APPENDIX 3. WATER RIGHTS AT GREAT FALLS. A bill (S. 1359, Fifty-third Congress, second session) to amend an act approved July fifteenth, eighteen hundred and eighty-two, entitled “An act to increase the water supply of the city of Washington, and for other purposes, as amended and reported from the Senate Committee on the District of Columbia, May 11, 1894, with copies of reports on said bill. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the act entitled "An act to increase the water supply of the city of Washington, and for other purposes," approved July fifteenth, eighteen hundred and eighty-two, be so amended as to enable the Attorney-General and the Secretary of War, in the exercise of the authority therein and hereby conferred on them, to obtain title for the United States, by right of eminent domain or otherwise, to all the water rights at and in the vicinity of Great Falls, on the Potomac River, the water so taken to be used for any and all public purposes, and also such land as may be necessary for these purposes. Within nine months after the approval of this act the Secretary of War and the Attorney-General shall make a written statement, specifying by metes and bounds the lands they may deem necessary to take for the purposes of this act, excluding the lands already purchased by the United States and paid for, and shall file triplicate originals of said statement in the offices of the register of deeds for the District of Columbia, the county of Fairfax, Virginia, and the county of Montgomery, Maryland, respectively, and said filing of said statement shall be a taking for the United States by right of eminent domain of the lands and waters specified in said statement and of the water rights appertaining thereto, and shall vest the title to the same absolutely in the United States. If said statement shall include any lands or water rights heretofore taken, or attempted to be taken, under authority of the act to which this is an amendment, or otherwise, aud not heretofore paid for, the taking of the same shall be treated as done as aforesaid under this act. SEC. 2. That if the Secretary of War and the Attorney-General shall agree with any of the owners of the land and water rights taken, or with any of the owners of any lands damaged by said taking, or by maintaining the Government dam at Great Falls at its present height, or by raising the dam to any height that may be deemed necessary for the future supply of the District of Columbia and other public purposes, upon the amount to be paid therefor, they shall give such owner their certificate specifying the sum to which he is entitled. SEC. 3. That the Secretary of War and the Attorney-General, in their discretion, may appoint three commissioners to appraise the value of the land and of the water and of the water rights taken, and of the damages to any property by reason of the taking, or by reason of maintaining said Government dam at its present height, or by reason of raising the dam to such height as may be necessary for the purpose of this act. In making the valuations the appraisers shall only consider the present values of the land and water rights, without reference to their values for the uses for which they are taken under the provisions of this act. Said appraisement shall be for the guidance and information of the Secretary of War and Attorney-General. SEC. 4. That any person or corporation owning any lands or water rights or any interest in lands or water rights taken under this act, or who shall be damaged in any way by the taking of the same, or who shall be damaged by reason of the Government dam being maintained at its present height, or by reason of raising the dam to any height that may be deemed necessary for the future supply of the District of Columbia and other public purposes, may within six months after the first publication of the statement provided for in section one of this act, and not afterwards, institute suit against the United States in the Court of Claims by petition setting forth his or its ownership and derivation of title to any land or water rights, or to any interest therein, embraced in said statement, and setting forth any claim he or it may have for damages resulting from said taking, specifying the amount of compensation or of damages claimed, and praying judgment against the United States therefor; and such suit shall be heard, tried, and determined as other suits in said court against the United States: Provided, That the United States shall be represented in such suits by special legal counsel conspicuous for known familiarity with and experience in the laws regulating riparian rights and in hydraulics. SEC. 5. That if any such claimant has a suit now pending in said court for compensation for lands or water rights heretofore taken by the United States at the Great Falls, or for damages resulting from such taking, or resulting from the erection of the Government dam, or from maintaining the same at its present height, such claimant may file in such suit an amended supplementary petition setting forth such additional matters and things as he may deem necessary to have before the court for the proper adjudication of his entire claims, and such amended supplementary petition having been filed the suit shall embrace all existing claims as well as those that may arise under this act. SEC. 6. That the Court of Claims is hereby authorized in its discretion to appoint three persons, of whom two shall be skilled in hydraulic engineering, to determine as a board of referee each and all controverted questions of fact, to be formulated and submitted by the court, arising in any suit that may be brought under the authority of this act, or to which it shall apply; and a decision of a majority of them, which shall be rendered within three months from the time of submission unless the court shall extend the time, shall be conclusive on all matters of fact submitted to the board by the court if their award shall be accepted by the court. SEC. 7. That the judgment rendered in any such suit may be appealed to the Supreme Court of the United States as are appeals from other judgments from said Court of Claims. SEC. 8. That as said lands, water