ACCOMMODATIONS FOR HOLDING COURT AT JUNE 10, 1937.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union and ordered to be printed Mr. CHANDLER, from the Committee on the Judiciary, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany H. R. 4605] The Committee on the Judiciary, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 4605) to amend section 182 of the Judicial Code with reference to providing suitable accommodations for holding terms of the Federal Court at Shawnee, Okla., having considered the same report favorably to the House with the recommendation that the bill pass with the following amendment: Strike out all of the bill following the word "out" in line 7 on page 1 and insert the following: "the period at the end of the proviso, and adding the following: 'until, subject to the recommendation of the Attorney General of the United States with reference to providing such rooms and accommodations for holding court at Shawnee, a public building shall have been erected or other Federal space provided for court purposes in said city' ". GENERAL STATEMENT The Procurement Division of the Treasury Department has construed the existing provision in the act passed in the Seventy-fourth Congress on May 13, 1936, providing that suitable accommodations for holding Federal court at Shawnee, Okla., must be furnished without expense to the United States, as forbidding the furnishing by the United States of suitable accommodations for holding Federal Court there; and the pending bill is intended to remove the inhibition in order that the Joint Committee on Public Buildings may be free to consider the advisability of providing a Federal building at Shawnee at such time as the joint committee may decide and Congress approve. The question of providing a Federal building at Shawnee, Okla., has been presented to the Joint Committee on Public Buildings, and in a letter from the Director of Procurement under date of April 19, 1937, to the chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary the following statement is made: The plan that is in mind for Shawnee is to demolish the present building and construct a new one to provide quarters for the Postal Service and space requested by the Interior, Agriculture, and War Departments, and offices for the Civil Service and Internal Revenue. The new building would have a basement, one story and part two stories, with provision for two additional stories, at an estimated cost of $250,000. The provision for the two additional stories was to permit the addition of courtroom space as needed. If the courts are constructed at this time, the total cost would be not to exceed $450,000. Passage of this bill will leave the Joint Committee on Public Buildings free to consider the subject of providing suitable accommodations for holding the Federal court at Shawnee at such time as the subject may become important. As the approval of the Attorney General of the United States is necessary in order for the provision of space for court purposes in any Federal building which may be erected in Shawnee, it is proper to inform the House of receipt by the committee of the following letter of the Attorney General on the subject: Hon. HATTON W. SUMNERS, DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL, Chairman, Committee on the Judiciary, House of Representatives, Washington, D. C. MY DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: I have your letter of February 28 requesting my views concerning the bill (H. R. 4605) to repeal that provision of law which conditions the holding of terms of the United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma at Shawnee, Okla., upon the furnishing of suitable rooms and accomodations for such purpose without expense to the Government. Terms of court at Shawnee were authorized by the act of May 13, 1936 (49 Stat. 1271; U. S. C., title 28, sec. 182). This statute contained a condition, however, that suitable rooms and accomodations for that purpose be furnished without expense to the United States. The bill now under consideration proposes to repeal this proviso. When the above-mentioned act was pending in the Congress, the Board of County Commissioners of Pottawatomie County, Okla., adopted a resolution offering the use of accomodations in the county courthouse at Shawnee, for holding terms of the United States district court. I am advised that facilities available in the county courthouse are adequate for the use of the Federal court. It is estimated that the volume of court business handled at Shawnee would not require a term of longer than 1 week annually. I am informed by the Acting Director of the Bureau of the Budget that this legislation is not in accord with the program of the President. Sincerely yours, HOMER CUMMINGS, Attorney General. In compliance with clause 2a of rule XIII existing law is printed below in roman with matter proposed to be omitted enclosed in black brackets and new matter proposed to be inserted by the reported bill printed in italics: A term of the District Court of the United States for the Western District of Oklahoma shall be held annually at Shawnee, Oklahoma, on the first Monday in October: Provided, That suitable rooms and accommodations for holding court at Shawnee are furnished without expense to the United States [.] until, subject to the recommendation of the Attorney General of the United States with reference to providing such rooms and accommodations for holding court at Shawnee, a public building shall have been erected or other Federal space provided for court purposes in said city. о OYSTER CULTURE IN ALASKA JUNE 11, 1937.