General LARKIN. Yes; that is correct.

Mr. ENGEL. There is no legislative authorization as such, except as you derive authorization from these other acts you mentioned? General LARKIN. Yes.

Mr. CASE. I have a little prejudice against Guam as a nice place to live. I remember in World War I, I was in the Marines and remember once when I was stationed on Maui Island I was raising some question with my sergeant as to what I might do to get some leave at the week end, and he says, "The sergeant major says you cannot have it." I said, "Suppose I go, anyway?" He said, "Well, Guam is filled up with sergeant majors who did so and so."

Mr. SCRIVNER. While we are on Guam and the suggestions Mr. Case has made, one of the points he touched on is the fact of your congestion. If half of the plans we are told are in the making are carried out, I do not know where you are going to put all of the installations on Guam, because you cannot expand the island. And you are talking about permanent installations not only of the Navy, but the Army and Air Forces; you are talking about any number of things that are going to be put on Guam, and the congestion there is probably one of the major items to be considered. I do not 'know just where they are going to put them all. There is not enough area. to put everything you are talking about on Guam.

Mr. CASE. I raised the query because I would like you to come back and suggest some alternative to Guam.

TUESDAY, JANUARY 13, 1948.

CONSTRUCTION AT NATIONAL CEMETERIES INCLUDING ACQUISITION OF LAND

KEOKUK NATIONAL CEMETERY

Colonel MARSHALL. The first item we take up this morning, Mr. Chairman, is for the Keokuk National Cemetery, appearing on page 53 of the justifications. In this item we have an additional 2 acres which have been donated by the city. The request is for funds for the clearing and grading of the 2 acres and drainage for the new area included within the 2 acres.

It also includes a water system and the removal of a section of the fence and wall separating the old and the new areas to the new boundary line to take in the 2 acres which would be added as a result of this donation.

The total amount for this cemetery is $36,256.

Mr. ENGEL. What bothers me is the addition of just two additional acres for this cemetery at a cost of $36,000. Somebody will come in and give another 2 acres of land, and we will be asked to spend $36,000 to develop it; and the next year or 2 years later somebody else will come in with another 2 acres and we will be requested to appropriate another $36,000. It seems to me to be a pretty expensive procedure. just to take in 2 acres when more land will likely be needed in the near future.

When you get the new acres how many new graves will be provided? Colonel MARSHALL. It will run between 600 and 800 burials.

Mr. ENGEL. Between 600 and 800.

Mr. KERR. How many graves are in the old part of the cemetery?
Colonel MARSHALL. There are 359 grave sites in the old cemetery.
Mr. KERR. On how many acres?

Colonel MARSHALL. 2.75 acres.
Mr. ENGEL. With 359 grave sites.
Colonel MARSHALL. Yes.

Mr. ENGEL. And you are adding two additional acres and getting approximately 800.

Colonel MARSHALL. Yes. The difficulty there, in part, Mr. Chairman, is because in the old cemetery are located the utility buildings and housing which occupy a portion of the 2.75 acres; that is the reason we could not get full coverage in the original site.

Mr. ENGEL. I am not objecting to the use of the additional land, but it seems to me that a policy of just getting 2 or 3 additional acres of land is pretty expensive when you ought to have 10 or 12 probably to meet the future needs, and when next year or in a year or two you will be coming back asking for funds to acquire additional land and develop it and it is going to cost a lot more.

How many burials have been in this cemetery?

Colonel GAGNE. That is how many we have had in the last year? Mr. ENGEL. Yes.

Major KIRK. There were 19 during the fiscal year 1947.

Colonel GAGNE. We had requests in November for 22. There have been 58 burials and 14 reservations or a total number of 72 grave sites. In October we had a request for 19 and I believe it was a little more in November, and there are 10 grave sites for the first quarter of the fiscal year 1948 with a request for 36 for World War II. Mr. ENGEL. Here is what you have got to have to consider: Up until this war you had 4,000,000 World War veterans of World War I. Colonel MARSHALL. Yes.

Mr. ENGEL. Most of those men are now getting up to the age 65 to 68 and you are going to have to bury close to 4,000,000 in the next 4 or 5 years or shortly thereafter.

Colonel MARSHALL. Yes.

