General HORKAN. We hold them for awhile there and give them an opportunity to get it straightened out.

RENTAL OF BUILDINGS AND STRUCTURES OTHER THAN FOR OFFICE AND STORAGE SPACE

Mr. CASE. Take up the next project, 240.

Colonel MARSHALL. Project 240 is for the rental of buildings and structures other than for office and storage space. The total program amounts to $4,959,831, of which $3,014,419 has been appropriated, and this estimate includes the amount of $1,802,072, with an item of $143,340 deferred.

Again we have the proposition of rental of such things as motor pools, field messes, and miscellaneous repair shops and yards throughout the world, for which we are now having to pay rent and which in our original estimate we planned on obtaining gratis. Mr. CASE. What do you mean by "gratis"?

Colonel MARSHALL. By requisition on the occupied countries, mostly. When we were in Italy, we requested those things from the area commander and the local government, and the same way in France.

Mr. CASE. Did you originally contemplate getting motor vehicles from our own stocks?

Colonel MARSHALL. We have obtained some of those motor vehicles from stocks.

Mr. CASE. This $393,660 contemplates

Colonel MARSHALL. That is for pools of motor vehicles. That is a garage or compound.

Mr. CASE. None of that is for rental?

Colonel MARSHALL. No, sir; the motor vehicles are not in here. Mr. CASE. I note you have an item of $745,280 for field messes. Colonel MARSHALL. That is for the rental of buildings in which those field messes are operated.

Mr. CASE. That seems to be a high figure for that purpose alone. General LARKIN. If you take the break-down there, you will find the unit cost is not so high.

Mr. CASE. Let us put that little table in the record on field messes. Colonel MARSHALL. Yes, sir.

(The matter above referred to is as follows:)

Field messes: Field messes for 8,971 personnel overseas at an average

cost of $1,688.06+ per year___

$745, 280

86 field messes in fiscal year 1947.

145, 173

174 field messes in fiscal year 1948.

174 field messes in fiscal year 1949.

3 field messes in fiscal year 1950, fiscal year 1951, and one-half of fiscal year 1952..........

12, 661

Total....

745, 280

Mr. CASE. I see, according to the table, you load that on billets for personnel overseas. Are these figures based upon the average cost that you have in the current fiscal year or prior years?

Colonel MARSHALL. Right, sir.

Mr. CASE. Do they show any trend upward or downward?

Colonel MARSHALL. They show a trend upward. As the facilities were transferred from so-called Government control, where we would obtain them by requisition, to private control, where the foreign government must now deal with the private owner, the prices have

gone up.

CONSTRUCTION OF BUILDINGS AND FACILITIES

Mr. CASE. Take up project 250 for the construction of buildings and facilities.

Colonel MARSHALL. The total program amounts to $226,665, all of which has been appropriated and no amount is included in this year's estimate.

Mr. CASE. However, the committee would like to know what you are going to do with this money.

Colonel MARSHALL. This money is for the construction of temporary buildings where needed at these various temporary cemeteries. Mr. CASE. How much was appropriated last year?

Colonel MARSHALL. $226,665.

Mr. CASE. And you have not expended any part of that. Apparently we appropriated $226,000 more last year than we should have appropriated.

Colonel MARSHALL. We have expended to date $27,000 based on reports which are 90 days old.

General HORKAN. And we are just now beginning to get into these cemeteries. We are beginning to get into more and more cemeteries, which requires storage space for caskets and things of that kind at the cemeteries.

Mr. CASE. I certainly do not want to encourage you to spend money if you do not need it, but

General HORKAN. No, sir.

Colonel MARSHALL. This is all within the estimated program. We are not adding anything because we received this money. In other words, if this money is available

Mr. CASE. You will continue to husband it during the fiscal year 1949, the same as you have this year?

Colonel MARSHALL. Yes, sir.

ALTERATION AND REPAIR OF BUILDINGS AND FACILITIES

Mr. CASE. Project 310, "Alteration and repair of buildings and facilities, $1,075,961."

That is the same type of program where you had some money appropriated last year which you have not expended?

Colonel MARSHALL. Yes.

Mr. CASE. How much have you expended?

Colonel MARSHALL. $552,000.

Mr. CASE. What makes you think you will need the balance of that in 1949?

General HORKAN. We are just getting under way with the cemetery program.

Mr. CASE. You are not asking for any additional sum under that item?

Colonel MARSHALL. No.

PROCUREMENT, OPERATION, AND MAINTENANCE OF UTILITIES

Mr. CASE. Project 320, "Procurement, operation and maintenance of facilities," and for this requirement you estimate $948,544, against which you are applying $621,182 of deferred money and leaving a balance of $327,362 requested for 1949.

Colonel MARSHALL. Yes.

Mr. CASE. Is that correct? Colonel MARSHALL. Yes. distribution centers in the

overseas.

