75TH CONGRESS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 3d Session { REPORT No. 2238 INTERNATIONAL UNION OF GEODESY AND GEOPHYSICS APRIL 26, 1938.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union and ordered to be printed Mr. McREYNOLDS, from the Committee on Foreign Affairs, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany H. J. Res. 660] The Committee on Foreign Affairs, to whom was referred the resolution (H. J. Res. 660) to authorize and request the President of the United States to invite the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics to hold its seventh general assembly in the United States during the calendar year 1939, and to invite foreign governments to participate in that general assembly; and to authorize an appropriation to assist in meeting the expenses necessary for participation by the United States in the meeting, having considered the same, submit the following report thereon with the recommendation that it do pass: The facts in support of this proposed legislation are fully set forth in a message from the President, dated April 19, 1938, and in a report to the President from the Acting Secretary of State, dated April 18, 1938, both of which are made a part of this report, and are as follows: To the Congress of the United States of America: I commend to the favorable consideration of the Congress the enclosed report from the Secretary of State to the end that legislation may be enacted authorizing and requesting the President of the United States to invite the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics to hold its seventh general assembly in the United States during the calendar year 1939, and to invite foreign governments to participate in that general assembly; and authorizing an appropriation of $5,000 to assist in meeting the expenses necessary for participation by the United States in the meeting. FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT. The PRESIDENT: DEPARTMENT OF STATE, The International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics is one of the unions which comprise the International Council of Scientific Unions, an organization which has for its purpose primarily the advancement of scientific research through international cooperation in the fields of natural sciences. The Council was organized at Brussels, Belgiun, in July 1919, as the result of an Inter-Allied Conference on International Organization held in London in June 1918 and participated in by this Government through the National Academy of Sciences. The quota for this Government's participation in the International Council of Scientific Unions for the fiscal year 1921 was paid by the National Academy of Sciences. While there was no treaty or act of Congress authorizing an annual contribution by the United States to the International Council of Scientific Unions, Congress appropriated funds for this Government to defray its share of the expenses in this Council each fiscal year from 1922 to 1932. For reasons of economy no appropriations were made by Congress for the fiscal years 1933, 1934, and 1935. The National Academy of Sciences and the National Research Council paid the quotas for 1933 and 1934 and the quota for 1935 was not paid. By the act of Congress of August 7, 1935 (49 Stat. 540), Congress authorized an annual contribution to the Council and appropriations have since been made pursuant to that act beginning with the fiscal year 1936. The annual contribution to each union is fixed by the statutes of that union, which are changed from time to time. The sum of $4,124.86 was appropriated for the fiscal year 1938, the share of the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics having been $2,316 (50 Stat. 268). At the Sixth General Assembly of the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics, which was held at Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1936, the American Geophysical Union, which is the American national committee of the International Union, extended an invitation to the International Union to hold its seventh general assembly in Washington, D. C., in 1939. The National Academy of Sciences, which is the adhering body for the International Council of Scientific Unions, delegated its agent, the National Research Council, to deal with matters relating to the work of its affiliated unions and the invitation referred to above was extended by authority of the National Research Council. The chairman and the general secretary of the American Geophysical Union have recommended that the meeting be held under Government auspices and that the Congress of the United States be requested to enact legislation authorizing an appropriation of $5,000 to defray one-half of the expenses necessary properly to entertain the foreign delegates, to furnish appropriate office space and office furniture, and to pay the cost of interpreters and secretaries. The American Geophysical Union is prepared to furnish an additional $5,000. The letter from the officials of the Geophysical Union reads in part as follows: "The work of the International Union, dealing primarily with the scientific aspects of the earth's sciences of geodesy, seismology, meteorology, terrestrial magnetism and electricity, oceanography, volcanology, and hydrology, has many practical bearings on the development and conservation of national resources. The Union's deliberations in the past have been of great value to the 36 adhering countries, including the United States. The work of a number of our governmental bureaus and private institutions is daily influenced by decisions made by this international organization. Many publications are issued, duplication of which by any single government could be accomplished only at great cost. "In our country economic applications of developments in sciences relating to the physics of the earth are of great present and of greater