Independent Bureaus

Some of the nine important executive agencies outside the Cabinet to make reports were: P: The Veterans' Bureau, which spent $415,138,398 during the last fiscal year-- $28,000,000 less than the year previous. The reduction was largely due to a decrease in the number of veterans requiring vocational training. Veterans receiving medical care from the Bureau at the close of the year numbered 22,610. P: The Interstate Commerce Commission, which asked that Congress make workable Section 28 of the Merchant Marine Act which would authorize reduced railroad rates on products shipped for export. The report declared that: 1) Few railroads were earning the 5 3/4% return on investment allowed under the railway act; 2) some $11,000,000 has been reported due the Government under the recapture clause by which the Government takes one-half of what the railways earn over 5 3/4%--and most of this amount is still in controversy; 3) the valuation of railroad property had reached a point where 3.3% of railway mileage was completely accounted for and a much larger portion tentatively valued; 4) the estimated amount still due to railways from the Government following Wartime operations was about $28,000,000. P: The Tariff Commission, which re- ported that its activities were likely to be curtailed seriously by cuts in its appropriations made by the Budget Bureau; also that, certain sections of the Tariff Law, ineffective or contradictory, needed revision.