INTERSTATE MIGRATION JANUARY 2, 1941.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House Mr. TOLAN, from the Select Committee to Investigate the Interstate Migration of Destitute Citizens, submitted the following PRELIMINARY REPORT [Pursuant to H. Res. 63, 76th Cong., 3d sess.] The select committee of five members of the House, appointed pursuant to House Resolution No. 63, to inquire into the interstate migration of destitute citizens, to study, survey, and investigate the social and economic needs, and the movement of indigent persons across State lines, obtaining all facts possible in relation thereto which would not only be of public interest but which would aid the House in enacting remedial legislation, submits the following preliminary report: INTRODUCTORY STATEMENT House Resolution No. 63 was enacted by unanimous consent on April 22, 1940. Under authority of the foregoing resolution, Speaker William B. Bankhead appointed the following committee to conduct the inquiry provided for by said resolution: Messrs. John H. Tolan of California, chairman; Claude V. Parsons, of Illinois; John J. Sparkman, of Alabama; Carl T. Curtis, of Nebraska; and Frank C. Osmers, Jr., of New Jersey; the first three being members of the Democratic Party and the last two being members of the Republican Party, the two major political divisions of the House of Representatives. The resolution provided as follows: Resolved, That the Speaker appoint a select committee of five Members of the House, and that such committee be instructed to inquire into the interstate migration of destitute citizens, to study, survey, and investigate the social and economic needs, and the movement of indigent persons across State lines, obtaining all facts possible in relation thereto which would not only be of public interest but which would aid the House in enacting remedial legislation, and shall have the right to report at any time. In the event the committee transmits its report at a time when the House is not in session, a record of such transmittal shall be entered in the proceedings of the Journal and Congressional Record of the House on the opening day of the next session of Congress and shall be numbered and printed as a report of such Congress. That said select committee, or any subcommittee thereof, is hereby authorized to sit and act during the present Congress at such times and places within the United States, whether or not the House is sitting, has recessed, or has adjourned, to hold such hearings, to require the attendance of such witnesses and the production of such books, papers, and documents, by subpena or otherwise, and to take such testimony as it deems necessary. Subpenas shall be issued under the signature of the chairman and shall be served by any person designated by him. The chairman of the committee or any member thereof may administer oaths to witnesses. Every person who, having been summoned as a witness by authority of said committee, or any subcommittee thereof, willfully makes default, or who, having appeared, refuses to answer any question pertinent to the investigation heretofore authorized, shall be held to the penalties provided by section 102 of the Revised Statutes of the United States (U. S. C., title 2, sec. 192). Pursuant to said resolution, a comprehensive investigation in respect to such matters was conducted by said select committee. Public hearings were begun on July 29, 1940, in New York City. Twenty-four days of hearings were held, 352 witnesses were heard, the work of the committee was conducted without using the subpena power conferred on it, and testimony was taken in seven regions of the country as follows: On July 29, 30, and 31, the committee heard testimony in New York City; on August 14, 15, and 16 in Montgomery, Ala.; on August 19, 20, and 21 in Chicago, Ill.; on September 16, 17 in Lincoln, Nebr.; on September 19 and 20 in Oklahoma City, Okla.; on September 24 and 25 in San Francisco; and on September 28 in Los Angeles, Calif.; on November 29 and on December 2, 3, 5, 6, 9, 10, and 11 in Washington, D. C. In the course of the investigation conducted by the committee a record of more than three million words of testimony, oral and written, was received, and printed volumes of the testimony are now appearing, the first four regional hearings having been completed to date. A final report of the committee and a lengthy technical supplement are now in process of preparation, and it is for the completion of this report that the committee is requesting an extension of time, not to exceed 3 months. Testimony taken at the Washington hearings alone was equal in volume to that received in any three regional hearings. The last day of Washington hearings was December 11. The committee