perform the increased volume of work with which that project will be confronted by reason of the following factors:

(1) The estimated volume of records that will be in the custody of the Archivist during the fiscal year 1943 will exceed the volume now in his custody by 211,754 cubic feet-an increase of 64 percent;

(2) The estimated number of service requests that will be received during the fiscal year 1943 will exceed the number of such requests received during the fiscal year 1941 by 112,800-an increase of 129 percent;

(3) The anticipated la.ge increase in the amount of disposition work as a result of efforts by Government agencies to conserve space (since the existing staff was able during the fiscal year 1941 to appraise orly the records currently submitted, any increase in the amount of this work will result in increasing the existing backlog unless additional personnel is provided);

(4) The urgent need for more rapid progress in the arrangement and description of records, in order to improve the quality of services rendered and reduce the average time required for filling service requests; and

(5) The pressing need for further surveying of records and for comprehensive study and planning of the archival phases of record administration throughout the Government, as explained more fully below.

It is proposed that the 33 additional positions provided for in this estimate be allocated to the operating units indicated below, for reasons that will be discussed under each unit.

Office of the Archivist of the United States.-The unusual increase during recent years in the volume of Federal records and the growing complexity of problems relating to their creation, organization, servicing, preservation, transfer, and disposition have resulted in many agencies now being confronted with serious record problems. Such problems have in some cases become so great that the assistance of experts is needed in coordinating and improving archival phases of record administration, in formulating a program for transfers of valuable records to The National Archives, and in developing schedules for the disposition of useless records.

Government agencies are seeking the advice and assistance of The National Archives in such matters with more and more frequency. In many instances the information available to The National Archives from the preliminary survey of records made a few years ago and from other sources is insufficient to enable it to make constructive recommendations and must be supplemented by an intensive study of the problems confronting a given agency and, in some instances, by further surveys of the records.

A small staff of experts to make such surveys when necessary in order to determine the general character, value, location, volume, rate of accumulation, storage conditions, arrangement, and accessibility of records and to conduct comprehensive and intensive studies of archival phases of record administration both in the District of Columbia and in the field, upon which may be based recommendations for the coordination and improvement of procedures, is an immediate and pressing need of The National Archives.

As has already been pointed out, some agencies have long had record problems that have grown more serious year by year until now, accentuated by the activities resulting from the defense program, they have become acute; a few agencies recently created, because of the nature of their functions, find themselves, within a few years after their establishment, also faced with a serious record problem. The time to undertake the solution of these serious record problems is now when the country is confronted with an emergency situation and when the need has never been greater.

In order that an intensive study of all archival phases of record administration in various agencies of the Federal Government in the District of Columbia and elsewhere may be conducted without delay, provision is made in this estimate for one archivist, eight associate archivists, and two assistant clerk-stenographers in the Office of the Archivist of the United States for the fiscal year 1943.

Division of Repair and Preservation. This Division is responsible for fumigating and cleaning all records received in The National Archives Building and for the performance of other processes utilized in connection with the preservation and rehabilitation of records, such as the unfolding and flattening, lamination, and repair of records, the maintenance of proper conditions of storage, and the rarrying on of research with regard to inks, paper, and related subjects. In addition, it is responsible for receiving and dispatching all records received at and sent from The National Archives Building.

The increases referred to above in the volume of records being received by The National Archives and in the number of requests for services on records have added greatly to all phases of the work of this Division.

During the first quarter of the fiscal year 1941, loans and returns of records temporarily withdrawn for use by other Government agencies totaled 6,294, while during the first quarter of the fiscal year 1942 they totaled 22,260, an increase of 253 percent. As experience has shown that one clerk can handle 7,500 loans and returns per quarter, it would require 2.9 clerks to handle 22,260 loans and returns. The 1.9 men now required to assist the existing delivery clerk in the handling of loans and returns cannot be spared from other duties in the Division, and the only solution appears to be that provision be made immediately for 2 additional junior clerks to assist in this work.