rights, and waters are taken for the use of the District of Columbia, said judgments and the certificates that may be issued by the Secretary of War and the Attorney-General, provided for in section 2 of this act, together with the costs and expenses incurred by the Secretary of War and the Attorney-General in executing this act, and the fees of the commissioners and the referees and of special counsel and witnesses on behalf of the United States, shall be paid by the Secretary of the Treasury of the United States as judgments rendered by the Court of Claims against the District of Columbia are now paid. SEC. 9. That persons under disability such as described in section ten hundred and sixty-nine of the Revised Statutes of the United States may bring suit at any time within six months after disability removed. REPORT. Mr. Proctor, from the Committee on the District of Columbia, submitted the following report, to accompany S. 1359: The Committee on the District of Columbia, to whom was referred the bill (S. 1359) to amend an act approved July 15, 1882, entitled, “An act to increase the water supply of the city of Washington, and for other purposes," having carefully considered the same, beg leave to report as follows: There can be no question of greater importance to the people of any large city than that of securing a sufficient supply of water, pure in quality, and with a reserve in quantity ample for the demands of the future. Here it is not merely a local question, but one of importance to the whole country as well. Washington is the temporary residence of thousands, and is visited annually by millions coming from all parts of the country. The United States owns a large share of the property. The public buildings, parks, and grounds, as a whole, are the finest in the world. The demand for new buildings and other improvements will be frequent and imperative, as the machinery of government must continually and steadily increase with the increase of population of the whole country. Whatever concerns the welfare of this city, therefore, will become more and more of general interest. The present supply of water is not sufficient in quantity or force for present needs; some action must, therefore, be taken at once. The situation is so fully stated in the able report of Col. Elliot, of the Corps of Engineers, who is now in local charge of the aqueduct and water supply, that little need be said in way of detail. The riparian and water rights at Great Falls are now owned by the Great Falls Manufacturing Company, the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company, and the United States. The extent of the Government's present interest is in dispute. The main question presenting itself to the committee is whether to recommend the taking, under the right of eminent domain, of a supply for ordinary purposes sufficient for many years to come, or whether to acquire at once all the rights to the water at that point, settle the existing differences and all danger of future controversies about title, and end forever any danger of a short supply and the continual trouble and risk of a divided ownership. If an individual or a business corporation was in the precise situation of the Government, owning a part of the water rights, under the necessity of adding thereto at once, and with the certainty of needing further additions from time to time, there can be no doubt that the party would seek, as a matter of prudence and common business foresight, to acquire the entire water right before extensive improvements were made by the other owners which would greatly enhance the cost. And in this case what would be good policy for an individual or private corporation would be the more so for the Government by reason of the certainty of continuing and increas ing requirements. The supply, to be sure, is much larger than will be needed for aqueduct purposes, so far as can be foreseen, but even for this purpose alone your committee believe that it would be wise to control it all. But there is another point worthy of consideration, and that is the rapidly increas ing tendency toward municipal control of certain matters of public necessity and convenience in which the entire people, all classes and conditions, have substantially an equal interest. In our early history turnpikes, owned by private corporations, were common; toll bridges the rule, and towns and cities often obtained their water supply from private companies. Now, turnpikes and toll bridges are relics of the past; the water supply in large towns is almost without exception now furnished by the municipality, and street lighting by the city is already being considered and adopted to quite an extent. Whether it is not feasible and economical for cities to generate and supply by electricity heat as well as light, is a question already mooted. If generally adopted within twenty-five years it would be no stranger than the progress of the last quarter of a century. But laying this possibility aside, the matter of lighting is a present issue, and one of greater importance in this city than in any other on account of the large number of buildings to be lighted at public expense. Already several measures providing for Government ownership of a lighting plant have been proposed. All the area of more than 100 feet elevation above low water at the navy-yard is now supplied by pumping, and for want of sufficient pressure all above 75 feet will probably soon require it. The line of 100 feet elevation runs in the vicinity of Florida avenue, and of 75 feet in the vicinity of Massachusetts avenue, west of Eleventh street. The time can not be far distant when a large majority of the residences will be elevated above this line. The vicinity of Tenallytown has an elevation of more than 400 feet above low tide. The pumping is now done at the pump house on U street, between Sixteenth and Seventeenth, at a large expense, and this expense will be constantly increasing as higher lands about the city are built up and higher buildings constructed. It might be done with great saving for the future by electricity generated by the water power at Great Falls. If the entire power at Great Falls is acquired, we