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instances to reserve the right to take and remove from the lands material for use in construction. These reservations would not interfere with the development and extraction of the minerals and such a practice, if permissible under the law, would, it is believed, be of material benefit to the Government and the would-be mineral developers.

There has been prepared and is herewith submitted, a draft of a measure designed to permit the Secretary of the Interior in such cases in his discretion, to restore lands from withdrawal, subject to appropriate reservations, and/or stipulations or agreements.

I transmit a copy of same for your consideration and for introduction if you deem same advisable.

Very truly yours,

RAY LYMAN WILBUR, Secretary.

The purpose of this bill is to permit the Secretary of the Interior in his discretion to subject to location, entry, and patent, under the general mining laws, public lands of the United States containing valuable deposits of minerals, but which are at present withdrawn from development and acquisition because included within the limits. of withdrawals made pursuant to section 3 of the reclamation act approved June 17, 1902 (32 Stat. 389).

Section 3 of the act cited authorized the Secretary of the Interior to withdraw from public entry lands which might be required for any contemplated irrigation works and directed that he should restore such lands to their former status when in his judgment the lands are no longer required for the purpose of the act. Under this authority there have been withdrawn from time to time large areas of land in the Western States, which it is was thought might be used or needed for or in connection with the construction of reclamation projects. They remain withdrawn because of the thought that at some time in the future, portions thereof may be required either for inclusion in reservoir sites, for the location and operation of canals and laterals, headquarters for ditch riders or other uses connected with construction, operation, and maintenance of such projects. Other lands, it is thought, may be needed at some time in the future as a source of materials, sand, gravel, rock, or earth to be utilized in future construction work. In the meantime exploration of the lands for mineral deposits and their location, entry, and patent under the general mining laws would not interfere with the possible future reclamation use if they could be disposed of under proper stipulations and conditions reserving the right to use any or all of the lands so located, entered, or patented at any time in the future for or in connection with reclamation uses and purposes including the right to take and remove from the lands, materials for use in the construction of irrigation works. The bill provides for appropriate stipulations and conditions to be contained in contracts to be executed by the mineral claimants, to be noted in the local and general land offices, and to be incorporated in the entry or patent when made or issued.

In other words, the purpose of this legislation is to permit of a dual use. One, the reclamation use whenever and to the extent needed in the future construction, operation, and maintenance of reclamation works and, two, development of the mineral resource subject to appropriate limitations and conditions.

The committee has suggested the following amendments designed to strengthen and clarify the bill:

The first amendment is to strike from line 1, page 2, of the bill, the words "vacate such withdrawal" and insert in lieu thereof the

words "open the lands to location, entry, and patent under the general mining laws." The second amendment is to strike out the word "to" in line 15, page, 2, and insert the words "which shall." To insert in line 16, page 2, after the word "recorded," the words "in the office of the county recorder and in the United States local land office."

The purpose of this amendment is to make mandatory the execution acknowledgment and recordation of a contract to protect the future. reclamation use and to require that it be placed of record for the information of the public, both in the office of the local county recorder and of the register of the United States local land office. The third amendment substitutes the word "shall" for the word "may" in line 6, page 3, so as to specifically require the Secretary of the Interior to prescribe rules and regulations enforcing the provisions of the act.

Your committee believes that the enactment of the legislation is in the public interest and that under it mineral development may be permitted without detriment to operations under the reclamation projects, present or proposed, for which the withdrawals were made. The measure has the approval of the Secretary of the Interior and of the heads of the two bureaus directly affected, the Reclamation Bureau and the General Land Office.

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AMENDING SECTION 1 OF THE RIVERS AND HARBORS ACT

FEBRUARY 3, 1932.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union and ordered to be printed

Mr. MANSFIELD, from the Committee on Rivers and Harbors, submitted the following

REPORT

[To accompany H. J. Res. 271]

The Committee on Rivers and Harbors, to whom was referred the joint resolution (H. J. Res. 271) amending section 1 of the act entitled "An act authorizing the construction, repair, and preservation of certain public works on rivers and harbors, and for other purposes," approved July 3, 1930, relating to the Mississippi River between the mouth of Illinois River and Minneapolis, having considered the same, report thereon recommending that the joint resolution do pass. The said provision in said section 1, as amended, will read as follows, the new language added appearing in italics:

Mississippi River between the mouth of Illinois River and Minneapolis: The existing project is hereby modified so as to provide a channel depth of sine feet at low water with widths suitable for long-haul common-carrier service, to be prosecuted in accordance with the plan for a comprehensive project to procure a channel of nine-foot depth, submitted in House Document Numbered 290, Seventy-first Congress, second session, or such modification thereof as in the discretion of the Chief of Engineers may be advisable; and the sum of $7,500,000 in addition to the amounts authorized under existing projects, is hereby authorized to be appropriated for the prosecution of initial works under the modified project: Provided, That all locks below the Twin City Dam shall be of not less than the Ohio River standard dimensions.

(NOTE. No language included in the original provision has been stricken out in the joint resolution herewith presented.)

The purpose of the resolution is to correct an error in the preparation of the provision in the river and harbor act of 1930, in that the War Department Engineers were not authorized, in their discretion, to change the location and design of the permanent structures from the tentative locations set forth in their report. Invariably it has been the practice of Congress to give the engineers such discretion. It has long been recognized that this is essential to insure, as the work

progresses, the selection of the best locations and type of structures with reference to solid foundations, convenience to navigation, and a minimum of damage to riparian lands. Usually in their reports on slackwater projects, the engineers set forth the tentative location of permanent structures. Following the adoption of a project, more detailed engineering surveys are made, and it is upon these surveys that the permanent sites and types of structures are determined upon.

The project in the act of 1930 was adopted by Congress on the recommendation of this committee after considering an interim report, submitted in House Document No. 290, Seventy-first Congress. Since the passage of this act, and during the present session of Congress, the final report of the War Department Engineers on this improvement has been submitted in House Document No. 137. In the said report on page 1, the Chief of Engineers recommends the action taken herein in the following language:

The board covers in detail many phases of the subject which may well be left to administrative action in the course of the development of the project and are subject to modification as the work proceeds. * * *

* * * This board approves the report of the special board as a general guide, with details subject to modification as progress may dictate.

The Board of Engineers for Rivers and Harbors, in its report on page 9 of the said Document No. 137, makes the following recommendation:

* All works of construction and improvement to be in general accordance with the plans submitted by the special board, subject to such changes as the Chief of Engineers may find to be feasible and economical.

The special board of engineers, which was appointed to make the surveys on the ground for this improvement, on page 3 of the said Document No. 137, recommends as follows:

The board desires to emphasize that there should be no finality in the details of this or any other plan for the improvement of a great river. During construction constant survey, observation, and study will lead to many improvements in accessories to structures, in the composition and operation of the dams themselves, and perhaps in their locations and lifts, in methods of channel maintenance, and may possible lead to some modification of the project in its lower section.

In House Document 290, Seventy-first Congress, which contains the report on which Congress adopted this project, the Chief of Engineers, in paragraph 5, states as follows:

The report states that the estimates have been prepared without detailed surveys and are general in character. The lock and dam locations are tentative and none of the proposed dams should be regarded as definitely fixed.

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