Inasmuch as that is a somewhat more detailed statement than I shall trespass on your time to make orally, I should like if it is agreeable to you to have that part of the letter iucorporated in the record. Senator MUNDT. It will be incorporated in the record at this point. (The statement referred to follows:)

COURTS OF APPEALS, DISTRICT COURTS, AND OTHER JUDICIAL SERVICES

Page 26, line 18, strike out "$12,750,000" and insert in lieu thereof "$13,242,925", or an increase of $492,925.

HOUSE REPORT (P. 6)

The judiciary, "The sum of $27,579,950 is included in the bill for this branch of the Federal Government, an increase of $1,249,430 over the 1954 appropriations and a decrease of $1,065,555 from the budget estimates.

"The major portion of the increase is to provide for the 30 new judges and supporting personnel authorized by Public Law 294 of the 83d Congress. The bill includes an additional $909,630 to cover the salary, travel, and other costs of 3 additional judgeships for the court of appeals and 27 additional judgeships for district courts of the United States, and their supporting personnel, and increased salaries for official court reporters. The committee is in full agreement with the need to provide additional compensation for official court reporters and recommends that this requirement be taken care of within the additional funds allowed."

JUSTIFICATION

The objection to the appropriations for the courts of appeals and the district courts in the bill as passed by the House is the very severe reduction in the total amounts allowed for the cost of the 30 new judges provided for by Public Law 294 of this Congress approved February 10, 1954. These amounts are contained in three appropriations in the bill: those for salaries of judges, salaries of supporting personnel, and travel and miscellaneous expenses. The funds for salaries of additional judges estimated at $457,500 are reduced only $47,500, or little more than 10 percent, and a review of that appropriation is not asked. The funds granted in the two other appropriations mentioned are heavily cut to a point where it will be impossible to furnish the new judges with adequate staffs and facilities.

The addition requested to the appropriation for supporting personnel has been indicated above and the basis for it will shortly be explained below. The same course will be followed in reference to the appropriation for travel and miscellaneous expenses. But the House Appropriations Committee in its report (p. 6) dealt with the amount of $909,630 allowed for the salaries and travel and other expenses of the additional judges and their supporting personnel and the increase in the salaries of the court reporters as a single sum. Consequently I shall endeavor to show the relation between that sun and the sum reasonably required for personnel and facilities for the new judges before dealing with the amounts of increase requested in the separate appropriations for salaries of supporting personnel and travel and miscellaneous expenses.

The discrepancy between the amount allowed by the House for the cost of the new judgeships and the amount needed

Although the report states that the bill includes an additional $909,630 to cover the salary, travel, and other costs of 3 additional circuit judges and 27 additional district judges authorized by Public Law 294 of this Congress and their supporting personnel, and increased salaries for official court reporters, the amount stated falls far short of what is needed for those purposes. If from the sum stated of $909,630 there is deducted the cost of increased salaries for official court re

porters in the sum of $113,100, which the Judicial Conference of the United States recommends that the committee of the House indicates should be granted, there remains only $796,530 for the cost of the 30 additional judges and their supporting personnel and impersonal facilities. The amount requested in the estimates which were submitted is $1,450,950 or nearly twice as much, comprising the following parts: Salaries of additional judges, $457,500; salaries of their supporting personnel, $638,450; their travel and miscellaneous expenses, $355,000.

The cost for the additional judges so estimated is an average of $48,365 per judge. During the hearings on the bill (S. 15) before each of the Subcommittees on the Judiciary of both the Senate and the House the question was raised as to what the cost per judge, including the salaries of himself and staff and his office equipment and other expenses would be. Testifying before the Senate subcommittee, Circuit Judge John Biggs, Jr., of Delaware, chief judge of the third circuit, said that the cost per judge was about $50,000 a year. I stated immediately following Judge Biggs on this point, that that was about right for the first year and that the cost was a litte less for subsequent years because part of the cost for library and equipment was of a nonrecurring nature (pp. 88-89 of the hearing before the subcommittee of the Senate Judiciary Committee on the bill, S. 15, of the 83d Cong. and other bills providing for additional judges). At a hearing before Subcommittee No. 5 of the House Committee on the Judiciary after the passage of the bill by the Senate, I was asked by Representative Lane of the subcommittee what was the cost of an additional judgeship and I answered as follows:

"Our best estimate, and we made an estimate fairly recently, Congressman Lane, is that the cost for a district judge and his supporting personnel in the first year is something over $49,000, or let us say in round numbers, $50,000, and the cost for a circuit judge, a judge of a court of appeals, is approximately $40,000. The reason for the difference is the greater staff which the district judge has" (p. 153 of the typewritten transcript of hearings before Subcommittee No. 5 of the House Committee on the Judiciary, in the afternoon of June 3, 1953).

