Mr. SMOOт, from the Committee on Public Lands, submitted the following REPORT. [To accompany S. 4749.] The Committee on Public Lands, to whom was referred the bill (S. 4749) to provide for the disposition of boron deposits, having considered the same, report favorably thereon with the recommendation the bill do pass without amendment. This legislation was recommended by the Interior Department in the following letter from the Acting Secretary: DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, Hon. REED SMOOT, Chairman Committee on Public Lands, United States Senate. MY DEAR SENATOR: Herewith find the draft of a proposed bill to provide for the disposal of deposits of boron minerals owned by the United States. The purpose of the bill is to make all deposits suitable for the production of borax, other borates or boric acid, subject to disposal only under the sodium provisions of the general leasing act approved February 25, 1920 (41 Stat., 437), except deposits of potassium borates which are specifically named in the potash leasing act approved October 2, 1917 (40 Stat., 297). The department is persuaded that deposits of colemanite and priceite, from which borax of this country is derived, are not included within the provisions of either of the above-mentioned leasing acts for the reason that said minerals are not borates of either potassium or sodium but are borates of calcium. Colemanite deposits are now subject to appropriation under the provisions of the general mining statutes. (Sec. 2318 et seq., Revised Statutes.) The production of crude boron ore in this country for the year 1917 was reported to be 108,875 short tons, valued at $3,609,632. (See Mineral Resources, 1917, Part II, Nonmetals, H. Doc. No. 1864, 65th Cong., 3d sess., pp. 338, et seq.) The refined borax produced that year was derived entirely from colemanite mined in Southern California. The deposits from which borax and boron compounds can be produced are so closely allied to the group of sodium minerals covered by the general leasing act that it appears to be highly desiralbe to include such deposits in that legislation. I recommend that the bill submitted or some similar measure be enacted. Cordially, yours, ALEXANDER T. VOGELSANG, О 66TH CONGRESS,} SENATE. REPORT No. 738. TAXABLE STATUS OF LANDS RECEIVED IN EXCHANGE FOR LANDS FORMERLY EMBRACED IN GRANTS TO THE OREGON & CALIFORNIA RAILROAD CO. AND THE COOS BAY WAGON ROAD CO. JANUARY 31, 1921.-Ordered to be printed. Mr. SMOOт, from the Committee on Public Lands, submitted the following REPORT. [To accompany S. 4865.] The Committee on Public Lands, to whom was referred the bill (S. 4865) fixing the taxable status of lands received in exchange for lands formerly embraced in the grants to the Oregon & California Railroad Co. and the Coos Bay Wagon Road Co., having considered the same, report favorably thereon with the recommendation that the bill do pass without amendment. This legislation was initiated and recommended by the Interior Department in the following letter from the Secretary of that department: Hon. REED SMOOT, Chairman Committee on Public Lands, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, United States Senate. MY DEAR SENATOR: By the act of Congress approved June 9, 1916 (39 Stat., 218), title was revested in the United States to the unsold lands remaining of those granted to the Oregon & California Railroad Co., and provision was duly made in said act directing the Secretary of the Interior to classify in the field the lands so revested as (1) power site, (2) timberlands, and (3) agricultural lands, and authorizing him to sell the timber from the land so classified under certain specified conditions. The total acreage of the lands so revested has been roundly estimated at 2,300,000 acres and traverses the entire western end of the State of Oregon, generally a rugged and mountainous country carrying large bodies of very valuable timber. Inasmuch as the grant to the company was of odd-numbered sections and it had prior to the act of revestment sold some of the granted lands to lumber companies and others, who also held the title to the even-numbered sections, it resulted that the United States took title to the revested odd-numbered sections, while the title to the even-numbered sections within the grant limits, as well as the odd-numbered sections sold prior to the revestment, is in private ownership. Due to the fact that this scattered holding of timber lands by the United States would seriously interfere with the advantageous disposition of the timber, the Congress by the act of May 31, 1918 (40 Stat., 393), authorized the Secretary of the Interior to exchange for lands in private ownership lands formerly embraced in the grant to the Oregon & California Railroad Co. The act of February 26, 1919 (40 Stat., 1179), authorizes the United States to accept a reconveyance from the Southern Oregon Co. of the lands formerly granted to the