On amendment No. 38: Appropriates $10,000, as proposed by the Senate, for the United States Board of Mediation and Conciliation. On amendments Nos. 39 and 40: Authorizes payment of employees of the old excise board of the District of Columbia until their successors were appointed; and strikes out the appropriation of $400 for expenses of the jury commission of the District of Columbia. On amendments Nos. 41, 42, and 43: Inserts the provision proposed by the Senate relative to the improvement of the Tennessee River between Florence and Riverton, Ala., and strikes out the appropriation of $15,000 for protecting Anastasia Island, Fla. On amendments Nos. 45 and 46: Provides for payment of additional adjusted claims in collision cases under the Navy Department. On amendment No. 47: Inserts the provision, proposed by the Senate, relative to the improvement of hydraulics, Mare Island Straits, Cal. On amendments Nos. 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, and 53, under the Interior Department: Strikes out the appropriation for additional clerks in the General Land Office; appropriates $1,428.16 for surveying the public lands; strikes out the appropriation of $7,200 for additional clerks in the Indian Office; inserts the provision relative to the Fort Bidwell School in California; and appropriates $1,650 for work at the Capitol. On amendments Nos. 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 70, and 71, under the Department of Justice: Fixes the salary of the Assistant to the Attorney General at $9,000 per annum; provides for two additional charwomen, $1,000 for furniture, $1,200 for miscellaneous items, and $3,000, instead of $6,200, for rent of buildings; and appropriates ascertained amounts for expenses of enforcement of antitrust laws. On amendments Nos. 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, and 69, relating to the Commerce Court: Inserts the modifications, proposed by the Senate, in the provision of the House bill abolishing said court. except with reference to the abolishment of five additional circuit judgeships. On amendment No. 72: Makes a verbal correction in the reappropriation for expenses of the parcel-post service. On amendments Nos. 73, 74, 75, and 76, under the Department of Commerce: Strikes out the appropriation for a fish pathologist; inserts the provision with reference to the Official Register of the United States; strikes out the provision to relieve officers of the Coast and Geodetic Survey for expenses incurred in relieving distressed persons; and modifies the provision with reference to beacon lights, Newark Bay, N. J., as proposed by the Senate. On amendments Nos. 77, 78, 79, 80, and 81, under the Department of Labor: Provides for an additional clerk at $1,800; increases the appropriation for contingent expenses from $5,000 to $10,000; and strikes out the appropriation of $15,000 for the Bureau of Statistics and the increase from $5,000 to $25,000 for commissioners of conciliation. On amendment No. 83: Provides for one additional lieutenant and 14, instead of 20, additional privates in the Capitol police force. On amendments Nos. 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 94, 95, 96, 98, 99, and 100, all relating to the Senate: Inserts the provisions covered by said amendments as proposed by the Senate, except the one with reference to employees of the Committee on Expenditures in the Post Office Department, which is stricken from the bill. On amendment No. 101: Appropriates $7,500 to the widow of the late Representative S. A. Roddenbery. On amendments Nos. 102, 103, 104, and 105: Makes a verbal correction in the text of the bill and appropriates for an additional judgment of the Court of Claims certified since the bill passed the House. On amendment No. 106: Appropriates for the payment of claims against the Government audited and certified since the bill passed the House. The committee of conference have been unable to agree on the following amendments, namely: No. 8, exempting from the operation of the civil-service law certain deputy collectors of internal revenue and deputy marshals. No. 10, appropriating $6,000 to Angelo Albano. No. 11, appropriating $72,000 for payment of certain persons for injuries sustained from shots fired across the American boundary by soldiers and revolutionists in Mexico. Nos. 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, and 33, making additional appropriations for mints and assay offices. No. 44, for payment to the State of Ohio on account of "Arming and equipping militia" of the sum of $78,670.87. No. 61, striking out the provision of the House abolishing the five additional circuit judgeships provided for in the act establishing the Commerce Court. No. 82, relating to the memorial bridge. No. 93, appropriating $7,000 for an automobile for the Vice President. No. 97, appropriating for an additional month's pay to officers and employees of the House and Senate. No. 107, appropriating $400,000 for a monument to commemorate the women of the Civil War. JOHN J. FITZGERALD, C. L. BARTLETT, Managers on the part of the House. O 63D CONGRESS, 1st Session. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. No. 92. { REPORT CONSTRUCTION OF RAILROADS IN ALASKA. NOVEMBER 26, 1913.