Thus in the consideration of the bill which evolved into Public Law 294, the Judiciary Committee of each House of the Congress was informed approximately what each judgeship provided for would cost if the legislation should be enacted. The cost on that basis of $40,000 in the first year for each of the 3 additional circuit judgeships and $50,000 for each of the 27 additional district judgeships would be $1,470,000. The cost on the basis of the closer estimates submitted to the House Appropriations Committee is $1,450,950 or $19,050 less. Toward this the House has allowed according to the report of the Committee as stated above only $796,530.

Nor is this the whole picture. The amount stated of $796,530 makes no allowance for the cost in the coming year of various expenses of the present judicial establishment which cannot be absorbed, including the major part of the cost of within-grade promotions of supporting personnel, and the cost of penalty mail, which will be explained presently in relation to the specific appropriations for salaries of supporting personnel and for travel and miscellaneous expenses. sum of these is $257,787. When they are deducted from the funds in the appropriations available for the cost of the new judges, there remains only $538,743, or slightly more than one-third of the cost in the first year of carrying out Public Law 294, of which the Committees on the Judiciary of both houses were informed and with knowledge of which the Congress passed the new law.

The

It needs no argument that judges cannot function efficiently unless they have suitable staffs and facilities. It is also plain that it is poor economy to provide for judges and the payment of their salaries and not give them adequate help and tools with which to work. On this simple basis I would urge that the Senate restore in the bill the funds requisite in the appropriations for salaries of supporting personnel and for travel and miscellaneous expenses which are required to put the new judges on an equality in these provisions with the other circuit and district judges in the appropriations for the current year.

THE APPROPRIATION FOR SALARIES OF SUPPORTING PERSONNEL

The appropriation for salaries of supporting personnel in the bill as passed by the House is $380,030 above the corresponding appropriation for the current year. But $113,100 of this is designated in the report of the House committee for the approved increases in the salaries of official court reporters, and $121,405 will be needed to defray the cost of within-grade promotions that cannot be absorbed. This leaves toward the cost of salaries of supporting personnel of the new judges the sum of $145,525 compared with the amount of $638,450 requested

and needed to provide for the new judges on the same basis as the present judges. Accordingly there is need for an increase in this appropriation of $492,925.

The numbers of personnel in the different positions auxiliary to the new judges are shown on page 16 of the supplemental justifications of the estimates for the cost of the new judges in 1955. The different types of positions are those which are provided for by statutes cited on the page of the justifications referred to, and correspond with those of present circuit and district judges. Also as there stated "The salary indicated for the several classes of personnel covered by the estimate are similar to those which have been fixed by the Director of the Admiristrative Office or the Judicial Conference for like assistants for existing circuit and district judges.'

Although the report of the House committee in relation to the judiciary makes no reference to the cost of within-grade promotions for supporting personnel of the courts in 1955, it may be that the committee expected the entire cost to be absorbed compared with about 20 percent which the estimate contemplates and is the best estimate based upon the experience of the Administrative Office of the part that can be so handled. This leaves an estimated sum of $141,987 for within-grade promotions for which it will be necessary to look to funds in the appropriation for the new year.

About the cost of within-grade promotions two things need to be said: First, if the cost of such promotions in 1955 should be disregarded and no added provision should be made for them, the amount of the appropriation for salaries of supporting personnel as passed by the House would still fall $371,520 short of the amount needed to provide staffs for the new judges on the basis of the present laws and practice. Second, it is not possible to absorb the cost of more than a lesser part of the cost of within-grade promotions of supporting personnel of the courts because the personnel are distributed among a large number of offices with only one or a relatively few persons in each.

