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Walsenburg is located about 50 miles south of Pueblo and about 25 miles from LaVeta Pass which crosses the Rocky Mountains. Pueblo is primarily an industrial community with the Colorado Fuel & Iron Corp. (one of the West's largest steel mills), the Pueblo Ordinance Depot and Triplex piston factory. These industries stabilize the economy there. The area around Walsenburg is considered to be among the most beautiful and pleasant in the Nation. Skiing, hunting, fishing, and mild climate are some of our outstanding attributes.

In the past 10 years, Huerfano County has been suffering from a serious economic decline, while other areas of our State and Nation have enjoyed a period of inflation.

In 1946, there were 12 mines operating in the county, employing 533 people. In 1956, there were 6 mines operating in the county, employing 64 people. This would indicate that approximately seven-eighths of the miners in 1946 are no longer employed in this county.

In 1946 there were 5,858 people living in Walsenburg. In 1956 there were 5,596 people living in Walsenburg. In 1946 there were 12,500 people in Huerfano County as compared with 10,508 people in the county in 1956. This is a drop of almost 2,000 people in the past 10 years, or approximately one-sixth of the county population. These figures, in themselves, are not too alarming, but further statistics indicate that this may be a mere beginning of our problem. Today we have an available employment pool of approximately 3,600 people, counting everyone who works in any capacity. Of the above-mentioned number, there are 240 workers who have their homes in the community and who commute to places of employment at least 40 miles away. This may better be seen by the breakdown as follows:

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These people have maintained homes in this area in the past. Needless to say, unless suitable employment is available in the immediate area, they will be forced to move their residence closer to the location of their employment. If these people were to move away, and assuming that each 1 employed has 4 dependents, this will mean a further loss of almost 1,000 people from the county.

There are at the present time 200 people on the unemployed list in the county. This is a rather unrealistic figure when you consider that those who become unemployed do not register for employment here because they realize that chances of becoming permanently employed locally are not good, and they therefore are seeking employment elsewhere and not bothering to indicate unemployment with the local office.

The relief and welfare situation in the county has reached alarming proportions. In 1946, the county aid given to needy people was $82,547.23, as compared with $308,275.81 expended in 1956. This is an indication that almost 4 times as much was spent for relief in 1956 as compared to 10 years ago. In 1946 there were 420 people who applied for unemployment benefits. In 1956 there were 832, or approximately twice as many as that of 10 years ago.

In the schools, the population has dropped from 1,810 to 1,615 in the past 10 years. At the same time, most of the school systems in the Nation have been faced with rising school population and overcrowded schools. In the city of Walsenburg, one school was closed. Graduates seldom remain in the com

munity once their education is completed.

The financial picture in the local area presents further evidence of impending danger. The loss of savings deposits alone indicates a drop of about three-quarter million dollars. The deposits in the local area have also dropped approximately three-quarter million dollars.

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The need to stabilize the economy of the county is clearly indicated by these figures. Further need is indicated when we consider that more than twice as many youths were summoned to court in 1956 as were summoned in 1946 (1946, 29 cases; 1956, 60 cases).

Huerfano County sent to the Armed Forces during World War II a higher percentage of its population, and had a higher percentage of casualties than any other county in the State. Few veterans' benefits have been realized here, and in the past 10 years, only one business loan has been granted to a veteran of this community.

In many areas of our Nation, a homeowner in 1946 would now find that the value of his property is far greater today than it was 10 years ago. The general trend as a nation has shown a tremendous growth in the past 10 years in the construction of new homes. In Walsenburg there have been 11 homes built in the past 10 years, and value of real estate is no greater now than it was in 1946. This is a serious problem for any community with a population of more than 5,000 people, for it stands as an indication that unless remedial measures are taken, the city way never again enjoy the status as a thriving community.

The above information is true and accurate insofar as we have been able to determine, using the information which has been available to us.

Senator DOUGLAS. Now we are delighted to have with us the distinguished Delegate from Alaska-the Territory which we hope will become the 49th State of the Union-Delegate Bob Bartlett. We will be very glad to have Delegate Bartlett make such statements as he

cares to.

