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MESSRS. MARTIN B. MADDEN (CHAIRMAN), JOSEPH G. CANNON,
C. BASCOM SLEMP, PATRICK H. KELLEY, JOSEPH

W. BYRNS, AND JAMES P. BUCHANAN

IN CHARGE OF THE

URGENT DEFICIENCY APPROPRIATION BILL FOR 1922

SIXTY-SEVENTH CONGRESS

FIRST SESSION

CONFERENCE ON LIMITATION OF ARMAMENT

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

WASHINGTON

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE

1921

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URGENT DEFICIENCY APPROPRIATION BILL, 1922.

SUBCOMMITTEE OF COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,
Saturday, August 20, 1921.

STATE DEPARTMENT.

STATEMENT OF MR. HENRY P. FLETCHER, UNDER SECRETARY OF

STATE.

FOR CONFERENCE ON LIMITATION OF ARMAMENT.

The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Fletcher, we find that the President sent to the Senate a request for $200,000 to be used by the State Department during the conference on the limitation of armament. We should like very much to have you tell us how the estimate of $200,000 is arrived at.

Mr. FLETCHER. I am very glad to have the opportunity, Mr. Chairman. I have prepared a statement of which you have a copy. You will see that at the top the secretariat general of the conference: Including secretary general, several assistant secretaries, etc., $31,810. The estimate is based on the duration of the conference for two months. If you will turn to page 2 you will see a detailed statement as to how this estimate is made up.

The CHAIRMAN. Yes, sir. The secretary general at $1,000 a month.

Mr. FLETCHER. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. One executive secretary at $500 a month?

Mr. FLETCHER. Yes, sir. The assistant secretaries are one for each delegation, provided there are five. This is merely a tentative estimate.

The CHAIRMAN. Do you think that the assistants should get $400 a month for that work?

Mr. FLETCHER. I think they probably should. We can not pick them up on the street. They will have to come here and live in Washington two months and find a hotel. Wherever I can save a dollar I intend to do it. I tried to make this estimate so that I would have sufficient funds to run the conference. I have not estimated very much for printing, for none of us can tell how much that will cost. I think I will have to come before the committee and ask that the bill be paid when it is rendered. I think that should be very frankly understood. I am going to spend the money with the utmost economy, because we all know that is what is expected.

The CHAIRMAN. Will you please make a comprehensive statement of just what you expect to do, Mr. Fletcher.

Mr. FLETCHER. The Government, as the host, will be expected to provide the conference with its personnel; that is, the secretary general, the assistant secretaries, and all of the officers, stenographers, translators, interpreters, and in some cases college professors, who will be able, when a man makes a speech in French, to translate it immediately into English, so that all of the members of the conference can understand it, typewriters, telephones, and offices. We hope to use temporary buildings wherever we can use the Government buildings with as little cost as possible. We hope to use the Pan-American Building, which will not cost any rent at all, for the main meetings, and to get the temporary buildings nearby for the offices not only of the secretariat general of the conference, but for our own American delegates also.. The CHAIRMAN. They will not cost anything.

Mr. FLETCHER. They will not cost anything. The Navy says it will cost a little bit to move out the men they have there. If we use the Navy Building it will be much better. I went over this item carefully with the President and Mr. Dawes at the White House before sending it to Mr. Dawes and it received their approval. That is not necessarily binding upon you gentlemen, but I want to show you the care with which the estimate has been prepared.

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As to the American delegation, we have to provide them with expert assistants which we have not in the State Department, because we are not sufficiently staffed. We have got to get men identified with the Far East, particularly because of the discussions of Far Eastern questions which will take place in connection with limitation of armament. The technical data of armament I suppose will be prepared by the Army and Navy; with that we will have very little to do in the first instance. As to the Far East, there is a great deal of work which has to be done so that our delegation will be in position to have the data they can refer to. In other words, as to this expert work, I can not at this time tell you how much it will cost. I have also estimated for statisticians, which we may not be able to get from the War or Navy Departments. That would mean that we would have to pay for them, the War and Navy Departments may say that they have not enough to assist us. I have allowed $71,930 for the expenses of the American delegation.

Then we come to stationery, telephones and travel. Official travel to cover expenses of sending an assistant over to meet them at the New York pier or arrange to have them met in San Francisco, see them through the customs and welcome them. I had first thought that Congress might wish to bring the visiting delegations in private cars. We found that was not practicable and that it would cost a great deal of money. That has been eliminated entirely. We have for stenographic reports and printing and binding, $10,000. I put that in mostly for printing, because I do not know what it is going to amount to.

The CHAIRMAN. The proceedings will all be printed?

Mr. FLETCHER. Yes, sir; in two languages, printed in French and English, which means just a double printing bill. That was done in the International Electrical Communications Conference which was held here last year. The European delegates, aside from the British, prefer it that way.

Special agents mean protection and looking after their safety, etc.

The information service is just to see if necessary that a publicity bureau is established so that the public may know at all times what is going on.