For 1 judge there is only 1 secretary (with the exception of a very few chief judges in the larger courts who may have 1 assistant secretary), 1 law clerk, 1 crier, and 1 court reporter. In the offices of the clerks of court, the probation offices and the offices of the referees in bankruptcy, the numbers of persons in each in 1951 were shown in a letter written by me on July 6, 1951, to Senator Pat McCarran, chairman of the Subcommittee on Appropriations for the Departments of State, Justice, Commerce, and the Judiciary for 1952, in connection with a then pending appropriation for the courts and printed on pages 2035-2038 of the hearings before the subcommittee on the annual appropriation referred to. The letter is followed by a table showing the numbers of employees in offices of the three types. The data can be summarized by saying that they showed that the average number of persons in offices of clerks of courts of appeals was 52, the average number in offices of clerks of district courts slightly over 4, the average number in probation offices, including officers and clerks, somewhat less than 4, and the average number of clerks in referees' offices only slightly over 2. The same general conditions with only minor variations prevail today.

It will be realized that under such conditions it is not feasible to absorb the cost of within-grade promotions through leaving vacancies unfilled. When a single

assistant of a given type to a judge leaves, the judge has to engage a successor promptly or go without the service. In the offices of the clerks of court, the probation offices, and the offices of referees in bankruptcy the pressure of the present business even with full personnel is very great and vacancies need to be filled promptly.

In each recurring year since the system of within-grade promotions for supporting personnel of the courts, corresponding with such promotions in the executive branch, was established, including the current year, the Congress has recognized this and has appropriated for the part of the cost which could not be absorbed. The conditions in respect to this will be no different in 1955 from what they have been. Accordingly in order to provide for the staffs of the new judges without injuring the present service and also to provide for the approved increases in the salaries of the official court reporters, all of the increase requested of $492,925 in the appropriation of $12,750,000 for salaries of supporting personnel as passed by the House will be necessary.

A question was raised in the hearings before the House Appropriations Committee whether all of the new judges would be inducted into office and serve during the entire fiscal year 1955. The law was enacted on February 10, 1954. Since then there has been a steady flow of judicial nominations both to vacancies in prior positions and to positions under the new law. In almost all of the courts for which the new judges have been authorized there is serious congestion which makes it most desirable in the public interest that the positions should be promptly

filled and the new judges should begin to function without delay. We know that the Department of Justice is bending every effort to that end. While it is impossible to estimate during what part of the new fiscal year 1955 they will serve, it was the opinion of the Administrative Office that it should not conjecture, and that the only prudent course was to estimate the cost for the full year. The estimates before you have been prepared on that basis.

Page 28, line 5, strike out "$1,800,000" and insert in lieu thereof "$2,131,200," or an increase of $331,200.

HOUSE REPORT (P. 6)

The judiciary: "The sum of $27,579,950 is included in the bill for this branch of the Federal Government, an increase of $1,249,430 over the 1954 appropriations and a decrease of $1,065,555 from the budget estimates.

"The major portion of the increase is to provide for the 30 new judges and supporting personnel authorized by Public Law 294 of the 83d Congress. The bill includes an additional $909,630 to cover the salary, travel, and other costs of 3 additional judgeships for the court of appeals and 27 additional judgeships for district courts of the United States, and their supporting personnel ***"

JUSTIFICATION

The appropriation for travel and miscellaneous expenses in the bill as passed by the House is $1,800,000. This is an increase of $119,600 over the appropriation for the current year but less than the estimate by $351,200. The increases which were requested over the corresponding appropriation for the current year were $3,400 for an increase in the cost of maintenance of judges while engaged in official travel due to the increase in the maximum limit upon the actual daily cost of maintenance from $10 to $15 under Public Law 222 of the present Congress, approved August 8, 1953, after allowance for some savings resulting from that law, $9,800 in the increased cost of post office box rentals due to an increase in the rates and a continuing increase in the cost of telephone service, an estimated cost of $111,000 for penalty mail of the courts required to be reimbursed to the Post Office Department by Public Law 286 of the present Congress, approved August 15, 1953, and the cost of travel and miscellaneous expenses of the new judges provided for by Public Law 294 originally estimated at $355,000 for the new judges. The resulting increase in the appropriation for travel and miscellaneous expenses in 1955 after the deduction of an item of $8,400 in the current year for a nonrecurring expense, was originally estimated at $470,800. The major part of the increase represents the cost of law libraries for the new judges. During the hearing before the House subcommittee I was asked whether there might not be a reduction in the estimated cost of $50,000 for travel of the new judges because a considerable number of them will serve during most or all of their working time in single seats of courts in populous communities and will therefore have less occasion to travel than the average Federal judge. Upon consideration, it was concluded that a reduction of $20,000 from the estimate of $50,000 on this account might safely be made and the House subcommittee was so informed shortly after the hearing. Deduction of that sum leaves the amount of increase which is sought in the appropriation for travel and miscellaneous expenses for 1955 over 1954, $450,800. Toward this the appropriation bill as passed by the House provides for an increase over the appropriation for the current year of only $119,600. The effect of such a reduction in the funds available for the impersonal facilities of the courts would be crippling, and I would urge that the Senate raise the appropriation to $2,131,200.

