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Included in this increased appropriation is an allowance of $300,000 to cover the cost of overtime for the year 1923.

The committee feels that the entire appropriation recommended for this service should be allowed.

ITEMS UNDER THE THIRD ASSISTANT POSTMASTER GENERAL-STAMPS, ENVELOPES, AND INDEMNITY FOR INJURY OR LOSS OF MAIL.

Increases have been recommended for the manufacture of postage stamps, special-delivery stamps, stamped envelopes, and indemnity for injury to mail. The reasons advanced by the officials of the department for theses increases were carefully considered, and the committee recommends them.

EQUIPMENT AND SUPPLIES, FOURTH ASSISTANT POSTMASTER GENERAL.

Increases are recommended for miscellaneous equipment and supplies, including the manufacture of mail boxes, etc. To this section a proviso is added for the purchase of a letter-distributing machine, if after a test it is found to be satisfactory.

An increase is also recommended for inland transportation by star

routes.

We have also recommended an increase for Rural Delivery Service. These increases were strongly recommended by the department and the necessity therefor clearly established.

INVESTIGATION OF CONTRACTS FOR STAR-ROUTE SERVICE.

The Postmaster General is authorized and directed under a provision in the bill to investigate conditions arising from contracts in the star-route, screen-wagon, and other vehicle service entered into prior to January 1, 1918. He is to report to Congress the result of his investigation by the first Monday in December, 1922.

CONTINUATION OF JOINT COMMISSION ON POSTAL SERVICE.

This provision is recommended for the reason that the commission has many important subjects under investigation.

At the present time the commission is investigating the cost of handling the various classes of mail, including parcel post. It will take at least the balance of the present calendar year to complete this investigation. The figures will then have to be analyzed and a complete report covering the subject made to Congress.

SICK LEAVE FOR EMPLOYEES TO BE EXCLUSIVE OF SUNDAYS AND HOLIDAYS.

Section 4 of the bill provides that sick leave granted to employees of the Postal Service shall be exclusive of Sundays and holidays.

It was intended by the Commission on Reclassification of Postal Salaries that leave on account of sickness should be exclusive of Sundays and holidays. The comptroller ruled otherwise, and in order to have the law apply as it was originally intended this section is added to the bill.

GOOD ROADS.

For the present fiscal year there was appropriated for carrying out the provisions of the Federal highway act of November 9, 1921, the sum of $75,000,000 for what is known as Federal aid to the States in road construction and $5,000,000 for forest roads for the present fiscal year and $10,000,000 for forest roads for 1923. The administration of that law is now under way. A comprehensive program has been adopted, and in order that the States may make adequate provisions to meet their share of the Federal appropriation they should know at least one year in advance just what Federal appropriations they can depend upon. Fifty million dollars is, in our judgment, the very least amount that should be appropriated at this time. The authorization for the fiscal years 1924 and 1925 for both highway and forest roads imposes no present burden upon the Treasury, but will be necessary help in carrying out the plan imposed by the highway act of last year.

The total Federal-aid funds which have been apportioned to the States from 1916 to 1921, both inclusive, is $339,875,000. On February 1 of this year $213,947,790 had been paid on actual construction, leaving a balance for new construction of $125,927,214. Between February 1 and July 1 of this year it is estimated that $40,927,000 more will be put into construction, although several of the States may use their full allowance, and double that amount may be required. In case only $40,927,000 is actually put into construction by July 1, 1922, there will be left for construction in the fiscal year 1923 the sum of $85,000,000. Now, this is about the amount which has been spent in the last year, so that if no further appropriation is made this year there would be money enough to carry on the work until July 1, 1923. But it takes from six months to a year for the States and the Federal Government to locate, determine, and agree upon the roads to be improved, and if no appropriation is made now not only will the road program for the last half of the fiscal year 1923 be retarded, but for the first half of the fiscal year 1924 it will actually be suspended so far as Federal aid is concerned. If Federal aid is to be abandoned, the refusal to appropriate money for the coming fiscal year will be a very effective means to accomplish that end.

The highway act of 1920 is a good law. It marks a distinct progress in Federal participation in highway and forest roads construction. All of the States approve it and are working in harmony under it. That law contemplates a system of highways of great State and interstate importance. To discontinue the construction of that system now would not only be false economy but would be an irreparable injury to the progress and prosperity of the country.

PNEUMATIC TUBES.

The reestablishment of the pneumatic tubes in the city of New York and the Borough of Brooklyn is recommended.

This subject is one which has been investigated by numerous commissions more thoroughly, probably, than any other postal facility. The preponderance of evidence by efficiency engineers, Post Office Department officials, post-office experts, and representatives of business organizations clearly establishes the need for this service in the expe

ditious and safe handling of the mails in the city of New York and Borough of Brooklyn. Its restoration will result in very materially decreasing the cost of vehicular service in New York City, relieving the congestion on the streets, insuring the safe delivery of valuable mail, and materially expediting first-class mail and special-delivery letters. If efficiently used, the tubes will transport 5,000,000 letters a day, and provide for a steady uninterrupted flow of the city mail between stations, permitting the handling of this mail promptly and in small lots, instead of having it brought to the stations in large quantities, causing periodical congestion and consequent delay. The cost per mile of the service has been fixed, after very careful investigation and examination of the actual expenses incident to the operation and negotiations by the department with the pneumatic tube company. The amount recommended is believed by the committee to be reasonable and fair.

