Evening star., 1943-05-19
National Resources
Board Funds Cut bv
Senate Committee
DeIuno's Office Given
Only $500, 900 Instead
OF 81, 400, 900 Asked
By J. A. O'LEARY.

The S e n a tie Appropriations
Committee voted today to keep
alive the National Resources
Planning Board, but with it's
budget cut from $1,400,0OO to
100000 and it's scope limited to
cooperating with States, cities
and counties.
In rewriting the independent Offices
bill the Senate group also restored
to the Home Owners Loan Corp.
sufficient funds to enable it to con-
tinue gradual and orderly liquida-
ton.
The Resources Board, which is
headed by Frederic A. Delano, uncle
of the President, was left without
any funds to operate after July l,
when the House passed the measure
in February, and only yesterday the
House took another move in the
same direction by forbidding use of
any of the Presidents emergency
funds for this agency.
Goes to Conferees
In the case of the HOLC. the
House had made a sharp reduction
in administrative funds, which
would have had the effect of forcing
rapid sale of its home mortgages
during the next fiscal year.
Both issues now will have to be
settled by conferees from both
branches, assuming the Senate sus-
talns its committees action.
AS it passed the House, the inde-
pendent Offices bill carried total
of S2,620,824.379 for the various
boards and commissions outside the
regular departments, a large part
OF which Is for the Veterans Ad-
mlnistration. Clerks early this aft
ernoon had not finished tabulating
the changes made by the Senate
committee, but it was believed to
represent net increase in House
figures
The work Of the planning board
has been controversial subject on
Capitol Hill. and prior efforts have
been made to curtail its activities.
The Senate subcommittee which
studied the bill recommended the
board be given s534,OOO, but in the
full committee this morning this
amount was rejected on a tie vote.
The 100000 compromise was then
approved
The hearings, made public at
noon. show President Roosevelt
wrote to the committee in behalf
of the planning board, declaring
that millions and Millions of dol
lars can be saved to Federal and
State governments, to industry and
to labor for the relatively small"
cost of maintaining board. 1t was
the planning board that prepared
early this year the new postwar
cradle to grave" social security
program.
The committee provision limiting
the agency to cooperation with the
States meets one of the points
raised by the President. In his
letter, he wrote:
I'm the case of State and local
governments. the board has been
OF great use to the Conference of
Governors, the Council of State
Governments and the American
Municipal Association in their ef-
fort to push postwar planning in
States and cities.
These organizations are on record
in expecting continuation of the
assistance rendered by the National
Resources Planning Board"
The President closed with the
statement that, Il am very definitely
opposed to the principle of penny
wise. dollar foolish"
When Congress created the HOLC
at the height of the depression to
prevent foreclosures. it expected the
Government would incur some loss
in the final liquidation, but officials
testified recently this loss can be
substantially reduced if a gradual
liquidation is permitted over the
next five years. 1t was estimated that
liquidation in 1914 would mean a
loss of $440OO0,OOO while liouida-
ton by 1948 would make the loss
$3.50 0.449, 900.