Mr. LUDLOW. Is Dexter on the approved list? Mr. ZIMMERMAN. I am certain it is, and its receipts amount to 12 or 13 thousand dollars. Mr. MCMILLAN. Then you think this program should continue, in spite of the estimate submitted by the Budget? Mr. ZIMMERMAN. In view of the great benefits that come to a great number of communities serving a great number of people, I think the committee would be justified in stepping over, probably, the Budget figures. I think the money spent will serve the public in a general way more than expenditures along any other line. There is no doubt but what it is needed. I think it is a fine thing for the country to have buildings owned by Uncle Sam, with the flag flying from the tops of the buildings in these communities. I think there is no doubt but that there are a lot of communities that are deserving of better buildings and better equipment to carry on that work, and it reaches every man and woman and child in the country. So I think it is a wise program, and that you can justify your action, in spite of the Budget estimates. Mr. WOODRUM. We thank you for your statement, Mr. Zimmerman. POST OFFICE BUILDING IN SAYRE, OKLA. STATEMENT OF HON. SAM C. MASSINGALE, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA Mr. WOODRUM. Mr. Massingale, the committee will be very glad to hear such statement as you may desire to make at this time. Mr. MASSINGALE. Mr. Chairman and gentlemen, it may be there is no necessity for me to be here. I have gone on the assumption that it is the settled policy of the committee to provide for the construction of one post office or Federal building in each district every year, if the towns are eligible for post-office buildings. At least that is the way I have proceeded since I have been in Congress. I have always taken the matter up with the Procurement Division. I have four or five towns in my district that are eligible to receive buildings, and I recommend them to the Procurement Division upon the basis of postal receipts. I have had the matter of the town of Sayre, in Beckham County, up with the Procurement Division, and they told me the town was eligible, that that would be the next town in my district to be awarded a post-office building, and they want it. Mr. TABER. How big a town is it? Mr. MASSINGALE. It has about 4,500 population; it is a good county-seat town. Mr. TABER. About what are the postal receipts, would you say? POST OFFICE BUILDING AT HIGHLAND PARK, MICH. STATEMENT OF HON. GEORGE D. O'BRIEN, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF MICHIGAN Mr. WOODRUM. Mr. O'Brien, the committee will be glad to have a statement from you at this time. Mr. O'Brien. Mr. Chairman, the particular item I am interested in at this time for my district is a post-office building in the city of Highland Park, Mich. My district runs through the central section of the city of Detroit from the river out to the northern end of the city, and toward the northern end of the city of Detroit, that is, within the confines of Detroit there is a separate municipality that has its own city government, known as the city of Highland Park. It has a population of 65,000 inhabitants. At the present time the postal unit is housed in rented quarters, and the postal unit there serves 117,328 people. Mr. WOODRUM. What are the postal receipts? Mr. O'BRIEN. In 1936 they amounted to $183,000. Mr. O'BRIEN. The lease was executed in October 1933 at an annual rental of $4,000, and that lease expires in October 1938. In 1921 they were paying $10,000 for the leased quarters, so in October 1938 one decision or another will have to be reached, either to execute a new lease, which is bound to be at a figure several times the amount of the rent being paid now, or build a new building. The amount of the lease in 1921 was $10,000, and at the present time in that area rents are at their highest peak since I can remember, even higher than in 1921. The cost of the new structure, according to the survey of the Post Office Department, would be about $200,000, which is $17,000 more than the receipts in 1936. If that post office does not have a new Government-owned building there I think it will be more expensive in the long run because, commencing in October 1938 the Government will have to be paying a new rental which, in a comparatively short term of years, will equal the cost of putting up a new building. Mr. WOODRUM. Have you had the matter up with the interdepartmental committee? Mr. O'BRIEN. Yes, and a survey was made by the Post Office Department, and I understand that the project is on the eligible list. There is a great deal of public interest in that project. I have had letters from all kinds of public officials there, and I am sure that a new building is very much needed, and in the long run it will be a measure of economy and will be very greatly appreciated. Mr. WOODRUM. What is the cost of the building? Mr. O'BRIEN. The estimate of the Postal Service was $200,000. Mr. BACON. Does that include the site? Mr. O'BRIEN. I imagine that is the entire cost. Mr. BOYLAN. If the lease is renewed, would you not probably have to pay an increased rental for that lease? Mr. O'BRIEN. That is problematical. In 1921 the rental for the same quarters was $10,000, and the rents now in that area are higher than ever before in my memory, and the highest in the history of Detroit. Mr. BOYLAN. Then the Government would have to pay more? Mr. O'BRIEN. They would have to pay a rental that within a comparatively short span of years would equal the cost of the post-office building. Mr. WOODRUM. We are very much obliged to you for your statement, Mr. O'Brien. POST OFFICE BUILDING AT DAYTON, OHIO STATEMENT OF HON. BYRON B. HARLAN, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF OHIO Mr. WOODRUM. Mr. Harlan, we will be glad to hear you at this time. Mr. HARLAN. Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, I represent the third district of Ohio, in which the city of Dayton is located. In the first place, the inspectors for the Post Office Department had made repeated inspections of this post office, and if it is allowed by the postal regulations, with the permission of the committee, I should like to extend my remarks by including the last report of the postal inspectors. Mr. WOODRUM. Yes; if it is not too voluminous. Mr. HARLAN. I do not think it is voluminous, but if it is, I will make excerpts from it. The report gives adequate reasons why it is impossible to make the present post-office accommodations adequate for the needs there, and why there must be something done. (The excerpts referred to are as follows:) POST OFFICE DEPARTMENT, Hon. BYRON B. HARLAN, MY DEAR MR. HARLAN: Referring to your personal call at this office today, I am pleased to quote for your information the following excerpts from a report by Post Office Inspector W. P. Krumbiegel and H. C. Rawson, architectural engineer of the Treasury Department, dated February 4, 1937, covering joint survey of Federal building needs at Dayton, Ohio: "Reference is made to report submitted by Inspector H. C. Rumble dated December 11, 1936, under case no. 6280-G, concluding with recommendation that the parcel-post station be discontinued and its activities absorbed in a new Government-owned building to replace the present Federal building. We have carefully reviewed that report and attached data forms and concur in the opinion that the city of Dayton has hardly reached the stage in its development where a separate parcel-post station is desirable or necessary. Any division of postal activities in an office of this size results in poorer supervision and a definite increase in clerical costs. The present station has a personnel of 11 clerks, and an average of 10 auxiliary clerks are assigned from the main office during peak periods. These auxiliary clerks are assigned from the main office force as needed, and 30 minutes is allowed for transit time between the two buildings. This results in a definite loss of 5 hours daily for the 10 clerks, and it is our opinion that return of the outgoing parcel-post activities to the main office will result in the saving of at least two clerks. "With respect to post-office requirements under existing conditions, we noted the following undesirable features: "(A) Incoming parcel post handled in basement in poorly lighted and ventilated space, conveyed by gravity chute to basement and returned by hydraulic lift. This method retards operations and results in increased clerical costs. "(B) Special-delivery section located in approximate center of workroom, rendering it impossible to entirely divorce the messengers from the workroom. "(C) Basement swing room inadequate, with poor light and ventilation. "(D) Money-order section and registry section very congested and public lobby in these sections too small. "(E) Workroom congested and inadequate to install much needed Cummings facing table and primary cases. "The present building is a granite-faced fireproof structure of pleasing design, occupied in 1915 and cost $549,926. It is our opinion this building could not be reproduced for this sum today and does not show depreciation in excess of approximately 10 percent. As for obsolescence, we might cite the need for more modernized lighting equipment and plumbing fixtures, new elevators, and possibly an operating change from direct to alternating current. Heat is furnished from city mains for this building, and some piping, radiators, and valves need replacement. Outwardly, the structure is in excellent physical condition, and no good purpose could be served by wrecking the building, especially when a substantial addition providing all necessary requirements appears entirely feasible with the acquisition of some additional land. "Necessary additional land adjoining the present site on the south is said to be still available. With the use of a basement driveway and loading dock we believe this additional land will accommodate an addition to the building of sufficient size to provide all space requirements for postal purposes. Office space for other Government agencies can be provided on upper floors as required. "Conditions at this office warrant recommendation for acquisition of additional land as discussed in the preceeding paragraph at the earliest practicable date, and any contemplated addition to the existing building should include provision for returning all parcel-post activities from the