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Show CAPITAL A i - -' GLEANINGS 1 4fenryDworshakirfef L. . i..-.. J YOUR CONGRESSMAN j lillt-IUlj! Total appropriations and contractual con-tractual authorizations lor the armed services for this session ot congress amount to $12.136, S32.51l. not including almost live billions authorized for a two-ocean navy to be provided during the next fivt years. The house on September 2G vol j ed a total of $1,469,993,636 ft . various national defense items t.1 expand the nation's army to 1,399.-441 1,399.-441 men by next July, more than million of this sum is for feeding, clothing, equipping and paying guardsmen, reserve officers anu draftees, in addition to $33S, 263,902 appropriated early in the week for barracks and other housing needs. The total defense program now provides for: Increasingg the reg ular army from 227,000 to 375,000 men, raising the strength of the National Guard from 210,000 to 346,130 men, inducting and train ing a minimum of 695,990 con scripted men, raising the strength, of the navy from 145,000 to 175.0OC' and the marine corps from 25,000 to 34,000. The funds also cover providing reserve stocks of semi-automatic rifles, antitank guns, tanks, artil lery, ammunition for a ground force of 2,000,000 men; providing the army with 25,(100 and the navy with 10,000 airplanes; beginning construction of 292 combat naval vessels and 37 auxiliary ships; and establishing and developing new army and navy air bases and stations. sta-tions. Army officials notified congres-sonal congres-sonal committees September 24 that the first contingent of 400,000 draftees would not all be in uniform uni-form until late in February, instead in-stead of in October, because of inadequate in-adequate housing. The statement revealed that 30 cantonments and 16 semi-permanent camps will have to be constructed, besides eu largement of facilities at 90 existing ex-isting posts. . The house on September 24 adopted the conference report on the truth-in-fabrics bill, to protect producers, manufacturers, distributors distrib-utors and consumers from the un revealed presence of substitutes and mixtures in spun, woven, knitted, knit-ted, felted or otherwise manufactured manufac-tured wool products. The senate will likely approve the report soon. Announcement was made September Sep-tember 25 by the secretary of agriculture ag-riculture that the food stamp plan for distributing surplus agricultural agricul-tural commodities will be extended to an area embracing ten southwestern south-western Idaho counties. Under the plan, eligible relief families may buy orange stamps for regular food purchases, and receive free blue stamps in the ratio of 50 cents worth for each $1.00 of orange si amps purchased. The plan will be in operation in about a month. The house on September 23 passed the first supplemented civil functions appropriation bill for 1941, providing $207,475,727 in cash and $60,25S.ooi in contract authorizations, author-izations, for which funds will be provided later. In the bill w as included in-cluded $60,500,000 for the federal office of education to train workers work-ers for national-defense- industries, and $32,500,000 for the national youth administration tor work projects for unemployed youths. The budget estimates ' provided $30,000,00 in direct appropriations and $50,000,000 of contract authorization, author-ization, for the development of landing areas for military and civil civ-il aeronautics. This program is ultimately ul-timately expected to involve $500,-000.000. $500,-000.000. Three new federal buildings estimated es-timated to cost $16,250,(100 were authorized also, to relieve the government's gov-ernment's acute housing sanation in Washington. Because of the rapid development develop-ment of power-generating facilities at Bonneville and Grand Coulee dams, estimated by December 31, 1941, as 626.000 kilowatts, addition! al transmission lines are planned increase the present amounts allo-at allo-at a cost of $3,850,000. This will cated for such lines to $33,250,00(1, and require about IS months for completion. This transmission system will provide power for rapidly expanding concerned with the national defense program, stated the committee report. There will be a market for all of this power, according to a survey made by the Bonneville Power Administration. Adminis-tration. Joint use of naval and air bases in the Pacific between I he United States and the British empire was hinted in a copyrighted news article ar-ticle appearing here the past week. These proposals embraced South Africa, Australia and New Zealand, and were discussed in secret conferences con-ferences between Secretary Hull Ambassador Lothian, and Australian Austra-lian Minister Casey, although no definite commitments have so far been made, declared this dispatch. Diplomatic sources said no final decisions are expected until November. No-vember. Although the administration leaders are seeking to force an adjournment ad-journment of congress, it lacks sufficient votes, and three-day recesses re-cesses will be the alternative." This will be the last release of Capital Gleanings for some time, which have been mailed out for (ho past nine months and appeared in many Idaho newspapers. I desire to ex press my appreciation of the fine cooperation of editors in making this information available to Ida-doans Ida-doans during the 70th Congress, o- o Mr. and Mrs. Carl Smith of Tre-monton, Tre-monton, U'ah, and Mrs. Smith's mother of Wellsville, Utah, vlsiled in Proven over the week-end. Carl Smilh is coach at Bear River high school. |