SURGEON GENERAL
THE PRESIDENT. I have appointed Mr. Robert U. Patterson to the rank of major general, to be head of the Medical Corps in succession to General [Merritte Weber] Ireland, Surgeon General of the Army. Major Patterson's career is set out in great detail here for your use.
ARMY POSTS
About a month ago I asked the General Staff to make a renewed study of the whole question of Army posts from the point of view of gaining the maximum efficiency through the concentration of the Army, and the secondary purpose of economy in the War Department. The Staff has insisted for great numbers of years that the Army must be more largely concentrated if it is to be the most effective body, and it becomes even more necessary now in view of the very large mechanization of the Army and the number of subsidiary mechanical services, such as aviation, and so on.
We have actually abandoned 13 posts during the past 2 years. They will probably report 20 or 30 more posts That should be abandoned if we are to have the most effective Army and if we are to accomplish some very considerable economies.
Now, I have appointed a committee 1 representing the Army, the Department of Justice, the Department of Agriculture, and the [p.245] Veterans' Bureau to study these proposed abandonments and see which of them could be used by other departments of the Government with view to economies in those departments in saving construction and location in the necessary expansions in their work. And there are some of these posts that might be of very great value to the States for institutional purposes--educational or otherwise. It would relieve the feeling of deprivation of the local communities if these posts could be substituted for public purposes. So that we are endeavoring to work out the program in such a fashion as to create as little hardship as possible.
1 The committee, to study future disposition of abandoned posts, consisted of: Brig. Gen. Robert E. Callan, War Department General Staff; Sanford Bates, Department of Justice; A. F. Woods, Department of Agriculture; and Louis H. Tripp, Veterans' Admisistration. By September 1931, it had inspected 53 posts scheduled for abandonment and recommended the transfer of 9 of them to other departments.
DROUGHT LOANS
One other item--I have a report from the Secretary of Agriculture this morning showing that out of the $67 millions appropriated for drought loans in one form or another, $47 million has been loaned to 380,000 different persons, and that probably consummates the total program.
Of the $10 million allocated to assist agricultural credit corporations, only $471,000 has been called for.
Of the $45 million appropriated for seed and fertilizer purposes, 39 million has been loaned.
Of the 10 millions allocated for agricultural rehabilitation, about $5,140,000 has been loaned.
And of the 2 millions which was reappropriated from a former fund applicable to the Southeastern States, about 1½ million have been loaned.
In a few minutes we will give you a mimeographed statement of not only all those points but the States to which this money has been loaned, in detail. And I think that is the whole of my budget this morning.
PUBLIC BUILDING PROJECTS
We have partially mimeographed the statement as to public buildings which I promised you. We had expected to have it for this conference, but it will probably be 2 o'clock before the mimeographers will have [p.246] it done. You will then get in detail the location of every building in the United States which has been authorized by Congress, and what stage of advancement it is now in, so that you will have some material for every State and town in the country.
As I said, you will have that at 2 or 3 o'clock, this afternoon. That is presumed to be for Wednesday morning papers.
Note: President Hoover's one hundred and ninety-second news conference was held in the White House at 12 noon on Tuesday, May 12, 1931. For the White House statement on public building projects, see Item 184.
On the same day, the White House issued the following information relating to drought loans:
AID TO AGRICULTURAL CREDIT CORPORATIONS
($10,000,000 Allocated from the Appropriations)
_______________________________________________________________________
Number of Number of
individual corporations Amount
State loans benefited loaned
______________________________________________________________________
Alabama 39 2 $38,254.17
Arkansas 64 3 65,500.00
Georgia 143 1 21,446.49
Illinois 3 1 12,000.00
Louisiana 16 1 21,000.00
Mississippi 10 1 8,500.00
Missouri 29 2 42,500.00
Montana 5 1 15,000.00
North Dakota 3 1 20,840.00
Oregon 5 1 22,500.00
South Carolina 20 1 2,930.00
Tennessee 7 3 67,500.00
Texas 19 5 75,300.00
Washington 10 1 58,000.00
Total 373 24 471,290.66
_______________________________________________________________________
SEED AND FERTILIZER LOANS
($45,000,000 Appropriated)
_______________________________________________________________________
State Number of loans Amount Approved
_______________________________________________________________________
Alabama 14,039 $2,194,875
Arkansas 51,453 7,621,471
Delaware 13 3,195
Florida 1,259 158.695
Georgia 12,738 1,915,846
Illinois 2,042 263,115
Indiana 5,572 762,835
Kansas 1,076 138,441
Kentucky 24,726 2,175,031
Louisiana 15,319 2,518,081
Maryland 480 101,914
Michigan 917 135,854.
