CERTAIN PUBLIC WORKS ON RIVERS AND HARBORS ·It. S. Congress, Λ HEARING BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON RULES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SIXTY-NINTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION ON Rule for H. R. 11176 A BILL AUTHORIZING THE CONSTRUCTION, REPAIR, AND CERTAIN PUBLIC WORKS ON RIVERS AND HARBORS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, COMMITTEE ON RULES, The committee met at 10.30 o'clock a. m., Hon. Bertrand H. Snell (chairman) presiding. The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Dempsey and other members of the Rivers and Harbors Committee, and one or two others, are here this morning and desire to be heard with regard to a rule for H. R. 11176, "Authorizing the construction, repair, and preservation of certain public works on rivers and harbors, and for other purposes." (The bill referred to is as follows:) [H. R. 11176, Sixty-ninth Congress, first session] A BILL Authorizing the construction, repair, and preservation of certain public works on rivers and harbors, and for other purposes Be is enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the following works of improvement are hereby adopted and authorized, to be prosecuted under the direction of the Secretary of War and supervision of the Chief of Engineers, in accordance with the plans recommended in the reports hereinafter designated : Thames River, Connecticut, in accordance with the report submitted in House Document Numbered 107, Sixty-ninth Congress, first session. Waterway connecting Gravesend Bay with _Jamaica Bay, New York, in accordance with the report submitted in House Document Numbered 111, Sixtyeighth Congress, first session, and subject to the conditions set forth in said document. Great Kills, Staten Island, New York, in accordance with the report submitted in House Document Numbered 252, Sixty-ninth Congress, first session, and subject to the conditions set forth in said document. Passaic River, New Jersey, in accordance with the report submitted in House Document Numbered 284, Sixty-ninth Congress, first session, and subject to the conditions set forth in said document. Baltimore Harbor, Maryland: The Secretary of War and the Chief of Engineers are hereby authorized to modify the existing project with reference to the anchorage area at the intersection of the Fort McHenry Channel with the Ferry Bar Channel by the selection of a new location at such point as may be found, after full consideration, to be most advantageous to shipping interests. Appomattox River, Virginia, in accordance with the report submitted in House Document Numbered 215, Sixty-ninth Congress, first session, and subject to the conditions set forth in said document. Channel to Newport News, Virginia, in accordance with the report subinitted in House Document Numbered 486, Sixty-seventh Congress, fourth session. Shallotte River, North Carolina, in accordance with the report submitted in House Document Numbered 273, Sixty-ninth Congress, first session. Neuse and Trent Rivers, North Carolina, in accordance with the report submitted in House Document Numbered 299, Sixty-seventh Congress, second session, and subject to the condition set forth in said document. Charleston Harbor, South Carolina, in accordance with the report submitted in House Document Numbered 249, Sixty-ninth Congress, first session, and 1 subject to the condition set forth in said document. The existing project for a forty-foot channel is hereby modified in accordance with the recommendations in said document. Savannah Harbor, Georgia, in accordance with the reports submitted in House Documents Numbered 261 and 262, Sixty-ninth Congress, first session, and subject to the conditions set forth in said documents. Apalachicola Bay, Florida: The modification of the existing project recommended in House Document Numbered 106, Sixty-ninth Congress, first session, is hereby authorized. Gulfport Harbor and Ship Island Pass, Mississippi: The present adopted project may be modified by relocation of the channel across Ship Island Bar at such point as the Chief of Engineers, United States Army, may deem most desirable in the interest of navigation and economy. Amite River and Bayou Manchac, Louisiana, in accordance with the report submitted in House Document Numbered 473, Sixty-eighth Congress, second session. Bayou Bonfouca, Louisiana, in accordance with the report submitted in House Document Numbered 474, Sixty-eighth Congress, second session, and subject to the conditions set forth in said document. Mississippi River between Cairo and the Head of Passes: The existing project is hereby modified in accordance with the report submitted in House Document Numbered 105, Sixty-ninth Congress, first session. The Louisiana and Texas Intracoastal Waterway, from the Mississippi River at or near New Orleans, Louisiana, to Corpus Christi, Texas, in accordance with the report submitted in House Document Numbered 238, Sixtyeighth Congress, first session, and subject to the conditions set forth in said document: Provided, however, That the section from Galveston to the vicinity of Gulf, Texas, shall be constructed as recommended by the Board of Engineers for Rivers and Harbors in its report contained in the said document: Provided further, That not more than two Government dredges shall be constructed for use in prosecuting this project: And provided further, That no expense shall be incurred by the United States for the acquiring of any lands required for the purpose of this improvement. Sabine-Neches Waterway, Texas, in accordance with the report submitted in House Document Numbered 287, Sixty-ninth Congress, first session, and subject to the conditions set forth in said document: Provided, That no expense shall be incurred by the United States for the acquiring of any lands required for this improvement. Mississippi River between Missouri River and Minneapolis: The existing project for improvement at and in the vicinity of Moline, Illinois, is hereby modified in accordance with the report submitted in House Document Numbered 263, Sixty-ninth Congress, first