The accelerated rate of intake of records has increased the work of the receiving clerk to such an extent that he can no longer supervise the cleaning unit and operate the fumigating equipment. His entire time is now required for the checking of records transferred to the National Archives Building. The operation of the fumigating equipment is essential, and supervision of the cleaning unit, particularly in view of the large increase in the volume of work being performed (368,179 units were cleaned during the fiscal year 1941, as compared with 197,978 units during the fiscal year 1940), is also necessary. A junior archives repairman is needed now to operate the fumigating equipment and supervise the cleaning unit. In addition to material now

The bindery unit is also overwhelmed with work.

in process of being repaired, 483 volumes and 9.782 maps and drawings are now in the unit awaiting repair with no prospect of receiving attention in the near future. There are many other volumes and maps in need of repair that cannot be sent to the bindery unit until this backlog of work, which accumulated during a period of 12 months, is eliminated. Much of this material is in urgent demand for reference use but, because of its fragile condition, cannot be released for use until it has been rehabilitated. Consequently, the efficiency of the reference service, particularly in the Division of Maps and Charts, has been and is being reduced. Among the requests received for the use of this material that cannot be filled are a number from defense agencies. In order to remedy this undesirable situation with as little delay as possible, an additional minor archives repairman is urgently needed at once.

Division of Motion Pictures and Sound Recordings.-The Division of Motion Pictures and Sound Recordings, in addition to performing regular archival and administrative work with reference to materials in its custody, must concern itself with technical problems relating to motion-picture films and sound recordings.

The facilities for the safe storage of film in the National Archives Building are so limited and the demands from other Government agencies to transfer film to The National Archives Building are so urgent that the utilization of these limited facilities for the storage of any material without permanent value or historical interest cannot be justified. It was inevitable that the film transferred to The National Archives would contain some duplicate and useless material, but is it now imperative that such film be disposed of without further delay. In order to reach an intelligent decision as to the value of any film, it is necessary to review the scenes carefully and to compare them with scenes in other films. The Division is at least 3 years behind in this work. To perform this important work and to assist in the development and preparation of finding mediums and in making subject-matter reviews, the services of one additional junior archivist are needed at once.

Division of Photographic Archives and Research.-The Division of Photographic Archives and Research is concerned with the preservation and administration of photographic archives other than motion pictures. Its custodial functions are similar to those of the other custodial division, but, because of the type of records with which it is concerned, different methods of preservation and administration of records are necessary and a technically trained staff is essential. This Division has the additional function of conducting desirable and necessary research studies in photography, particularly in its applications to archival science.

The volume of work concerned with this last function has increased immensely by reason of the defense program. Requests for technical advice and assistance from national defense agencies are now being received in such quantities and are of such a nature that the detailed studies essential to a proper solution of the problems submitted cannot be made by the existing staff. Their proper solution is not only important but essential, and an increase in the technical staff of this

Division appears to be the only method by which the existing situation can be met adequately and satisfactorily.

The accessioning and servicing activities of the Division up to the present have been comparatively limited because of a lack of properly equipped storage space and work areas. Upon the completion within the next week or two of new storage areas and the installation of equipment therein, it is expected that the Division will be requested to take over not only a large proportion_of_the 3 million units of noncurrent photographic records in the custody of Federal agencies in the District of Columbia but also many somewhat more current photographic files of defense agencies in order to release needed space and, in some instances, to permit the photographic records to be used.

Also the act passed in 1940 relative to the disposition of photographed records has added greatly to the work of the trained technicians in the Division, as it requires the Archivist to determine that records have been photographed or microphotographed "in a manner and on film that complies with the minimum standards of quality approved for permanent photographic records by the National Bureau of Standards," that such photographs or microphotographs have been placed in conveniently accessible files, and that provision has been made for preserving, examining, and using them.

Provision is made in this estimate, therefore, for two junior laboratory technicians and one junior clerk-stenographer. This additional personnel is required to enable the Division to meet not only the emergency situation but also an anticipated increase in its normal work.

Division of War Department Archives.-Until recently almost all the records in the custody of this Division were for the period prior to the First World War. The only important exceptions were the records of the Council of National Defense, the War Industries Board, and the Committee on Public Information. The Division has now received or is to receive as rapidly as they can be moved the relatively inactive records of the Quartermaster General's Office, the Office of the Chief of Ordnance, the Judge Advocate General's Office, and the War Department General Staff, all of which include large quantities of records of the World War. These transfers will increase the volume of records in the custody of this Division from 40,939 cubic feet, as of March 15, 1941, to 81,909 cubic feet; and it is estimated that, after the completion of the scheduled transfers, the Division will have in its custody not 5,150 cubic feet but 33,321 cubic feet of records for the period of the First World War.

