Mr. HOSFORD. To correct the record, Senator Minton, may I call your attention to the fact that I believe at the first meeting of the committee I presented copies of S. 1 showing the amendments and changes made in the House Ways and Means Committee. They were gone over and discussed in detail and a great many questions were asked; but it is my recollection that no formal action was taken by your subcommittee toward accepting the changes as made in the House.

Senator MINTON. Then, in order to get it into the record, I want to move that the amendment of the House to H. R. 4985, creating minimum-price area no. 2, as indicated on lines 4 and 5, at page 15 of that bill, and the other amendments as to form, to conform thereto, be incorporated as amendments to S. 1, at the top of page 14, or at the proper place.

Senator NEELY. In order to make Senator Minton's amendment effective, it will be necessary to strike out all of lines 1 and 2 on page 14 and insert, in lieu thereof, the following:

Area 2: West Kentucky, district 9; Illinois, district 10; Indiana, district 11; Iowa, district 12.

Area 3: Southeastern, district 13, except Van Buren, Warren, and McMinn Counties in Tennessee.

Senator MINTON. Then area 3 becomes area 4; area 4 becomes area 5, and so on down the list. There will then be 10 areas instead of 9. Senator NEELY. That is correct.

Mr. HOSFORD. To make that effective, on page 13, line 22, it is necessary to strike out the words "West Kentucky, district 9; Illinois, district 10; Indiana, district 11; Iowa, district 12;".

Senator NEELY. Yes; that action will be necessary in order to make the other amendment complete.

As many as favor the amendment, say aye; the ayes have it, and it is so ordered.

That makes the Senate bill conform to the bill passed by the House. Mr. Hosford, are the typewritten insertions in S. 1 indicative of the final action that was taken by the House, or do they represent the action taken by the Ways and Means Committee?

Mr. HOSFORD. The bill S. 1, marked "Revised to close of hearing, March 9, 1937", represents the bill with such changes as were made by the House before adoption, together with such amendments as have been adopted by your subcommittee up to and including the last hearing on the 9th of March.

Senator NEELY. Will you please turn to S. 1 and read the amendment made by the House?

Mr. HOSFORD. The first amendment appears on page 2 of S. 1, in line 19, by adding after the word "coal", in brackets, "(whether or not bituminous coal)."

Senator NEELY. The amendment you are now discussing was made by the Ways and Means Committee?

Mr. HOSFORD. That is correct.

Senator NEELY. We considered that the other day?

Mr. HOSFORD. That is correct.

Senator NEELY. I believe you stated, before the full membership of the subcommitee was able to be present, that the House made no amendments to the bill but passed it as it was approved by the Ways and Means Committee?

Mr. HOSFORD. That is correct.

Senator NEELY. Gentlemen of the subcommittee, since that is true, and since we considered all of those amendments on a former occasion, is there any reason why we should consider them again?

Senator DAVIS. I do not know of any.

Senator MINTON. I want to reconsider one.

Senator NEELY. In a moment you will be recognized to make the necessary motion.

As many as favor the adoption of all of the amendments made by the House of Representatives, subject to any modifications made by this subcommittee, will say aye.

The ayes have it, and it is so ordered. That makes S. 1 and H. R. 4985 as amended by the Ways and Means Committee and this subcommittee identical.

Senator MINTON. I voted the other day, as you know, to incorporate in the bill the amendment suggested by the Commission on page 3, at line 4. After the word "attorneys", insert the words "managers and employees of the statistical bureaus hereinafter provided for."

I now want to reconsider the vote by which that amendment was either tied or lost; I forget which it was.

Senator NEELY. It was tied.

Senator MINTON. We now have a full committee.

Senator NEELY. Under the rules of the Senate, you have the right to move to reconsider, and your motion is in order.

Senator DAVIS. Who brings it before the subcommittee?
Senator MINTON. I do.

Senator DAVIS. My reason for supporting the original amendment—I am not talking about Senator Minton's amendment-I will say that the reason why I am opposing his amendment is that the President of the United States has called our attention to the fact that it is absolutely necessary to comply with the civil-service rules. The President is either sincere or he is not sincere. I take him to be sincere.