believe it will be ample for electric lighting and pumping purposes for the city. The Great Falls Power Company have very recently obtained new charters from the legislatures of Virginia and Maryland. Their purpose is evidently to develop the power and supply it directly, or through other companies, to the city for lighting and other purposes. There are no improvements now at Great Falls, except the aqueduct dam, built and owned by the United States. If the Government is ever to acquire control it should be done before any outlay is made by the other owners. Such outlay must be to them a questionable investment, in view of the fact that the Government is sure to require an increased supply from time to time in the future, thus endangering the business of the power company and destroying or greatly lessening the value of their improvements, with the risk that they may not be sufficiently recompensed. Your committee are, therefore, of the opinion that all the water and riparian rights at Great Falls necessary for the control and use of the entire power should be acquired at this time; that it will be a wise economy to do so; that ownership in part by the United States and in part by private business corporations is a relation unwise and unsafe for the Government, and should be terminated at once; that the other owners can afford to surrender their rights now on much better terms for the Government than after they have made their improvements, and that no outlay of money can contribute more than this to the future welfare of the capital of the country. OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF ENGINEERS, U. S. ARMY, Washington, D. C., March 24, 1894. SIR: I have the honor to return herewith S. 1359 (Fifty-third Congress, second session), “A bill to amend an act approved July 15, 1882, entitled 'An act to increase the water supply of the city of Washington, and for other purposes,"" with letter of the Committee on the District of Columbia, U. S. Senate, of March 9, 1894, and other papers referred to this office therewith. Attention is invited to the remarks herewith of Col. G. H. Elliot, Corps of Engineers, in immediate charge of the Washington Aqueduct, and to the amendments of the bill recommended by that officer. Certain of these amendments are indicated in Copy A of the bill, herewith. But Col. Elliot states that it is not apparent that the bill thus amended, having become a law, would authorize the use by the United States of water, acquired under the bill, for actuating hydraulic machinery (turbines) located below the falls, and also suggests additional amendments looking to the taking of all of the water flowing at Great Falls. These additional amendments are indicated on Copy B of the bill, herewith. I concur in the recommendation that the bill be amended as indicated on Copy B, and further recommend that, if the bill is to become a law, it shall be so worded as to enable the United States not only to acquire title to all lands and water rights at and in the vicinity of the Great Falls, but also to use the water so taken to actuate machinery located anywhere, in connection with the public service of the District of Columbia. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, Hon. DANIEL S. LAMONT, THOS. LINCOLN CASEY, Brigadier-General, Chief of Engineers. Secretary of War. OFFICE OF THE WASHINGTON AQUEDUCT, GENERAL: In respect of bill S. 1359, Fifty-third Congress, second session, “A bill to amend an act approved July 15, 1882, entitled An act to increase the water supply of the city of Washington, and for other purposes," which you sent me on the 9th instant for report (E. D. 5250-1894), I beg to state as follows: The bill, it will have been observed was introduced into the Senate "by request." It relates exclusively to land and water rights at Great Falls, and, while it is in most respects an excellent bill, there are certain amendments that should be made in the interests of the United States and the District of Columbia, which is required to pay one-half of whatever sums are to be expended for the purchase of these land and water rights. The act of July 15, 1882, provided, among other things, for the acquisition by condemnation of the outstanding title, if any, to the land necessary for a dam across the Potomac River at Great Falls, including the land then occupied by the dam, the land required for the extension of the dam across Conns Island to and upon the Virginia shore and the land on which the gatehouse stands. The act provided also for the acquisition of certain unspecified water rights, and contained an appropriation of $45,000 to pay for all of these lands (except the land occupied by the gatehouse, which was not provided for), and for the water rights in the following item: "To pay for water rights and land necessary to extend dam at Great Falls to the Virginia shore, forty-five thousand dollars." The act also contained the following item: "For work and material to complete the dam at Great Falls to the level of one hundred and forty-eight feet above tide, and extend the same to the Virginia shore, one hundred and forty-five thousand one hundred and fifty-one dollars.' The proceedings to be had in condemnation were prescribed as follows: "When the map and survey are completed, the Attorney-General shall proceed to ascertain the owners or claimants of the premises embraced in the survey, and shall cause to be published, for the space of thirty days, in one or more of the daily newspapers published in the District of Columbia, a description of the entire tract or tracts of land embraced in the survey, with a notice that the same has been taken for the uses mentioned in this act, and notifying all claimants to any portion of said premises to file, within its period of publication, in the Department of Justice, a description of the tract or parcel claimed, and a statement of its value as estimated by the claimant. On application of the Attorney-General, the chief justice of the supreme court of the District of Columbia shall appoint three persons, not in the employ of the Government or related to the claimants, to act as appraisers, whose duty it shall be, upon receiving from the Attorney-General a