A(iIU( ri/nUAI- AIM'IUIIMIIATION Hll.i^ I '-« .'163 



r(>(|Tiir(>s a soinrwluit heuvior (it'toiintor tlinii T. N. T. or other coiii- 



iiuTcial oxplosivrs. 



All iiitcrcstiiii; .si*l<- li;;lit lui tluit <li^tril>utiuii i-. ihr fii<( ilmt thut 

 supply luis Ih'cm availuMo to the furiturs iit n very luuniiml <-<>st, 

 i) otMits for tartritl<;iii«; uiul not over I rent for haixlfiii^. nhi** frt'i^^ht 

 (-)iar>;«'s, and that has anparrntly \rt\ to a rcniarkahh* <irop in thw 

 price of coinnuTcial r\plosiv«>. Ihe pri<i*M have r«»nu- down U» a 

 {)oint now that we are (in(hn>; some uidieultv in (iispo>,ni^ of thm 

 supply at a prieo around 7 cents f. o. b. The avaihihihty of thm 

 •-upply to the farmers may l)e only one of the muss's, hut it is true 

 that the [)riees of ctimmercinl e\|)|(».ive> ha> (Mine down t«i verv 

 nuK'h h»wer k'vels. 



Mr. Andkhson. How much of lliis e.\ph>sive i.s h-fl ' 



Mr. Ma( Donald. It is now ahout I.OOO.OOO pounds. 



Mr. Andkk.son. At the rate you have heen p»inji y»»u will ^vi nd 

 of it in about a year or two i 



Mr. MacDoxali). Yes, sir. 



KOH r,?:NERAL AD.MINI.STKATIVE KXPENSES. 



Mr. A.NDEKSDN. There is no chunj^e in y«)ur item for {general ati- 

 ministrative expenses? 

 Mr. MacDoxalu. No, sir. 



EXCHANGE OF PASSENOER-^ARR'i^XO VEHICLES. 



Mr. Ander.son. We will next take up the item on pa^e 322, and 

 particularly the proviso which relates to the e.xchanjje of pa.s.senj;er- 

 carrving vehicles. 



\fr. ^IAcDox.\LI). With reference to the authority re<iueste<l under 

 this item to e.xchange used pa.ssenojer-carryinj; veiiicles or partes for 

 new vehicles, we now find oiiiv;elves confronted with this situation: 

 I'nder the acts of Congress which turned over to tlie de|)artment f»>r 

 distribution to the States certain surplus war equipment suitable for 

 road-building purposes, the department is authorized to retain for 

 use in its roaci work not more than 10 per cent of the e(|uipment. 

 That inclutled all kinds of eijuipment. such as trucks, automol)iles. 

 tractors, tents, and miscellaneous e(juipment of all kinds. All of the 



f)a.ssenger motor vehicles which wore taken o.ver had heen used. We 

 lave received only cai-s which had been used tt) a considerable 

 extent and that had not been well maintained, as ytm would exnt'Ct 

 under the then existing conditions, so in attempting to use these 

 vehicles— and I may say that the distribution started nearly four 

 vears ago — we find tliese vehicles liave deteriorated to an extent that 

 It is very expensive to maintain them. 



We have no authority to trade these in for new vehicles tliat 

 could be operated at less expense, and no authority to pay the 

 difference between their trade-in vahie and the cost of new cars. 

 We have also taken over from the War Department a considerable 

 amount of spare parts. All of the nonstandard motor vehicle 

 parts were declared surplus by the War Department and turned 

 over to the Dcj)artment of Agri<'ulture f<»r distribution. There had 

 been large purchases made of spare parts, so that along with the 

 motor vehicles, .spare parts ])ecame surplus .sometimes out of propor- 

 tion to the number of vohieies to be maintained. We now find that 

 some of the manufacturers are rather aiLxious to trade for soiue of 

 these spare parts in exchange for new motor vehicles; that is, an 



