A similar measure was introduced in the second session of the last Congress, H. R. 11258, and I submitted adverse report thereon to your committee on May 16, 1918, as it appeared that the lands were generally suited to agricultural uses. On February 4, 1919, however, upon information from the Forester that an examination had been made by the Forest Service of the area involved and that but two tracts therein, viz, secs. 1, 12, 13, all sec. 23, except the SE. SE., and NW. NE. and NW. sec. 24, T. 14 N., R. 5 W., and those portions of the W. sec. 4, and all secs. 5 and 6, T. 13 N., R. 5 W., not suitable for designation under the stock-raising homestead law, had been found to be chiefly valuable for the purposes contemplated by the bill and would be favorably considered for addition to the forest in the event of the enactment of the proposed legislation, I submitted supplemental report withdrawing the objections theretofore made to the measure. The records of the General Land Office show the status of the land described in the pending bill to have changed somewhat since those reports were submitted, and that such area is now entirely surveyed, 4,098 acres therein have been designated as enterable under the stock-raising homestead law and a number of the homestead applications under said act previously reported as pending have been allowed or are allowable by reason of such designation, and I have withdrawn under section 10 of the stockraising homestead law 3,725 acres for use by the general public as stock driveways based upon recommendations of the Forest Service. The above-described area in T. 14 N., R. 5 W., contains 2,720.44 acres, is surveyed, undesignated, and no appropriations or applications are of record for any of the lands therein. A further designation under the stock-raising homestead law has been made in the tract in T. 13 N., R. 5 W., above mentioned, such designations now covering the S. sec. 5 and NW. NW. 1, S. NW., and SW. sec. 6 therein which have been applied for under said act. pending homestead applications previously reported for the W. sec. 4 and N. sec. 5 in this tract have been rejected upon report of the Geological Survey that the lands were agricultural rather than grazing, and there are now 920.56 acres of the total of 1,485.17 acres in the area not so designated for which no appropriations or applications are of record. The As stated in my supplemental report of February 4 on H. R. 11258, I am without objection to the enactment of the legislation proposed if additions to the forest are restricted to the above-described areas in Ts. 13 and 14 N., R. 5 W. As the lands are now public lands under the jurisdiction of this department and as the provision is usual in such measures, I suggest that the bill be amended by inserting a comma and "with the approval of the Secretary of the Interior," after the word “may” in line 5, page 1. Cordially, yours, Hon. N. J. SINNOTT, ALEXANDER T. VOGELSANG, Chairman Committee on the Public Lands, House of Representatives. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULture, DEAR MR. SINNOTT: Receipt is acknowledged of a copy of the bill H. R. 1430, entitled "To authorize the addition of certain lands to the Weiser National Forest, Idaho," with the request that your committee be sent such suggestions as this department may desire to make. In substance this bill proposes that an examination be made by the Secretary of Agriculture of certain described lands and provides that the areas found by him to be chiefly valuable for the production of timber or the protection of stream flow may be included within and made a part of the Weiser National Forest by presidential proclamation of the President, the lands to be thereafter subject to all laws affecting national forests. Maps covering a part of the area show that some of it is timbered and otherwise suitable for national forest purposes. No field examination of these tracts has been made and, under the terms of the measure, it is believed none is necessary prior to its passage. The bill follows the form of numerous recent acts authorizing additions to national forests in the seven public-land States in which no national forest can be created except by act of Congress (act Aug. 24, 1912, 37 Stat., 497). This department has found those laws to be workable, and numerous additions of lands which form parts of natural units of forest administration have been made. In most instances the added lands did not add appreciably to the cost of administering the other national forest areas. As a matter of fact, administration was frequently simplified by giving the local forest officers authority to protect timber on lands where a fire occurring in their unprotected state would present a menace to the timber within the national forest. Moreover, the regulation of the grazing of live stock has been handled much more effectively and the carrying capacity of the range undoubtedly improved. For these reasons the department would approve the passage of the bill. Very truly, yours, Hon. N. J. SINNOTT, Chairman Committee on the Public Lands, D. F. HOUSTON, Secretary. House of Representatives. O CONGRESS, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. CONGRESSIONAL PRINTING AND BINDING. AUGUST 12, 1919.-Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be printed. Mr. KIESS, from the Committee on Printing, submitted the following REPORT. [To accompany H. R. 8362.] The Committee on Printing, to which was referred the bill (H. R. 8362) to amend and revise the laws relating to the public printing and binding and the distribution of Government publications, having had the same under consideration, reports it back with the recommendation that the bill do pass. Substantially all the provisions of the bill have been under consideration by Congress since 1911, when a bill proposing a complete revision of the printing laws was introduced by Senator Smoot as chairman of the Printing Investigation Commission. That commission had spent seven years investigating the public printing and binding, and concluded its work by proposing a bill to effect many reforms and economies in Government printing. The general printing bill was favorably reported from the Printing Committees of both Houses in the Sixty-second, Sixty-third, and Sixty-fourth Congresses. It passed the Senate without opposition in the Sixty-second Congress and the House in the Sixty-third Congress. An abridged printing bill along the lines of the one now reported also passed the Senate in the Sixty-fourth Congress. However, owing to the crowded calendar of the other House when the bill reached it and the short time of the Congress remaining for its consideration, neither bill as passed by one House was acted upon by the other House in the same Congress and thus failed to become a law. The committee is of the opinion that the size and scope of the former printing bills also prevented their prompt consideration and enactment by Congress. The general printing bill as submitted to the Sixty-fourth Congress consisted of 132 pages and proposed a complete revision of all laws relating to the public printing and binding and the distribution of Government publications. The bill now reported for the consideration of the House is about one-third H R-66-1-vol 2- -2 |