description of any tract or parcel, the ownership of which is claimed separately, to fairly and justly value the same and report such valuation to the Attorney-General, who thereupon shall upon being satisfied as to the title of the same, cause to be offered to the owner or owners the amount fixed by the appraisers as the value thereof; and if the offer be accepted then upon the execution of a deed to the United States in form satisfactory to the Attorney-General. the Secretary of War shall pay the amount to such owner or owners from the appropriation made therefor in this act. In making the valuation the appraisers shall only consider the present value of the land without reference to its value for the uses for which it is taken under the provisions of this act. "The appraisers shall each receive for their services five dollars for each day's actual service in making the said appraisements. "Any person or corporation having any estate or interest in any of the lands embraced in said survey and map who shall for any reason not have been tendered payment therefor as above provided or who shall have declined to accept the amount tendered therefor, and any person who, by reason of the taking of said land, or by the construction of the works hereinafter directed to be constructed, shall be directly injured in any property right, may, at any time within one year from the publication of notice by the Attorney-General as above provided, file a petition in the Court of Claims of the United States setting forth his right or title and the amount claimed by him as damage for the property taken or injury sustained; and the said court shall hear and adjudicate such claims in the same manner as other claims against the United States are now by law directed to be heard and adjudicated therein: Provided, That the court shall make such special rules in respect to such cases as shall secure their hearing and adjudication with the least possible delay." The act also contained the following requirements: "Judgment in favor of such claimants shall be paid as other judgments of said court are now directed to be paid; and any claimant to whom a tender shall have been made as herein before authorized and who shall have declined to accept the same, shall, unless he recover an amount greater than that so tendered, be taxed with the entire cost of the proceeding. All claims for value or damages on account of ownership of any interest in said premises, or on account of injury to a property right by the construction of said works, shall, unless a petition for the recovery thereof be filed within one year from the date of the first publication of notice by the Attorney-General as above directed, be forever barred: Provided, That owners or claimants laboring under any of the disabilities defined in the statute of limitations of the District of Columbia may file a petition at any time within one year from the removal of the disability. “Upon the publication of the notice as above directed, the Secretary of War may take possession of the premises embraced in the survey and map, and proceed with the constructions herein authorized; and upon payment being made therefor, or with- out payment, upon the expiration of the times above limited without the filing of a petition, an absolute title to the premises shall vest in the United States." The dam was extended and completed as specified in the years 1884-'83 at a cost of about $140,000. I was not placed in charge of the aqueduct till several years afterwards, but it can be stated that neither the land occupied by the dam, which was taken by the right of eminent domain, nor the water rights have been paid for. The following claims for the land and water rights taken and the damages resulting from the taking were filed: The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company, by Lewis C. Smith, president, a claim for $600,900. The Great Falls Manufacturing Company, by Benjamin F. Butler, president. "If the condemnation be for all of its water rights, the company estimates its damage at $1,000,900 and claims this amount. "If the condemnation be for one-half of said rights, then the company claims $500,000. "If the United States shall consent to let the company draw from the dam the surplus and unused water and shall provide the means for such drawing, a further reduction of the claim will be made." I send herewith a plat explanatory of this report, in which I shall endeavor to draw attention to the great importance of a careful and cautious consideration of the bill. The plat shows Conns Island, the Maryland and Virginia channels separated by it, and the site of the dam, about 3,000 feet long, as it now exists, extending from shore to shore of the river. The dam as it was at the date of the passage of the act extended out from the Maryland shore of the river above the falls and below the intake of the Washington Aqueduct, across the Maryland channel to the shore of Conns Island, and was 1,034 feet long. The necessity of the extension of the dam provided for in the act arose from the fact that by reason of its narrow width, shallow depth, and its obstructions, the Maryland channel was found to be inadequate to furnish to the aqueduct all the water required to meet the increasing demands upon it. The land taken under the act mainly consisted of a narrow strip extending from the medium filum aquae of the Virginia channel to the western shore of Conns Island; thence across Conns Island to the eastern shore; thence to the medium filum aquae of the Maryland channel. The strip did not extend from the medium filum aquae of the Virginia channel to the Virginia shore for the reason (see the plat) that the United States was already, from 1854, a riparian owner at the Virginia end of the proposed extension of dam. There was also included in the taking a small triangular portion of the bed of the Virginia channel between the medium filum aquae of the channel and the Virginia shore that was not covered by the riparian right of the United States as an owner on that shore, the lot on which the gate house stands, and also the land on the Maryland shore below this lot, extending to the shore, and covering in addition that part of |