These records are of particular value as records of the procurement of munitions and other supplies. In this respect, they are all highly interrelated, so that effective research on armament problems requires access to all of them. Reference service on this mass of records requires a high degree of specialization, not only because the records belong to a period of utmost complexity, but also because the World War involved this country for the first time in all the technical details of modern industrial mobilization. Competent servicing of the records of industrial mobilization requires a great deal of technical and economic knowledge and calls for the skills of the economist, the technician, and the statistician as well as for those of the historian.

The effective performance of this work in time to be of use in the present emergency will require additional personnel consisting of one associate archivist and one junior archivist for professional work; three junior archives assistants to handle loans, to return records to files, and otherwise to assist in service work; and one assistant clerk-stenographer to serve the other additional employees.

It should be borne in mind that the tremendous record problems now developing as a result of the expansion of the Army and the immense armament effort are problems that will not terminate with the immediate emergency. In view of this, there is ample justification for providing the six new positions for the Division of War Department Archives on a permanent basis. When the present emergency agencies are liquidated, it will be necessary for their records to be taken care of somewhere, probably in The National Archives. The appointment of the personnel provided herein for work on these records will constitute incidentally, therefore, a step in preparation for that eventuality.

Division of Interior Department Archives. Soon after the Secretary of the Interior was designated as Petroleum Coordinator, The National Archives was requested to transfer to its custody the older records of the General Land Office in order to make available space for this new emergency office. The transfer of these records, which began on June 17, 1941, and was completed on August 12,

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increased the quantity of records in the custody of the Division of Interior Department Archives from 23,601 cubic feet to approximately 48,500 cubic feet, an increase in a few weeks of more than 100 percent.

Although over 95 percent of the Land Office records are for the years prior to 1908, they are consulted frequently to answer both governmental and private inquiries. During the fiscal year 1941, this Division received 9,170 requests for services on its records. The General Land Office estimates that the number of service inquiries concerning the records recently transferred has averaged approximately 5,000 per month. Although this figure may be somewhat high, nevertheless it would appear that, at a conservative estimate, the heavy service load already carried by the Division will be more than quadrupled almost immediately. The General Land Office has loaned 1 man with the records "to assist in handling requests for the withdrawal of records for temporary use until such time as The National Archives is able to absorb this duty," but this man can be expected to handle only a small portion of the governmental requests, as at least 5 men have been working fairly regularly on such requests in the past. It is an inescapable conclusion that the greater part of the burden of servicing this large body of records, as well as the tremendous task of physically handling and organizing it, will have to be performed by the Division of Interior Department Archives.

The Division cannot possibly perform these additional tasks with its present personnel. An additional junior archivist is urgently needed to assist in handling searches involving the General Land Office records, and three additional junior archives assistants are urgently needed to assist in this work and in the task of moving, shelving, and labeling this large mass of material.

Division of Commerce Department Archives.—During the fiscal year 1941 the volume of records in the custody of this Division increased from 32,558 cubic feet to 36,962 cubic feet, an increase of 15 percent; the number of service requests amounted to 5,893 as compared with 4,345 during the fiscal year 1940, an increase of 36 percent; and 120 disposition lists containing 32,181 items were handled, of which 116, containing 31,309 items, originated in the Post Office Department and covered useless records in thousands of post offices throughout the country.

In order to reduce the backlog of appraisal work and to push forward the preparation of finding mediums urgently needed to service requests received in connection with the defense program, the services of an additional assistant archivist are required by this division.

Division of Labor Department Archives. The number of service requests received by the Division of Labor Department Archives during the fiscal year 1941 was greater by 92 percent than those received during the preceding year. A comparable rate of increase was maintained in the first quarter of the present fiscal year. This increased service load is partially the result of the defense-connected service calls made upon this Division, which has in its custody the records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, the National Recovery Administration, the National War Labor Board, the War Labor Policies Board, and the Railroad Administration. Agencies concerned with national defense, such as the Departments of War, Justice, the Navy, and Labor, the Office of Production Management, the National Defense Advisory Commission, the Office of Price Administration, the United States Housing Authority, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation make frequent requests for services on these records.

The unusually large body of records of the National Recovery Administration in the custody of this Division, which is much used as a source of information by numerous defense agencies, is only partly organized; and the additional work of arrangement and description necessary to facilitate the utilization of this valuable and important material should not be further delayed.

