ing with the Census Advisory Committee on Agriculture-I described my qualifications as two: one having been born on a Texas cotton farm; and second, owning a blackberry farm in Vermont where I spend my summers.

Senator SALTONSTALL. Senator Dirksen has the floor, so the Chair will not attempt to answer that.

Senator DIRKSEN. I thought since we cannot insert all the material in the record, of course, that suitable excerpts from those letters might very well be put in.

Dr. WATKINS. There are about 5 letters and 1 page showing the composition of this panel.

Senator DIRKSEN. And whatever appurtenant paragraphs may be necessary to implement the case for a full census of agriculture. (The information appears on p. 452.)

Senator SALTONSTALL. Thank you, Senator.

Mr. TEETOR. While we are on the subject of statistics, it might be better to take up the Office of Business Economics next.

OFFICE OF BUSINESS ECONOMICS

STATEMENTS OF LOTHAIR TEETOR, ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR DOMESTIC AFFAIRS; JAMES C. WORTHY, ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR ADMINISTRATION; OSCAR H. NIELSON, DEPARTMENTAL BUDGET OFFICER; AND M. JOSEPH MEEHAN, DIRECTOR

JUSTIFICATION

Senator SALTONSTALL. The estimates were $1,010,000.

The House allowed $900,000. You are requesting the restoration of $110,000. I will put the justification in at this point. Could you explain why you need that money?

(The justification referred to follows:)

OFFICE OF BUSINESS ECONOMICS

(House bill, p. 32)

(House hearing, pp. 488-498)

Estimate 1954 act

House allowance (a reduction of $110,000 in the estimate)

1 Comparative transfer.

AMENDMENT REQUESTED

$1,010, 000 i 911, 600 900, 000

The Department requests the following amendment:

Page 32, line 15, strike out "$900,000" and insert "$1, 010, 000”, an increase of $110,000.

EXTRACT FROM HOUSE REPORT

(P. 15)

The committee recommends $900,000 for this Office, a reduction of $110,000 in the budget estimate. The funds for this Office were previously appropriated in the item, "Salaries and expenses, Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce." During the current fiscal year $911,600 is available for this Office which prepares and publishes basic economic indicators. The amount allowed will therefore permit operations during the coming fiscal year at approximately the same level as at present.

JUSTIFICATION

The problem of business fluctuations is a matter of most immediate and vital concern to the business community, and the one toward which the provision of more complete and speedy information is most frequently requested. The increase recommended by the Department for fiscal 1955 was designed to advance our work in this field.

As the Secretary set forth in his statement to the House committee, the Office of Business Economics staff for this important work is inadequate to the present need, and he considers it essential that this function of the Office be strengthened. The restoration of the $1,010,000 programed for the Office of Business Economics is urged for this purpose. The time is ripe when, as now, a large body of special (defense-supporting) capital programs are at peak or moving down, and total capacity has been expanded to a high level. Expansion of markets for capital and consumption goods will be necessary in the period ahead to sustain the growth of the economy.

Facts are essential for proper evaluation of the pressures toward economic instability and for the development of policies for the maintenance of growth and stability. In the light of the present business situation, the need for such purposeful work on economic changes is imperative.

Appropriation 1954..

OFFICE OF BUSINESS ECONOMICS

Salaries and expenses-Summary of requirements

Comparative transfer from "Departmental salaries and expenses, Bureau of Foreign and
Domestic Commerce".

Base for 1955.

$911, 600

911, 600

States.

-8,00 -3,600

PREPARED STATEMENT

Mr. TEETOR. Mr. Meehan has been Director of the Office of Business Economics since 1946, I believe.

Mr. MEEHAN. Since 1949.

Mr. TEETOR. He will explain to you about his Office and why he needs restoration of the $110,000 that has been cut out of our estimate.

Mr. MEEHAN. I have a prepared statement here which, with your permission, I would like to insert into the record. I would like to present a summary.

Senator SALTONSTALL. Without objection that will be done. (The statement referred to follows:)

The ability of the Office of Business Economics to conduct special inquiries as required, to speed up the continuing flow of basic economic intelligence, and to improve as necessary the quality of data now made available on a regular basis, is a matter of concern not only to business management. The proper discharge of this function is equally important to those responsible for the determination of Government policy. The Secretary of Commerce and his top advisers require prompt and reliable information, analyzed and evaluated, that can guide the development of programs for business expansion.

Recently, materials for the analysis of business trends have been sought with increasing urgency on the part of private business, because of the shifts currently under way in the business pattern and prospective changes in demand. In view of these readjustments, the Office of Business Economics is being asked to provide additional special reports and more up-to-the-minute facts to assist in diagnosing the size and significance of various changes in the business picture.

The problem of business fluctuations is, we know, the matter of most immediate and vital concern, and the one toward which the provision of more complete and speedy information is most frequently requested. The increase planned by the Department for fiscal 1955 was designed to advance our work in this field.

As the Secretary set forth in his statement to this committee, the Office of Business Economics staff for this important work is inadequate to the present need, and he considers it essential that this function of the Office be strengthened. The restoration requested is for this urgent purpose.

For the current fiscal year the Office of Business Economics has an allocation of $911,600. Operations keyed to this level cannot provide the information and analysis needed when the economy is experiencing readjustments of the present scale. An increase of $98,400 was asked, to bring the available funds to $1,010,000, the addition specifically earmarked for work immediately pressing importance. The effect of the reduction to $900,000 would be to eliminate the projects designed to help cope with current economic changes. It would cut below the present level and threaten the adequacy and accuracy of our business measures.

Facts are essential for proper evaluation of the pressures toward economic instability and for the development of policies for the maintenance of growth and stability. In the light of the present business situation, the need for such purposeful work on economic changes is imperative. The time is ripe when, as now, a large body of special (defense-supporting) capital programs are at peak or moving down, and total capacity has been expanded to a high level. Expansion of markets for capital and consumption goods will be necessary in the period ahead to sustain the growth of the economy.

The Office of Business Economics strives at all times to be in a position to provide prompt factual data concerning business developments, and correct interpretations of their significance. It has regularly provided economic intelligence to the business community through its magazine Survey of Current Business, now in its 33d year of publication.

Effective efforts have been made to step up the flow of facts for business and Government in line with the mounting demand, and means have been sought continuously to accomplish this with reduced resources. The publication of special supplements to the Survey of Current Business has enabled OBE to distribute widely-in compact form for general use-information which would otherwise have had to be compiled repeatedly in answer to recurring special requests. These supplements-such as, for example, the ones on national income, on regional trends, on the international balance of payments, on foreign aid and foreign investments, and on business statistics-have been sold extensively by the