(The supplemental statement of Senator Payne follows:)

SUPPLEMENTARY STATEMENT BY FREDERICK G. PAYNE, A UNITED STATES SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF MAINE

Recent events in Maine make it mandatory for me to submit a supplementary statement concerning legislation to assist economically distressed areas. My statement of March 8, 1957, submitted to this subcommittee, reviewed the economic conditions in Maine, especially pointing out the areas of chronic unemployment which need assistance. Since that time new problems have arisen to further reinforce my plea for Federal assistance to distressed areas.

The Bates Manufacturing Co., a nationally known textile company and one of the largest employers in the State of Maine, permanently closed down its Androscoggin division in Lewiston on April 1. This division was engaged in the manufacture of rayon fabrics and employed 350 persons. This closing reflects the general depressed situation in the textile industry and especially in rayons and rayon acetates.

Of far greater implication, however, was the announcement by Bates on April 2 that it intends to close its York division in Saco within 8 weeks. The York division employs 1,200 persons in an urban area of slightly over 30,000 people. The problem in Saco is accentuated by its proximity to Sanford which has been hard hit since the closing of Goodall-Sanford Mills in 1954. Prior to closing this company employed over 4,000 persons in Sanford. This entire labor market area has been continually listed by the Labor Department as an area of "substantial labor surplus" during the last few years. This, it must be remembered, is in a State where the total manufacturing labor force is only slightly over 100,000 and where it is impossible to readily absorb any sizable number of unemployed workers.

The efforts of the State of Maine and its communities to meet the problems arising from economic dislocations and continuing labor surpluses have been an inspiration to other distressed areas. However, as the effects of this latest round of economic adjustments are felt in Maine, it will become increasingly difficult for the State and the local communities to carry the full burden of coping with this situation which is caused by national trade policies and other factors entirely beyond their control. A federally sponsored program to supplement State and local programs is the only solution if we are to solve these economic problems.

In conclusion, let me again emphasize the pressing and immediate need for a Federal program of assistance to distressed areas. With the financial and technical help of the Federal Government proposed in the area-assistance bills, the States and local communities can pursue their efforts to provide jobs for their citizens with renewed vigor.

It is essential that Senate consideration of this legislation be expedited if the House is to have time to act during the present session. I cannot urge you too strongly to report the necessary legislation to implement such a program to the full Banking and Currency Committee where I pledge you my support in securing prompt action.

Senator DOUGLAS. Our next witness is Mr. William St. Onge, executive manager of the Sanford-Springvale Chamber of Commerce, Sanford, Maine.

STATEMENT OF WILLIAM J. ST. ONGE, EXECUTIVE MANAGER, SANFORD-SPRINGVALE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, SANFORD,

MAINE

Mr. ST. ONGE. Mr. Chairman, members of the Banking and Currency Committee, my name is William J. St. Onge, executive manager of the Sanford-Springvale Chamber of Commerce, Sanford, Maine.

Gentlemen, on behalf of the 17,000 citizens of Sanford, Maine, I should like to express our sincere appreciation for your courtesy in inviting us to appear here today to testify on S. 964. I should like to go on record as being in favor of this bill.

By way of a brief explanation, 3 years ago when Goodall-Sanford, Inc., was sold to Burlington Mills, some 4,000 persons were rendered unemployed. Our chamber of commerce and other organizations in the community have worked very hard since that time in an effort to obtain new industry for our community. At the present time, we have approximately 1,500 persons employed in our new industries. We still have 2,000 persons seeking employment in our community.

When the town of Sanford was faced with unemployment and it was forced to seek new industry, we were very fortunate in having modern textile buildings, built in 1920, to make available for prospective industries. Most textile communities have inherited much older buildings which at their best might be termed adequate but in most cases are termed inadequate for the needs of modern industry. Under the loan provision of S. 964, such communities could erect modern onestory plants, more specifically designed to meet the needs of modern industrial production.

It is no secret that risk capital is becoming more scarce and the interest rates are becoming too expensive for most of the smaller companies to carry. We certainly are in favor of local participation by the community and State in the erection of these buildings, but also feel that assistance from the Federal Government would be most welcome. Senator DOUGLAS. You don't view this with the same abhorrence that your opposite number from Bridgeport does?

Mr. ST. ONGE. We do not.

