Evening star., 1947-08-31

up-to-date and generally poorer rel
A general retrenchment in b'
many of the figures for compilation
also will contribute to the de.
terioration Of statistics on which
business, labor, finance, farmers, re-
searchers, politicians and the gen
eral public have begun to rely more
and more heavily since the start o1
World War II.
Many of the reports will be elm
mated entirely, others will be
changed from weekly to monthly
or annual basis, and some will o'
DELAYED until the flgure-gatherer'
make up for the period when they
were laid off temporarily in July be-
cause of lack of funds.
Change in Methods
But the Budget Bureaus Office O.
Statistical Standards, which CORE
lates the activities of the agencies
believes that it will take from thre'
to six months to determine the full
effect of the changes because eacf
bureau is undergoing drastic reor
ganization in line with the dictate
of Congress.
There will be a general overall
change in methods of obtaining th'
data in many places" Budget Bu
reau official said.
"A complicating factor is tina
many of the agencies of the Govern
ment have been furnishing detaile<
statistics to the statistical agencie
as a sort of by-product OF their reg
ular activities" he continued. BE
cause of retrenchments, elimination
and reorganizations some OF thl
information no longer will be avail
able.
"The four principal statistlca
agencies themselves have been re-
ceiving allotments from agencies
and departments for special JOBS
which. of course, contributed IN;
directly to their other fields OF en-
deayor" he said. Most Of those
funds will not be available now.
Figures Mean More
But from the statisticians' poln'
OF view the greatest worry is tna'
there has been no money PROVIDED
for the general improvement OF tne
quality of statistics" he added
"These figures mean much more tt
our Nations livelihood today thar
prewar."
In direct appropriations the Bu'
reau of Labor Statistics and tne
Census Bureau underwent 40 pei
rent. cuts, the Bureau of Mines'was
slashed some as per cent and the
Bureau of Agricultural Economics
was decreased approximately 10 pei
cent. the Budget Bureau said. These
are the four primary facts-ano'
figures shops.
The agencies laid off a lot o.
workers this spring when the HOUSE
had acted on their money bills. II
fact, they reduced operations to th'
lowest possible level-the Hous'
level-and as result got them
selves charged with trying to pu
the heat on Congress IN battling
economy cuts. The bureau chief
point out that they had no othe
alternative at that time. OF course
this caused lapse in figure gath
ering. The Senate raised the fund
for them but not until the fiscal yea
was we'll under way. Republican
Party budgeteers maintain the stat
isticians ought to be able to keel
I'd with their work with the fund
allotted
Program Will Differ
Commissioner Evan Clague Sait
that the BIS program would diffe
from that of last year in thre
principal ways: Emphasis on ma
tional as against State and loca
statistical series in most instances
general recasting of the wage studie
program and general reduction II
the scope of all programs.
1--WE expect to catch up in a fey
months on all phases of our worl
and we are asking the people VIII
have been receiving our statistic
to wait three to six weeks while ar
readjustments are taking place" h
said.
The BIS situation has been fur
: ther complicated by the so-calle'
District of Columbia limitation,
which limits the number of employe
in washington to the ratio of ap
proximately two to one in the field
This limitation, on the statutt
: books for long time, had neve
caused BIS any trouble before, bu
coupled with a reduced appropria
JlOll ~ lloo bIOu6AAo o6Ooc O AioAiASS
of transfers of key personnel ant
segments of the unit and genera
resdjustment all around.
The Major Changes
The major changes in the BIZ
program, aside from the general re
duction in scope and the delays il
publication. involve the elimination
of the following State and loca
statistics, in whole or in part:
n Industrial employment, except TO
Estates continuing reports through
yeontractural arrangements; locs
iohousing units started and com
pleted in all except of the 65 area
following completion of the presen
National Housing Agency program
in November; retail fuel prices in 2
of IS cities now covered monthly
price indexes in five cities formerl,
.covered semiannually, and building
materials prices charged by dealer
to contractors in So cities. Tn
monthly consumers price index in l
cities will be released quarterly.
ss The BIS program in the field o