75TH CONGRESS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 3d Session REPORT No. 2316 EXTENSION OF 2-CENT POSTAL RATE MAY 9, 1938.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union and ordered to be printed Mr. HAINES, from the Committee on the Post Office and Post Roads, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany H. R. 2716] The Committee on the Post Office and Post Roads, having had under consideration the bill (H. R. 2716) to provide for the local delivery rate on certain first-class mail matter, report it back to the House with the following amendment, and, so amended, recommend that the bill do pass. Strike out everything after the enacting clause and insert in lieu thereof the following: That the proviso in section 1001 (a) of the Revenue Act of 1932 (relating to postal rates) is amended by inserting before the period at the end of such proviso a comma and the following: "or, after the date of enactment of this amendatory clause, to first-class matter mailed for delivery wholly within a county the population of which exceeds one million provided said county is entirely within a corporate city." The bill is not changed in any manner by the committee amendment, but is merely restated. It establishes a 2-cent rate of postage on letters to be delivered within the county of mailing, provided the county has a population of over a million and lies entirely within a corporate city. Queens County, N. Y., is an illustration of the need for this legislation. It is composed of four postal districts, and in order to send a letter from one part of the county to another the mailer must pay 3 cents postage should his letter go outside the district served by the office of mailing. The pending bill would correct this condition and permit the mailing of first-c ass matter for delivery anywhere within such a county for 2 cents. In other words, in Queens County, N. Y., the bill would abolish the four postal districts and set up a consolidated postal district instead, with a single postal rate for the entire county. The Post Office Department's report on the bill follows: Hon. JAMES M. MEAD, OFFICE OF THE POSTMASTER General, Chairman, Committee on the Post Office and Post Roads, House of Representatives. MY DEAR MR. MEAD: The receipt is acknowledged of your letter of the 23d ultimo, requesting a report upon H. R. 2716, a bill to provide for the local delivery rate on certain first-class mail matter. This bill has reference to the local rate of postage which applies to the postal district of a particular office in which mailed. While not unmindful of the conditions existing in cases of this kind, we do not feel that the measure should be enacted into law for the reason that it would not be practicable from a postal standpoint to apply the rate of postage on the basis of communities, counties, or municipalities, and furthermore it would result in a considerable loss of revenue, thus defeating the purpose for which the 3-cent rate was established. It has been ascertained from the Bureau of the Budget that this report is in accord with the program of the President. Very truly yours, JAS. A. FARLEY, CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW In compliance with paragraph 2a of rule XIII of the rules of the House of Representatives, changes in existing law are indicated as follows (existing law specifically repealed is enclosed within black brackets, amendments added to existing law are printed in italic, existing law in which no change is made is printed in roman): Section 1001 (a) of the Revenue Act of 1932 as amended. (Proviso printed in roman added by act of June 16, 1933, Public, No. 73.) SEC. 1001. POSTAL RATES: (a) On and after the thirtieth day after the date of the enactment of this Act and until July 1, 1939, the rate of postage on all mail matter of the first class (except postal cards and private mailing or post cards, and except other first-class matter on which the rate of postage under existing law is 1 cent for each ounce or fraction thereof) shall be 1 cent for each ounce or fraction thereof in addition to the rate provided by existing law: Provided, That such additional rate shall not apply on or after July 1, 1933, to first-class matter mailed for local delivery, or, after the date of enactment of this amendatory clause, to first class matter mailed for delivery wholly within a county the population of which exceeds one million, provided said county is entirely within a corporate city. APPROPRIATIONS FOR WORK RELIEF, RELIEF, AND FOR LOANS AND GRANTS FOR PUBLIC WORKS PROJECTS MAY 10, 1938.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed Mr. TAYLOR of Colorado, from the Committee on Appropriations, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany H. J. Res. 679] The Committee on Appropriations to whom was referred the joint resolution (H. J. Res. 679) entitled "Joint resolution making appropriations for work relief, relief, and otherwise to increase employment by providing loans and grants for public works projects" report the measure with amendments and with a favorable recommendation for its early consideration and passage by the House. The Budget estimates and recommendations upon which the joint resolution is based were submitted by the President in his message to Congress on April 14, 1938 (H. Doc. No. 594) and in a supplemental estimate in connection with that program subsequently transmitted in a letter to the Speaker (H. Doc. No. 626). THE PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE OF APRIL 14, 1938 The message of the President reviews thoroughly and states clearly the causes which brought about and led up to the present situation and sets forth the steps which, in his judgment, should be taken to avert disaster and to set in motion an upward swing. Portions of the message deal with the legislation and appropriations which are recommended to be enacted by Congress. As those recommendations, with the exception of legislation dealing with the increase in the amount of bonds which may be issued by the United States Housing Authority, have been considered in connection with the joint resolu tion which the committee has reported, it is appropriate to quote here the pertinent portions: Our situation is vastly different from that which we faced 5 years ago. Let us use the tools already forged and laid out on the bench. At this immediate time we suffer from a failure of consumer demand. The hoped-for reemployment of this spring is not proceeding fast enough to create an economic upturn. Therefore the problem calls for action both by the Government and by the people. It cannot be disputed that the national income which was 38 billions in 1932, 68 billions in 1937, is now running at the lesser rate of about 56 billions. If it can be increased to 80 billion dollars in the course of the next year or two the whole economic picture will be different. Hundreds of thousands more people will be