I want to support the President of the United States on such a question in these rules.

In every Department of the Government there are civil-service men who are compiling statistical data. Those men are competent men. I think that the best statistical bureau in the United States or, for that matter, in the world, is the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the Department of Labor, and there is not one political appointee in it. There is nobody there who is incompetent. You can get all the men you want to do this work and do it in a businesslike way. Mr. Hosford, then, will not be obliged to consider for appointment some political appointee who probably does not know anything about statistics, who would not know statistics from a fish-worm.

Therefore, I am opposed to the motion, gentlemen, after the brief statement I have made. I want you to know that I am opposed to the motion.

Senator NEELY. Senator Davis, I believe that no member of the committee will have any difficulty in understanding that you are opposed to reconsideration.

As many as favor reconsideration say aye.

The ayes have it.

As many as favor the amendment proposed by Senator Minton say aye. The ayes have it, and it is so ordered.

Mr. HOSFORD. The principal amendments which have not been disposed of, Mr. Chairman, are the amendments listed as "Amendments for further consideration."

Senator AUSTIN. I should think that friends of the bill would take into consideration this fact: That if there are any cooperatives besides farmers' cooperatives, and we exempt farmers' cooperatives and do not exempt the others, there is likely to be made a discrimination that might be dangerous.

Senator MINTON. Would it not be better to let somebody else, if he is disposed to, offer an amendment from the floor, since the House has taken this position?

Senator NEELY. Mr. Hosford, what is the status of the amendment marked "No. 2"?

Mr. HOSFORD. The amendment marked "No. 2", as I recall the record, was considered and voted upon, there being recorded two votes for the proposed amendment and two against the proposed amendment. The chairman thereupon declared the amendment to have been lost.

Senator AUSTIN. That has just been reconsidered?

Senator NEELY. No; that was no. 1; I am now asking about no. 2, the longer amendment.

Senator AUSTIN. I thought that had been adopted.

Senator NEELY. If there is any doubt about no. 2 having been adopted, let us vote on it again. That is a very important amendment. It provides for possible additional demands for coal.

As many as favor the amendment marked "No. 2" on the work sheet, which is now before us, say "aye."

Senator AUSTIN. I vote no. May I state a reason for my vote?
Senator NEELY. Certainly.

Senator AUSTIN. That is, without provision for increasing the market for oil, we will say, a competitive product, it does not seem to me to be good legislation to provide for increasing the market for coal, using the funds of the taxpayers to help one competitor against another. That is the reason why I have voted as I have.

If we could cover the whole field, and I think we ought to do it, I would vote for it. I like the idea of research for new uses for all products. I admit that my attitude is affected by the knowledge I have of the experience of others in trying to find additional uses of certain processes. I know that it is a worthy objective, but it seems to me that if you consider one competitive commodity against another in this manner, that is a discrimination. That is the reason why I have voted this way.

Senator NEELY. What is the next amendment that has not been disposed of, Mr. Hosford?

Mr. HOSFORD. Amendment no. 3 has already been acted upon and has to do with the power to remove district board members.

No. 4, on page 11, line 13, line 15, and line 24. Attention has been called to the fact that the words "or officer thereof" were omitted. This section deals with the possible liability of members of a district board in carrying on functions under the act.

It has been suggested and recommended that the language be amended by broadening it to include "or officer thereof", so that neither the members of a district board nor its officers shall be deemed partners or be deemed liable in any manner for any action of any other officer or agent.

I think it is a reasonable amendment. It is purely technical. Senator NEELY. Has the Consumers' Counsel approved this amendment?

Mr. HOSFORD. Yes, sir.

Senator NEELY. As I understand it, Mr. Hosford, every amendment you have proposed on the part of the Commission has received the approval of the Consumers' Counsel?

Mr. HOSFORD. I might say that the Consumers' Counsel has been very active in collaborating with the members of the Commission in reviewing the bill and in proposing amendments.

Mr. HOSFORD. There is none to which he found any objection. Senator NEELY. As many as favor the amendment say "aye"; contrary, "no."

