(The information requested by Senator McKellar is as follows:) ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES COURTS, Washington, D. C., October 13, 1942. Hon. KENNETH MCKELLAR, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Deficiency Appropriations of the Washington, D. C. DEAR SENATOR MCKELLAR: In accordance with your request at the meeting of your subcommittee yesterday I append to this statement (1) a schedule of the present temporary positions in the offices of clerks of the Federal courts, and (2) a schedule of additional temporary positions now known to be needed in order to handle efficiently the work of the clerks' offices during the current fiscal year. Request is made by the supplemental estimate submitted by this office and transmitted to your committee through the Bureau of the Budget for the additional amount of $75,000 for salaries and expenses of clerks for the United States courts for the fiscal year 1943. This is to permit the employment of temporary deputies to meet the greatly increased work devolving upon the clerks' offices during the present war emergency principally by reason of the extraordinary increase in the volume of condemnation business and the marked increase in the naturalization business. Of the total sum of $75,000, $51,374 is estimated to be necessary to continue the employment of present temporary deputies who have been engaged for terms expiring on short dates long prior to the end of the fiscal year indicated on the first schedule, $6,500 is estimated to be necessary to provide for the overlapping compensation of temporary deputies engaged to take the place of deputies entering into military service who will be entitled to considerable leaves with pay following the time when they cease work, and $17,126 is estimated to be necessary to provide for the employment of between 20 and 25 additional temporary deputies who it is virtually certain will be needed before the close of the fiscal year for the condemnation and naturalization work which continue to increase. Of this number 5 listed in the second schedule are needed at this time. It is not necessary to elaborate to your committee on the great increase in the number and scope of condemnation proceedings brought by. the United States in the Federal courts. The number of such proceedings in the 84 districts within the 48 States (excluding the District of Columbia) increased from 1,783 in the fiscal year 1941 to 3,880 in the fiscal year 1942, or more than doubled. The number of tracts involved also more than doubled, rising from 20,839 on July 1, 1941, to 48,681 on July 1, 1942, according to data furnished by the Lands Division of the Department of Justice. Apparently the increase is continuing because the Department of Justice states that during the first month and a half of the present fiscal year the Lands Division received 5,160 cases and matters, an increase of 195 percent over 1942. The condemnation proceedings brought by the Government which were pending on August 1, 1942, involved an aggregate acreage of nearly 10,500,000 acres, more than 15,600 square miles of land, which is nearly twice the size of the State of Massachusetts. Condemnation cases require a large amount of clerical work in the clerks' offices in connection with the filing and docketing of the cases, the issuance of summonses and notices which frequently run to large numbers in single cases because of the large number of tracts involved, the recording and disbursing of moneys running into millions of dollars deposited into the registry of the court, and the recording, copying, and verifying of the orders and pleadings. The time required under present condemnation procedures for the Government to get possession of land condemned for war purposes is, as known to this committee, exceedingly short, frequently only a few days. It is highly important in order to minimize the hardship to the owners of lands who are dispossessed that the condemnation proceedings should be carried through with the utmost expedition in order that the owners may receive their awards to help tide them over the transition and set them up in new locations. For this purpose the courts are properly laying stress on having the work of the clerks done without delay. This can be accomplished only if the clerks have additional assistance temporarily to meet the emergency. Although the great volume of condemnation proceedings is the principal factor in the added burden of the clerks' offices, a substantial additional factor is the increase in the naturalization business. The number of petitions for naturalization filed in the last fiscal year was 240,597 as compared with 185,408 the year before, an increase of 29.8 percent. The naturalization earnings of the