Independent Offices Appropriation Bill for 1936

The committee also has received 99 Federal statistical projects with total budgets of $121,548,873. Further tables are included in appendix I.

14 projects subsequently disapproved by the Bureau of the Budget, the Advisory Committee on Allotments, or by the President; 12 projects subsequently returned to sponsor as a result of a general Presidential order.

17 projects withdrawn by sponsor at request of the Coordinating Committee.

Under consideration at the time of general Presidential order returning all unapproved Federal projects to sponsors.

2. Review of statistical releases.—Advisory review of press releases and other publications of a statistical nature issued by Government agencies was undertaken by the Board at the request of and with the cooperation of the executive council late in 1933. During the first 9 months of 1935 a total of 375 statistical releases was reviewed. The major purposes served by the review of releases may be summarized as follows:

I. Improved objectivity, clarity, and perspective.

II. Elimination of inconsistencies.

III. Greater accuracy in describing data, sources, methodology, and limitations.

3. Investigations of particular statistical units with a view to recommending curtailments, expansions, or improvements in service. The largest undertaking of the Board in this category has been a continuing investigation of the Bureau of the Census. At the request of the Director of the Census, the Board has conducted a comprehensive survey of the organization, work, and statistical results of five important subject-matter divisions of the Bureau. A large part of this survey has been completed, and recommendations upon important phases of Bureau organization, on personnel administration, on cost accounting, and on job analysis are in the process of adoption. It is believed that this study eventually will lead to substantial improvements in efficiency and to reductions of cost of work on the part of the Census. Other divisions will be studied as the need arises.

As a continuing program in this category, the Board is undertaking a number of detailed studies of statistical budgets with a view to ascertaining whether such studies can be used effectively by the Director of the Budget in segregating amounts requested for statistical purposes from other items of proposed expenditures in the budgets of the several departments and independent agencies. As Budget estimates are now prepared, separation of statistical costs into individual items or categories is not widely practiced.

4. Special studies of statistical services in related fields, aiming at consolidations, eliminations of duplications, and more efficient and economical operations. Since its organization the Board has undertaken a number of studies falling within this category. More specific reference to these will be found on pages 22-25 of the Board's first annual report.

There is in hand at the present time a request from the Federal Power Commission that the Board investigate the duplications in the field of electric light and power statistics. A preliminary investigation indicates that there are over 20 Federal agencies which collect various kinds and amounts of statistical data pertaining to electricity. In a number of instances the collection of the data rests upon legislative authority or mandate. In consequence, the question of overlapping of work among the Federal Power Commission, the Geological Survey, and the Bureau of the Census requires particular attention.

Special studies of this kind often require that improvements be made in the statistical data concerned in order to make clear what duplications exist and what consolidations should be effected. For example, during the past year the Board has had called to its attention seeming duplications of effort on the part of the Civil Service Commission and the Bureau of Labor Statistics with regard to the collection and publication of monthly reports on employment in the executive branch of the Federal Government. The Board's study revealed that actual duplications in collection of figures were not serious but that other duplications have occurred insofar as it has been necessary for both agencies 37059-36—————4

to keep individual sets of records and to make overlapping administrative contacts with the reporting agencies. Both agencies have specific authorizations to collect data in this field. The Bureau of Labor Statistics has a mandatory authority to collect Federal employment figures (46 Stat. 1019), and the Civil Service Commission is making its collections pursuant to an order issued by the Director of the Budget in 1925. Recommendations concerning this problem are being prepared for transmittal to the agencies concerned.

5. Studies designed to be of value to the statistical agencies in general.— In this category the Board is conducting studies designed to bring about greater uniformity throughout the Government statistical services with respect to such important matters as (a) standard techniques for sampling, (b) standard forms for presenting similar or directly comparable tabular material, and (c) standard methods of adjusting for seasonal variations.

The Board has been slow to undertake a comprehensive, continuing program of work in this category, first, because of the pressure of emergency tasks; and, second, because it has felt that a number of problems of duplication in important statistical series should first be resolved. These duplications should be eliminated before subjecting the data concerned to the kind of experimentation that would be necessary for the introduction of standard techniques.

