(2) Section 6 of the act of March 4, 1923, as amended, which provides for the care and treatment of members of the civilian components of the Army who suffer personal injury or contract disease. in line of duty, and for other purposes. The proposed legislation includes all the provisions of section 6, act of March 4, 1923, as amended, redrawn so as to clarify what is believed to have been the intent of that section, to eliminate apparent unjust discriminations, and to permit the War Department to make its provisions more effective. The principal differences between this proposed legislation and section 6, act of March 4, 1923, as amended, are as follows:

(1) The words "not the result of their own misconduct" have been substituted for the words, "not in line of duty." This is deemed advisable in view of the many fine distinctions that have been drawn in determining whether an injury was incurred or a disease contracted "in line of duty" or "not in line of duty," which it is believed should have no weight in deciding whether or not a person is entitled to medical care, so long as no misconduct on his part is involved. (2) Those provisions dealing with the continuation of pay and allowances have been changed so as to insure to the beneficiary a continuation of such pay and allowances during all periods of hospitalization or other similar periods of incapacity, and during travel incident to such hospitalization, up to an aggregate of six months. The Comptroller General's decisions relative to these provisions of section 6 were to the effect that pay and allowances could only be continued during the initial hospitalization, up to a limit of six months, and that transportation was limited to the return of patients to their homes after initial hospitalization. Undoubtedly there will be cases where, through no fault of the patients, rehospitalization will be necessary, and other cases where interruption of hospitalization will be advisable from a medical standpoint. In such cases it would only be just and fair that pay and allowances should continue during all periods of hospitalization, up to an aggregate of six months, and that all necessary transportation in connection with such hospitalization be furnished by the Government.

(3) Those provisions dealing with the medical care of members of the Reserve Officers' Training Corps and members of the citizens' military training camps have been changed so as to include within the benefits of the law those persons who contract disease as well as those who suffer personal injury. It is believed that both classes are equally deserving and should receive the same benefits.

(4) A strict interpretation of those provisions of section 6 dealing with burial expenses would deny its benefits to those persons who die while en route to or from their places of duty, or while undergoing the further medical treatment or rehospitalization contemplated by that section. Also, the restrictive limitation of $100 has been the cause of much embarrassment to the War Department, as in several cases the actual burial expenses have been in excess of that amount and it has been necessary for the families of the deceased to bear the additional expense.

The proposed legislation would insure the inclusion within the benefits of the act of those deserving persons mentioned above, and would permit the Secretary of War the same discretion in regard to burial expenses as he is now permitted in the case of Regular Army personnel.

It is believed that the cost to the Government under the provisions of the proposed legislation will be but slightly greater than at present under section 6, act of March 4, 1923, as amended, which law it would replace, as the changes in the law extending its benefits will in general affect only exceptional cases.

Sincerely yours,

72D CONGRESS 1st Session

SENATE

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REPORT No. 189

ESTABLISHING A REVOLVING FUND FOR AGRICULTURAL CREDIT PURPOSES

FEBRUARY 5 (calendar day, FEBRUARY 8), 1932.-Ordered to be printed

Mr. THOMAS of Idaho, from the Committee on Agriculture and Forestry, submitted the following

REPORT

[To accompany S. 1567]

The Senate Committee on Agriculture and Forestry, to whom was referred the bill (S. 1567) to provide for establishing a revolving fund to be administered by the Secretary of Agriculture for agricultural credit purposes, having considered the same, report favorably thereon with the following amendments:

On page 1, line 3, insert the words "authorized to be" after hereby; line 5, change the figures "$20,000,000" to read "$10,000,000.”

O

FEBRUARY 5 (calendar day, FEBRUARY 8), 1932.-Ordered to be printed

Mr. THOMAS, from the Committee on Agriculture and Forestry, submitted the following

REPORT

[To accompany S. 1856]

The Committee on Agriculture and Forestry, to whom was referred the bill, S. 1856, to provide for the relief of farmers in any State by the making of loans to drainage districts, levee districts, levee and drainage districts, irrigation, and/or similar districts other than Federal reclamation projects, or to counties, boards of supervisors, and/or other political subdivisions and legal entities, and for other purposes, having considered the same, report favorably thereon, with the following amendments:

On page 3, following paragraph 2 of section 3, insert this additional paragraph:

The Secretary of the Interior is authorized to ascertain the actual value of the outstanding bonded indebtedness of any district making an application for a loan under the provisions of this act, and as a condition precedent to making said loan, to require the holders of said bonds to enter into an agreement to remit the difference between the actual value of said bonds, and their face value, and in determining the actual value of any outstanding bonds, the Secretary is directed to take into consideration the value of said bonds, as of date of March 1, 1931.

