schools for the blind; (d) relief, with special reference to State pensions; (e) appliances, Braille typewriters, stereotyping, printing machines, etc., with special reference to ways of improving rapid interchange of information regarding all improvements; (f) transportation on railroads at reduced rates for the blind; (g) publicity in behalf of the blind, with a view to disseminating more information regarding their possibilities and creating a more favorable attitude toward their employment.

DEPARTMENTS OF STATE, JUSTICE, COMMERCE, AND LABOR APPROPRIATION BILL, FISCAL YEAR 1931

JANUARY 22, 1930.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union and ordered to be printed

Mr. SHREVE, from the Committee on Appropriations, submitted the following

REPORT

[To accompany H. R. 8960]

The Committee on Appropriations submits the following report in explanation of the accompanying bill making appropriations for the Departments of State and Justice and the judiciary and the Departments of Commerce and Labor for the fiscal year 1931.

SCOPE OF THE BILL

The bill embraces regular annual appropriations for the various branches of the Government service under the jurisdiction of the Departments of State and Justice and the judiciary and the Departments of Commerce and Labor.

APPROPRIATIONS AND ESTIMATES

The estimates of appropriations upon which this bill is based were submitted by the President in the Budget for the fiscal year 1931 and will be found in detail in that document as follows:

Department of State: Chapter X, pages 951 to 984, inclusive; Department of Justice and the judiciary: Chapter VI, pages 811 to 848, inclusive;

HR-71-2-VOL 1-82

Department of Commerce: Chapter IV, pages 389 to 507, inclusive;

and

Department of Labor: Chapter VII, pages 849 to 870, inclusive. The totals of the appropriations for 1930, the estimates carried in the President's Budget for 1931, the amounts recommended in the accompanying bill for the fiscal year 1931, and the comparative increases and decreases involved, are set forth in the following table:

It will be observed from this table that for the Departments of State, Justice and the judiciary, Commerce, and Labor appropriations totaling $112,149,121.68 were made for the fiscal year 1930. The estimates submitted for the fiscal year 1931 were $113,971,973.14. The committee has recommended to be appropriated for the next fiscal year a total for the four departments of $113,799,286.14. This is a gross increase of $1,650,164.46 over the current year and a decrease of $172,687 under the Budget estimates.

These figures are exclusive of the permanent and indefinite appropriations for these departments which occur annually and for which no congressional action is necessary. These are as follows: Department of State, $141,233; Department of Commerce, $3,000; and Department of Labor, $9,000.

The decrease in the Department of Commerce total shown in the above table, amounting to $5,703,624, is more apparent than real. For the present year there was appropriated $19,000,000 as the first increment to the taking of the Fifteenth Decennial Census. For the next year (the second installment under the original authorization of over $39,000,000) there is estimated only $8,497,000, a difference of $10,503,000, which reduction naturally is reflected in the grand total. When this extraordinary expense is not considered, the recommendations for 1931 are nearly $5,000,000 over those for the current year.

A detailed tabulation will be found at the end of this report showing each appropriation for the fiscal year 1931, the Budget estimates for 1931, the amounts recommended in the bill for 1931, and the increase or decrease in each item of appropriation and estimate as compared with the amount recommended in the bill.

SALARIES OF ASSISTANT SECRETARIES

The committee has eliminated the proposed Budget increases in the salaries of the Undersecretary and Assistant Secretaries of State, the Solicitor General and Assistant Attorneys General in the Department of Justice, the two Assistant Secretaries of Commerce, and the two Assistant Secretaries of Labor. The committee has followed the action on other appropriation bills, as it is a question that involves the assistant heads of all the executive departments and requires legislative action. A bill has been introduced by Mr. Shreve of Pennsylvania (H. R. 8003) to fix the compensation of the assistant heads of the executive departments. This bill has been referred to the Committee on Expenditures in the Executive Departments.

DEPARTMENT OF STATE

The current appropriations, the Budget estimates, and committee recommendations for the next year are set forth in the accompanying table in several divisions, showing the activities of the Department of State as reflected by appropriations, as follows:

(1) The department in Washington, including the passport agencies in the United States.

(2) Foreign Service.

(3) Foreign Service buildings and retirement funds.

(4) The United States' contributions to its international obligations.
(5) The United States Court for China and expenses.

There has been recommended for the Department of State for the fiscal year 1931 a total of $16,779,269.14. The appropriations under which the department is now operating amount to $14,653,712.68. The amount recommended for the next fiscal year is an increase of $2,125,556.46 over this figure and a decrease of $318,157 under the Budget estimates.

SALARIES, OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY

With the exception of a reduction of $6,000, which contemplated the increase of the Undersecretary's salary from $10,000 to $12,000, and the salaries of the four Assistant Secretaries of State from $9,000 to $10,000, which increases, for reasons heretofore stated, the committee has disallowed, the committee has recommended the Budget figure of $1,848,765 to cover the salaries of the State Department's organization in Washington. This is an increase over the present year of $508,765. In justifying this increase to the committee, the department had intended to allot it as follows: One hundred and eighty-nine thousand seven hundred dollars to replace with civilian personnel 40 Foreign-Service officers now serving in Washington as chiefs of divisions, assistant chiefs of divisions, and other positions, thus releasing these officers for field service at posts throughout the world where they are very much needed; $213,420 for the employment of 109 additional clerks required in the different divisions of the department; $28,665 for temporary employees required for seasonal passport work; $50,000 for promotions; and $26,980 for reallocation of positions under the provisions of the classification act. In the testimony before the committee it was developed that it would require $74,479 to promote all of the employees in Washington to the average of their respective grades. As stated, the department. had allotted $50,000 for this purpose, or $24,479 less than the total requirements.

In granting the total increase for the office of the Secretary, the committee is in accord with the program outlined except in the instances of the 109 additional employees and the $50,000 for promotions. It is the intention of the committee that out of the amount of $213,420 for the 109 additional employees the department allot $24,000 to the original amount of $50,000 for promotions, making $74,000 available for this purpose, bringing all of the employees in Washington up to the average of their grades, and that it absorb the difference by employing a fewer number of additional clerks. The committee in making the recommendation does so with the idea that if all the employees are brought up to the average of their grades the intent of the act will be better manifested and will result in increased efficiency with the staff of employees that the department now has and will make fewer additions necessary.

CONTINGENT AND MISCELLANEOUS EXPENSES

An increased amount of $49,113 for contingent and miscellaneous expenses for the department in Washington is carried in the bill making the total available for these expenses for 1931 $119,818, which is an increase of $2,000 over the Budget estimates. Additional equipment for the department, including filing equipment and furniture for the index bureau, replacing old and worn-out furniture, library equipment for shelving for the archives and the library, map cases, books, maps, and periodicals, account for $45,000 of this increase. In addition the committee recommends $2,000 for steel shelving in connection with the program to make the filing of the department's records as fireproof as possible.