Minnesota 187 26,780
Mississippi 21,635 3,729,767
Missouri 14,837 1,971,188
Montana 7,697 1,998,205
New Mexico 2,188 310,768
North Carolina 12,212 1,805,876
North Dakota 8,231 1,587,640
Ohio 1,300 200,590
Oklahoma 14,569 1,382,548
Oregon 4 3,225
Pennsylvania 33 7,595
South Carolina 519 86,984
South Dakota 1,798 397,805
Tennessee 16,552 1,889,583
Texas 20,090 2,536,932
Virginia ........................................... 15,715 2,101,686
Washington 725 428,185
West Virginia 5,107 493,337
Wyoming 344 68,755
Total 273,377 39,016,802
_______________________________________________________________________
AGRICULTURAL REHABILITATION LOANS
($10,000,000 appropriated)
_______________________________________________________________________
State Number of loans Amount Approved
_______________________________________________________________________
Alabama 3, 367 $176, 536
Arkansas 25, 528 1,552, 290
Georgia 175 8, 383
Illinois 86 4, 054
Indiana 367 24, 088
Kansas 17 780
Kentucky 7, 631 318, 960
Louisiana .. 9, 867 675, 083
Maryland 2 150
Mississippi 9, 569 728, 571
Missouri 2, 908 254, 746
Montana 79 8, 255
New Mexico 144 8, 899
North Carolina 2, 302 103, 938
Ohio 9 411
Oklahoma 3, 761 207, 784
Tennessee 7, 212 440, 532
Texas 8, 749 477, 216
Virginia 2, 728 138, 076
Washington 12 1,850
West Virginia 263 9, 890
Total 84,76 5,140,492
_______________________________________________________________________
REAPPROPRIATIONS OF FORMER SEED LOAN BALANCES
IN SOUTHEASTERN STATES OF $2,000,000
_______________________________________________________________________
Alabama 1,259 $220, 612
Florida 356 39,940
Georgia 3,291 426,945
North Carolina 788 121,997
South Carolina 5,621 686,417
Total 11,315 1,495,911
_______________________________________________________________________
SUMMARY
(All Loans, by States)
_______________________________________________________________________
State Number of loans Amount Approved
_______________________________________________________________________
Alabama 18,665 $2,592,023
Arkansas 76,981 9,173,761
Delaware 13 3,195
Florida 1,615 198,635
Georgia 16,204 2,351,174
Illinois 2,128 267,169
Indiana 5,939 786,923
Kansas 1,093 139,221
Kentucky 32,357 2,493,991
Louisiana 25,186 3,193,164
Maryland 482 102,064
Michigan 917 135,854
Minnesota 187 26,780
Mississippi 31,204 4,458,338
Missouri 17,745 2,225,934
Montana 7,776 2,006,460
New Mexico 2,332 319,667
North Carolina 15,302 2,031,811
North Dakota 8,231 1,587,640
Ohio 1,309 201,001
Oklahoma 18,330 1,590,332
Oregon 4 3,225
Pennsylvania 33 7,595
South Carolina 6,140 773,401
South Dakota 1,798 397,805
Tennessee 23,764 2,330,115
Texas 28,839 3,014,148
Virginia 18,443 2,239,762
Washington 737 430,035
West Virginia 5,370 503,227
Wyoming 344 68,775
Total 369,468 45,653,205
______________________________________________________________________
In addition to approved loans included in the foregoing statement, it is estimated that at least ten thousand applications which are being held in our various offices for additional information will be approved within the next few weeks. This will represent an additional expenditure of approximately $1,500,000. Thus out of a total of $67,000,000 appropriations about $47,500,000 will be required.
Herbert Hoover, The President's News Conference Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/212702
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