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union and ordered to be printed Mr. DIMOND, from the Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany H. R. 1561] The Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 1561) for the protection of oyster culture in Alaska, having considered the same, report it back to the House without amendment and recommend that the bill do pass. The purpose of the bill is to permit the development of oyster culture in Alaska. This is to be accomplished by amendment of the Alaska fisheries law so as to authorize the Secretary of Commerce, in his discretion and upon such terms and conditions as he may deem fair and reasonable, to lease bottoms in Alaska Territorial waters for bona-fide oyster cultivation for commercial purposes. Considerable experimental work has been done in Alaska to determine whether seed oysters may be grown. Approximately 1,700,000 seed oysters have been planted, most of them in the vicinity of Ketchikan in southeastern Alaska. The results obtained to date give fair promise that a substantial industry to supply the local market may be developed. Those who have undertaken such experiments have been handicapped by the fact that the present laws governing the taking of fish, including shellfish, in Territorial waters do not permit the establishment of any private right in any part of such waters. Under present conditions as soon as one person has planted an oyster in Alaska waters the oyster at once becomes public property which anyone who cares to do so may take. This fact is widely known and, as a consequence, one person who has experimented largely with planting oysters in Alaska reports that at least three-quarters of his plantings have been entirely cleaned out by poachers as soon as the oysters have become of edible size, and that all of the good results obtained so far have been from small scattered plantings in beds so hidden in apparently unlikely spots that they have not been discovered by the poachers. To carry on the work much further requires a relatively permanent establishment permitting the constant attention of those interested. It is reported that the oysters grown in Alaskan waters are fairly comparable in size, texture, and flavor to the Chesapeake oysters. The development of this industry in Alaska would furnish a supply of food for the local residents that would be valuable both to the producers and to the consumers, and would serve in a measure to take the place of the decreasing supply of wild birds and game. It is to be noted that under the proposed legislation the Secretary of Commerce will have full control of all leases authorized and thus adequately protect all other interests and prevent monopoly. The bill is approved by the Acting Secretary of Commerce in a letter addressed to the chairman of the committee, dated March 26, 1937, in which is embraced a memorandum addressed to the Secretary by the Commissioner of Fisheries. The Acting Secretary of Commerce states that the Bureau of the Budget has advised that there is no objection to the presentation of the report to this committee. The letter and memorandum mentioned are hereinafter set out: DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE, Washington, March 26, 1937. Hon. S. O. BLAND, Chairman, Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries, House of Representatives, Washington, D. C. MY DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: In your letter dated January 16, 1937, you requested the views and recommendations of the Department on H. R. 1561, a bill for the protection of oyster culture in Alaska. I am enclosing herewith a memorandum in triplicate from the Commissioner of Fisheries, this Department, in which I concur. This memorandum has been submitted to the Bureau of the Budget, and that Bureau has advised the Department that there is no objection to its presentation to your committee. Cordially yours, Subject: H. R. 1561, for protection of oyster culture. The bill H. R. 1561, introduced by Delegate Dimond on January 5, 1937, upon which a report has been requested, is identical in language with H. R. 12871, introduced by Delegate Dimond in the Seventy-fourth Congress. This bill would authorize the Secretary of Commerce to lease bottoms in the territorial waters of Alaska for bona-fide oyster cultivation for commercial purposes. Under existing fishery laws the granting of such exclusive fishery right is expressly prohibited. Oysters were first introduced in Alaskan waters in 1931, when about 40 bushels from Pudget Sound were planted in the vicinity of Ketchikan. Since that time about 1,700,000 seed oysters have been planted in this region, and additional plantings have been made in the Prince William Sound area. These oysters are reported to have made a healthy growth in all instances, and a limited number have been marketed. The expansion of this potential industry in Alaska beyond its present successful experimental stage depends upon this modification of existing law to permit the oyster growers to gain title to their crop. No additional appropriation of funds would be necessary if this proposed legislation should be enacted into law. It is recommended that this bill be reported favorably. FRANK T. BELL, Commissioner. |