clerks' offices rose from $1,271,540.50 in the fiscal year 1941 to $1,548,631.50 in the fiscal year 1942. The natur ilization cases require a large amount of time and attention from the clerks' offices, particularly in the larger cities. The Immigration and Naturalization Service is making every effort to speed up the examination of pending petitions, and in order to keep pace and make possible prompt court action after the Immigration and Naturalization Service has done its work the clerks' offices must have sufficient personnel. The sum of $75,000 for which an additional appropriation is requested is believed to be a very conservative estimate of the amount necessary in order to enable the clerks' offices to do their part in meeting the present extraordinary war needs with reasonable efficiency. This sum will provide for a small number of additional deputies beyond those now known to be necessary, as indicated in schedule 2, but the experience of recent months makes it certain that the bringing of new condemnation proceedings in areas which cannot be known in advance will create additional demands upon the clerks' offices for which they will need additional assistance. Additional employees are not authorized in any office except upon express request of the clerk and then only when supported by a statement of facts showing the necessity. This office in its correspondence with the clerks has urged them to exercise the utmost economy and to make every effort to hold down as far as possible consistently with good service the expenses of their office. I am satisfied that they are doing so. The additional appropriation asked is in my judgment essential to enable the clerks to do properly the additional work cast upon them by the war and I trust that it may be granted. Respectfully submitted. HENRY P. CHANDLER. Schedule of temporary positions in the clerks' offices of United States courts as of Oct. 12, 1942 Schedule of temporary positions in the clerks' offices of United States courts as of Oct. 12, 1942-Continued NOTE.-There have been appointed also since July 1, 1942, 33 temporary deputies who are no longer on the temporary rolls, in the following districts: Florida (southern), Georgia (southern), Indiana (northern), Indiana (southern), Iowa (southern), Kentucky (western), Maine, Michigan (western), Mississippi (northern), Nebraska, New Jersey, New York (eastern), New York (southern), Pennsylvania (western), Tennessee (middle), Texcs (southern), Texas (western), Washington (western), and West Virginia (southern). Extension of the temporary appointments of 2 positions in northern Alabama, 1 position in Oregon, and 1 position in eastern Virginia is not contemplated. Schedule of additional temporary positions in the clerks' offices known on Oct. 12, 1942, to be needed for the remainder of the fiscal year STATEMENTS OF LT. COL. ROBERT S. MOORE, COL. G. R. RICHARDS AND COL. HAROLD E. EASTWOOD, WAR DEPARTMENT Colonel RICHARDS. Colonel Eastwood, Senator, will give you the information. Senator MCKELLAR. All right, sir. CEILING PRICE ON CARS FIXED BY OFFICE OF PRICE ADMINISTRATION Colonel EASTWOOD. Senator, the automobiles that we are purchasing to which this price limitation applies are those that have been frozen on January 1 in the hands of dealers all over the country. We are purchasing a part of those cars in order to avoid the production of other cars, and thereby the consumption of materials. Generally when we purchase a car under the production scheme we purchase it from the manufacturer f. o. b. the factory and maybe move it either by driveway or ship by government bill of lading. The dealers that hold these cars today are by O. P. A. regulations and War Production Board regulations permitted to charge the list price plus the transportation costs, plus a 5 percent handling charge, plus 1 percent per month addition. That is all in accordance with certain laws that are now in force under the limitation of the war program. Senator THOMAS. That is just simply to make up the expense the dealer has been put to in carrying the cars? Colonel EASTWOOD. Yes, sir. Senator THOMAS. The Government has provided it as a basis to finance their rents and insurance and interest charges. Colonel EASTWOOD. Yes, sir. Senator THOMAS. And it is quite necessary that we do that and make that provision for them to receive it. Colonel EASTWOOD. That is correct. Senator MCKELLAR. But it is a subsidy, just the same, for the automobile dealer. Senator THOMAS. Otherwise he would go broke, Senator, if we did not do it, without being well-financed or have an accumulation of money to carry him. I think it is only fair. Senator MCKELLAR. It is a problem; no doubt in the world about that. But with this amendment you could pay almost any price you