CONGRESS Session." { BRIDGE ACROSS MISSOURI RIVER BETWEEN YANKTON, S. DAK., AND CEDAR COUNTY, NEBR. AUGUST 29, 1919.-Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be printed. Mr. HAMILTON, from the Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, submitted the following REPORT. [To accompany S. 2883.] The Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, to whom was referred the bill (S. 2883), having considered the same, report thereon with a recommendation that it pass. The bill has the approval of the War Department, as will appear by the letter attached and which is made a part of this report. WAR DEPARTMENT, August 26, 1919. Respectfully returned to the chairman Committtee on Commerce, United States Senate. So far as the interests committed to this department are concerned, I know of no objection to the favorable consideration by Congress of the accompanying bill, S. 2883, present session, to authorize the construction of a bridge or bridges crossing the Missouri River between Yankton County, S. Dak., and Cedar County, Nebr., if the bill be amended as indicated in red thereon. NEWTON D. BAKER, O WATER SUPPLY FOR MISCELLANEOUS PURPOSES ON RECLAMATION PROJECTS. SEPTEMBER 2, 1919.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union and ordered to be printed. Mr. TAYLOR of Colorado, from the Committee on Irrigation of Arid Lands, submitted the following REPORT. [To accompany S. 796.] The Committee on Irrigation of Arid Lands, to whom was referred the bill (S. 796) for furnishing water supply for miscellaneous purposes in connection with reclamation projects, having had the same under consideration, beg leave to report it back to the House with the recommendation that it be amended as follows: Page 1, line 8, after the word "proper," insert the following: Provided, That the approval of such contract by the water users' association or associations shall have first been obtained. Page 1, line 12, strike out the word "unless" and in lieu thereof insert the word "if," and in the same line strike out the word "not." Page 2, line 2, after the word "appropriator," add the following: Provided further, That the moneys derived from such contracts shall be covered into the reclamation fund and be placed to the credit of the project from which such water is supplied. And that as so amended the bill do pass. This bill is identical with Senate bill S. 3392 which was passed by the Senate during the Sixty-fifth Congress and was approved and favorably reported with these identical amendments by this committee on February 13, 1919 (Report No. 1067). That bill was referred to the Department of the Interior by the Senate Committee on Public Lands for consideration and the Secretary of the Interior furnished the committee with the following report thereon. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, MY DEAR SENATOR: Your letter of January 7, 1918, requesting information as to the law and facts relative to the bill S. 3392 and suggestions that may be advisable, has been received. The bill is entitled, "A bill for furnishing water supply for miscellaneous purposes in connection with reclamation projects." The bill authorizes the Secretary of the Interior in connection with operations under the reclamation law to supply water from any project irrigation system for other purposes than irrigation upon such conditions of delivery, use, and payment as he may deem proper; provided there is no other practicable source of water supply for the purpose and that the furnishing of water thereunder shall not be detrimental to the water service of the irrigation project. It is believed that the bill will meet an important need in connection with the operations of the reclamation service. Under the present law there is no authority for furnishing water for other than irrigation purposes for agricultural or townsite uses. In a number of cases there have been requests for water supply for other purposes such as for manufacturing in connect on with beet-sugar factories or alfalfa mills, and in a number of cases for the use of raroads where the water suitable for use in the engines can not be found within a reasonable distance of the place where it is required. In such cases the inability to meet the necessities of the case is to some extent detrimental to the projects themselves as the difficulty of securing water supply often stands in the way of valuable improvements of the kind mentioned. The amount of water required in such cases-as those referred to is a very small fraction of what is needed for agricultural purposes, and in most cases could be spared without any material effect upon the water supply for the project. In view of these considerations the proposed legislation would be of benefit to the projects and enable the department to assist in improvements which are of real value to the water users. I therefore suggest favorable action upon this bill. Cordially, yours, Hon. H. L. MYERS, FRANKLIN K. LANE, Secretary. Chairman Committee on Public Lands, United States Senate. This bill was referred by the Senate Public Land Committee to the Department of the Interior and the Secretary made the following report thereon: DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, MY DEAR SENATOR: By your reference of June 7, 1919, I am in receipt of copy of the bill S. 796 with request for report. The bill is as follows: A BILL For furnishing water supply for miscellaneous purposes in connection with reclamation projects. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Secretary of the Interior in connection with the operations under the reclamation law is hereby authorized to enter into contract to supply water from any project irrigation system for other purposes than irrigation, upon such conditions of delivery, use, and payment as he may deem proper: Provided, That no such contract shall be entered into except upon a showing that there is no other practicable source of water supply for the purpose: Provided further, That no water shall be furnished for the uses aforesaid unless the delivery of such water shall not be detrimental to the water service for such irrigation project. The bill is the same as S. 3392, introduced in the last Congress, upon which I made favorable report under date of January 29, 1919, copy of which is herewith inclosed. I repeat my recommendation for favorable action upon the bill. Cordially, yours, Hon. REED SMOOT, Chairman Committee on Public Lands, FRANKLIN K. LANE, Secretary. United States Senate. The report of the chairman of this committee of the last Congress, contained the following additional statement which is applicable now and is in further explanation of this bill: It has been called to the attention of your committee that there are on nearly all of the reclamation projects instances, or occasions, where a small quantity of water is very much needed for some domestic or other use not strictly within irrigation that might be made without any detriment whatever to the water users, and also be of great benefit to the community; and this bill seeks merely to grant authority to the Secretary, by the consent and with the approval of the water users, to supply such local and usually temporary requirements; and it is self-evident that where these uses are made with the local public approval that no injustice or hardship can be occasioned by enactment of this bill, and your committee therefore urgently recommends its passage at this session of Congress, in order that it may be available during the approaching season. O PAYMENT OF TRAVEL PAY, UPON DISCHARGE, TO MEN OF REGULAR ARMY ENLISTED PRIOR TO APRIL 2, 1917. SEPTEMBER 2, 1919.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union and ordered to be printed. Mr. LAGUARDIA, from the Committee on Military Affairs, submitted the following REPORT. [To accompany H. J. Res. 175.] The Committee on Military Affairs, having had under consideration House Joint Resolution 175, submitted the following report, with the recommendation that the resolution do pass. The resolution authorizes the payment of travel pay and the bonus to enlisted men of the Army who enlisted in the Regular Army prior to April 2, 1917, and have accepted or may accept their discharge from such enlistment in order to reenlist. Men enlisted in the Regular Army prior to April 2, 1917, and who were all enlisted for a period of seven years seem to constitute one of the most valuable sources of recruitment. The period of active service for which these Regular Army men enlisted has already in large part been terminated. These men are for the most part disposed to reenlist, but an apparently unjust discrimination against them with respect to travel pay is largely counteracting their natural inclination. Under decision of the Comptroller of the Treasury (Dec. 13, 1917) the War Department is prohibited from paying travel pay to men of the Regular Army who are discharged and immediately reenlist. Under the law of May 18, 1917, these men of the old Regular Army are not entitled to their discharge until the President declares the emergency terminated. Therefore, if they remain in the Army without accepting their discharge and reenlist, they may, when the President declares the emergency terminated, draw travel pay to their homes and be either furloughed to the Reserves or discharged. But this is exactly what the War Department desires to avoid. It does not desire that these highly trained men, who are especially valuable because of their long experience in the Army, march out of the Army in a body at the termination of the emergency, thus leaving a serious |