The factors in the increase of $450,800 over the amount of the appropriation for the current year have been indicated above. A table of these appears as revised page 93 of the main justifications. From the estimate of the annual cost of travel of the new judges of $50,000 shown in the fourth column should be deducted $20,000, reducing the total of the annual costs for the new judges from $94,600 48850-54-2

to $74,600. As so reduced the cost of travel and miscellaneous expenses for the new judges in 1955, which will be the first year, will be $335,000, of which $74,600 will be costs annually recurring, and $260,400 will be nonrecurring costs in the nature of capital investment for equipment and law libraries. The estimates of the different items of costs of impersonal facilities for the new judges are explained on pages 22-25 of the supplemental justifications to which I would refer and I comment here only on the larger items.

As stated, the original estimate of $50,000 for the annual cost of travel of the new judges and their supporting personnel may be reduced to $30,000. This is an average of only $1,000 a year per judge, whereas the average cost of travel of Federal judges generally and their supporting personnel is around $1,900 a year (p. 62 of the House hearings). $11,100 is estimated as the cost of penalty mail during the year of the new judges, based upon the experience of the expense of the present judges for that purpose since the enactment of the law on August 15, 1953. Of the total cost for impersonal facilities for the new judges of $335,000 as stated above, the greater part, $260,400, will be for nonrecurring expenses. $27,700 will be for office equipment such as typewriters, dictating machines and the like, and $232,000 will be for lawbooks for the new judges. This will be an average investment for lawbooks of somewhat less than $8,000 per judge. The experience of the Office indicates that on the average the approximate cost of a standard law library for a circuit judge is $9,216.70, and the cost of a standard library for a district judge, whose jurisdiction does not cover so wide a geographical area, is $7,566.70 (p. 65 of the House hearings).

The next largest factor in the increase in the appropriation as passed by the House which is sought, is $111,000 for the cost of penalty mail. The law providing that the cost of penalty mail used by Government agencies shall be paid by the respective agencies to the Post Office Department was enacted on August 15, 1953, after the annual appropriation act for the current year was passed. It so happened that because of a large number of vacancies in judicial positions it was possible to transfer pursuant to the terms of Public Law 286 $100,000 of the appropriation for salaries of judges to the appropriation for travel and miscellaneous expenses to cover this cost, which for the current year was estimated at $100,000. On a similar basis the cost for 1955 being for the entire year, whereas the cost in the current year was only for the part of the year after the approval of the act of August 15, 1953, will be $111,000.

The cost of the other items entering into the appropriation for travel and miscellaneous expenses for 1955 as requested, has been carefully estimated, and no way appears of paying for the cost of penalty mail in the amount above stated without cutting off essential facilities of the courts unless money is included in the appropriation for that purpose. The law unconditionally requires the cost of penalty mail to be reimbursed to the Post Office Department.

Congress has already provided in the third supplemental appropriation act for an increase in the travel expenses of the Federal judges resulting from Public Law 222 above mentioned, and the additional sum of $3,400 sought in 1955 represents only the difference in the cost between the increase in expense for the entire year 1955 and the increase in 1954 for the part of the year following the enactment of the law on August 8, 1953.

Page 28, line 24, strike out "$1,400,000" and insert in lieu thereof "$1,487,100", or an increase of $87,100.

HOUSE REPORT

(No reference is made to the item.)

JUSTIFICATION

The appropriation for expenses of referees provides for the salaries of the clerical help in their offices and all of their impersonal facilities. The appropriation for the expenses of referees for the current year is $1,307,750. The estimate for 1955 is $1,487,100. The pending bill as it passed the House provides for an appropri