potential importance. Among these are: (1) Improvement of wireless and wired communications through investigation of their relations with conditions of the earth's magnetism and of the sun; (2) navigation at sea through improved knowledge of compass direction and of oceanic currents and constitution of oceanic waters as applied to weather forecasting, to nautical charts, and to fisheries; (3) improved methods of building to minimize danger in regions subject to earthquakes through research in seismology and volcanology bearing on the earth's interior in transmission of earthquake disturbances; (4) air transportation through increased understanding of upper-air currents and conditions; (5) agriculture through researches on waters of the earth both below and above the surface; and (6) utilization of natural continental and oceanic underground resources and practical geology through continued development of geophysical methods of prospecting and study of underground structures. The close relation of such developments to many branches of our governmental activities is patent." The Secretary of Commerce, in a letter strongly supporting the recommendation of the American Geophysical Union, made the following comment concerning the desirability of Government participation: 66* ** This Department is interested because two of its bureaus, the Coast and Geodetic Survey and the National Bureau of Standards, have benefited through the work and publications, both of the Union as a whole and of its seven constituent associations. Participation by the personnel of these bureaus through attendance at meetings or sending of scientific contributions has been considerable in the past, and the United States has been recognized by election of several of its delegates to presidential offices, both in the Union and in the associations, of whom several have been members of this Department. "It is believed that the meeting in Washington will serve several useful purposes, among which may be mentioned: Stimulation of interest in the application of geophysics to the development of natural resources; better standardization of the various branches of the earth sciences which know no national boundaries, and the development of better international relations. An opportunity will also be afforded for the return of the many courtesies which our Government and its representatives have received. "It is accordingly felt that the relations of the Government to the International Union are such as to justify the appropriation by Congress of $5,000 to cover part of the expenses, the remainder of which will be contributed from other sources.' Delegates from the United States have attended the six triennial assemblies of the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics, which were held at Rome, Madrid, Prague, Stockholm, Lisbon, and Edinburgh. Since this Government is a member of the Union, contributing annually to its support, I believe that the Government should have a voice in the deliberations of the first general assembly of the Union to be held in the United States, and I concur in the recommendations of the officials of the American Geophysical Union and the Secretary of Commerce. I, therefore, have the honor to recommend that the Congress be requested to enact legislation authorizing and requesting the President of the United States to invite the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics to hold its seventh general assembly in the United States in 1939 and to invite foreign countries to participate in that general assembly; and also to provide an appropriation of $5,000, or so much thereof as may be necessary for participation by the United States in the Seventh General Assembly of the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics. Respectfully submitted. SUMNER WELLES, Acting Secretary of State. 75TH CONGRESS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 3d Session REPORT No. 2239 ALASKAN INTERNATIONAL HIGHWAY COMMISSION APRIL 26, 1938.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of 'the Union and ordered to be printed Mr. Luther A. JOHNSON, from the Committee on Foreign Affairs, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany H. R. 8177] The Committee on Foreign Affairs to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 8177) to create a Commission to be known as the Alaskan International Highway Commission, having considered the same, submit the following report thereon, with the recommendation that it do pass: This Government has for many years sought a basis of cooperation with Canada for the construction of a highway to Alaska. Because the major part of the territory to be traversed lies in the Canadian Province of British Columbia, an unsettled portion, difficulties have been encountered. Canada's desire to aid cannot be questioned. Its ability to share the cost of the portion of the road in British Columbia has remained the main obstacle. Were this territory between Alaska and the United States within the confines of our country, this road would have been built 25 or 30 years ago by our Government. Although most of the remaining construction is in Canadian territory, the benefits resulting are as great for us as for Canada. The feasibility and necessity for the highway to both countries is unquestioned. Now, more than ever, should the project be pushed and efforts made by both countries to reach a solution for its construction. By act of Congress, May 15, 1930 (46 Stat. 335), it was provided: That the President is hereby authorized to designate a commission of three to cooperate with representatives of the Dominion Government in a study regarding the construction of a highway to connect the northwestern part of the United States with British Columbia, the Yukon Territory, and Alaska, with a view to ascertaining whether such a highway is a feasible and economically practicable project, * |