Mr. TABER. They would be in addition to the 3,000 county committeemen.

Mr. ALVORD. Yes, sir.

Mr. TABER. That is a separate item in your set-up, is it not?

Mr. COBB. Yes, sir. How many days would they be employed? Mr. ALVORD. That would depend on how many farmers they could contact. A man might contact all the way from 5 up to 10 or 12 farmers per day.

The CHAIRMAN. If he could not contact more than 5, or even more than 10, he would be a poor man, I think.

Mr. ALVORD. It would depend on how much work he had to do on the farm. If he had to go over the farm, look it over, and see what was the quality of the land, it would take more time.

Mr. TABER. How many county committeemen do you have?

Mr. ALVORD. Three in each county.

The CHAIRMAN. According to this estimate, there would be 10 in

each county.

Mr. ALVORD. You are referring to the local committeemen. There are 10 local committeemen for each county. Some counties would have less than that number, and some more.

The CHAIRMAN. How many farms do you estimate on?

Mr. ALVORD. There are 1,500,000 farms.

The CHAIRMAN. How many farmers do you figure to each committeeman?

Mr. ALVORD. We figure on a million five hundred thousand farmers to be contacted, and we provide here for 10,000 men to contact them, if necessary. You can see what the ratio is.

The CHAIRMAN. You have not figured that out?

Mr. ALVORD. We have figured it out on that basis. That would be the minimum number of men to use in that work.

Mr. THURSTON. Is any mileage contemplated in this estimate? Mr. Cовв. No, sir; we figured this compensation on the basis of $3 per day, less the 10 percent reduction that is made from all Government pay. That will go a long ways toward paying the gasoline and oil bill of these men.

Mr. THURSTON. Would it not save a great deal of friction and turmoil if you allowed so much for contacting each farmer, and let them handle the work in their own way? Would no that serve to expedite it, and would it not be better than nursing it along and making it a long-draw-out affair? Would it not be better to put it on a per capita basis, instead of setting up an arrangement here that can be fostered in nursing along an organization that would likely become top-heavy, and really bring a very grave injustice to the men who are producing cotton, on account of the tremendous overhead that will grow up?

Mr. Cовв. It is not worked out that way, because the pay is not enough to take care of the gasoline and oil, and there is every incentive to get the job done as quickly as it is possible to do it. That is true because the man is out of pocket in that job. Now, these local committeemen are the best farmers in their communities in every case. They are people that you could not employ to do this work at $3 per day if that were the only consideration. They could not spare the time from their work to do this job at $3 per day, but as a patriotic

service, or patriotic duty, they are willing to do it if they feel that they are getting something back in the way of expenses.

The CHAIRMAN. Do you pay them anything for the use of their cars?

Mr. COBB. No, sir. They have been working for $2.55 per day, flat.

Mr. THURSTON. Of course, the planter pays all of this overhead. Mr. CоBB. It will come out of the revenues.

Mr. THURSTON. Yes; but that means coming from the planter. Mr. Cовв. He is a cotton planter in every case, and he understands that this pay comes out of the pockets of other cotton planters. The committeeman understands that. All of them understand that, and we have authority to do this job in the cotton section. We think that is a very modest cost.

Mr. DAVIS. I would like to make it clear that this is the organization we are using now to handle the cotton-reduction program, or the voluntary-cotton-reduction program. In other words, we are using the same organization in carrying out the provisions of the Bankhead Act. Of course, the Bankhead Act authorizes many new duties, and we figured the additional time that those same men will be called on. Mr. THURSTON. Is there not danger of a tremendous scandal developing from the fact that you may have so many people employed, or a larger number of people than would appear to be necessary?

Mr. Cовв. I do not believe there is much danger of a scandal in employing people who do not get back as much as they actually have to spend out of pocket in the performance of the duties assigned to them. I would be fearful myself if we raised the pay to a point where it might be a job that somebody would gladly seek.

Mr. THURSTON. Do they come under the Workmens' Compensation Law, so that if one of them was riding along in an automobile that ran into a ditch, the Government would have to take care of the liability for any damage?