This is to pay for utility services in the interior and the same type of service

Mr. CASE. General Larkin, for the record, in going over these items where you have some balances shown as being appropriated but not expended, with deferred amounts carried over into the next fiscal, I hope you will keep in mind the committee's interest in seeing such balances reported, and while we do not want to overappropriate at any time we would not want any branch of the War Department to feel any hesitancy in showing that money is deferred when in their judgment it cannot be spent wisely. So, you should not hesitate to report the unexpended balances.

General LARKIN. Yes.

Mr. CASE. We would not want the psychology to develop that would make you spend money just in order to get more money next

year.

Project 320 is already in the record.

General LARKIN. Yes; it is already in the record.

PAY OF CIVILIAN EMPLOYEES

Mr. CASE. Project 410, "Pay of civilian employees," $51,641,256. How many persons do you contemplate having on the pay roll under this appropriation?

Colonel MARSHALL. We will go from a strength of 2,014 at the beginning of the program to an anticipated peak in April of 1948 of 11,417, at which time we will start a recession.

Mr. CASE. Do you operate under a personnel ceiling fixed by the Bureau of the Budget?

Colonel MARSHALL. The personnel ceiling is not applicable; this item is exempt.

Mr. CASE. This is exempt from the personnel ceiling.

Colonel MARSHALL. From the normal operations. We have a personnel ceiling fixed by areas, in order to show the comparison of the actual figures by areas.

Mr. CASE. Will you state what stations this personnel will man? Colonel MARSHALL. Do you want the stations within this country and by countries?

Mr. CASE. I think that a general statement might be helpful. (The information is as follows:)

Man-years and total salary under project 410 by area or zone for the total program

Mr. CASE. Does this item cover the pay for both the United States citizens and the indigenous labor?

Colonel MARSHALL. Yes.

Mr. CASE. What is the pay scale for indigenous labor?

Colonel MARSHALL. The scale of the country, fixed by the country. Mr. CASE. It is fixed by the country?

Colonel MARSHALL. Yes.

Mr. CASE. And they provide for a wage scale in that country, and ordinarily what is it?

Colonel MARSHALL. The prevailing wage scale, and we have had several conferences between our own representatives and local representatives of the countries involved in order to fix that scale.

Mr. CASE. How do you pay; in local currency or dollars? Colonel MARSHALL. In dollars; we pay the countries in dollars. Mr. CASE. How much of this $51,000,000, plus, is expected to be paid in foreign countries and how much in the United States?

Colonel MARSHALL. Approximately $35,000,000 in foreign countries and $16,000,000 in the United States.

Mr. CASE. And will you place in the record, General Larkin, the total amount of dollars under this general activity of cemetery expenses to be paid in dollars in foreign countries, which, except for directives under which you may be operating, might be paid in local currency, not only for personnel but other costs?

General LARKIN. Yes. Data must be gathered from the field before the information requested can be made available to the committee.

COST OF MILITARY PERSONNEL IN PROGRAM

Mr. SCRIVNER. Could we have some place an estimate showing the cost to the War Department for military personnel in this program? Colonel MARSHALL. Yes.

Mr. CASE. I think it would be a good thing to have that right after the statement in regard to the pay of civilian employees, and at the same time we have the figures showing the number of military personnel assigned to this activity.

Colonel MARSHALL. Do you want us to include the escorts in this country?

Mr. CASE. Anybody on the pay roll.

Mr. SCRIVNER. My understanding is that you do have some attached at the ports and at the distribution centers just for this one job. That can all be included.

Mr. CASE. Is there any significant difference in the cost of labor as between Hawaii and Puerto Rico?

Colonel MARSHALL. We pay $1.57 per hour in Hawaii. and 71 cents per hour in Puerto Rico.

PERSONNEL COSTS, GUAM

Mr. CASE. Will you also put in the record a statement showing the amount of labor costs and personnel costs that are included in this figure for servicing the contemplated cemetery in Guam. Colonel MARSHALL. Yes.

(The information requested follows:)

Breakdown of labor costs in Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and Guam are as follows:

Hawaii: 9,050 remains to be interred, at $23.25 (basis-$1.57 per hour times 12 hours, to open and close one grave, plus $4.71 for setting of headstone)__

Guam: 9,533 remains to be interred, at $20.44 (basis—$1.363 per hour times 12 hours to open and close one grave plus $4.08 for setting of headstone)..

Puerto Rico: 842 remains to be interred, at $10.65 (basis-$0.71 per hour times 12 hours, to open and close one grave, plus $2.13 for setting of headstone).

Total for 3 cemeteries_.

$210, 413

194, 854

8,967

414, 234

In addition to the actual opening and closing of each grave and the setting of headstones, the time required for the removal and disposition of excess dirt from each grave is included in the 12 hours required to open and close one grave.

The cost of the setting of the headstone averages approximately 20 percent of the cost for the opening and closing of each grave.