STATEMENT OF HON. E. L. (BOB) BARTLETT, DELEGATE IN

CONGRESS FROM THE TERRITORY OF ALASKA

Mr. BARTLETT. Thank you, Chairman Douglas and Senator Capehart. In the first place I should like to express agreement with the philosophy underlying the several bills before you. More specifically I should like to urge upon the committee, in respect to a definition of the United States, the language to be found in either S. 104 as introduced by Senator Dirksen, or S. 1433 introduced by Senator Martin and other Senators, because S. 104, for example, on page 3, subsection (c) of section 101, employs these words by way of definition. I quote:

As used in this act, the term "United States" includes the several States, the Territories of Alaska and Hawaii, and the District of Columbia.

Now, Mr. Chairman, perhaps S. 964 introduced by you and other Senators contains a comparable definition but I must say that I have not, in a rather hasty reading, discovered it.

Senator DOUGLAS. I may say you put your finger on a technical omission in S. 964. As the principal sponsor of that bill I will be very glad to see that the definition is changed so that it will include not only the States but the Territories of Alaska, and Hawaii, and the District of Columbia.

Mr. BARTLETT. Thank you.

Senator CAPEHART. It must have been a 100-percent oversight.

Mr. BARTLETT. I know it was. I always check such inclusions for general reasons, but in this particular case for very special reasons, because in Alaska we have had situations comparable to those found elsewhere. We have had areas of full employment on a seasonal basis, especially on account of the defense work which has gone on there. Other geographic areas have not been so fortunate. I refer at the moment to the Bristol Bay area where the President was obliged to declare a disaster area in 1953, again in 1954, and for the third time

in 1955.

We have around 5,000 people over there, principally Eskimos, who gain their living almost entirely from the taking and processing of salmon, and there have not been enough salmon to take and process and gain a living. Those people and their ancestors have been there for a long while and they are not about to move; and I for one do not blame them.

That area, I believe, has other resources. We do not know, and we have never had the opportunity to find out, although I urged a thoroughgoing survey on former Secretary McKay, who expressed great interest in the subject, but unfortunately nothing was done.

I am beguiled, if that is the proper word, by the technical assistance provisions of S. 964. I think they provide a great opportunity in just such a situation as we discover in Bristol Bay. I suspect that the need for something of this kind in Alaska will increase rather than otherwise, and I am thinking particularly again of the so-called native population-a population made up of Indians, Eskimos, and Aleuts. In Southeastern Alaska which, as Senator Capehart, who has been there, knows, we have a region of rich natural resources.

The 6,000 or so Indians there instead of making economic progress are going the other way. That, I would like to say, in my opinion is due very largely to the policy now being followed by the Bureau of Indian Affairs to circumscribe the operations in that region under the Wheeler-Howard Act.

Some years ago loans were made available for co-op canneries under the act available for that purpose. Loans were made available for the purchase of boats for the fishermen. Now the policy seems to be to move private operators into these canneries and foreclose if necessary on the boat loans. The upshot is these people are reaching a situation where their economic plight is increasingly of concern to all of us.

In Southeastern Alaska, at Bristol Bay, and elsewhere in the Territory, which as the chairman knows is soon to become a State, there are places and people where the application of a law such as is envisioned by S. 964 and the other similar bills would be most helpful, and really is urgently necessary there at the present time.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Senator DOUGLAS. Thank you very much, Delegate Bartlett. I appreciate your statement.

Now we are properly honored to have with us the distinguished Congressman from Kentucky, the Honorable Carl D. Perkins. Congressman Perkins, we are very glad to have you here.

STATEMENT OF HON. CARL D. PERKINS, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF KENTUCKY

Mr. PERKINS. Senator Douglas and Senator Capehart, I appear here this morning in behalf of S. 964, a bill introduced by Senator Douglas and others. I want to say that I introduced similar legisla tion over on the House side. I also introduced similar legislation in the House, which was considered last year. I want to say at the outset that I deeply regret that because of unexpected opposition at the end of the session that turned up in the House we failed to enact this legislation last year.

