There follows a statement of the number of positions affected and not affected by the proposed reallocations in the classes of employees in question. INCREASE IN AMOUNT FOR PURCHASE OF NEWSPAPERS The Securities and Exchange Commission has submitted a request in House Doc. 858 for the modification of the language of the current year's (1943) appropriation for salaries and expenses so as to authorize the expenditure therefrom of not more than $1,000 for the purchase of newspapers. This does not involve the appropriation of additional funds." Under the provisions of section 6 of the Independent Offices Appropriation Act for the fiscal year 1943 (Public Law 630, 77th Cong.), certain Government agencies, including the Securities and Exchange Commission, may not expend more than $50 from the appropriation for the fiscal year 1943 for the purchase of newspapers and periodicals. The purchase of scientific, technical, trade, and traffic periodicals necessary in connection with the performance of the authorized functions of the agencies is excepted from this limitation. In a recent decision of the Comptroller General of the United States-B-27628, dated August 14, 1942-it was held that "newspapers administratively considered necessary for the scientific trade or traffic information to be gleaned therefrom" are not within the meaning of this exception. Of course, the Commission is required to abide by the provisions of the Appropriation Act, and the decision of the Comptroller General with respect thereto, and limit expenditures for newspapers and certain other publications during the current fiscal year to $50. It is felt that this sum is inadequate for the Commission's official needs. The Securities and Exchange Commission administers: (a) The Securities Act of 1933, as amended (15 U. S. C. 77a-77aa). (b) The Trust Indenture Act of 1939 (15 U. S. C. 77aaa-77bbbb). (c) The Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (15 U. S. C. 78a-78jj). (d) The Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 (15 U. S. C. 79-79z-6). (e) The Investment Company Act of 1940 (15 U. S. C. 80a1-80a52). (f) The Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (15 U. S. C. 80b1-80b21). (g) Certain provisions of chapter X of the National Bankruptcy Act, as amended by the act of June 22, 1938 (11 U. S. C. 501–676). All of this legislation involves matters pertaining to the financial field. Current issues of newspapers, particularly those featuring financial matters, are a valuable and very economical source of information that facilitates the performance of many phases of our work under these statutes. Advertisements relating to securities offered for sale are published in certain daily newspapers. Information may become available from this source as to whether the securities are being offered for sale to the public without regard to the registration provisions of the Securities Act of 1933 and whether the requirements under other sections of that act are met. Information contained in the published records of transactions in securities traded on stock exchanges and in the over-the-counter markets is of major importance in the constant study and surveillance of transactions in security markets to eliminate trading practices which are prohibited by the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The Commission's responsibilities in the administration and enforcement of the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 require that the staff assigned to the work under this act keep abreast with current happenings in the public utility industry. For example, one of the New York newspapers recently carried a news story to the effect that the Mayor of that city proposed that the city of New York buy the Staten Island Edison Co. At that particular time the Commission had under consideration proposals by the staff of the Public Utilities Division regarding the reorganization under section 11 of the Act of the Associated Gas & Electric Co. which provided for a different disposition of the Staten Island Edison Co. That company is a subsidiary of the Associated Gas & Electric. The fact that this information became available to the Commission promptly saved many hours of time on the part of the Commission and its staff. This is only one example. Information of this and other types is obtained almost daily from the newspapers. In past years the Commission has subscribed to certain newspapers published in various cities. However, most of the expenditures made have been for subscriptions to well-known financial papers such as the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, and the New York Herald Tribune. It is felt that the Commission should be able to purchase several subscriptions to each of these papers so that they may be available promptly after publication to members of the Commission and the attorneys and experts of the varous divisions of the headquarters office and the field offices. In each case the paper will be routed to several officers and employees so that each subscription will serve considerably more than a few individuals. The following table indicates the names of newspapers proposed to be purchased, the number of subscriptions, the cost thereof, and the number of officers and employees who will be served by each subscription: Divisional routing of newspapers to be purchased for the official use of the Securities and Exchange Commission |