ALLOWANCE TO EMPLOYEES FOR TIME SERVED IN THE MILITARY, MARINE, OR NAVAL SERVICE OF THE UNITED STATES.

This provision extends the period when soldiers of the World War may receive benefits granted under the Lodge amendment to the reclassification act. The committee felt that the time limit should be extended to October 1.

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67TH CONGRESS, 2d Session.

SENATE.

MUNICIPAL PARK, BUTTE, MONT.

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REPORT No. 557.

MARCH 9 (calendar day, MARCH 14), 1922.-Ordered to be printed.

Mr. MYERS, from the Committee on Public Lands and Surveys, submitted the following

REPORT.

[To accompany H. R. 5762.]

The Committee on Public Lands and Surveys, to which was referred the bill (H. R. 5762) providing for a municipal park for the city of Butte, Mont., having considered the same, report favorably thereon with the recommendation that the bill do pass, without amendment.

The report on the bill of the House Committee on Public Lands is adopted as the report of this committee. It is as follows:

The Committee on the Public Lands, to whom was referred H. R. 5762, having had the bill under consideration, report the same with the recommendation that it do pass, with the following amendments: (1) Page 1, line 6, insert a comma after the word "lands" and add the following, "not to exceed 3,600 acres." (2) Page 1, line 12, after the word "established," add a new sentence, to read as follows: "Lands so designated and segregated, under the provisions of this act, shall not be subject to the mining laws of the United States."

Amendment (2) was inserted by the committee at the suggestion of the Department of Agriculture, which recommends that the bill, as so amended, be enacted. In order, however, to place a reasonable limitation on the amount of forest land that might be segregated for park purposes, the committee thought best to limit the same to 3,600 acres, and have inserted amendment (1) to that effect.

The present bill does not transfer the title of the Government in the lands so segregated to the municipality of Butte, but merely authorizes the use of the same for recreational purposes that will not interfere with the objects for which the national forest was established. The city of Butte is the largest municipality in Montana, its population is largely industrial, and the enlargement of its present park facilities would greatly contribute to the well-being of its inhabitants. The lands proposed to be segregated by the present bill are located about 8 miles from the city limits, are connected with the city proper by an excellent highway, and are much resorted to by the people of the city. The lands embraced by the 3,600 acres mentioned in the bill have been thoroughly explored for a period of years and it is not believed that they are valuable for mining purposes.

Following are the reports of the Departments of the Interior and Agricul ture, respectively:

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR,
Washington, May 17, 1921.

Hon. N. J. SINNOTT,

Chairman Committee on the Public Lands,

House of Representatives.

MY DEAR MR. SINNOTT: Under date of May 6, 1921, there was transmitted for report a copy of H. R. 5762, entitled "A bill providing for a municipal park for the city of Butte, Mont.," and in response thereto I have the honor to submit the following report.

The said bill provides as follows:

"That the Secretary of Agriculture is hereby authorized, in his discretion, upon application by the municipality of Butte, Mont., to designate and segregate for municipal recreational development any lands within the Deerlodge National Forest which, in his opinion, are available for such purpose, and he is hereby authorized to enter into such form of cooperation with the said munici pal authorities as, in his opinion, will permit the fullest use of the lands for recreational purposes without interfering with the objects for which the national forest was established."

The Deerlodge National Forest was created by Executive order of July 1, 1908, out of portions of the Helena, Hell Gate, and Big Hole National Forests. By Executive order of June 28, 1910 (1051), certain portions thereof were eliminated and transferred to the Beaverhead National Forest, the boundaries of the Deerlodge National Forest then being as indicated on a diagram attached thereto.

The respective rights and privileges of the Departments of Agriculture and Interior were defined in 33 L. D., 609, 610, where the Department of Agriculture was held to be invested with jurisdiction to pass on all grants for permission to temporarily occupy and use lands in a forest reserve, which will in no wise affect the fee or cloud the title of the United States to such reservation if discontinued; but that this department retains jurisdiction over all grants amounting to an easement running with the land; with the further understanding that any permission or license granted by the Department of Agriculture is subject to any later disposal of said land by this department.

As the bill now under consideration authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to merely permit the designation and segregation of available lands for munici pal recreational development, this department will interpose no objection to the passage of said H. R. 5762.

It is, however, suggested that the Department of Agriculture be also called upon for an expression of opinion upon the merits of the said bill.

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DEAR MR. SINNOTT: Receipt is acknowledged of your request of May 6 for a report upon the bill H. R. 5762 "providing for a municipal park for the city of Butte, Mont."

In substance, this measure would authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to designate certain lands desired by the city of Butte, Mont., for recreational development, and to enter into a cooperative agreement with the municipal authorities to permit the utilization of the lands for recreational purposes without interfering with the objects for which the Deerlodge National Forest was established.

From records in the Forest Service it appears that about 10 years ago cer tain land in private ownership, extending along Nine Mile Canyon, was deeded to the city of Butte for park purposes. The tract is about 5 miles long, and parts of the national-forest lands are interwoven and form logical parts of the park unit. The park trustees desire to develop the whole park unit for recrea tional uses, and would improve also the Government land which dovetails in

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