pleased and buy any kind of a car you choose? Colonel EASTWOOD. Well, sir, what this amendment would permit, it would permit us to pay the same price to the dealer he can get from a civilian. Senator MCKELLAR. Now, let us take the 4-door Dodge; what would you pay for it if this amendment were to pass? We Colonel EASTWOOD. I could not quote on that particular car. are not buying Dodges. We are buying Fords and Plymouths, and Chevrolets. Senator MCKELLAR. Well, take a Chevrolet. That is $1,009? Colonel EASTWOOD. Senator, we have a Ford figured out. not familiar enough with the Chevrolet. I am Senator MCKELLAR. Well, let us take a Ford. A Ford deluxe, have you got, or just an ordinary Ford? Ford sedan, $1,003. What would you pay for it? Colonel EASTWOOD. $1,045.20, with certain assumptions. Senator MCKELLAR. Mr. Morrison's testimony was that it is $1,003. Colonel EASTWOOD. That, sir, does not take into account, I believe, a freight charge. Senator McKELLAR. So this Ford now is a thousand and what? Colonel EASTWOOD. $1,002.20. Senator MCKELLAR. $1,002? That is less. Colonel EASTWOOD. For instance, it lists at $885, sir. Senator MCKELLAR. A sedan would be $1,003, and you would pay how much? Colonel EASTWOOD. We would have to pay, because we have to pay the transportation charge may I give the break-down of the price? Senator McKELLAR. Yes. Colonel EASTWOOD. The Ford deluxe 4-door lists at $885. Assume that the dealer has paid the transportation Senator MCKELLAR. It is $1,044 here. Colonel EASTWOOD. The list price? Senator MCKELLAR. I am giving Mr. Morrison's. Colonel EASTWOOD. The over-all price. Senator MCKELLAR. That is the ceiling price, it seems. Colonel EASTWOOD. The ceiling price. We don't go above the ceiling. Senator MCKELLAR. You would not pay on all of these charges anything more than that. It says here in the tabulation, I will read some of the parts, that these will be the prices that would apply as of June 1943. If we bought them today it would be somewhat less; that would be 6 percent or 8 percent less than these prices. Now, a 4-door Dodge sedan, the ceiling price of June 1943 would be $1,178. A Ford sedan would be $1,003. A Ford deluxe sedan would be $1,044. A Mercury would be $1,256. A Plymouth would be $1,050. A Plymouth deluxe would be $1,103. A Chevrolet would be $1,009. Colonel EASTWOOD. Yes, sir; but I doubt that transportation charges are included in those ceiling prices, because the transportation charges vary from the different points. So I think that must have not been taken into consideration in this tabulation. Senator MCKELLAR. Then what you want to do would be, then, to fix a ceiling, take these several cars just like Mr. Morrison gave, and add to that the transportation charge? Colonel EASTWOOD. Yes, sir; where there was a transportation charge. Senator MCKELLAR. Of how much? Colonel EASTWOOD. Only where there is a transportation charge. Senator MCKELLAR. What would be the transportation charge, about what? Colonel EASTWOOD. The transportation charge is governed of course by the location where the car now is. Senator MCKELLAR. What about the amount of the charge? Colonel EASTWOOD. Which would again be indicated, sir, by the present location of the car and the location of the dealer. In one State it might be only $20 and in another it might be a hundred dollars. Then the transportation is figured by the precise distance in carload lots. It is a minimum figure, you see; a minimum transportation charge. Senator THOMAS. Well, all you are asking for is to have this limitation so raised or raised in such amount that you can get these cars? Colonel EASTWOOD. Yes, sir; and in accordance with the present laws and ceilings. Senator MCKELLAR. Do you want an unlimited authority to buy cars? Colonel EASTWOOD. The prices of the cars, Senator, are advancing every month by 1 percent under present regulations. You see, the dealers are all permitted a 1 percent additional charge every month. Senator MCKELLAR. Now, we have just passed a law to provide a ceiling as of September 15 on everything. Now, we don't want to change that law. Colonel EASTWOOD. At no time do we expect to or intend to or wish to go over the ceiling price. All the prices we pay will be under or equal to the ceiling, but not exceeding. Senator MCKELLAR. Now, your ceiling prices on these cars, for instance what is a Ford sedan, what is the ceiling price? Colonel EASTWOOD. $885 list, plus 5 percent service and handling charge of $46.40, and then 1 percent per month based on 8 months would be $70.80 more; which would, exclusive of transportation, indicate a ceiling price at this time of $1,002.20. Senator MCKELLAR. Well, that is about what it is here. Colonel EASTWOOD. Next month that will go up by 1 percent on $885, or $8.85. |