session. Mill Creek and South Slough at Milan, Illinois, in accordance with the report submitted in House Document Numbered 148, Sixty-ninth Congress, first session, and subject to the conditions set forth in said document. Ohio River: The project for general open-channel work is hereby modified in accordance with the report submitted in House Document Numbered 187, Sixty-seventh Congress, second session, and subject to the conditions set forth in the report of the Board of Engineers for Rivers and Harbors in said document. Youghiogheny River, Pennsylvania, in accordance with the report submitted in House Document Numbered 253, Sixty-ninth Congress, first session. Duluth-Superior Harbor, Minnesota and Wisconsin, in accordance with the report submitted in House Document Numbered 245, Sixty-ninth Congress, first session. Illinois River, Illinois, in accordance with the report submitted in Rivers and Harbors Committee Document Numbered 4, Sixty-ninth Congress, first session, and subject to the conditions set forth in said document. Saint Marys River, Michigan, in accordance with the report submitted in House Document Numbered 270, Sixty-ninth Congress, first session. Buffalo Harbor, New York, in accordance with the report submitted in House Document Numbered 481, Sixty-eighth Congress, second session, and subject to the condition set forth in said document. San Joaquin River and Stockton Channel, California, in accordance with the report submitted in House Document Numbered 554, Sivxty-eighth Congress, second session, and subject to the conditions set forth in said docu ment: Provided, That no expense shall be incurred by the United States for the acquiring of any lands required for the purpose of this improvement. Sacramento River, California, in accordance with the report submitted in House Document Numbered 123, Sixty-ninth Congress, first session. San Pablo Bay and Mare Island Strait, California: The existing project is hereby modified in accordance with the report submitted in House Document Numbered 104, Sixty-ninth Congress, first session. Feather River, California, in accordance with the report submitted in Rivers and Harbors Committe Document Numbered 1, Sixty-ninth Congress, first session, and subject to the condition set forth in said report. Olympia Harbor, Washington, in accordance with the report submitted in House Document Numbered 244, Sixty-ninth Congress, first session. Tolovana River, Alaska, in accordance with the report submitted in House Document Numbered 193, Sixty-eighth Congress, first session, and subject to the condition set forth in said document. Kahului Harbor, Hawaii, in accordance with the report submitted in House Document Numbered 235, Sixty-ninth Congress, first session. SEC. 2. (a) The contract dated July 29, 1921, executed by the Boston, Cape Cod and New York Canal Company, and transmitted to Congress by the Secretary of War and printed in House Document Numbered 139, Sixty-seventh Congress, second session, is hereby ratified on condition that such company files with the Secretary of War its consent in writing that paragraph 8 of such contract be amended to read as follows: 66 8. The payment of the amount herein agreed to be paid, or any part of same, to the said canal company is to be upon the express condition that the Boston, Cape Cod and New York Canal Company waives, in writing, any and all claims of any nature whatsoever that it may have against the President, the Director General of Railroads, or the United States, and upon such release the Director General of Railroads shall release the company from any claim or demand against the company, growing out of Federal control." (b) The sum of $5,500,000 is hereby authorized to be appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, to be expended under the direction of the Secretary of War, for the acquisition by purchase, in accordance with the terms of such contract modified as provided in section 1 of this act, of the Cape Cod Canal and other property referred to in paragraph 1 of such contract. (c) When the Secretary of War has certified that the company has filed its consent, in writing, to the modification of the contract provided in section 1, and when the Attorney General has certified that title to such property has passed to the United States, the Secretary of the Treasury is authorized to pay at maturity the principal of the bonds referred to in such contract, and to pay the interest coupons thereon as they fall due each year after the passage of this act until the bonds are retired. The Secretary of the Treasury may, in his discretion, pay before maturity, as stipulated in the contract, the principal sum of $6,000,000 or any part thereof to the holders of the bonds. Nothing in the contract or in this act shall exempt or release the bonds or the income therefrom from any taxation, national, State, or municipal, to which otherwise they would be subject. The amount necessary to make the several payments in this section provided is hereby authorized to be appropriated out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated. SEC. 3. The Secretary of War is hereby authorized to modify the existing project adopted by the river and harbor act of March 2, 1919, for improvement of the Inland Waterway from Delaware River to Chesapeake Bay, Delaware and Maryland, so as to include the construction of a suitable roadway from Chesapeake City, Maryland, to the Bethel Road on the north of said waterway, of a suitable roadway from Back Creek, Chesapeake City, Maryland. to Bethel on the south of said waterway and of a bridge in continuation of the southern roadway at Chesapeake City, across Back Creek, Maryland, and the construction and maintenance of a ferry across the waterway at the present site of the Pivot Bridge, the said roadways, bridge, and ferry to be in lieu of the reconstruction of the bridge known as the Pivot Bridge at the intersection of Bethel Road with said waterway: Provided, That the proper authorities of the State of Maryland and of Cecil County, Maryland, shall release the United States from all obligation to reconstruct or maintain |