With the addition of two junior archives assistants to make routine searches for records, to replace borrowed records when they are returned, to label containers, and otherwise to assist the professional employees, the most urgent and immediate need of the Division will have been met. The addition of these subprofessional employees should permit the professional employees now in the Division to devote more time to the essential work of arrangement and description.

Division of Veterans' Administration Archives.-The Division of Veterans' Administration Archives received 26,701 requests for services on records in its custody during the fiscal year 1941, as compared to 12,472 such requests during the preceding year, an increase of 115 percent. The service load in this Division became so heavy that its permanently assigned personnel was unable to meet the demands made upon it, and it was necessary to assign to it from other oper

sting units 7 employees for periods varying from 1 to 12 months. A junior archives assistant was temporarily assigned to this Division for the entire fiscal year to assist in finding, withdrawing, and replacing records required for complying with service requests, but his services are now urgently needed to perform essential work connected with emergency transfers of records in the operating unit to which he is permanently assigned. Without his assistance the ability of the Division of Veterans' Administration Archives to render prompt services on reference requests will be materially impaired.

It is considered essential that a junior archives assistant be provided immediately for permanent assignment to replace the junior archives assistant temporarly assigned to this Division.

Other obligations.—The sum of $50,603 is provided in this estimate for other obligations in the professional project for the fiscal year 1943. This represents a decrease of $8,380 compared to the amount allocated for similar purposes during the fiscal year 1942. This sum consists of $24,150 for supplies and materials, $4,503 for communication service, $4,780 for travel expense, $1,000 for transportation of things, $400 for repairs and alterations, $10,250 for special and miscellaneous, and $5,520 for equipment.

Provision is also made in this estimate for the sum of $750 for research work in microphotography, which sum will be transferred for that purpose to "Miscellaseous researches, transferred funds, National Bureau of Standards."

To cover all obligations of the professional project during the fiscal year 1943, provision is made in this estimate for the sum of $723,711.

II. PUBLICATIONS PROJECT

The publications project includes the functions of the office of the Director of Research and Publications and those of the Division of the Federal Register. Personal services.—Provision is made in this estimate for 33 positions in the publications project during the fiscal year 1943, at an annual net cost of $85,677. This represents an increase of $2,892 over the amount available for similar purposes during the fiscal year 1942. Of this sum, $1,593 is to provide for the net cost of within-grade promotions required by law and $1,299 represents the difference between the sum of $7,904 required to meet the cost of 5 new positions for the fiscal year 1943 and the sum of $6,605 expended out of lapses for temporary employees during the fiscal year 1942. These 5 new positions are included in the tem for The National Archives now under consideration by the Appropriations Committee for inclusion in the third supplemental national defense appropriation

Among the functions of the publications project are 'the preservation of all Presidential proclamations and Executive orders and of rules, regulations, and Emilar documents issued by Federal administrative agencies; the publication in the Federal Register of all such documents having general applicability and legal effect; the codification every fifth year of all such documents previously issued that are still in force and effect; and, when so authorized by the President, the preparation of such codification for publication in special editions of the Federal Register. The additional personnel provided herein for the publications project is needed in the Division of the Federal Register for editing, proofreading, and indexing in connection with the preparation of material for publication in the daily issues of the Federal Register and the annual supplements to the Code of Federal Regulations.

The increase in the work of the Division of the Federal Register is indicated by the fact that the number of documents published increased from 5,244 in the fiscal year 1940 to 7,850 in the fiscal year 1941 and amounted to 2,735 in the first quarter of the fiscal year 1942, which is at the rate of 10,240 per year. Most of this increase is due to the increased activities of the Government occasioned by the defense program.

To relieve this situation and to enable this Division to perform satisfactorily the increased work of editing, proofreading, and indexing, four additional editorial Perks are provided herein, two of whom will be used to replace two temporary itorial clerks now in the Division. An additional junior clerk-stenographer is also required to assist in the performance of the increased clerical work resulting from the increase in the number of documents received, especially in connection with the preparation of the annual supplements to the Code of Federal Regulations. In order to meet the pressing personnel needs of this Division, it is proposed to allocate to it the four additional editorial clerks and one additional junior cerk-stenographer provided in this estimate for the publications project.