employed in private industry, hundreds of thousands fewer will be in need of relief, and consumer demand for goods will be greatly stimulated. I do not set 80 billion dollars as the national income goal. It ought to rise in the next decade to more than 100 billions. I want to make it clear that we do not believe that we can get an adequate rise in national income merely by investing, lending, or spending public funds. It is essential in our economy that private funds be put to work and all of us recognize that such funds are entitled to a fair profit. As citizen income rises, let us not forget that Government expenditures will go down and Government tax receipts will go up. How and where can and should the Government help to start an upward spiral? I propose to the Congress three groups of measures: 1. In the first category I place additional appropriations for the fiscal year beginning July 1938. These will not put more money in the hands of the consuming public than we are spending in the current fiscal year, but they will prevent men and women from being thrown out of work on July 1. They will stop the spiral from continuing its downward course: (a) I recommended an appropriation of $1,250,000,000 for the Works Progress Administration, to be used during the first 7 months of the next fiscal year. Such a grant is ammunition of the highest grade for attack on recession. It will not greatly increase the present rate of expenditure, but ought to be sufficient to care for the additional men and women who have come or are coming to an end of their unemployment insurance payments. (b) For the Farm Security Administration an appropriation of $175,000,000 for the next fiscal year. (c) For the National Youth Administration the sum of $75,000,000 to cover the full fiscal year. (d) For the Civilian Conservation Corps the sum of $50,000,000 additional to maintain the existing number of camps now in operation. I call your attention to the fact that these appropriations will avert the laying off of people now receiving assistance from the Federal Government. 3. I come, therefore, to the third category which I consider to be vital. The first two categories-maintenance of relief and the expansion of credit might prove sufficient-but in my judgment other measures are essential. You and I cannot afford to equip ourselves with two rounds of ammunition where three rounds are necessary. If we stop at relief and credit, we may find ourselves without ammunition before the enemy is routed. If we are fully equipped with the third round of ammunition, we stand to win the battle against adversity. This third proposal relates solely to definite additions to the purchasing power of the Nation by providing new work: (a) I ask for certain amendments to the United States Housing Authority Act to permit the undertaking of the immediate construction of about $300,000,000 of additional projects. The Federal Housing Administration is prepared to increase the already mounting volume of home and apartment construction. (b) I ask for a renewal of Public Works projects. I believe that by the expenditure of $450,000,000, and the granting of authority to loan up to $1,000,000,000 to States and their subdivisions, a vast number of well-thought-out, needed, and permanent public improvements can be undertaken this summer and autumn. I believe that the aid of the Federal Government should be put in optional form— either the existing method of 45 percent grant and 55 percent loan, or the advancing of the whole sum as loans to States and their subdivisions without interest. Under such a plan the Federal Government would assume the payment of interest and the borrowing authority would assume the payment of the principal by amortization or rental. Under either method the ultimate cost to the Federal Government and to the States and their subdivisions is approximately the same. It is my thought that the total ultimate out-of-pocket cost to the Federal Government by either or both methods should be limited to $1,000,000,000, and furthermore that no loans or grants should be made on any State or local projects which cannot be started within 6 months of the date of the enabling legislation, and completed within a year or a year and a half from the commencement of work. (c) I recommend the appropriation of $100,000,000 to the Bureau of Public Roads for highways in excess of the amount I have previously recommended in the Budget for the fiscal year 1939, but I request that this additional amount be used only for projects which can be definitely started this calendar year. (d) I recommend an appropriation of $37,000,000 over and above estimates for the immediate undertaking of flood control and reclamation works to be expended on projects already authorized by this or former Congresses. (e) I recommend the appropriation of $25,000,000 additional for Federal buildings. * * We need to recognize nationally that the demands of no group, however just, can be satisfied unless that group is prepared to share in finding a way to produce the income from which they and all other groups can be paid. Unjust claims defeat themselves. You, as the Congress, I, as the President, must by virtue of our offices seek the national good by preserving the balance between all groups and all sections. We have at our disposal the national resources, the money, the skill of hand and head to raise our economic level-our citizens' income. Our capacity is limited only by our ability to work together. What is needed is the will. The time has come to bring that will into action with every driving force at our command. And I am determined to do my share. The responsibility for making this national will effective rests on every individual whether in the Government or in industry, or in finance, or in labor, or in the professional fields. Every man and woman in the United States has the great privilege of making this will productive. And the beneficiary will be the whole of the American people. The message contains specific recommendations for direct appropriations totaling $2,712,000,000 for the fiscal year commencing July 1, 1938 (of which $1,000,000,000 had already been included in the regular Budget submitted in January 1938 for that fiscal year), and in addition requests legislation to increase by $300,000,000 the amount of federally guaranteed bonds which may be issued by the United States Housing Authority and also asks legislation to permit the Public Works Administration to utilize the proceeds from securities of that administration for the making of further loans up to an amount not to exceed $450,000,000. Some of the recommendations in that message for appropriations have already been acted upon in other appropriation measures at this session and the request for legislation in connection with the issuance of bonds by the United States Housing Authority is under consideration by the House Committee on Banking and Currency. |