Mr. COBB. That point, I do not believe, has come up. We have had some people who were injured, but I do not know how the cases were settled. I am sorry that I cannot answer that question.

The CHAIRMAN. I think some provision covering that should be put in the bill. I think we should carry the limitation that was put on the other bill. I think the same limitation should be made to apply to all emergency agents. It should cover only traumatic injuries.

Mr. TABER. I want to see if I get the whole picture. I would like to get it down to where we could have the whole thing in one place.

CLERKS AND STENOGRAPHERS

The CHAIRMAN. You estimate for 3,000 clerks and stenographers, at $3 per day, the amount for the balance of this fiscal year being $250,000, and you estimate $750,000 for the next fiscal year. Are they to be provided for the local associations?

Mr. ALVORD. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. That would be approximately three employees under each executive secretary; is that correct?

Mr. COBB. Yes, sir. You will understand, of course, that they are temporary employees. They are not permanent employees.

The CHAIRMAN. Your estimate under that head for the balance of this fiscal year is $250,000, and the estimate for the next fiscal year is $750,000. That is the estimate, and we will have all of the statement put in the record. The base rate of pay, according to this statement, is $3 per day. Now, you will have to have one employee for each executive secretary in any large cotton-producing county, and you will have to have him employed all the year around.

Mr. COBB. Yes, sir. He will not only serve the executive secretary and the County Control Association, but he will be available for the county committeemen, for the local committeemen, and also for the county agent. In other words, he will be available for the entire set-up in the county.

The CHAIRMAN. Tell us what figure the county agent cuts in this? Mr. Cовв. The county agent is our responsible representative in the county.

Mr. TABER. Why is he not supposed to do this work anyway?

Mr. Cовв. We have some dozen of them in the hospital already because of overwork. It is not physically possible for him to do all this. He has his task in connection with the cotton program, the corn and hog program, the wheat program, and so forth. He has a tremendous program to look after.

The CHAIRMAN. The county agent in a county of any size is one of the busiest men in the world. He is a very busy man with his present duties.

Mr. COBB. His load has broken him down already.

The CHAIRMAN. You must go before daylight some time to find him in.

Mr. OLIVER. So far as my information goes, I think I am correct in saying that the farmers who are selected to do this work are outstanding men in their communities.

Mr. Cовв. They are outstanding men, and I do not believe that there is an instance or case of honesty in performance anywhere that surpasses the record that they have made. In point of honesty, I do not think they have been surpassed in any work. That was certainly true of the work they performed last year, and I think you will find the same thing true of the work in 1934. That is true because they are the highest type of people that we can get.

Mr. THURSTON. Do they have comparable duties in connection with the corn and hog program?

Mr. DAVIS. Yes; in that work the county and local committeemen are much the same as in this work.

Mr. THURSTON. Do they receive the same rate of pay?

Mr. DAVIS. The pay has run a little bit higher in the corn and hog program. They have a little more money. They have to leave their work, and devote to this work the limited time that is necessary.

Mr. TABER. Why for 1 month do you need $250,000 for clerks and stenographers, when for 1 year you need only $750,000?

Mr. COBB. Right now we are up against the whole problem of getting the operations of the Bankhead Act out into the country. That means that we have got to go about making these allocations. We have got to make those allocations between now and June 15, because by June 15, in your State, Mr. Chairman, they begin ginning cotton, or they begin a little bit later than that. We have got right

now what you might call three loads to carry. Once we get them under way, we will lighten up on the cost. There is a tremendous load that we must carry for the first months of the campaign.

ESTIMATED EMPLOYMENT OF COUNTY AND LOCAL COMMITTEEMEN

Mr. TABER. You estimate $300,000 for county committeemen for 1 month: Would every single one of them be employed for the full month?

Mr. Cовв. They might be.

Mr. TABER. That is what you are allowing for in the estimate. Mr. Cовв. We have got to do that, because we do not know how heavy the load will be.