The automobile service has been put at $2,000, because we hope to be able to use the Army and Navy automobiles, or the Government automobiles. That $2,000 is mostly for gasolene or repairs or something like that. I do not know that that is going to be sufficient, but it shows the spirit with which we have gone into this thing. As to entertainment in Washington I have estimated for one banquet, 400 people, ladies invited, to cost $4,500; one luncheon, 200 people, $1,500; one luncheon, 400 people, ladies invited, $2,500; two receptions, which of course, we want naturally to have, a congressional reception and that sort of thing, $5,000, the printing of the invitations, flowers, music, hauling, light, etc. That runs up to $20.000. I do not think that is a very extraordinary item for the entertainment of a conference of this character.

Then I estimate an emergency and contingency fund of $10,000. That makes a total of $197,240. I put in round numbers $200,000 so that we would be on the safe side. I should like to have it fully understood, as I said before, that I do not propose to spend the money for the particular items, it was only to arrive at some estimate of what it might cost us. The figures for Paris conference were very high: it cost the Army alone about $500,000 a month, I'm told.

The CHAIRMAN. We do not provide quarters for any of these people?

Mr. FLETCHER. No, sir; they come here

The CHAIRMAN. And pay all their own railroad transportation?

Mr. FLETCHER. Yes, sir.

Mr. BUCHANAN. Have you taken up this matter with the hotels? I understand that some nations will bring a thousand people.

Mr. FLETCHER. I think the delegations will run from 150 to 200 with their experts. Mr. BUCHANAN. The hotel and apartment-house people in this city may charge very high prices and cause a bad impression all over the world.

Mr. FLETCHER. I have already taken that up with the head of the real estate board and made that plain to them. They say they are perfectly willing to cooperate and that they will take it up with their members.

The CHAIRMAN. Has anything been done toward taking up that matter with the hotel people?

Mr. FLETCHER. Yes, sir; that is on the way.

The CHAIRMAN. Has there been any endeavor to provide quarters?

Mr. FLETCHER. No, sir; we have not assumed that responsibility. If we can assist them in securing houses or hotel accommodations or what not, then the staff of the department will look out for that and will go with them, and if there is an attempt to charge exhorbitant prices, we will use our good offices.

The CHAIRMAN. Their own embassies, I presume, will look after their accommodations?

Mr. FLETCHER. Yes, sir; that was the way it was done in Paris.

The CHAIRMAN. Is there any item for the promotion of newspaper publicity? Mr. FLETCHER. Nothing more than the $10,000. I do not know how you gentlemen feel, whether that is a proper charge, but they usually have some machinery whereby the people may be informed.

The CHAIRMAN. Your whole idea is that we should have machinery by which we can secure publicity in the foreign press?

Mr. FLETCHER. If necessary to arrange that, yes. We have allowed very little, but I think we can do it. I hope that we will be able to look after the foreign correspondents who come here in a nice way. I have already taken that up with the various press associations and the Press Club of Washington, so that we can make those men feel that they are also an important part of the conference.

The CHAIRMAN. A great deal will depend on how favorably our attitude is shown in the foreign press?

Mr. FLETCHER. Exactly. I do not propose to have any propaganda in other countries. I think that always has a bad effect but simply in case of necessity to get out a statement of the attitude of America on a particular question if it was causing strain or attracting attention in the public press.

The CHAIRMAN. I think it might be well to put this statement in the record.
Mr. FLETCHER. Certainly.

(The statement referred to by the chairman follows:)

Minimum budget for the conference on the limitation of armament and the Far East for two months' period.

1. Secretariat general of the conference, including secretary general, his several assisting secretaries, office force, interpreters, translators, and messengers...

2. American delegation, American conferees, advisory delegates, secretaries, stenographers, statisticians, clerical force, translators, interpreter, and messengers...

3. Miscellaneous, including stationery, supplies, equipment for secretariat general and also American delegation, telephone, telegraph, cables, stenographic, mimeograph and photostat services, light, labor, and hauling.

4. Special agents, protection of visiting delegates. 5. Information service, staff and maintenance.

6. Automobile service, miscellaneous....

7. Entertainment in Washington, extending over two months' period during which conference may be in session, including one large banquet, two luncheons, two receptions, miscellaneous...

8. Emergency and contingency fund.....

$31,810

71, 930

41,500 10,000

10, 000

2,000

20, 000 10,000

197, 240

Mr. BYRNS. You said something about $400 a month. Was that for the members? Mr. FLETCHER. No; for the men who come down to assist as secretaries. A man has to be able to speak French and be familiar with work of this character. He must be a man who has special qualifications. It will only be two months, and you can not get men to pull up stakes for less than a little more than they at present receive.

The CHAIRMAN. You have to pay the Representatives of the President not in official life?

Mr. FLETCHER. I have estimated for that under the item of expenses. I did not know what we would do. I just put it in that way.

Mr. BYRNS. That was the point of my inquiry, the commissioners in official life? Mr. FLETCHER. They will receive no salary, I suppose

Mr. BYRNS. The secretaries and employees who are now employed by the Government, it is not expected to pay them any salaries or any additional salaries for services rendered?

Mr. FLETCHER. No, sir. I have only allowed for the secretaries of our conferees $250 a month. That is, if Mr. Lodge was there, his secretary will get $250 a month. The CHAIRMAN. He would not be able to use his own secretary?

Mr. FLETCHER. He might.

Mr. BYRNS. There is nothing in the way of paying the expenses of the commissioners here in Washington?

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