Valuation of property of carriers: Amount available for fiscal year 1936, regular appropriation... $1, 041, 100 Amount transferred from Department of Agriculture-Salaries and expenses: Bureau of Animal Industry. Total available, fiscal year 1936.. Amount obligated, fiscal year 1936. Unobligated balance.. Amount available for fiscal year 1937, regular act.... Amount reappropriated for fiscal year 1937, from fiscal year 1935 ... Total available, fiscal year 1937- Amount of estimated obligations___ Estimated balance.. Commission's estimate to the Bureau of the Budget for fiscal Bureau of the Budget estimate for fiscal year 1938. 2, 219 1, 043, 319 1,037, 001 6, 318 798, 000 2,000 800, 000 800, 000 None 800, 000 700, 000 Air mail. This appropriation is for the purpose of enabling the Commission to comply with the mandates contained in the Air Mail Act of 1934, as amended, under which the Commission is directed to review bids submitted to it by the Postmaster General in respect of advertisements for the transportation of air mail by airplane and the service connected therewith over air-mail routes designated by the Postmaster General; to fix, determine, and publish the fair and reasonable rates for such transportation over each air-mail route and over each section thereof covered by separate contract; to review annually the rates of compensation being paid to the holders of such contracts in order to be assured that no unreasonable profit is being derived or accruing therefrom and in order to fix just rates, taking into consideration, among other things, the reasonableness of all forms of expenditures of said companies and the fair and reasonable market value of the equipment, goods, and services purchased or rented, together with the relationship that may exist between the vendors of such equipment and goods and the stockholders, officers, and employees of the contractors; to fix the rates to be paid the contractors during the period of indefinite continuance of their contracts; to audit the books, accounts, contracts, and entire business records of the contractors and make reports thereon; to pass upon applications for increases in service and for the discontinuance of unfair practices of air-mail contractors; and to obtain from the contractors full statements of all free transportation furnished by the contractors. Many of these duties were imposed by the original act, but the scope and the details the Commission is required to ascertain and report have been substantially broadened by the amendments. To some extent the volume of the work under the act will depend upon the number of proceedings which are initiated upon applications of the contractors or the Postmaster General. The rights of the contractors in this respect are considerably greater than they were under the original act. However, the Commission has the right to, and will, inaugurate proceedings on its own motion. The work of the Commission under the various provisions of law is directly affected by the rapid growth of transportation by air of passengers and express, as well as mail, and increases proportionately with such growth. The expenses of this activity were absorbed by the appropriation for general administrative expenses during the fiscal year 1936. Air mail: Amount available for fiscal year 1937, regular act.. Estimated balance.. Commission's estimate to the Bureau of the Budget for fiscal year 1938_.. Bureau of the Budget estimate for fiscal year 1938. Motor transport regulation.—This appropriation is for all authorized expenditures under the act of August 9, 1935, cited as the Motor Carrier Act, 1935, providing for the regulation of the transportation of passengers and property by motor carriers operating in interstate or foreign commerce, and for other purposes. The act is to be administered by the Interstate Commerce Commission, in cooperation with State commissions, and is generally applicable to more than 150,000 separate carriers and brokers and to more than 450,000 vehicles operating throughout the country. The regulation embraces (1) certificates, permits, and licenses of public convenience and necessity; (2) standards for safety of operation and equipment, including hours of service of employees; (3) surety bonds and insurance policies; (4) service requirements; (5) uniform system of accounts and reports; (6) tariffs and charges; (7) consolidations or mergers and issuance of securities; (8) investigations as to size and weight of vehicles as related to safety of highway operation. The safety provisions of the act apply also to privately operated trucks, as well as to common and contract carriers. There are probably more than 750,000 of these privately operated trucks. Due to the large number of carriers subject to the Motor Carrier Act, it is necessary to have a substantial field force and to maintain field offices at, at least, 55 different points. The Commission's estimate to the Bureau of the Budget for the 1938 fiscal year was slightly in excess of its original estimate for the 1937 fiscal year, and was based on its experience as gained by the first year's operation of the Bureau. It will be necessary for the Commission to submit a deficiency estimate to cover the amount needed for the balance of the 1937 fiscal year, as the rapid development of the work of the Bureau has shown that it cannot operate efficiently on the amount appropriated. The Bureau of the Budget has approved an estimate $734,530 less than that asked for by the Commission and the Commission's estimate has been reduced as best it could to comply with that reduction. Motor transport regulation: Amount available for fiscal year 1936, supplemental appropriation Amount obligated fiscal year 1936.