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union and order to be printed. Mr. HOUSTON, from the Committee on the Territories, submitted the following REPORT. [To accompany H. R. 1739.] The Committee on the Territories, to which was referred H. R. 1739, introduced by Mr. Wickersham; H. R. 1806, introduced by Mr. Lafferty; and H. R. 2145, introduced by Mr. Anderson, each having the same general purpose of authorizing Government aid to the building of railroads in Alaska, begs leave to report H. R. 1739, with an amendment striking out all after the enacting clause and inserting the following, and as amended recommend the bill for passage: That the President of the United States is hereby empowered, authorized, and directed to adopt and use a name by which to designate the railroad or railroads and properties to be located, owned, acquired, or operated under the authority of this act; to employ such officers, agents, or agencies, in his discretion, as may be necessary to enable him to carry out the purposes of this act, such officers, agents, or agencies to be appointed or designated by him or under his direction; to authorize and require such officers, agents, or agencies to perform any or all of the duties imposed upon him by the terms of this act; to detail and require any officer or officers in the Engineer Corps in the Army or Navy, or any official in the civil list of the United States, to perform service under this act without additional pay, but upon allowance of actual subsistence and traveling expenses; to locate and designate a route or routes for a line or lines of standard-gauge railroad in the Territory of Alaska, to be so located as to connect one or more of the open Pacific Ocean harbors on the southern coast of Alaska with the navigable waters in the interior of Alaska, and with a coal field or fields yielding coal sufficient in quality and quantity for naval use, so as best to aid in the development of the agricultural and mineral or other resources of Alaska, and the settlement of the public lands therein, and so as to provide transportation of coal for the Army and Navy, of troops, arms, munitions of war, of the mails, and for other governmental and public uses; to construct and build a standard-gauge railroad or railroads, with the necessary branch lines, feeders, sidings, switches, and spurs along such route or routes as he may so locate and designate; to purchase or otherwise acquire all real and personal property necessary to carry out the purposes of this act; to exercise the power of eminent domain in acquiring property for such use, which use is hereby declared to be a public use, by condemnation in the courts of Alaska in accordance with the laws now or hereafter in force there; to acquire rights of way, terminal grounds, and all other rights; and to exercise all the powers granted to railroad companies under and by virtue of the act of Congress entitled "An act extending the homestead laws and providing for right of way for railroads in the District of Alaska, and for other purposes," approved May fourteenth, eighteen hun dred and ninety-eight, and all amendments thereto; to purchase or otherwise acquire all necessary equipment for the construction and operation of such railroad or railroads for the transportation of freight and passengers; to build or otherwise acquire docks, wharves, terminal facilities, and all structures needed for the equipment and operation of such railroad or railroads; to fix, change, or modify rates for the transportation of freight and passengers subject to the supervision of the Interstate Commerce Commission, as hereinafter provided; to receive compensation therefor, and to perform generally all the usual duties of a common carrier for hire; to make and establish rules and regulations, not in violation of law, for the control and operation of said railroad or railroads; to employ agents and employees for the conduct of the business of said railroad or railroads, and to fix and provide their compensation; to lease the said railroad or railroads after completion upon such terms as he may deem proper, but no lease shall be for a longer period than ten years, or in the event of failure to lease to operate the same until the further action of Congress; to lease, purchase, condemn, or otherwise acquire any other line or lines of railroad in Alaska which may be necessary to complete the construction of the line or lines of railroad designated or located by him in the first instance, upon such terms as he may deem proper; to make contracts or agreements with any other railroad or with any steamship company for joint transportation of freight or passengers, and to make such other contracts as may be necessary to carry out any of the purposes of this act; to transfer any tools, equipment, or other property belonging to the United States and used in the construction of the Panama Canal or other Government work for the use of such railroad and railroads in Alaska; and no charge shall be made therefor, but credit may be taken for the fair value thereof by the department having them in charge. SEC. 2. That the Interstate Commerce Commission shall have as full power and authority over all matters connected with said railroad or railroads as it has by law over other railroads, and nothing in this act shall in anywise limit its powers or duties in respect to said railroad or railroads. SEC. 3. That the Secretary of the Treasury, upon the order of the President, is hereby authorized to borrow, on the credit of the United States, from time to time as the proceeds may be required to defray expenditiures authorized by this act (such proceeds, when received, to be used only for the purpose of meeting such expenditures) the sum of $35,000,000 or so much thereof as may be necessary, and to prepare and issue therefor coupon or registered bonds of the United States in such form as he may prescribe in denominations of $100 or some multiple of that sum redeemable in gold coin at the pleasure of the United States after ten years from the date of their issue and payable thirty years from such date, and bearing interest, payable quarterly in gold coin at a rate not to