Coos Bay Wagon Road Co., an area approximately of 93,000 acres; and by the act of June 4, 1920 (41 Stat., 758), the provisions of the exchange act of May 31, 1918, supra, were extended to the Coos Bay Wagon Road lands. As the result of this legislation there are now pending proposals for the exchange of about 100,000 acres of timberlands now held in private ownership, and considerable progress has been made looking toward the consummation of some of these exchanges where it will be found to the advantage of the United States to effect a consolidation of its holdings of timberland. The consummation of these exchanges, however, now seems unlikely, due to the provisions of the revenue act of 1918, as enlarged and modified by the act of February 24, 1919 (40 Stat., 1057), which by section 202 fixes a rule for determining gain or loss as a basis for taxation. This rule substantially treats an exchange as a sale on which a profit or loss is to be determined in the case of property acquired before March 1, 1913. This rule applied to the exchanges contemplated under the acts aforesaid would impose so heavy a burden upon the private owners that they could not afford to make the exchange, hence it is likely that any exchanges of substantial value will not be effected. When it is remembered that the primary purpose of these exchange acts is to effect a consolidation of the timber holdings of the United States, in order that it may be in a better position to effect a profitable disposition of the timber, it is believed that an exception to the rule as fixed in section 202 of the revenue laws is justified. Under the exchange act the timber we acquire from private owners is approximately of the same value which they receive from us, our advantage lying simply in the matter of consolidation. It would therefore seem that for the purposes of Federal taxation the lands received by private owners should occupy the same status after the exchange that the lands did occupy which we received from them, and not constitute or be treated as a sale on which profit or loss should be calculated. I have therefore the honor to submit herewith a draft of a bill intended to accom plish this purpose. Cordially, yours, JOHN BARTON PAYNE, Secretary. O SENATE. 66TH CONGRESS,} { REPORT No. 739. REDISTRIBUTION OF GENERAL TAXES IN DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. JANUARY 31 (calendar day, February 1), 1921.—Ordered to be printed. Mr. JONES of Washington, from the Committee on the District of Columbia, submitted the following REPORT. [To accompany H. R. 8535.] The Committee on the District of Columbia, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 8535) to provide for the redistribution of general taxes and special assessments due and payable on real estate in the District of Columbia in cases of subdivision or sales of land therein, having considered the same, report favorably thereon with the recommendation that the bill do pass without amendment. The passage of this bill is desired in order to correct certain inequalities and injustices that exist in the present special assessment and taxation laws of the District of Columbia. The Commissioners of the District of Columbia recommend the passage of the bill, and the following paragraphs are quoted from a letter signed by former Commissioner Brownlow, explaining in some detail the provisions of the proposed legislation: The legislation suggested is advisable for the reason that it frequently happens that taxes and special assessments are levied against property, but do not become "due or payable" for some time thereafter. For instance, the valuation of real property for general taxation is made as nearly as practicable on the 1st day of July, but the tax thereon is not due and payable until the succeeding May. Again, with reference to special assessments for the improvement and repair of sidewalks and alleys, the laying of new curb, and the construction of sewers and sidewalks, the cost is levied payable in installments, the first of which is payable in 60 days from the date of levy and the other installments in one and two years after the levy, respectively. The same general principle applies to many other kinds of special assessments. The object of the first section is to provide that before any subdivision of any tract of land in the District of Columbia may be admitted to record in the office of the surveyor of the District of Columbia, all special assessments then due and payable on the land in such subdivision shall be paid. Also, that when such subdivision shall be made during the first six months of any fiscal year, the first half of the general taxes due for that year and for prior years shall be paid also before the subdivision shall be so admitted to record. The second section provides that if a subdivision shall be made during the last six months of any fiscal year, any unpaid general tax thereon for prior years and the whole 1 |