It is expected, however, that substantial progress in this direction will be made during the coming fiscal year. The Board now is preparing a memorandum upon the correction of data for seasonal change and also is working upon the problem of standardizing certain common statistical drafting procedures. A style sheet and illustrative charts are now being cleared with drafting offices in the various statistical units of the Government. 6. Creation of interdepartmental committee for consideration of common satistical problems.-The Board has supervised the work of a number of interdepartmental committees, dealing with such subjects as those mentioned above on page 5. At the present time, to cite another example, the Board has a working committee which is studying common problems respecting the statistics which enter into estimates of national income. It is hoped that this committee's work will allow the resolution of several problems which result from differences in the particular points of view or specialized objectives of the agencies concerned.

Included in this category also are the efforts of interdepartmental committees appointed to assist in planning statistical reporting programs. Shortly after the Works Progress Administration was established, one of the Board's committees assisted in planning the current reports for the new program with a view to avoiding duplication and, wherever possible, of preserving continuity with existing reports. The committee was successful in gaining agreement among the Works Progress Administration, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Bureau of Public Roads, the Federal Employment Stabilization Board, and other agencies on the classifications to be used in reporting types of projects, types of material purchased, and in definitions of employment.

7. Provision of skilled statistical services in response to special needs.-The Board occasionally discovers situations in which the data collected by one agency for specific statistical ends can be made to serve the purposes of other agencies. In most cases these needs can be met by making special tabulations of the original data. A noteworthy example of this kind pertains to the financial survey of urban housing, a Federal Civil Works Administration project. The Board ascertained that the data collected could be made to serve special purposes of the Bureau of the Census, the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce, the Housing Division of the Public Works Administration, and the Federal Home Loan Bank Board, and the Federal Housing Administration. By making special tabulations it was possible to obviate the collection of similar material by both the Federal Housing Administration and the Federal Home Loan Bank Board, thereby effecting savings as well as reducing field canvass work. Through the agency of the Board a special supervisory committee was established to undertake the cooperative, supplementary work, and a staff member was loaned by the Board to direct this work. It was for this purpose that the special working fund of $10,000 for construction statistics was established. 8. Development in cooperation with business groups of more adequate industrial and business statistics.-In sections D, E, and F special attention has been called to the work of the Division of Current Business Statistics. With the establishment of the National Recovery Administration there immediately grew up a problem of duplication of statistical reporting on the part of industries operating under codes of fair competition. In a number of industries

the potential duplications were great. It was possible, for instance, for one firm to receive questionnaires requiring almost identical information from as many as four agencies, including the Bureau of the Census, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the code authority or trade association, and the National Recovery Administration itself. Collection of information by each agency was, of course, directed toward different ends, the Census asking information regarding production; the Bureau of Labor Statistics, labor information; the code authority, information which could be used as a basis for determining quotas or for other aspects of code administration; and the National Recovery Administration, information with regard to compliance. Firms operating under two or more codes ran the additional risk of additional duplication.

The Board believed that unless coordination was brought about in this field the burden upon respondents would be intolerable. I therefore recommended to the National Recovery Administration the cooperative establishment by all of the Government agencies concerned of a standard or minimum program to obtain at one time from all the important industries under codes:

(a) The number of employees.

(b) The number of man-hours. (c) Pay rolls.

(d) Dollar sales and/or physical volume of output.

(e) Commodity stocks on hand.

The program was started early in 1935 and has operated successfully to relieve large numbers of respondents from reporting certain data to more than one Government agency. In the case of at least 12 industries improvements in the data collected were obtained and a much greater degree of comparability of data between industries was brought about.

Since the Schechter decision there has necessarily been a change of emphasis in this program. The aim is now more particularly to improve, classify, and coordinate business statistics in general in cooperation with industry.

It is interesting to note in connection with business statistics, as the Board pointed out in its first annual report, that for many years information with regard to agriculture and banking, for example, has been far better than that available for business and industrial operations. As a result, there is an increasing need at the present time for more complete current information as to business conditions. Government needs such information as a basis for administrative policies and business needs more adequate data to guide its activities toward greater stabilization. It is important that current information should be so collected as to permit assembly and organization into a rounded picture for industry as a whole. Such compilations as the Census of Manufactures and the Census of American Business, although taken at regularly recurring intervals, are not sufficiently timely to allow a full understanding of our industrial system. There is need for the development of a program for current information, and the work of the Division of Current Business Statistics has been focused on this problem. One of the division's outstanding pieces of work undertaken in this connection has been the compilation of a consolidated mailing list of the privateconstruction industry, which recently has been made available for the first time, and the inauguration of a current reporting program for this industry.