Mr. ENGEL. Then you have 18,000,000 veterans from World War II, and those 18,000,000 will have to be buried at sometime in the future.

General LARKIN. Yes.

Mr. ENGEL. Every one of those in service are entitled to burial and we have to have cemeteries if they desire to be buried in a national cemetery.

General LARKIN. That is correct.

Mr. ENGEL. And when you take into consideration that picture it seems foolish to me to talk about adding on just 2 acres, and it seems to me before opening a new cemetery and locating a new wall to take in the additional acres the future requirements should be very carefully considered.

How large is the city of Keokuk?

Colonel MARSHALL. It is somewhere around 30,000.

Mr. ENGEL. Thirty thousand.

Colonel MARSHALL. Yes.

General HORKAN. May I say, Mr. Chairman, in this connection that we are trying to get enough space in cemeteries from the distri

bution standpoint, to take care of the bodies that are coming back from overseas and not have to move them.

Mr. ENGEL. That is very true, but on the other hand you are proposing here to construct a new concrete wall, for instance, including excavation and back fill at $7.15 per linear foot, for a total cost of $3,146, and to tear the old wall out.

General HORKAN. Yes.

Mr. ENGEL. And in a few years you have got to tear that wall out again and take in another 2 acres, perhaps.

General HORKAN. This will take care of us for a period of years and enable us to properly bury the World War II dead, coming back, and it will let those boys whom the next of kin want to be buried in this cemetery be buried there instead of at a distant cemetery.

Mr. ENGEL. As I say, I am not criticizing the fact that you are enlarging the cemetery; my criticism is that you are only enlarging it on a 2-acre basis.

General HORKAN. We felt that was the cheapest way we could do it. Mr. ENGEL. How many graves are there in the present cemetery, did you say?

General HORKAN. Three hundred and fifty-nine.

Mr. ENGEL. Three hundred and fifty-nine provided in the space you now have?

General HORKAN. Yes.

Mr. ENGEL. And out of the 2.75 acres how many are you to get? Colonel GAGNE. We feel that this additional acreage will enable us to take care of those

Mr. ENGEL. No; I mean how many grave sites are there in this 2 acres, how many will the 2 acres provide?

Colonel GAGNE. Six hundred grave sites.

Mr. ENGEL. And how many applications did you say you had received in the last month or two?

Colonel GAGNE. We had 72.

Mr. ENGEL. Seventy-two applications for new sites.

Colonel GAGNE. Yes.

Mr. ENGEL. Of boys coming back.

Colonel GAGNE. Seventy-two in November; ten in October.

Mr. ENGEL. How many applications do you expect to get in December?

Colonel GAGNE. In December

Mr. ENGEL. What was the testimony yesterday?

Colonel GAGNE. Two hundred and thirty-five.

Mr. ENGEL. At Keokuk.

Colonel GAGNE. Yes.

Mr. ENGEL. What is the veterans population around that area? General HORKAN. I cannot tell you offhand.

Mr. ENGEL. What is the nearest national cemetery? This is to

be a national cemetery.

General LARKIN. Yes.

Mr. ENGEL. What is the nearest national cemetery to it?

Major KIRK. Fort Snelling.

Mr. ENGEL. How far is that away?

Major KIRK. Fort Snelling is around 350 miles from this.
Mr. ENGEL. Is that the nearest national cemetery?
Major KIRK. Yes.

Mr. ENGEL. How many national cemeteries in Iowa?
Major KIRK. There are no others.

Mr. ENGEL. This would be the only one?

Major KIRK. That is right.

Mr. ENGEL. For those who want to be buried in the State of Iowa, in a national cemetery in the State of Iowa, this would be the only one. Major KIRK. Yes.

Mr. ENGEL. And you would provide 600 grave sites, including these 78 applications.

General HORKAN. Yes.

Mr. ENGEL. For that purpose.

General HORKAN. That is right. You see, Mr. Chairman, we are trying to keep it within reason from a cost-basis standpoint.

Mr. ENGEL. What did the 2 acres cost?

Colonel GAGNE. They were donated.

Mr. ENGEL. How far is this from the city?
Major KIRK. Right near the town.

