of said act: Sections 10 to 15, inclusive, sections 22 to 27, inclusive, sections 34 to 36, inclusive, township 27 north, range 6 east, all of township 27 north, range 7 east; sections 4 to 9, 16 to 21, 29 to $2, all inclusive, in township 27 north, range 8 east; sections 1 and 2, the east half of section 3, the east half of section 10, sections 11 and 12, township 26 north, range 7 east; sections 5 to 8, inclusive, township 26 north, range 8 east, Gila and Salt River meridian, Arizona. SEC. 2. That for the purpose of arriving at the values and areas of lieu lands to which private landowners are entitled under the act of May 23, 1930, as hereby amended, the value of the improvements on all privately owned lands to be conveyed or relinquished to the United States for the benefit of the Indians shall be taken into consideration and full credit in the form of lands shall be allowed therefor: Provided, That the State of Arizona may relinquish such lands as it sees fit, acquired pursuant to the enabling act of June 20, 1910 (36 Stat. L. 557), which may be desired as lieu land, and the State shall have the right to select other unreserved and undisposed of nonmineral public lands within the State of Arizona equal in area to that relinquished, the lieu selections to be made by the State in the same manner as is provided for in said enabling act. This legislation has the approval of the Secretary of the Interior as set forth in a letter addressed to the chairman of the Committee on Indian Affairs. This letter is herein set out in full for the information of the House. Hon. LYNN J. FRAZIER, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, Chairman Committee on Indian Affairs, United States Senate. MY DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: In response to your inquiry of January 9, for an opinion on S. 5557, which is a bill to amend the act of May 23, 1930 (46 Stat. 378), I transmit herewith a memorandum on the subject that has been submitted by Commissioner Rhoads of the Office of Indian Affairs. After a review of the proposed measure, I agree with Mr. Rhoads. Very truly yours, RAY LYMAN WILBUR, Secretary. Memorandum for the Secretary. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, This is in reference to the request of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs dated January 9, 1931, for a report on S. 5557, a bill to amend the act of May 23, 1930 (46 Stat. 378). The act of May 23, 1930, supra, provides among other things for the relinquishment of certain alternate sections of privately owned lands for the purpose of adding such lands to the Western Navajo Indian Reservation, and allows lieu selections of vacant land on the public domain in Arizona to be made by the private landowners who relinquish under the terms of the act. All of the privately owned lands affected by the act in question are owned by the Campbell-Francis & Co., which is engaged in the sheep grazing industry. The proposed amendment would allow this company to relinquish its remaining land holdings in that vicinity totaling about 23,000 acres in favor of the Indians, it being impossible for the company to fence their remaining holdings so as to exclude the Indians and their sheep. Hence, the Indians are enabled to use the privately owned lands for grazing their sheep to the detriment of the owners. The superintendent of the Western Navajo Agency has reported that it is very desirable to obtain these lands for the Indians as their sheep have already spread out in that direction to the extent that they are now actually grazing a portion of the land. He further reports that this company's land is well developed and improved so that there would be no necessity for requesting any funds at this time for the purpose of development, and in addition that the acquisition thereof would round out the boundaries of the reservation in a manner which would prevent further disputes and trespass claims. It is our understanding that the lands involved have a very high forage value. It is understood that the improvements on the lands consist of well-equipped stock-watering tanks, sheep-deeping vats, etc., of a permanent nonremoval nature. Considering the apparent value of the improvements on the lands we believe that as a matter of justice and equity the value thereof should be taken into consideration when the company makes lieu selections and full credit be allowed therefor in the form of lieu land, as provided for by section 2 of the proposed amendment. As the proposed amendment will be mutually beneficial to all parties concerned the Indians, private land owners, and the State-it is highly desirable from the viewpoint of this office that favorable consideration be given the matter. Accordingly, it is respectfully recommended that the bill be enacted. C. J. RHOADS, Commissioner. MINING EXPERIMENT STATION, COLLEGE PARK, MD. FEBRUARY 13, 1931.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union and ordered to be printed Mr. SPROUL of Kansas, from the Committee on Mines and Mining, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany S. 5220] The Committee on Mines and Mining, to whom was referred Senate bill 5220, providing for the establishing of a mining experiment station at College Park, Md., having thoroughly considered the same, recommends that with three short amendments thereto the bill do pass. The suggested amendments are: First, following the word "site", in line 11, page 1, insert the words "of not less than twenty acres"; second, following the word "donated" in line 2, page 2, insert "and conveyed by deed conveying absolute title"; third, following the word "purpose", in line 3, on said page 2, strike out the comma and insert a period, and strike out the remainder of line 3 and all of line 4. The bill provides for an authorized appropriation of not more than $350,000 for erecting, equipping, including plumbing, lighting, heating, and other general fixtures and equipment, and necessary roads, walks, and ground improvement. It also calls for a donation by the Maryland authorities of 20 acres of ground as and for the site of said experiment station, the title thereto to be conveyed to the United States Government by deed converying absolute title. The experiment station, in the opinion and estimation of the Bureau of Mines and the Department of Commerce, is very greatly needed to enable the Government's mining, chemical, and other engineering forces to have proper facilities and equipment to make the necessary experiments for the proper promotion, in a progressive way, the very important industry of mining. The present equipment of the Government is wholly inadequate to enable the Government's engineers to utilize their talents to the best interests of the Government in making proper experiments and tests in developing the mining industry. The proposed station will be within a distance of 7 to 10 miles of the offices of the bureau in the city of Washington, and will be quickly accessible for use, to the heads of the different branches of the bureau, for carrying on their experimental work to the greatest advantage to the Government. A suitable site within a much shorter distance to the offices of the bureau would cost from two hundred to three hundred thousand dollars which is saved to the Government by the erection of the building upon the site donated by the Maryland College Park authorities. It is thought that no serious inconvenience will result to the bureau occasioned by the station being located at such a distance from the bureau offices in the city of Washington. о |