9. The weekly preparation, in cooperation with statistical-producing agencies, of curent estimates concerning business conditions.-The Board's weekly review of the economic situation was instituted in April 1935 at the request of the State Department, which needed a brief, authoritative, weekly statement of economic developments for the information of its officers abroad. It continues the function of preparing business reviews begun by the economic adviser to the National Emergency (Executive) Council. As has been pointed out in section B, the staff and files of that office were transfererd to the Board by Executive Order No. 7003, dated April 8, 1935.

The preparation of this review has been a cooperative venture. It has been edited each week by a committee representing the several Government departments best informed on the economic developments discussed. It is hoped that in the near future the Board's review can be consolidated with that issued currently by the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce. Such a consolidated review will be used both for confidential circulation within the Government and possibly, with certain deletions, for publication. The Board proposes to edit the consolidated review and to provide machinery for obtaining critical comment from a committee of consultants from other agencies.

10. Preparation of special reports for administrative use by executives of the Government.-The Board has been called upon by the Bureau of the Budget to prepare for confidential use a report upon some phases of the statistical work of the Department of Labor. Similar confidential reports were prepared by the Board's first chairman for the executive director of the National Emergency Council. More recently the Board has undertaken to prepare a report for the Secretary of Agriculture upon the statistical work of that Department. Similar reports have been made or are in process for other agencies.

11. Development and maintenance of a statistical clearing house and statistical information service for the benefit of administrative officers of the Government, of Congress, of the public, and of the statistical agencies themselves.— Early in 1935 the Board published the first directory of statisticians in the Federal service. An edition of nearly 900 mimeographed copies was immediately exhausted and the Board received requests for over 1,000 copies in excess of the number published. Until recently the Board has not had adequate funds to undertake the revision of the directory. A revised edition is now being prepared and will be circulated within the next few weeks.

The statistical clearing house, when finally organized, will also include a file which will describe the sources, coverage, and other specifications of important statistical series, including a current record file of the progress of the larger statistical inquiries, and data upon the availability of tabulating equipment. Large segments of this information are now available, and include such items as a file of projects conducted under funds provided by the Civil Works Administration, the Federal Emergency Relief Administration, and the Works Progress Administration. The Board's file of schedules also offers another important source of information which will make it possible for the Board to indicate upon request the fields in which statistical inquiries have been made or are in progress.

As an aid to the clearing house the Central Statistical Board is initiating and encouraging consolidated statistical statements of data collected by many different agencies in order to present a more complete picture of Government activities. The Board itself has undertaken several such compilations in response to specific requests; for example, in October the Board compiled a statement concerning changes in employment in Federal activities in connection with the emergency program. This statement was prepared at the request of the National Emergency Council for its recent report to the President.

At the present time the Board also has in preparation a classification and consolidated statement of Federal loans outstanding by the principal lending agencies.

CONCLUSION

During the past 2 years, the Central Statistical Board has been a vital influence on behalf of efficiency, economy, and progressive improvements in statistical services of the Federal Government. Absorbed at the outset with pressing problems growing out of the sudden establishment of emergency organizations, the Board gradually has been able to shift its attention to the permanent statistical services. Its greatest opportunities for lasting contributions to public service and to governmental efficiency are associated with these permanent agencies. It hopes to exercise the role of leadership which these agencies expect and for which it was created by Congress. The Board believes that improvements in the Federal statistical services in most instances can be brought about more effectively by cooperation than by compulsion. It believes that it can achieve statistical coordination without mandatory powers, by penetrating research, by maintaining the highest type of staff personnel, and by winning and holding the respect of those with whom it deals.

The Board believed that it would be desirable to establish within its organic act, an upper limit to its annual appropriation. This was done. The Board is now equally frank in stating that its appropriations for the years immediately ahead must approach that upper limit, if it is to justify the expectations of Congress in creating it. In asking for such support, the Board's officers are confident that it has the backing, the goodwill, and the respect of all the statistical agencies with which it has been in contact. Its existence so far has been justified by demonstrable progress in a very difficult field. It has a program, outlined and illustrated in preceding pages, which it believes to be important and timely. It asks support adequate to carry on this program. Within the life of its act it will seek to fulfill wholeheartedly its obligations and to perform its tasks with vigor, intelligence, and sincerity.