exceed three per centum per annum; and the bonds herein authorized shall be exempt from all taxes or duties of the United States as well as from taxation in any form by or under State, municipal, or local authority: Provided, That said bonds may be disposed of by the Secretary of the Treasury at not less than par under such regulations as he may prescribe, giving to all the citizens of the United States an equal opportunity to subscribe therefor, but no commission shall be allowed or paid thereon, and there is hereby appropriated out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated the sum of $1,000,000 to be used for carrying out the provisions of this Act, including the expense of preparing, advertising, and issuing the bonds herein authorized, to continue available until expended: Provided, That so much of the said sum of $1,000,000 as shall have been expended shall be reimbursed to the Treasury out of the first proceeds of the sale of said bonds. SEC. 4. That there is hereby created a redemption fund in the United States Treasury to be known as "The Alaska Railway Redemption Fund," into which shall be paid fifty per centum of all moneys derived from the sale or disposal of any of the public lands in Alaska or the coal or mineral therein contained, or the timber thereon, and into which fund shall be paid the net earnings of said railroad or railroads above maintenance charges and operating expenses; the said redemption fund, or any part thereof, shall be used from time to time, upon the order of the President, to pay the interest on the bonds authorized and issued under the provisions of this act; and to redeem, cancel, and retire said bonds under such rules and regulations as the President may establish, in accordance with the provisions of this act. SEC. 5. That the officers, agents, or agencies placed in charge of the work by the President shall make to the President annually, and at such other periods as may be required by the President or by either House of Congress, full and complete reports of all their acts and doings and of all moneys received and expended in the construction of said work and in the operation of said work or works, and in the performance of their duties in connection therewith. The annual reports herein provided for shall be by the President transmitted to Congress. SEC. 6. That it is the intent and purpose of Congress through this act to authorize and empower the President of the United States, and he is hereby fully authorized and empowered, through such officers, agents, or agencies as he may appoint or employ, to do all lawful acts and things in addition to those specially authorized in this act necessary to enable him to accomplish the purposes and objects of this act. HEARINGS. Upon the reference of the bills to this committee and on July 9 we began to hold public hearings for the purpose of getting information upon the subject from those in favor as well as from those opposed. No person was refused a full public hearing. The committee gave 10 days to the hearings, and the testimony taken was printed in the usual form in a paper-bound volume of 459 pages for general distribution. In addition, the committee had before it the hearings had by the Senate Committee on Territories. REPORT OF THE ALASKA RAILROAD COMMISSION. The eighteenth section of the act of August 24, 1912, creating a legislative body in Alaska authorized the President to appoint an Alaska Railroad Commission to examine into all matters connected with building of railroads in that Territory and report its findings and recommendations to Congress. The commission was appointed and made a full examination as required by law in the summer and fall of 1912; the President transmitted its report (H. Doc. No. 1346) to Congress February 6, 1913; and the very extensive data, with maps, contained in that report have been fully examined and considered by the committee. SECRETARY LANE'S STATEMENT. The committee has had the benefit of the advice of many persons interested in or having superior knowledge concerning the development of railroads in the United States, and particularly availed itself of the benefit of the following statements contained in a letter written by Hon. Franklin K. Lane, Secretary of the Interior, to Hon. Key Pittman, chairman of the Senate Committee on Territories: DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, MY DEAR SENATOR: My opinion is requested as to Senate bills 48 and 133. These measures, in a word, provide for the construction by the National Government of a railway system in the Territory of Alaska. I favor the adoption of this policy. I believe it to be that under which Alaska will develop most safely and most speedily, and under which the resources of that Territory will most certainly become available to the whole people. There is but one way to make any country a real part of the world-by the construction of railroads into it. This has been the heart of England's policy in Africa, of Russia's policy in western Asia, and is the prompting hope of the new movement in China. Whoever owns the railways of a country determines very largely the future of that country, the character of its population, the kind of industries they will engage in, and ultimately the nature of the civilization they will enjoy. The policy of governmental ownership of railroads in Alaska seems to me to be the one that will most certainly make for her lasting welfare. To many of our people Alaska is little more than a land of natural wonders, here and there dotted with mining camps and fishing villages. If Alaska is to be nothing more, it is almost a matter of indifference as to who builds her railroads. I have talked HR-63-1-vol 1-25 |