- Unobligated balance_ Amount available for fiscal year 1937, regular act.. Estimated balance__ Commission's estimate to the Bureau of the Budget for fiscal year Bureau of the Budget estimate for fiscal year 1938. $960,000 3, 259, 530 NOTE. The Commission's estimate included $75,000 for printing and binding As This appropriation covers all printing and binding for the Commission. Printing and binding: Amount available for fiscal year 1936, regular appropriation--- Total available, fiscal year 1936. $125,000 Amount obligated, fiscal year 1936.. Unobligated balance...... Amount available for fiscal year 1937, regular act. Amount reappropriated for fiscal year 1937, from fiscal year 1935-- Total available fiscal year 1937.. Amount of estimated obligations -- Estimated balance. Commission's estimate to the Bureau of the Budget for fiscal year 1938, general purposes- Motor carriers... Bureau of the Budget estimate for fiscal year 1938... 1 See explanation as given above. 75, 000 200, 000 145, 210 54, 790 167, 000 8,000 175, 000 175, 000 None 125,000 75, 000 1 175, 000 Statement of transfers between appropriations during fiscal year 1936 To appropriation, Interstate Commerce Commission 1936, Valuation STATEMENT NO. 3 Appropriation for Interstate Commerce Commission 1937 (a) Amount appropriated or made available. (c) Amounts made available by allotment from emergency funds.-- (a) For savings and contingencies... (b) Savings from railroad rate reductions (estimated). STATEMENT NO. 3 $2,219 2, 219 Appropriation for Printing and Binding, Interstate Commerce Commission, 1937 No allotments from emergency funds have been made available either in whole GEORGE B. McGINTY, Secretary. GENERAL STATEMENT Mr. WOODRUM. Now, Mr. McManany, if you will proceed with your Mr. McMANANY. Mr. Chairman, in respect to what we term our In the coming year the general appropriation must cover the general activities of the Commission, and among the things we will have to do with that money will be these. First, we will have to hear and determine approximately 1,200 rate cases. With the ones we have in sight now and the ones that we will have later, we are certain the total will be about that number. That involves hearings at different points throughout the country, and to deny parties litigant hearings at their home town, or as near it as possible, is a hardship which we know is not desired. The next thing we will use the money for will be some 250 finance cases, which involve questions relating to the financial work of the railroads and their various financial matters which come to us for decision. There will be added to that some 175 cases concerning applications for certificates of public convenience and necessity, all of which come under our Bureau of Finance, the expense of which is paid for out of our general fund. It will include also at least 5,000 informal cases, which are matters that come up involving rates, overcharges, refunds, and so on, that are settled without the expense and delay which necessarily follow a formal hearing. We handle from 4,000 to 6,000 of those complaints. each year. In fact, they exceed the number of formal cases. We will have filed and must check and dispose of 125,000 tariffs. Those tariffs are not decreasing in number, they are rather increasing, and they come along very regularly and must be taken care of. We will have also to consider some 400 fourth-section applications, which, as we all know, involve the long-and-short-haul question. Under our Bureau of Statistics, which is also paid for out of our general fund, we will receive and analyze and report on some 1,500 annual reports of the railroads, which must be studied and tabulated, and the results put in shape so we and the public and the Congress can make use of them. Also, there will be some 25 proceedings under section 1 of the Railway Labor Act, which is the section under which we are required to define the status of electric railways; that is, as to whether they come within the provisions of the Railway Labor Act. The act specifically provides that we shall do the work, and there are about 166 electric carriers as to which the status is somewhat uncertain. Whenever a question arises between the employees and the company on those lines they request the Railway Labor Board to define their status, and, of course, that means that the Labor Board passes it to us and we must determine that. Then we have our Bureau of Service, which is a comparatively small bureau, but a very important one, because its work is to see that the public gets service from the railroads, that is, that the car supply is adequate, that the switching is done promptly, and that the return of empty cars for loading is carried out promptly. It is particularly important in connection with the movement of perishables and livestock, because a little delay there can cause a great deal of loss to everybody concerned. So that Bureau is engaged in checking and keeping track of the movement of cars and the service that is furnished shippers, and it receives a great many complaints which are handled directly in the field, without the delay incident even to an informal complaint. They go right |