The ayes have it.

Mr. HOSFORD. It has been suggested that on page 16, line 7, there be substituted for the phrase "or when otherwise deemed necessary" the following: "or when otherwise required by this act." It is purely a technical amendment.

Senator NEELY. Is there any objection? If not, that amendment will be made. What is next?

Mr. HOSFORD. On page 17, line 22, after the word "approximate", insert the words "and so far as practicable shall be not less than,". That is, in dealing with the subject of minimum prices and the return to the producers from those prices, wherever it is possible to do so, the return should be not less than their average cost of production, as set forth in the bill. I think, again, that this is a very reasonable suggestion.

Senator NEELY. All in favor of the amendment, say "aye"; contrary, "no."

The ayes have it, and it is so ordered.

Mr. HOSFORD. On page 20, line 2, after the words "June 16, 1933", a committee of producers which has carefully studied the bill has suggested the addition of the following sentence:

Any contract made on or subsequent to such date which provides for a price below such established minimum price shall be unenforceable as to such price provision.

In other words, this makes clear the position of the contract after it has been determined that it is in conflict with the act.

Senator NEELY. The purpose of this amendment, as I understand it, is simply to assure the enforcement of the spirit of the law. Mr. HOSFORD. That is correct, sir.

Senator NEELY. As many as favor the amendment say "aye"; those opposed, "no."

The ayes have it, and it is so ordered.

Mr. HOSFORD. On page 22, line 16, there is merely a change from the singular to the plural. The word "classes" is to be inserted in lieu of the word "class."

Senator NEELY. Without objection, that amendment is made.

Mr. HOSFORD. On page 24, between lines 22 and 23, the following paragraph should be inserted. It is a definition of an additional unfair-trade practice [reading]:

13. Employing any person or appointing any sales agent, at a compensation obviously disproportionate to the ordinary value of the service or services rendered, and whose employment or appointment is made with the intention and purpose of securing preferment with a purchaser or purchasers of coal.

I would like to call the attention of the subcommittee to the fact that when groups of operators met in Washington shortly after the beginning of the present year to consider the matter of coal legislation, there was a division of opinion, as is usually the case. But both the minority and the majority groups agreed that this was a proper provision to insert in a bill.

I would also like to call attention to the fact that in the bill S. 1735, which was introduced some day ago by Senator Logan, on the subject of coal regulation, the same provision was inserted verbatim.

I, at a previous meeting of the committee, have discussed at length the purpose of this amendment.

Senator AUSTIN. I want to have considered a suggestion, and that is this: What would you think of interpolating the word "sole" before "intention and purpose", so that it would read, "And whose employment and appointment is made with the sole intention and purpose of securing preferment", and so forth?

If you do not qualify it in any way at all, will you not encounter many cases where you will have just that condition, where it will be a perfectly wholesome one?

Mr. HOSFORD. Senator, I think you and I are both in agreement as to what we are trying to do-to get a provision in here which is practical and is legal. I do not want to delve into the realm of metaphysics or to get into the niceties of language too far.

Might not the introduction of that word be a very definite limitation upon the effect of the paragraph? Might it not be readily shown that there were other purposes and intentions which were involved? Thereby, in many instances, there would be escape from what we are trying to accomplish by this amendment. Might some other word which is not so broad as the word "sole" be used?

Senator AUSTIN. I get your point. In other words, the realm of evasion would be so large that it would render the clause nugatory; it could not be enforced?

Mr. HOSFORD. That is right.

Senator AUSTIN. I do not know what to suggest. I had not thought it out fully enough to suggest something.

Mr. HOSFORD. Would your purpose be accomplished, Senator, by the use of the word "primary"?

Senator AUSTIN. Yes. That is a very good suggestion. The thing is to avoid unreasonable use of this power.

Mr. HOSFORD. You are quite correct.

Senator NEELY. As many as favor the amendment as amended, say "aye"; contrary, "no."

The "ayes" have it, and it is so ordered.

Mr. HOSFORD. The next is no. 10, on page 25, line 12. On the second line of the typewritten insert, after the word "board", insert the words "or member thereof."