75TH CONGRESS 3d Session HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES { REPORT No. 2301 AUTHORIZING ADDITIONS TO THE SEQUOIA NATIONAL FOREST, CALIF., THROUGH EXCHANGES UNDER THE ACT OF MARCH 20 1922, OR BY PROCLAMATION OR EXECUTIVE ORDER MAY 6, 1938.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union and ordered to be printed. Mr. ELLIOTT, from the Committee on the Public Lands, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany H. R. 9428] The Committee on the Public Lands, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 9428) to authorize additions to the Sequoia National Forest, Calif., through exchanges under the act of March 20, 1922, or by proclamation or Executive order, report favorably thereon with the recommendation that the bill do pass the House. The reports of the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture are herein set forth in full and made a part of this report. Hon. RENÉ L. DEROUEN, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, Chairman, Committee on the Public Lands, House of Representatives. MY DEAR MR. DEROUEN: I have received your request for a report on H. R. 9428, to authorize additions to the Sequoia National Forest, Calif., through exchanges under the act of March 20, 1922, or by a proclamation or Executive order. The bill would extend the provisions of the national-forest-consolidation law of March 20, 1922 (42 Stat. 465), and the amendatory act of February 28, 1925 (43 Stat. 1090), over the therein-described lands and would authorize the addition to the national forest by a proclamation or an Executive order of any of such lands which are owned by the United States. The lands described were shown by the plat of a survey approved February 2, 1884, to be public lands adjoining the Tule River Indian Reservation, and were disposed of under the public-land laws. By a survey accepted March 12, 1927, however, the greater part of the land involved was determined to be within the outer boundaries of the Indian reservation, but in view of its status it was excluded therefrom by an act approved May 17, 1928 (45 Stat. 600). So far as the records of this Department show, the lands are still in private ownership with the exception of the SW4SW4 sec. 7, WNWSW sec. 17, ENE, SWNE1⁄4, SE1⁄4NW4 sec. 18, which were reconveyed to the United States in an exchange for timber under the above-mentioned act of March 20, 1922, as amended, and the title accepted on August 17, 1937. The lands described in the bill are not now within the national forest which embraces all other lands in the township outside the Indian reservation. In view of their status no objection will be interposed by this Department to the addition of the lands to the national forest in the manner proposed. In response to a request from this Department, the Bureau of the Budget advises that it has no objection to the presentation of this report. Sincerely yours, Hon. RENÉ L. DEROUEN, Chairman, Committee on the Public Lands, House of Representatives. DEAR MR. DEROUEN: Acknowledgment is made of your request of April 7 for a report on H. R. 9428, a bill to authorize additions to the Sequoia National Forest, Calif., through exchanges under the act of March 20, 1922, or by proclamation or Executive order. The proposed legislation would extend the provisions of the act of March 20, 1922 (42 Stat. 465), over lands specifically described in the bill and would authorize the President, by Executive order or proclamation, to give a national-forest status to lands within the proposed addition now owned by the United States. The described lands, comprising approximately 1,560 acres, were formerly included in the Tule Indian Reservation but were excluded by the act of May 17, 1925 (45 Stat. 600), as it was found on final survey that they were all privately owned. Their exclusion from the reservation leaves them as an isolated island of privately owned lands surrounded by the Indian reservation on one side, and the national forest on the other; contrary to the original intention that the boundaries of the rescrvation and the forest be coincident to T. 21 S., R. 31 E., Mount Diablo meridian, California. Enactment of the bill would make it possible, through the provision of the exchange legislation, to extend the forest boundary to include those privately owned lands, making the Indian reservation and the national-forest boundaries coterminous. Within the described area are 320 acres which through the consummation of land exchange on August 17, 1937, became public lands and would, by enactment of this bill, be given a national-forest status. The described lands are of such character and so situated that their inclusion within the national-forest boundary is wholly desirable. They are chiefly valuable for forest purposes and contain some valuable big tree groves which, to insure their preservation, should be acquired either through exchange or purchase. It is very desirable that those few remaining virgin stands of big trees be preserved. Inclusion within the forest boundaries of the lands proposed for addition would facilitate rather than complicate administration. They are integrally related to the Sequoia National Forest and could be administered as a part thereof, with very little increased administrative cost. For those reasons it is recommended that the legislation proposed by bill H. R. 9428 be enacted. This matter was referred to the Bureau of the Budget, as required by Budget Circular 344, and the Acting Director thereof advised the Department of Agriculture, under date of April 27, 1938, that there would be no objection on the part of the office to the submission of the foregoing report to Congress. Sincerely. O H. A. WALLACE, Secretary. 