present leased parcel-post station in the main office." Trusting this is the information you desire, I am Sincerely yours, F. J. BUCKLEY, Acting Fourth Assistant Postmaster General. Mr. LUDLOW. Is it proposed to erect a new post-office building? Mr. HARLAN. It is to be new construction, yes; but it is an addition. Mr. LUDLOW. It will be an addition to the existing building. Mr. HARLAN. Yes; they will retain the present post-office building, and erect another building on the lot adjacent to it. Mr. WOODRUM. Is the project on the eligible list of the Department? Mr. HARLAN. Yes. Mr. WOODRUM. What is the size of the project? Mr. HARLAN. It involves $1,500,000. Mr. WOODRUM. What are the postal receipts? Mr. HARLAN. The last available statement of postal receipts showed they were $2,300,000, I think. Mr. TABER. Is not that a rapidly growing city? Mr. HARLAN. Yes. This post office was built in 1911 at a time when we had a population of 116,000. At the present time we have more than twice that population, and the postal receipts have increased from $680,000 to the figure I gave you a moment ago, or over three times the amount of the postal receipts in 1911. The post office was hardly adequate for the needs of Dayton at the time it was built. That was a popular complaint at the time. I will give just one example of that: We have the Federal courtrooms there, and the people waiting to see the judge on official business have to stand out in the lobby, outside of the counter in the clerk's office. There are no adequate facilities even for the court. On top of that, they are planning, I am told, to remove to Dayton the district office of the H. O. L. C. That is being considered now, and there is every reason why it should be done. They are without any building to house them, The growth of industry there has been such that we will have to have an office of the Internal Revenue Department there, instead of operating that business for Dayton out of Cincinnati. I suppose Dayton has grown more than almost any other city out there in proportion. One reason for that is the fact in 1913 we had a devastating flood, and we took upon ourselves the task of doing something that the Government is doing now for communities in different parts of the country at Government expense, or is figuring on building at other places. That is the building of retaining reservoirs. The result of that work on the part of Dayton was that in this recent flood, when all around in that district property and lives were being lost, we could have had at least six times the amount of water that came down in the last flood and still have been protected by our retaining reservoirs. That was done at tremendous expense to the district. For example, it costs the city of Dayton as much on account of our sinking fund for the retirement of the bonds, representing the flood-protection cost, as it does to operate the rest of the city, including the police and fire departments and all other city offices. So while flood protection is a fine thing, it involves a tremendous cost. I cite that to show that Dayton, where this post-office building is to be constructed, is not a city where there is likely to be any contraction of activity at any time in the future. Dayton has as broad a diversity of manufacturing as any town in that part of the country, and I think this report I have referred to touches on that. Mr. LUDLOW. What very large and important industries are there? Mr. HARLAN. We have Frigidaire, McCalls Magazine, Delco, and also the National Cash Register Co. is there. That is a large concern, but relatively not as large as it used to be. Now, the building at Dayton was inadequate at the time it was built. It was inadequate in size then, and it is hopelessly so now. They have even finished up the attic in order to supply some urgent needs for space. They are handling parcel post, or the incoming parcel post, down in the cellar, with no ventilation down there. They are handling many governmental activities in the attic, which in summertime is as hot as an incubator. In addition, they are renting a lot of office space out there, which would be saved. Mr. LUDLOW. What kind of activities will be housed by this additional building? Mr. HARLAN. It will depend on how much space we can get. Mr. LUDLOW. What branches of the Government service besides the post office would be accommodated here? Mr. HARLAN. In addition to the Post Office Department, among other activities, there will be the Internal Revenue Service, the Weather Bureau, and, of course, the Army and Navy recruiting officers must be provided with space. Mr. LUDLOW. Do you know what rent the Government is paying for services housed outside the Federal building? Mr. HARLAN. I can probably get that for you. Mr. WOODRUM. That will probably appear in the statement that you are to file. Mr. HARLAN. Yes, sir. (The statement on postal expenditures is as follows:) Hon. CLIFTON A. WOODrum, CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES, Committee on Appropriations, House of Representatives, Washington, D. C. MY DEAR COLLEAGUE: When I appeared before your committee yesterday, I procured permission to expand my remarks by inserting detailed information as |