The grants for public works would certainly be a benefit to a community such as Sanford, which not being satisfied with its record to date in the almost total rehabilitation of its industrial buildings, has started work on an industrial park. One bad feature about our industrial park is that it is located 32 miles south of the community and the expense of extending water and sewerage lines would practically be prohibitive to the community from a financial standpoint. I believe under the program for public works, such as stated in this bill, the town of Sanford would be enabled to extend the need water and sewerage facilities to the much needed industrial park and at the same time not bankrupt itself in the program. Under the loan provision, one interested in the field of industrial development cannot feel other than satisfied at the 40-year term for the repayment of mortgage.

I note also S. 964 has changed the length of the waiting period to become eligible for its provisions and, yet, at the same time, has protected the measure by enforcing a strict unemployment percentage during this time.

Many communities have considered or are forming industrial corporations which would be financed by various methods, for the purpose of building industrial buildings. We also have started the formation of such a corporation, but like other communities that have had considerable unemployment, our economic condition is no better than theirs and we find it very difficult to raise funds. In this area your bill would be very helpful to us.

In conclusion, I should like to point out that last year when our group testified before a similar committee we stated that we hoped that we would not become eligible for the bill. We hope again this year that we will not become eligible for the bill, wishing to solve our own problem. Certainly Sanford's recovery is progressing rapidly, and we hope it will continue. However, some of the areas which

would qualify under the terms of this bill have been going through a period of depression for several years, and we certainly feel that they, as well as ourselves, should be given every assistance possible.

Thank you again for allowing me the time to present these state

ments.

Senator DOUGLAS. Well, thank you, Mr. St. Onge.

The representative from Bridgeport seemed to be afraid that this bill would be used by the Southern States to draw employment from the Northern States. Here you come from perhaps the most northern State in the Union, and you feel that it is desirable.

Mr. ST. ONGE. Yes.

The way we interpret the bill, it would have to be an area that would need this assistance before it could be assisted under the provisions of the bill.

Senator DOUGLAS. Thank you very much, Mr. St. Onge.

I also welcome Mr. H. Allen Mapes, of Sanford.

STATEMENT OF H. ALLEN MAPES, PRESIDENT, SANFORD-SPRINGVALE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, SANFORD, MAINE

Mr. MAPES. Thank you, Senator.

Inasmuch as you gentlemen have already had an opportunity to read our statements, and I think you have followed the pattern of our community, I would like to introduce myself as Mr. H. Allen Mapes, the president of the chamber of commerce, and submit my testimony as it is printed.

Senator DOUGLAS. Thank you very much.

Mr. MAPES. I would appreciate making a couple of remarks that I feel could be stressed.

Senator DOUGLAS. Yes.

Mr. MAPES. One has not been brought up previously, and another than I personally feel a small amount of opposition to-Senator Payne's statement of a few moments ago in regard to the recent Bates closing announcement in the nearby town of Biddeford.

I note in reading the provisions of the bill percentages of, I believe, 12 percent over a period of time, 8 percent, and down to 6 percent for prolonged unemployment in a particular area.

It seems to be that after seeing the handwriting on the wall in the Goodall-Sanford case, where within 6 months we went from 4,000 employment to absolute zero, and now reading the papers and reading between the lines, you can almost see the same thing happening in our nearby community, I wonder if there might not be some provision written into the bill where we wouldn't have to wait for that period of prolonged unemployment. It is like closing the door after the horse has been stolen.

Senator DOUGLAS. I am quite well aware of that. The difficulty is that fear on the part of many if you make the term so elastic that the Administrator might use the funds in areas which didn't need them. That is the problem.

Mr. MAPES. It is an ambiguous thing because, on the one hand, Sanford has already seen this thing happen, and we would prefer to see the help, the assistance from the provisions of the bill, help our own community, and yet it hurts us to look at our nearby community of

17 or 18 miles away and see practically the same thing happening. Senator DOUGLAS. There have been previous mills which have closed down in Biddeford-Saco, isn't that true?

Mr. MAPES. So I would say that Biddeford-Saco has had a fairly constant bit of employment, but due to the intertwining of the population we have Sanford people commuting to Biddeford, and, believe it or not, Biddeford people commuting back; so it is overall unemployment, and the unemployment of the area does allow us to be classified in the IV-B distress area.

The other point I wanted to bring up is that in reading the bill I note that there are unemployment benefits during a training program. Immediately after Goodall-Sanford merged-polite terminology-we had the State unemployment bureau run a labor survey on our area, and we found that the two most important assets that our workers had accumulated through the years were manual dexterity and extremely fine eyesight.

As a result, and since our vocational training program has started in our local school system, we are beginning to reach these former textile workers, machine operation, lathe operation, plastic operation, and so forth and so on, down the line.