Now I understand Kentucky, perhaps, has suffered as much as any other area in the whole United States, while most of the country has been enjoying considerable prosperity, if we want to term it that. This problem is here with us and something must be done about it. I want to make a few observations here.

During the past 3 years more than 80 labor areas have been classified as depressed areas or labor surplus areas by the Department of Labor. These labor market areas include almost 200 counties, or more than 6 percent of the total number of counties in the country.

While the rate of unemployment in the Nation as a whole has remained between 3 and 5 percent, the majority of these areas have consistently shown an unemployment rate of 9 percent or more, with at least one-third of them showing a rate of more than 12 percent. The postwar era of prosperity has consistently bypassed these areas. While much study has been given to this problem, no definite explanation of the failure of the economic development to become general has been found.

These labor surplus areas are not confined to any one section of the country as you know. In fact, they are found in all the Eastern States from Maine and Massachusetts, extending through West Vir ginia and Kentucky southwestward to include areas in Oklahoma and Texas.

Senator DOUGLAS. And including southern Illinois.

Mr. PERKINS. Yes. That is one of the worst areas. Northern industrial States such as Illinois, Michigan, and Minnesota also include a number of these areas.

In the Seventh Congressional District of Kentucky, which I represent, unemployment in the Hazard, Pikeville, Prestonsburg, and Morehead areas has remained above a 10 percent rate rather consistently for the past 3 years. In fact, it has reached 30 and 40 percent in the Hazard and Pikeville areas repeatedly.

Senator CAPEHEART. Would the Congressman yield?
Mr. PERKIKS. Yes.

Senator CAPEHART. That is due to what, precisely?

Mr. PERKINS. Due to the fact that the miners are unemployed. We have one-industry communities there. The economy is based practically altogether on mining, and that is what has created it. That is the cause of the tremendous labor surplus.

Senator CAPEHART. Now the problem is to get industries in there that will absorb the workmen ?

Mr. PERKINS. Here we have these mining areas with 30 to 40 percent of the people unemployed above 50 years of age. They are unable to get employment of any type anywhere. There is nothing in the area to give them employment. How do we answer that problem? That is the question.

Senator CAPEHART. It is due to the fact that there is no demand for the coal. Was there at one time a situation where there was no unemployment there?

Mr. PERKINS. Of course, at one time there we were not confronted with any unemployment problem, but it is due to a lot of things. The war prosperity has just completely bypassed such affected areas as we have in eastern Kentucky. Of course, the decline in the demand for coal affected the coal mining business until a year or so ago. It has improved considerably since then. It had a great bearing on it. There was no market for the coal, of course. But even with the market for coal today, these men 50 and 55 years of age who have worked in the coal mines up until 4, 5, 6, and 7 years ago are in a position where the new employers will not employ them today to go back in the mines.

Senator CAPEHART. You mean they will not employ them to work in the mines?

Mr. PERKINS. Yes. Because of certain obstacles like insurance rates, and other factors which are involved. Of course, I do not know just what part mechanization played, but it made a contribution to unemployment. We all know that, in the coal mining areas.

Senator CAPEHART. The three sections we have in Indiana which are hard hit at the moment are hit as a result of the coal situation also. They are Clinton, Terre Haute, and Sullivan, Ind., and that area around there. They are the biggest area of unemployment in Indiana, and it is due to the decline in the coal industry.

You think if the people owned them that they could mine the coal and sell it, whereas the private owners who make a profit out of it cannot mine it and sell it?

Mr. PERKINS. They could live from the rentals and royalties if they own it.

Senator DOUGLAS. We are not going to get into a discussion of the public ownership of coal mines, because that is not contained in the bill.

Mr. PERKINS. My point is, Senator Douglas, that this huge unemployment rate of 30 to 40 percent in these areas is such that we have 3 labor market areas in eastern Kentucky that have been classified as substantial labor surplus areas for almost 4 years now. This covers not only the coal-mining area of eastern Kentucky, but the fire brick and industrial area around Morehead, Ky.

Here, I think, is a pertinent observation. In 1953 the Eastern Kentucky Industrial Foundation was established to coordinate the efforts of the business leaders of this section in trying to overcome

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