Mr. TABER. That would amount to $100 for each one of them, and you estimate $300,000 for the balance of this fiscal year, as against $500,000 for the next fiscal year.

Mr. Cовв. That is right.

Mr. TABER. You are planning to pay $50 to each one of your local committeemen during 1 month, indicating that they will be on the job most of the time in June.

Mr. Cовв. They will be; because we have this whole problem of allocating cotton to be handled, and it is a terrific problem to check up as between individuals and as between States.

Mr. JUMP. For Mr. Taber's information, and to show why we are not submitting the estimates for this activity in the manner in which we are accustomed to submit estimates, I would like to read this paragraph from the President's statement transmitting the estimates, which shows the extreme uncertainty about some of the features. The President in his statement says

It is impossible to make other than a rough estimate of the expenditures which will be necessary in the administration of the act, but upon the basis of information now at hand these costs, including the expenses of the Bureau of Internal Revenue, are expected to involve between 5 and 10 million dollars, covering the fiscal years 1934 and 1935.

You will note that the President says "between 5 and 10 million dollars", and there is a wide range right there.

COST OF ADMINISTRATION OF COTTON CONTROL ACT BY A.A.A.

Mr. COLLINS. Going back to the initial question I asked, the total expenditure will amount to $6,873,000, which will be relatively a very small percentage of the total amount that will be collected out of these taxes. In other words, the cost of administration will be practically trifling as compared with the usual cost of the administration of other activities.

Mr. TABER. There is no tax until they go up to 10,000,000 bales. Until that figure is passed there is not any tax available at all on which to operate.

Mr. JUMP. The regular processing taxes are available.

Mr. TABER. What are they?

Mr. JUMP. The taxes under section 16 (b) of the act.

The CHAIRMAN. Yes; the processing tax.

Mr. JUMP. The cotton processing tax.

The CHAIRMAN. All cotton is subject to a processing tax. Even this will be subject to it.

Mr. COLLINS. You will find that it will be a very small percentage of the total tax collected.

The CHAIRMAN. This processing tax is available for administration expenses. It is not specified that all of it go back to farmers in the way of benefits.

Mr. DAVIS. It is available for administration expenses.
The CHAIRMAN. It is available for both purposes.

Mr. DAVIS. Yes, sir.

Mr. OLIVER. I think that the urgency of this appropriation has been made clear for the Record. I think it has been made clear for the Record that it is important that this work be done very quickly. Certainly the amount of the per diem allowed to those who are to do the work, when you take into consideration the character of the employees that they have selected to do the work, cannot be considered as large. In other words, it has been stated that really in some cases it will result in loss to those who undertake to perform the work. The amount of the per diem is less than that allowed for the subsistence and travel of any Government employees. It is about one half the usual amount allowed. Therefore, you cannot consider that the estimate which they have submitted is an unreasonable one.

RENTALS, OFFICES, AND EQUIPMENT

The CHAIRMAN. For rentals, offices, and equipment, you estimate $25,000 for the remainder of the fiscal year and $100,000 for the next fiscal year.

Mr. COBB. That is to take care of the space that will be necessary to house these employees throughout the cotton counties.

The CHAIRMAN. It would seem to me that you could get a good deal of that space donated.

Mr. Cовв. We have lot of space donated; but most of the space donated is really not space of the type that is most desirable.

The CHAIRMAN. They generally donate office space to the county agents. I do not know about other sections, but in my section, the chambers of commerce and other like organizations generally donate office space to the county agent.

Mr. COBB. Yes, sir; he generally has a room in the courthouse. We find this situation, that a majority of the county agents are absolutely without files and equipment. When they turn over these exemption certificates, it will be infinitely more important that protection be given them than in the case of the contracts that the agents have been accumulating in their offices.

The CHAIRMAN. I realize that you must have some equipment for the filing of those certificates, and for their protection.

Mr. Cовв. In the agents' offices, you will find those contracts stacked up in corners. They have no filing equipment at all.

The CHAIRMAN. You will get space donated wherever you can, will you not?

Mr. COBB. Yes, sir.

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