75TH CONGRESS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 3d Session } REPORT No. 2302 CONFIRMING TITLE TO CERTAIN RAILROAD GRANT LANDS LOCATED IN THE COUNTY OF KERN, STATE OF CALIFORNIA MAY 6, 1938.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union and ordered to be printed Mr. ELLIOTT, from the Committee on the Public Lands, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany H. R. 9700] The Committee on the Public Lands, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 9700) to confirm title to certain railroad grant lands located in the county of Kern, State of California, report favorably thereon with the recommendation that the bill do pass the House with the following amendment: Page 2, line 23, after the period insert the following: Provided, That there shall be reserved to the United States all oil, coal, or other minerals in the land, and the right to prospect for, mine, and remove the same under such rules and regulations as the Secretary of the Interior may prescribe. The report of the Secretary of the Interior concerning this bill is herein set forth in full and made a part of this report: Hon. RENÉ L. DEROUEN, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, Chairman, Committee on the Public Lands, House of Representatives. MY DEAR MR. DEROUEN: I have received your letter of March 3, requesting a report on H. R. 9700, a bill to confirm title in the Summit Lime Co. to a portion of the right-of-way of the Southern Pacific Rail oad Co. acquired under section 18 of the act of July 27, 1866 (14 Stat. 292), in the E2 sec. 21, T. 32 S., R. 33 E., M. D. M., Kern County, California. According to the bill, the Southern Pacific Railroad Co. issued a quitclaim deed on December 21, 1937, to the Summit Lime Co. covering the tract involved, having an area of 0.298 of an acre and lying 50 feet north of the center line of the eastward track of the railroad. As provided by section 7 of the said act of July 27, 1866, the right-of-way is 100 feet in width on each side of the line of railroad. The grant became effective on the date of the act. Railroad Company v. Baldwin, 103 U. S. 426. The records of the Department indicate that the right-of-way passes through said sec. 21 in approximately an easterly-westerly direction close to the center of the section. H. Repts., 75-3, vol. 265 The Southern Pacific Railroad Co. has a limited fee in and to the lands embraced in the right-of-way. However, it cannot alienate any portion of the right-of-way and the title thereto may not be acquired under the State statutes of limitation. Northern Pacific Railroad Co. v. Townsend, 190 U. S. 267; Central Pacific Railway Co. v. Droge, 151 Pac. 663. Also said section 21 was patented to the Central Pacific Railway Co. on December 1, 1891, patent No. 19, pursuant to the land grant by section 18 of the said act of July 27, 1866. The company's title to said section 21, by virtue of the land grant, is subject to the burden of the right-of-way grant. The two grants did not merge as to the land in said section 21 to which they both attached. Holland Co. v. Northern Pacific Railway Co., 214 Fed. 920. The company has no interest in nor title to the mineral contents of the land in the right-of-way grant, such minerals remaining the property of the United States. Birch and Birch, 53 I. D. 340, 344. In order to retain such title in the United States, I recommend that the following proviso be added to the bill: "Provided, That there shall be reserved to the United States all oil, coal, or other minerals in the land, and the right to prospect for, mine, and remove the same under such rules and regulations as the Secretary of the Interior may prescribe." If the bill be amended as suggested, I have no objection to its enactment. The Bureau of the Budget advised that it had no objection to the presentation of this report. Sincerely yours, 75TH CONGRESS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 3d Session { REPORT No. 2305 AMENDING SECTION 3336 OF THE REVISED STATUTES, AS AMENDED, PERTAINING TO BREWERS' BONDS MAY 6, 1938.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union and ordered to be printed Mr. DOUGHTON, from the Committee on Ways and Means, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany H. R. 8665] The Committee on Ways and Means, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 8665) to amend section 3336 of the Revised Statutes, as amended, pertaining to brewers' bonds, and for other purposes, having considered the same, report thereon with an amendment and as so amended recommend that the bill do pass. The amendment is as follows: Page 1, line 4, after the word "edition", insert "Supp. III,”. GENERAL STATEMENT The question of brewers' bond has been one which has been giving trouble not only to brewers but also to the Treasury Department. Under the law, prior to 1936, the Treasury Department required surety bonds up to $100,000. For bonds above this amount, the brewer's personal bond was taken without surety. When the 1936 amendatory act was under consideration, the law was changed reducing the requirement that the bond be in a ratio of 3 to 1 for the tax paid, and leaving the matter entirely in the hands of the Treasury Department. The Treasury Department, since the 1936 amendment, has not issued a new regulation to give brewers the benefit of a reduction in the ratio of the bonds to the barrelage tax, for the reason that they have felt that in order to do this they would have to require surety bonds for all amounts, which would involve an additional tremendous cost to large breweries. Your committee and the Treasury Department are of the opinion that a $100,000 bond ceiling is ample to guarantee the Government the payment of the required tax, especially since the brewery property is pledged as a lien to protect the Government against tax defalcations. |