisory functions relating to the departmental and field activities of the Social Security Administration with respect to social insurance and public assistance. The Bureau reviews the fiscal aspects of State public assistance plans and requests for grants, conducts audits of State public assistance agencies, and furnishes constructive accounting services to such agencies. In unemployment insurance it conducts audits of administrative expenditures of State employment security agencies. The Bureau's duties include processing the budget of the Social Security Administration, keeping continuous control over expenditures, and maintaining accounts covering all funds collected and expended by the Administration. It is also responsible for the preaudit and certification for payment of administrative expenses of the Administration and furnishing advisory services to its bureaus and offices on accounting and fiscal matters.

BUREAU OF RESEARCH AND STATISTICS

The Bureau of Research and Statistics conducts studies of factors causing economic insecurity, the adequacy of existing social security measures, and problems connected with the development of a comprehensive and coordinated social security program covering all appropriate groups and risks. In this connection, it is charged with the development of new fields of study in social security, such as health and disability insurance and the provision of medical care, arising out of the responsibility imposed by section 702 of the Social Security Act. The Bureau is responsible for research and statistical activities beyond the immediate fields of the Administration's operating programs, such as the over-all financial and economic aspects of the social security program and the characteristics or effects of the interrelations of programs under the Social Security Act and other social insurance and welfare programs. The Bureau's duties include a continuing review of the research and statistical programs of the several bureaus and offices of the Administration to determine their integration with a broad research program and responsibility for coordinating related statistical and research activities of the operating bureaus and for reviewing research and statistical materials.

INFORMATIONAL SERVICE

The Informational Service is responsible for giving workers, employers, and the general public information on the provisions of the Social Security Act, particularly the Federal old-age and survivors insurance program. Information is disseminated through various channels of public information and education, so that persons affected may obtain the benefits the law provides, may meet their responsibilities under the law, and may comply with the necessary administrative procedures and regulations. The Informational Service advises and assists State agencies administering public assistance and unemployment insurance in planning and maintaining their informational programs.

OFFICE OF THE ACTUARY

The Actuarial Consultant and his staff advise the Commissioner for Social Security on technical, actuarial, and long-range factors needed in planning operations under the Social Security Act, in determining costs, and in considering proposals concerning the social security program.

OFFICE OF APPEALS COUNCIL

The Office of Appeals Council, which is independent of the Bureau of Old-Age and Survivors Insurance, hears and reviews appeals on claims for wage credits, monthly benefits, and lump-sum payments under programs administered by that Bureau. The Office consists of the 3 members of the Council, 12 regional referees, and a consulting referee.

OTHER OFFICES

Units in the Office of the Commissioner assist State agencies administering approved unemployment insurance and public assistance programs to conform with the merit-system requirements of the Social Security Act and to achieve maximum economy and efficiency in the operation of personnel programs, and review the operations of the merit systems for their compliance with the Social Security Act; perform for components of the Administration in Washington functions with respect to personnel, files, centralized stenographic and typing services, travel and space; and are responsible for services with respect to budget, general coordination and procedures, communications, publications (including the monthly Social Security Bulletin and its annual supplement, the Social Security Yearbook), and training.

LEGAL SERVICES

The General Counsel of the Federal Security Agency provides legal services, including legal advice concerning proposed and enacted State laws and plans for programs under the Social Security Act, and all legal aspects of the old-age and survivors insurance program; cooperates with the Department of Justice in litigation involving the Social Security Act and with States in litigation involving the State laws enacted to carry out the terms of the act; and renders advice on the legal aspects of methods proposed for improving social security provisions.

REGIONAL OFFICES

For effective and uniform administration, operations of the Administration are decentralized to provide local and regional services to workers covered by old-age and survivors insurance, to claimants for benefits under that program, and to State agencies administering laws and plans under the Social Security Act. Each of the regional offices-11 continental and 2 Territorial (Alaska and Hawaii)— is under the supervision of a regional director representing the Commissioner, with a staff including representatives of the various bureaus and offices.

FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION

The Federal Trade Commission was created by an act of Congress approved September 26, 1914, in which the powers and duties of the Commission were defined. The Commission is an administrative tribunal with its five members appointed by the President of the United States, with the approval of the Senate, for a term of 7 years each. No more than three of its members may be of the same political party.

Further powers were conferred upon this Commission by Public, No. 447, Seventy-fifth Congress, third session, "An act to amend the act creating the Federal Trade Commission, to define its powers and duties, and for other purposes,' approved March 21, 1938 (Wheeler-Lea Act); by "An act to supplement existing laws against unlawful restraints and monopolies, and for other purposes,' approved October 15, 1914 (Clayton Act), and by Public, No. 692, Seventy-fourth Congress, approved June 19, 1936, amending section 2 of said act of October 15, 1914 (Robinson-Patman Act); by "An act to promote export trade, and for other purposes," approved April 10, 1918 (Webb-Pomerene Export Trade Act); and by Public, No. 850, Seventy-sixth Congress, third session, approved October 14, 1940 (Wool Products Labeling Act of 1939); and by Public, No. 489, Seventyninth Congress, first session, approved July 5, 1946 (Lanham Trade-Mark Act), effective July 5, 1947.

FUNCTIONS AND PROCEDURE OF THE FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION UNDER STATUTES WHICH IT ADMINISTERS

The Commission's legal functions include prevention of unfair methods of competition and unfair or deceptive acts or practices in commerce, and of certain violations of the Clayton and other acts. Economic functions include general investigations and economic studies of domestic industry and interstate and foreign commerce.

The proceedings of the Commission under its organic act fall into two major categories: (1) Antimonopoly cases, and (2) false and misleading advertising and unfair acts and practices. The first category deals with price fixing, conspiracy, and restraints of trade, which may be reached by the Commission in their incipiency, thereby preserving the economy from the evils attendant upon the operation of a fully developed monopoly. In this category also appear such practices as boycotting, collusive bidding, control and limitation of supply, intimidation, operation of delivered price and zoning systems designed to eliminate competition, misuse of patents and licensing agreements and a variety of similar practices. In addition to a wide variety of false and misleading advertising and misbranding cases, the second category deals with such practices as appropriation or simulation of trade names or identifying marks, commercial bribery, disparaging of competitors' products, passing off, fictitious price marking, simulation of competitors' products or package, threats of infringement suits not made in good faith, use of lottery devices in the sale of merchandise and similar practices, the variety and scope of which are limited only by the ingenuity of those who seek to take unfair advantage of their competitors and the purchasing public.

THE FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION ACT

Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act provides that "unfair methods of competition in commerce, and unfair or deceptive acts or practices in commerce, are hereby declared unlawful" and empowers and directs the Commission to prevent "persons, partnerships, or corporations, except banks, common carriers subject to the acts to regulate commerce, air carriers and foreign air carriers subject to the Civil Aeronautics Act of 1938, and persons, partnerships, or corporations subject to the Packers and Stockyards Act, 1921, except as provided in section 406 (b) of said act, from using unfair methods of competition in commerce and unfair or deceptive acts or practices in commerce."

The Commission is empowered and directed whenever it shall have reason to believe that any such person, partnership, or corporation has been or is using any unfair method of competition in commerce or any unfair or deceptive act or practice in commerce, and if it shall appear to the Commission that a proceeding by it in respect thereof would be to the interest of the public, to issue and serve upon such person, partnership, or corporation a complaint stating its charges in that respect. Provision is made for hearings, the taking of testimony and oral argument before the Commission upon request therefor. If the Commission shall then be of the opinion that the method of competition or the act or practice in question is prohibited by this act, it shall issue and cause to be served upon the person or organization against whom complaint is made its findings of fact and an order to cease and desist from such unfair method of competition or such unfair or deceptive act or practice.