I was particularly pleased to see that, although these people have been out of work nearly 3 years and as a result their employment or unemployment benefits are gone, used up, you do make provision to help them during their training program to get back on their feet. Certainly during their training program and for the first several years to train a textile worker, a weaver, to run a lathe, shall we say-let's face it—he just isn't going to make the money that he should make, and I am very happy to see such a provision take care of that man during the training period.

Senator DOUGLAS. Mr. Mapes, I am glad you liked that provision. It happens to be one of my favorite provisions in the bill, too. I am greatly pleased that you like it.

I do want to say that we deeply appreciate your coming down here. Miss Chase is going to meet with you and arrange some of the business details, but we do want to thank you very much. I think you have been very public spirited in coming.

(The prepared statement of Mr. Mapes follows:)

STATEMENT OF H. ALLEN MAPES, PRESIDENT, SANFORD-SPRINGVALE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, SANFORD, MAINE

Hon. Paul H. Douglas and Senators of the Senate Labor Committee, my name is H. Allen Mapes, a resident of Sanford, Maine. At the present time I am president of the Sanford-Springvale Chamber of Commerce and a member of the industrial development committee of that organization. On behalf of the community and the chamber of commerce I am appearing in favor of the area redevelopment bill S. 964.

The population of our town at the present time is approximately 17,000, of which some 2,000 persons are still seeking employment in the community.

A little over 3 years ago when Burlington Mills, Inc., purchased the former Goodall-Sanford, Inc., mills some 4,000 employees were thrown out of work. Our citizens formed a chamber of commerce to face the immediate crisis that had been thrust upon us. During the past 3 years, through the efforts of this organization, we have done our best to bring as many new industries into our community as possible and to date some 1,500 people have been employed in these new industries, but we still have some 2,000 persons who still seek employment in our town.

When the industrial properties were made available, we had some 2 million square feet for rent, sale, or lease. At the present time we have approximately

400,000 square feet. It is obvious that on the basis of the number employed in new industries at the present time, which is 1,500 people in 1,600,000 square feet, that we will be unable to take care of the balance of 2,000 plus in the remaining 400,000 square feet of available manufacturing space.

Business leaders in our chamber of commerce realized this last fall and we dedicated what is known as the Sanford Airport, which contains some 1,300 acres of land, as the Sanford Industrial Park where we hope to bring some of our industrial prospect of the future and perhaps the expansions of some of our existing firms. However, the Sanford Airport is approximately 31⁄2 miles from the immediate town center. To adequately develop this area, it will require considerable expense on the part of the community to extend water facilities and adequate sewerage facilities to this area for servicing of industrial plants. Under the provisions of bill S. 964, it is noted that funds would be available for this purpose on a long-term basis.

We have been in the process of forming a community industrial development corporation to raise funds for buildings, but due to the economic condition of the community, it appears that we may not be too successful. The provision of this bill, as pertains to industrial buildings, would be very helpful.

Due to the fact that many of our unemployed are, of course, former textile workers and are of a higher age than that desirable for training, these people are unable to find employment locally because of the lack of knowledge of the skills required by new industries. Therefore, as president of the Sanford Chamber of Commerce and as a businessman in the community, I certainly would like to see this bill passed.

I want to take this opportunity to thank the committee for granting me the time to present my statement.

Senator DOUGLAS. Off the record.

(Discussion off the record.)

Senator DOUGLAS. Our next witness is Mr. Herman M. Buck of the Fayette County (Pa.) Development Council.

Mr. Buck.

Very glad to have you here, Mr. Buck.

STATEMENT OF HERMAN M. BUCK, COUNSEL, GREATER UNIONTOWN (PA.) INDUSTRIAL FUND, FAYETTE COUNTY DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL; CHAIRMAN, FAYETTE COUNTY PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION

Mr. Buck. Thank you, Senator.

I, too, come from a depressed area. I think you heard one of the representatives from my county at a previous hearing.

Senator DOUGLAS. That is right.

Mr. Buck. I am here on behalf of the Greater Uniontown industrial fund, Uniontown being the county seat of Fayette County, and also on behalf of the Fayette County Development Council.

to

Senator DOUGLAS. The previous witness testified as being opposed

Mr. BUCK. Certain provisions of this bill.

Senator DOUGLAS. Yes.

Mr. Buck. I am down here on behalf of the board of directors of both the fund and the Fayette County Development Council to express our views on the loan aspects of the legislation that is pending before this committee.

Senator DOUGLAS. Has your statement been approved by Uniontown industrial fund and the Fayette County Development Council?

Mr. BUCK. Yes, and also the Fayette County Planning and Zoning Commission, of which I happen to be the chairman. Senator DOUGLAS. Thank you very much.