2. The subject matter referred to bears upon the question of the improvement and maintenance of Indiana Harbor, Ind., and the reconveyance of a part of the right of way. This harbor lies 18 miles southeast of Chicago Harbor. It is entirely artificial, consisting of an outer and an inner harbor. The outer harbor is about 3,200 feet long and 300 to 350 feet wide between solid fills owned by private interests. The inner harbor, known as Indiana Harbor Canal. is projected by private interests to be 3.5 miles lorg from the outer harbor to the Grand Calumet River, with an arm 1.5 miles long to Lake George. These interests proposed to convey the right of way for this improvement to the United States, and deeds for this purpose were prepared in 1888, although the United States had not at that time entered upon the improvement.

3. The act of June 25, 1910, adopted a project for the improvement of this harbor in the following language:

"Indiana Harbor, Ind.: For improvement and maintenance in accordance with the project recommended in House Document No. 1113, Sixtieth Congress, second session, $62,000: Provided. That no part of this appropriation shall be expended until the Secretary of War shall be satisfied that the conditions specified in said document have been fully complied with."

The improvement contemplated certain work in the outer harbor and the maintenance by the United States of the inner harbor as private interests complete the channel way and transfer it without cost to the United States. Deeds for the entire waterway were accepted by the Secretary of War on October 28, 1910. The inner channel has been accepted and maintained over a length of 7,400 feet of the main channel and 900 feet of the extension toward Lake George. The excavation of this latter channel by private interests has been carried as far as Lake George but has not been accepted by the United States for maintenance.

4. The East Chicago Co., who dug the canal, owns a large tract of land adjacent to Lake George. It desires now to dispose of the tract shown upon accompanying map, through which the privately dug canal passes, to a large steel industrial corporation that plans to occupy the entire tract. To do this it is necessary to abandon the canal from the west line of section 19. As the right of way has been conveyed to the United States, it is thought that congressional action is necessary to accomplish this end, and that is the purpose of the bill now under review. While the canal 75 to 80 feet wide has been dug through this property, it has not been accepted by the United States, and there is a length of completed canal of nearly a mile between the said property and the upper or western end of the part that has been accepted.

5. The United States did not require that the canal be completed to any particular point, but proposed to take over such useful sections as were completed and offered for public use. So far as the interests of the United States are concerned the canal might be discontinued at any point. The interests most concerned, those who originated the general plan of improvement and who constructed the canal as far as completed, now desire that the upper or western end of the canal be fixed at the east line of section 19 and that the Secretary of War be authorized to quitclaim and convey to local interests, on such terms and conditions as he may deem just and equitable, the rights of way which have heretofore been donated by local interests to the United States for said section of the canal and for connecting said Lake George with Wolf Lake. Lakes George and Wolf are shallow bodies of water, a few feet only in depth. Under decisions of the Supreme Court (Hardin v. Jordan, 140 U. S., 371, and Hardin v. Shedd, 1900 U. S., 508), Wolf Lake, the larger and deeper of the two, is determined to be a nonnavigable fresh-water lake or pond, and the property rights in the bed of the lake are unaffected by any Federal easement. The eastern part of Wolf Lake in Indiana and Lake George were patented to the State under the swamp land act; in the case of Kean v. Calumet Canal Co. (190 U. S., 452), the Supreme Court decided that when the State acquired lands bordering on Wolf Lake it acquired title to all the lands under the waters of the lake up to the boundary line of the State. There is now no useful connection between these lakes or between the lakes and Indiana Harbor Canal, and the board can foresee no necessity for such connection. In view of the foregoing the board sees no objection to the passage of the proposed bill.

For the board:

G. M. HOFFMAN,

Colonel, Corps of Engineers, Resident Member of the Board.

Mr. BALL, from the Committee on the District of Columbia, submitted the following

REPORT.

[To accompany S. 2531.]

The Committee on the District of Columbia, to whom was referred the bill (S. 2531) to create a board of accountancy for the District of Columbia and for other purposes, having considered the same, report favorably thereon with the recommendation that the bill do pass with amendments. The amendments are as follows:

On page 3, in line 10, insert after the word "or" the word "one." On page 3, in line 12, strike out the letter "(c)" and insert the letter" (b)."

On page 3, in line 13, strike out the letter "(d)" and insert the letter" (c)."

On page 3, in line 14, strike out the letter "(e)" and insert the letter (d).

On page 3, in line 17, insert a comma after the word "accountant.” On page 3, in line 19, strike out the letter "(f)" and insert the letter "(e)." On page 4, in line 1, strike out the letter "(e)" and insert the letter" (d)."

On

letter

4, in line 7, strike out the letter "(e)" and insert the

On page 4, in lines 11 and 12, strike out the words "provided such person also holds the diploma required in said clause (e)."

The purpose of the bill as reported is to provide a board of accountancy in the District of Columbia to control the issuance of certificates to accountants in the District after appropriate examinations. The situation concerning the practice of accountancy in the District of Columbia is extremely important and serious, as it developed at the hearing on the bill held by the committee on January 24 last. It appeared in the testimony at the hearing that each of the 48 States

of the United States now has a law establishing certain requirements for the issuance of the certificate of "Certified public accountant." Each State has a public board created by the law and authorized to conduct examinations which must be successfully passed by any person desiring to assume or use the title of "Certified public accountant" in such State, and such laws of the various States are analogous to the bill now reported.