Provision is made for petition to a circuit court of appeals of the United States, within any circuit where the method of competition or the act or practice in question was used or where such person, partnership, or corporation resides or carries on business, within 60 days from the date of the service of such order to modify or set aside such order of the Commission. Upon such petition the court

has power to affirm, modify, or set aside such order, and to enforce the same to the extent that such order is affirmed. An order of the Commission to cease and desist becomes final upon the expiration of the time allowed for filing a petition for review, if no such petition has been duly filed within such time; and, in case petition for review has been duly filed within the time allowed, the order of the Commission becomes final when the time for filing petition for certiorari has expired after such order has been affirmed or modified by a circuit court of appeals and no such petition has been filed, or, if certiorari has been granted, at such time as the decision has been affirmed by the Supreme Court.

Section 5, as amended, also provides that "any person, partnership, or corporation who violates an order of the Commission to cease and desist after it has become final, and while such order is in effect, shall forfeit and pay to the United States a civil penalty of not more than $5,000 for each violation, which shall accrue to the United States and may be recovered by a civil action brought by the United States."

Generally, a letter to the Commission stating the employment of unfair practices by some concern is sufficient to institute the Commission's consideration of a proceeding. If the letter clearly discloses that nothing is charged within the jurisdiction of the Commission, it is filed without further action. If it appears, however, that there may have been such a violation of law, the matter is settled, after further investigation, by stipulation and agreement with the concern named in the letter, or by the issuance of a formal complaint followed by a formal trial of the charges, or by closing the file without action, or by dismissal of the charges, as required by the facts of the particular case and by the public interest.

În cases where stipulations are authorized, voluntary agreements are entered into between the Commission and the individual or concern named. Such stipulations recite the particular offense or violation charged and include an agreement to cease and desist from the practice in question. Stipulations are extended by the Commission as a matter of privilege and not of right, in instances where formal action appears unnecessary in the public interest. All such stipulations are a part of the public records of the Commission and digests thereof are published. It is the policy of the Commission not to thus dispose of matters involving intent to defraud or mislead; false advertisement of food, drugs, devices, or cosmetics which may be injurious to health; suppression or restraint of competition through conspiracy or monopolistic practices; violations of the Clayton Act; or where the Commission is of the opinion that such procedure will not be effective in preventing continued use of the unlawful method, act, or practice.

A formal proceeding, instituted by a formal complaint and followed by the taking of testimony, filing of briefs, and oral argument, is terminated by the entry of a formal order to cease and desist or by order dismissing or closing the case. Such a proceeding is prosecuted in the name of the Commission by the Bureau of Litigation, and testimony and evidence in such proceeding are proffered before a member of the Bureau of Trial Examiners, who is charged with the duty of passing upon the testimony and evidence and with other details incident to the trial of the case.

Procedure and internal organization of the Commission, specific methods of competition and unfair or deceptive acts or practices condemned by the Commission, are set forth in detail in its annual report.

Section 6 of the act empowers the Commission to gather and compile information concerning, and to investigate from time to time, the organization, business, conduct, practices, and management of corporations engaged in commerce, except banks and common carriers subject to the act to regulate commerce, and vests the Commission with authority to require reports and answers to specific questions in the compilation of such information in the public interest.

The Commission also has power under section 6 to investigate alleged violations of the antitrust acts by any corporation, upon the direction of the President or Congress, and, at the request of the Attorney General, to make such investigations and recommendations for changes in the corporation's methods so as to conform to the law.

The Commission is also empowered under section 6 to investigate the manner in which final decrees that have been entered in suits to restrain violations of said decrees have been carried out, either upon its own initiative or at the request of the Attorney General, to whom it must report in the matter; to make such reports public; to investigate from time to time trade conditions in and with foreign countries where associations, combinations, or practices of manufacturers, merchants, or traders, or other conditions may affect the foreign trade of the United States; and to make public from time to time such portions of the information obtained