is impressed with the necessity of further analyzing this great volume of material and especially with the need for study of the recent Washington hearings. This is the basis for its request for an extension of time before making its final report. The House of Representatives on May 21, 1940, pursuant to House Resolution 491, appropriated the sum of $20,000 to provide for the expenses of the investigation. On November 18, 1940, after the committee had held 16 days of field hearings throughout the country, but before it began its series of 8 days of Washington hearings, the House of Representatives, by House Resolution 629, authorized an additional appropriation of $3,000 to provide for further expenses of conducting the investigation and study authorized by House Resolution 63. Approximately one-third of the second appropriation is available and would provide for any expenses contingent upon the continuation of the committee for the requested 90-day period. COMMITTEE WITNESSES At the New York City hearing the committee heard 42 witnesses, including experts on migration, administrators dealing with the problem, and persons who were victims of difficulties resulting in migration. With the exclusion of migrants the witnesses are listed below in the order of their appearance: Fiorello H. LaGuardia, Mayor, New York City, and chairman, United States Conference of Mayors; Dr. Frank Lorimer, professor of population studies, the American University, Washington, D. C.; Bertha McCall, general director, National Travelers Aid Association, New York City; C. George Kreuger, deputy commissioner of labor and chairman of New Jersey Conference of State Departments on Migratory Labor, Trenton, N. J.; William H. MacDonald, State department of health, Trenton, N. J.; Maj. Charles F. Schoeffel, deputy superintendent of New Jersey State Police, Trenton, N. J.; Russell C. Eldridge, director, New Jersey State Employment Service, Trenton, N. J.; H. J. Lepper, administrative assistant, New Jersey State Employment Service, Trenton, N. J.; José M. Vivaldi, chief, Puerto Rican Office, Department of Labor, New York City; Glen Leet, administrator of public assistance, Rhode Island State Department of Social Welfare, Providence, R. I.; James J. Wadsworth, assemblyman from Livingston County, N. Y., and member of State joint legislative committee on interstate cooperation, Geneseo, N. Y.; Frank W. Goodhue, director, division of aid and relief, Massachusetts State Department of Public Welfare, Boston, Mass.; James Hill, farmer of Mercer County, Hightstown, N. J.; Clayton S. Squires, director of State aid, Connecticut State Department of Welfare, Hartford, Conn.; Ralph Astrofsky, director, division of shelter care, Department of Welfare, New York, N. Y.; Benjamin Sprafkin, chairman of section on unattached and homeless, welfare council, New York, N. Y.; David C. Adie, commissioner of social welfare, State of New York, Albany, N. Y:; James C._Ewart, president of State board of agriculture, Cranbury, N. J.; Ruth Taylor, commissioner of welfare, Westchester County, Valhalla, N. Y.; Gladys Dickason, director, research department, Amalgamated Clothing Workers, New York, N. Y.; Edith E. Lowry, executive secretary, Council of Women for Home Missions, New York, N. Y.; Hon. Caroline O'Day, Representative at Large from the State of New York, Rye, N. Y.; Nathaniel A. Snyder, consultant on residence, department of public assistance, Philadelphia, Pa.; J. Fletcher Ágnew, director, Confidential Bureau, Salvation Army, New York, N. Y.; Howard A. Lett, director, Urban League of New Jersey, Newark, N. J.; Robert Lafferty, assistant director of attendance, board of education, Philadelphia, Pa.; Arthur J. Edwards, chairman, subcommittee on migratory child labor, Congregational and Christian Churches, Montclair, N. J. At the Montgomery, Ala., hearings the committee took testimony from 40 witnesses including experts, administrators, and victims of the conditions which cause interstate migration. The expert and administrator witnesses in the order of their appearance were: Dr. Luther N. Duncan, president of the Alabama Polytechnic Institute, Auburn, Ala., representing Gov. Frank Dixon; Howard Gray, president, Alabama Farm Bureau Federation, New Market, Ala.; Dr. Rupert B. Vance, professor of sociology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, N. C.; P. O. Davis, chairman, extension service, Alabama Polytechnic Institute, Auburn, Ala.; Prof. T. M. Campbell, field agent, United States Farm Extension Service, Tuskegee, Ala.; Dr. Harold Hoffsommer, Louisiana State University, University, La.; A. Frederick Smith, chief, department of research and statistics, Florida Industrial Commission, Tallahassee, Fla.; Clarence R. Bitting, president, United |