That public accountancy has become a profession requiring a very high degree of skill is a fact beyond doubt at the present time. The certified public accountant must be thoroughly trained in his profession as are the doctor and the lawyer in theirs. The public has come to rely upon the work of the certified public accountant as the work of an impartial and trained expert, and it thus has a primary interest in the control of the issuance of certificates to certified public accountants by an appropriate governmental agency.

The vast volume of work done by public accountants for persons and corporations with the departments and bureaus of the Government in Washington makes it peculiarly important that persons should practice the profession of certified public accountant in the District of Columbia only after measuring up to the best approved standards for the public accountant elsewhere. At the present time, however, there is no law upon the subject, and it developed at the hearing that a private concern may obtain articles of incorporation under the existing laws of the District and issue certificates to persons as certified public accountants without any control whatsoever. The fact that all the States have recognized the necessity for preventing such a situation in the profession of accountancy is of itself sufficient proof of both the necessity for and propriety of the proposed legislation.

The bill defines a "public accountant," creates a board of accountancy for the District to be appointed by the Commissioners of the District of Columbia, composed of men skilled in the science and practice of accounting. It directs such board to conduct examinations in the theory and practice of accounting and such related subjects as the board may deem advisable, and authorizes the board to grant a certificate as "Certified public accountant" to such persons as successfully pass the board examinations.

The bill also provides those reasonable requirements of good character, education, and accounting experience as a prerequisite to taking the board examinations which have been found effective and fair under the various existing State laws.

The bill also provides for the issue of a certificate as a certified public accountant without examination to any person possessing the qualifications provided for the District and who holds a certificate issued under the laws of any State in which the requirements for a certificate are the equivalent of the requirements in the District of Columbia.

The bill also provides that no one shall assume the title or hold himself out as a certified public accountant in the District of Columbia without receiving a certificate as a certified public accountant from the board of accountancy of the District of Columbia, and provides a suitable penalty for the violation of that provision.

The Commissioner of Internal Revenue, as the head of that bureau of the Government having most extended relations with the account

ants of the country, states in a letter that a proper bill to control admission to practice as a certified public accountant in the District of Columbia "will be of great assistance to us and to the taxpayers." This letter is printed in full at page 5 of the committee hearing on the bill.

The Commissioners of the District of Columbia have also given consideration to the proposal to regulate the practice of accountancy in the District of Columbia by certified public accountants and have had the auditor of the District make an extended report in favor of the legislation. This report is printed in full, pages 6 to 10 of the committee hearing on the bill.

The bill as reported is as follows:

A BILL To create a board of accountancy for the District of Columbia, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That any person who has received from the board of accountancy, hereinafter created, a certificate of his qualifications to practice as a public accountant shall be known and styled as a "certified public accountant," and no other person, and no partnership all of the members of which have not received such certificate, and no corporation shall assume such title or the title of "certified accountant" or the abbreviation “C. P. A.," or any other words, letters, or abbreviations tending to indicate that the person, firm, or coporation so using the same is a certified public accountant.

SEC. 2. That for the purpose of this act a public accountant is hereby defined as a person skilled in the knowledge and science of accounting who holds himself out to the public as a practicing accountant for compensation, and who maintains an office for the transaction of business as such, whose time during the regular business hours of the day is devoted to the practice of accounting as a professional public accountant. SEC. 3. That there is hereby created a board of accountancy in and for the District of Columbia, to consist of three members, to be appointed by the Commissioners of the District of Columbia, and who, with the exception of the members first to be appointed, shall be the holders of certificates issued under the provisions of this act. The members of the board first to be appointed shall be skilled in the knowledge, science, and practice of accounting, and shall have been actively engaged as professional public accountants within the District of Columbia for a period of at least three years, and shall hold office, one for one year, one for two years, and one for three years, and until their successors are appointed and qualified. The term of each member is to be designated by the commissioners in each appointment. Their successors shall be appointed for terms of three years from the dates as aforesaid and until their successors are appointed and qualified. The commissioners may, after full hearing, remove any member of the board for neglect of duty or other just cause. The board shall organize by the election of a president and a secretary and a treasurer, and may make all rules and regulations necessary to carry into effect the purposes of this act. Any two members acting as a board shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business.

SEC. 4. That the board of accountancy shall not grant a certificate as a certified public accountant to any person other than (a) a citizen of the United States, or one who has duly declared his or her intention of becoming such citizen, who is over the age of twenty-one years, and (b) of good moral character, (c) who is a graduate of a high school with a four years' course or has had an equivalent education, and (d) who has received a diploma from some recognized school of accountancy and has had one year's experience in the employment of a practicing certified public accountant, or has had three years' experience in the employ of a practicing certified public accountant, and (e) except under the provisions of section 6 of this act, who shall have successfully passed examinations in the theory and practice of general accounting, in commercial law as affecting accountancy, and in such other related subjects as the board may deem advisable: Provided, That the board of accountancy may waive the provision for accounting experience as set forth in clause (d) above, and in lieu thereof may hold in abeyance a certificate to any person who shall otherwise have qualified until such time as the applicant can prove to have served two years in the employ of a practicing certified public accountant: Provided further, That the board may waive the requirement for service in the employ of a practicing certified public accountant, as set forth in clause (d) above, in the case of any person who has had not less than five years' actual and continuous experience in auditing the books and accounts of other persons