75TH CONGRESS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 3d Session

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REPORT No. 2160

AUTHORIZING THE SECRETARY OF WAR TO LEASE TO THE VILLAGE OF YOUNGSTOWN, N. Y., A PORTION OF THE FORT NIAGARA MILITARY RESERVATION, N. Y.

APRIL 19, 1938.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union and ordered to be printed

Mr. ANDREWS, from the Committee on Military Affairs, submitted the

following

REPORT

[To accompany H. R. 9123]

The Committee on Military Affairs, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 9123) to authorize the Secretary of War to lease to the village of Youngstown, N. Y., a portion of the Fort Niagara Military Reservation, N. Y., having considered the same, submit the following report thereon, with the recommendation that it do pass with the following amendment:

At the end of the bill insert the following proviso:

That said lease shall not be granted until the Legislature of the State of New York shall have first provided by appropriate legislation that the granting of said lease shall not impair or invalidate any of the rights, title, or privileges granted to the United States pursuant to the act of the Legislature of New York passed April 21, 1840 (N. Y. Laws, 1840, ch. 155, p. 113).

The amendment, which is to meet the objections of the War Department, is to add a further proviso to the effect that the proposed lease shall not be granted until the State of New York shall have consented thereto by appropriate legislation, or in order that the title of the United States to the Fort Niagara Reservation will not be jeopardized. The bill, as amended, has the approval of the Bureau of the Budget.

This measure authorizes the Secretary of War to lease to the village of Youngstown, N. Y., for a term of 50 years, a tract of land not to exceed 4 acres on the Fort Niagara Military Reservation, N. Y., for the erection of a sewer treatment plant and a right-of-way for required sewer lines. The bill provides that the location of the tract and rightof-way shall be approved by the Secretary of War, and that the lease shall be subject to such provisions and conditions as the Secretary of War may prescribe.

It is further set forth in the bill that the consideration for the lease shall be the connection by the village of Youngstown of the present outfall sewer of the post of Fort Niagara with the proposed sewage treatment plant and the treatment of the sewage from the post without expense to the War Department except for a charge for chemicals used in treating post sewage.

In a letter to the chairman of the Committee on Military Affairs of the House of Representatives, dated April 5, 1938, the War Department pointed out that a general health-improvement program is being vigorously prosecuted along the entire Niagara frontier for the purpose of eliminating a serious pollution problem. This program has the cooperation of State, county, and city governments in New York State and the government of Ontario Province, Canada. The major New York cities in this area have already installed, or are installing, sanitary sewage-disposal plants. The topography of Fort Niagara lends itself to the installation of a joint plant as proposed. The proposed installation will preclude the possibility of the War Department having to install, operate, and maintain a similar facility in the future.

Attached herewith and made a part of this report, is a letter from the War Department, under date of April 5, 1938, to the Honorable A. J. May, chairman of the Military Affairs Committee:

Hon. ANDREW J. MAY,

Chairman, Committee on Military Affairs,

WAR DEPARTMENT, Washington, D. C., April 5, 1938.

House of Representatives.

DEAR MR. MAY: Careful consideration has been given to H. R. 9123, a bill to authorize the Secretary of War to lease to the village of Youngstown, N. Y., a portion of the Fort Niagara Military Reservation, N. Y., which was transmitted to the War Department under date of January 29, 1938, with a request for a report in triplicate thereon.

There is no existing law authorizing a lease as proposed in this bill.

The legal effect of the measure would authorize the Secretary of War to lease to the village of Youngstown, N. Y., for a term of 50 years, a tract of land not to exceed 4 acres, on the Fort Niagara Military Reservation, N. Y., for the erection of an adequate sewage-treatment plant and a right-of-way for a sewer line to the said plant. The bill also provides—

a. That the location of the tract and right-of-way shall be approved by the Secretary of War.

b. That the lease shall be subject to such provisions and conditions as the Secretary of War may prescribe.

c. That the consideration for the lease shall be the connection by the village of Youngstown of the present outfall sewer of the post of Fort Niagara with the proposed sewage-treatment plant and the treatment in said plant of the sewage from said post, for which no charge shall be made except for chemicals used in treating post sewage. The rate of charge for chemicals is to be determined from time to time by the Secretary of War.

A general health improvement program is being vigorously prosecuted along the entire Niagara frontier for the purpose of ending a serious pollution problem affecting local waterways. This program has the cooperation of State, county, and city governments in New York State and the government of Ontario Province, Canada. The major New York cities in this area have already installed, or are installing, sanitary sewage-disposal plants. The village of Youngstown adjacent to the post of Fort Niagara desires to cooperate and proposes a joint plant with Fort Niagara, as indicated in the measure under consideration. The topography of Fort Niagara lends itself to a joint plant as proposed. Such plant will preclude the possibility of the War Department having to install, operate, and maintain a similar facility in the future.

The War Department desires to cooperate in the project; however, H. R. 9123 in its present form would be detrimental to the interests of national defense. The act of the Legislature of New York passed April 21, 1840, which authorized the

conveyance of the lands comprising the present Fort Niagara Military Reservation to the United States, contained a reversionary clause. It has been determined that to grant a lease as proposed in the bill under consideration, without first obtaining appropriate legislation by the State of New York consenting thereto, will jeopardize the title of the United States to the Fort Niagara Reservation. It is accordingly recommended that H. R. 9123 be amended by adding a further proviso or section reading as follows:

"That said lease shall not be granted until the Legislature of the State of New York shall have first provided by appropriate legislation that the granting of said lease shall not impair or invalidate any of the rights, title, or privileges granted to the United States pursuant to the act of the Legislature of New York passed April 21, 1840" (New York Laws, 1840, ch. 155, p. 113).

The War Department recommends that H. R. 9123, amended as proposed above, be enacted into law.

The estimated fiscal effect of this bill would be approximately $50 per annum for chemicals for the treatment of Fort Niagara sewage.

This proposed legislation was submitted to the Bureau of the Budget which reports that there would be no objection to its submission to Congress.

Sincerely yours,

75TH CONGRESS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 3d Session

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REPORT No. 2161

EXEMPTION OF ELEEMOSYNARY INSTITUTIONS FROM THE ROBINSON-PATMAN ACT

APRIL 19, 1938.-Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be printed

Mr. WALTER, from the Committee on the Judiciary, submitted the following

REPORT

[To accompany H. R. 8148]

The Committee on the Judiciary, to whom was referred the bill H. R. 8148, to amend Public Law No. 692, Seventy-fourth Congress, second session, after consideration, report the same favorably to the House with an amendment with the recommendation that as so amended the bill do pass.

The committee amendment is as follows: "Strike out all of line 9." The reported bill provides that the Robinson-Patman Act shall not apply to purchases of their supplies for their own use by schools, colleges, universities, public libraries, churches, hospitals, and charitable institutions not operated for profit.

The Robinson-Patman Act prohibits price discriminations between purchasers in interstate commerce, excepting differentials which make only due allowance for differences in the cost of manufacture, sale, or delivery resulting from the different methods or quantities in which such commodities are sold and delivered, where the effect of such discrimination may be substantially to lessen competition or tend to create a monopoly in any line of commerce, or to injure, destroy, or prevent competition.

The committee does not feel that the wholesome purpose of the Robinson-Patman Act will be interfered with by the enactment of this bill to make certain that favors in price which are occasionally extended to eleemosynary institutions, because of the character of the institution, do not fall under the ban of the act.

In this connection there follows a self-explanatory communication from the president of the Hospital Bureau of Standards and Supplies,