Mr. ENGEL. Could that be expanded?
General HORKAN. If required.

GOLDEN GATE NATIONAL CEMETERY

Mr. ENGEL. Very well; we will take up the next item.

Colonel MARSHALL. The next item is for Golden Gate National Cemetery, and is to provide for seeding, fertilizing, and landscaping, with the inclusion of roads, curbs, and gutters in the area of the Golden Gate Cemetery. Funds were given to us last year for the initial development.

Mr. ENGEL. How much did you get last year?

Colonel MARSHALL. Two hundred and thirty-four thousand dollars. Mr. ENGEL. For this purpose?

Colonel MARSHALL. For the initial development and also for the improvement of this cemetery.

Mr. ENGEL. What did you do with the $234,000?

Colonel MARSHALL. That was used to provide the rough grading, drainage, and installation of drainage lines throughout the entire 60 acres, and also for paving, curbs and gutters, and an underground sprinkler system.

Mr. ENGEL. For the whole 60 acres?

Colonel MARSHALL. On the 60 acres.

Mr. ENGEL. And this is for further work on the 60 acres?

Colonel MARSHALL. This is within the 60 acres, but it is to finish up the work that was started with the funds appropriated last year. In other words, this is for seeding and fertilizing of some 39 acres of the 63 acres approved last year.

Mr. ENGEL. You have got the necessary roads and curbs and gutters?

Colonel MARSHALL. Yes. That was in last year's appropriation; there was an item of $54,000 for paving, and this item of $10,000 is to finish up what we could not do with the money available due to increase in prices.

Mr. ENGEL. What was the total amount of this work in the last year's budget?

Colonel MARSHALL. The total amount for this work was $82,000.
Mr. ENGEL. I am talking about roads.

Colonel MARSHALL. Paving, curbs, and gutters, was $82,000.
Mr. ENGEL. For how much?

Colonel MARSHALL. For 248,500 square feet of paving and 22,600 feet of curbing and gutters.

Mr. ENGEL. How much is that per foot?

Colonel MARSHALL. Twenty-two cents per square foot for paving and $1.25 per lineal foot for curbs and gutters.

Mr. ENGEL. What does this estimate figure out per square yard? Colonel MARSHALL. This estimate is for road construction, 3,880 square yards, gravel base, bituminous surface, at $2.80 per square yard.

Mr. ENGEL. That would be about how much per square foot? General LARKIN. About 31 cents per square foot, using 9 square feet to the yard.

Mr. ENGEL. And it was 22 cents last year.

General LARKIN. Yes.

Mr. ENGEL. And is 31 now?

General LARKIN. Yes.

Mr. ENGEL. That is almost a 50-percent increase over last year. General LARKIN. Yes.

Mr. ENGEL. For construction of gutters and curbs you have an estimate of $2.15 per linear foot.

Colonel MARSHALL. Per linear foot as compared with $1.25 per linear foot we had last year.

Mr. ENGEL. That is for concrete work.

Colonel MARSHALL. Yes.

Mr. KERR. How much money did you have last year for seeding, fertilizing, and planting?

Colonel MARSHALL. None.

Mr. KERR. For what purpose were the larger amounts appropriated last year?

Colonel MARSHALL. In the last year's appropriation, the larger amounts were $21,000 for drainage; $25,000 for installation of water-main connections and catch basins; $54,000 for paving; $28,000 for curbs and gutters; and $90,000 for an underground sprinkler system.

Mr. KERR. Could you not put off some of this seeding and fertilizing work, since you have not used the money anyway?

Colonel MARSHALL. It is all under contract.

Mr. KERR. I know that, but you have not used the funds; the funds have not been used and the work has not been done.

Colonel MARSHALL. No.

Mr. KERR. Could you not postpone the expenditure of this $115,000 for seeding and fertilizing and grading until a later time?

Colonel MARSHALL. We could, sir, except we are going to have to have burials in this year and the expansion of the cemetery is necessary. If this is not done there will be a great deal of criticism if burials take place in unfinished ground where people go out and look over the burial grounds.

Mr. KERR. Who chooses the place; the family, does it not?

Colonel MARSHALL. That is right.

Mr. KERR. You do not suppose you could go on for a few years and complete the work?