1939 Jaw. 25 COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS EDWARD T. TAYLOR, Colorado, Chairman CLARENCE CANNON, Missouri THOMAS S. MCMILLAN, South Carolina J. BUELL SNYDER, Pennsylvania J. BURRWOOD DALY. Pennsylvania ROSS A. COLLINS, Mississippi JOHN TABER, New York RICHARD B. WIGGLESWORTH, Massachusetts WILLIAM P. LAMBERTSON, Kansas D. LANE POWERS, New Jersey J. WILLIAM DITTER, Pennsylvania FRANCIS H. CASE, South Dakota HEARINGS CONDUCTED BY THE SUBCOMMITTEE, MESSRS. EDWARD T. TAYLOR (CHAIRMAN), JED JOHNSON, OKLAHOMA, JAMES G. SCRUGHAM, JAMES M. FITZPATRICK, CHARLES H. LEAVY, ROBERT F. RICH, ALBERT E. CARTER, AND DUDLEY A. WHITE, OF THE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, IN CHARGE OF THE INTERIOR DEPARTMENT APPROPRIATION BILL FOR THE FISCAL YEAR 1940, ON THE FOLLOWING DAYS, NAMELY: 5 MONDAY, JANUARY 23, 1939. STATEMENT OF HON. HAROLD L. ICKES, SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR; ACCOMPANIED BY EBERT K. EBERT K. BURLEW, FIRST ASSISTANT SECRETARY GENERAL STATEMENT The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Secretary, we are glad to have you with us this morning. It is always an inspiration to the committee to have you come and talk over with us the affairs of your Department. It is also a matter of personal gratification to me to say that this is the eighth bill that I shall have piloted through the Congress, and the nineteenth, I think, since I have been on this committee. Secretary ICKES. That is pretty nearly a record, Mr. Chairman. The CHAIRMAN. It is a long record, and I have found this department to be very interesting and of tremendous importance. We should be glad now to hear any statement from you that you care to make. Secretary ICKES. Thank you, Mr. Chairman and gentlemen. COMPARISON OF ESTIMATES FOR 1940 WITH APPROPRIATIONS MADE FOR 1939 I have a short formal statement here that I should like to make. The total of the estimates for the Department of the Interior for the fiscal year 1940 is $189,141,333.23. This includes $165,583,093.23 for annual appropriations, of which amount $83,159,593.23 are for operation, maintenance, etc., of the various activities of the Department and $82,423,500 for the construction items contained in the general Public Works program of the 1940 budget. The remainder of the estimates consist of permanent appropriations and special funds in the amount of $15,657,500, and trust and contributed funds totaling $7,900,740. Compared with the appropriations for the fiscal year 1939 these estimates provide increases aggregating $20,913,759.87. The increase is distributed as follows: $1,988,511.87 for annual items for operation, maintenance, etc.; $17,867,688 for annual appropriations for construc |