Senate bill 1856 is similar to legislation reported by this committee and passed by the Senate during the last Congress and reported by the House Committee. A companion bill of S. 1856, on January 11 of this year, was favorably reported by the House Committee which, in making its report, gave a detailed explanation of the provisions and scope of the legislation which is included as part of the Senate report:

As the title indicates, the legislation is for the relief of farmers in drainage and irrigation districts who, as a general rule, do not come within the provisions of the Federal farm loan act, and for whose benefit no relief legislation has been hereto

fore enacted.

The proposed law does not apply to the development of any new land but is intended to enable the farmers on various existing projects to have their assess

ments, which are in arrears, funded in order that they may continue to operate their lands until agricultural conditions are such as to enable them to maintain themselves and farm at a profit. As has been disclosed in the extensive hearings which have been held on this legislation, unless relief is afforded, there are thousands of farmers who will be forced to abandon their lands and have them taken over by the bondholders.

The districts are required to pay 3 per cent annually on the money advanced. The relief proposed under this bill is to be in the form of loans adequately secured by first liens on the benefited farms, the repayment of which is further guaranteed by the fact that each loan is to have behind it the taxing power of the State. In a word, it is an extension of credit-a plan for refinancing distressed districts on a long-term basis.

NOT AID FOR INDIVIDUALS BUT FOR COMMUNITIES

It is not a plan to extend aid directly to individual farmers in their individual capacities, but it is a plan to aid farmers in their collective capacities where they have organized districts to install and maintain public works. It is the public works, the collective or community works authorized by and operated under authority of the law, that are to be relieved by this bill.

NO OPPORTUNITY FOR SPECULATION

There is no provision in this bill that would afford an opportunity for speculation, either in the bonds of any district or in the lands covered by the bonds. The proposed law would prohibit the purchase of any bonds in excess of the appraised value thereof.

PRACTICAL RELIEF FOR UNEMPLOYMENT

When a farmer loses title to his land, one of two courses is left open to him. He can go to work as a hired hand for some other farmer if he can find one who will employ him, or he can go to the city to look for a job. In this connection Secretary Hyde, of the United States Department of Agriculture, writing in the Saturday Evening Post, has supplied some official figures concerning the drift of population from the farms to the city. He gives the Government estimates on the net loss in farming population through the drift to the cities, as follows: For the year 1922, 1,120,000 persons; for 1924, 679,000; for 1925, 901,000; for 1926, 1,020,000; for 1927, 604,000; for 1928, 598,000. Thus we see that for a period of six years the average drift from the farms to the city has exceeded 800,000 a year, or a total of 4,912,000. Statistics collected and compiled from official sources show that several thousands of farmers have annually been sold out for drainage taxes while other thousands are facing the same fate. Dispossessed, these farmers are and will be forced into the ranks of the unemployed. To enact this bill into law not only would be to give much needed and substantial relief to worthy farmers engaged in the fundamental industry of agriculture but also would be to prevent in a considerable measure further increase in the number of unemployed.

REDUCTION OF FARM TAXES

It is a plan to save highly productive lands that already are under successful cultivation.

It is a plan to prevent the utter ruin of farmers owning and operating lands, who are losing their homesteads because of their inability to pay heavy annual taxes levied on their farms for the public works which have been installed by authority of law, by refinancing the public works on a long-term basis and thereby reducing the annual tax levied against the individual farmer.

The extent of relief which each individual farmer can obtain under this bill can be definitely and exactly computed from his tax receipt.

MAKING IT POSSIBLE FOR farmer tO PAY

In order to readjust and more effectively distribute the burden of debt, districts created by authority of State law and having a definite status as political subdivisions, either as counties or special-tax districts, may refinance their public works the public ditches, so to speak, that are supposed to be open and accessible to any farmer in the district who seeks an outlet for his own private ditches.