RELOCATION OF THE GEN. JOHN A. RAWLINS STATUE JANUARY 15, 1931.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union and ordered to be printed Mr. LUCE, from the Committee on the Library, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany H. R. 15931] The statue of Gen. John A. Rawlins is now located at Eighth Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW., on the site of the proposed new archives building. The contract for the clearing of this site was awarded November 30, 1930, and requires the completion of the work within 90 calendar days. A number of interested citizens have urged the relocation of the statue in Rawlins Park, immediately south of the Interior Department Building on E Street between Eighteenth and Nineteenth Streets NW. The Department of the Potomac, G. A. R., and the Fine Arts Commission approve the new site. Your Committee on the Library recommends the passage of H. R. 15931. HR-71-3-VOL 1- -39 O AMENDMENT OF ACT PROVIDING FOR MEMORIAL TO THEODORE ROOSEVELT FOR LEADERSHIP IN THE CAUSE OF FOREST CONSERVATION JANUARY 15, 1931.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union and ordered to be printed Mr. LUCE, from the Committee on the Library, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany H. R. 16078] The Committee on the Library recommends the passage of H. R. 16078, with the following amendment: Page 1, line 8, correct "betwen" to read "between". This bill is to amend a law enacted in the present Congress as Public No. 296, authorizing the construction of a memorial archway across the Theodore Roosevelt International Highway on the Continental Divide, in Montana, commemorating Roosevelt's great service of leadership in the conservation of the forest resources of the Nation. That act specified an archway and also that it should be constructed during the year 1930. It also required approval of the design by the Commission of Fine Arts. After much consideration, the Commission of Fine Arts has taken action recommending that the memorial be in some form other than an archway, for reasons set forth in the letter from the chairman of that commission made a part of this report. The purpose of the present bill is to amend the act by removing the requirement that the memorial take the form of an archway and make it possible to erect it in some other form which will have the approval of the Commission of Fine Arts. Since the delay in constructing the memorial during 1930 was entirely due to the refusal of the Commission of Fine Arts to approve designs offered by the architects selected by the commission for the archway idea, the committee recommends an amendment which will allow the construction in the future. The appropriation under the present act has been made and will only need to be continued. Hon. SCOTT LEAVITT, COMMISSION OF FINE ARTS, Washington, D. C., January 9, 1931 House of Representatives, Washington, D. C. MY DEAR MR. LEAVITT: The Commission of Fine Arts have been giving serious thought to the question of the erection of a Roosevelt Memorial Arch at Marias Pass on the Continental Divide, in Montana, as authorized by law. After studying the situation, as shown by photographs, and after examining the sketches made by Messrs. Kimball Steele, and Sandham, architects, of Omaha, the commission unanimously disapproved the erection of an arch for the reason that the scale of the landscape is so vast that any arch would be insignificant. The commission have consulted Hon. Robert Luce, chairman of the House Committee on the Library. Mr. Luce is interested in this memorial but says he does not favor an increase in the amount of the appropriation and would hesitate to ask Congress for more money than has been authorized. The commission therefore recommend that the authorization act be changed to allow the erection of a memorial other than an arch. This would allow time for the architects and the Forest Service in cooperation with the Commission of Fine Arts to consider the question of type of memorial. The commission have thought that an appropriate design for the memorial would be two columns, one on each side of the roadway, backed by suitable planting. Further time should be given to the consideration with you of the exact type of the memorial. Very respectfully yours, CHARLES MOORE, Chairman. The changes in the present law are shown in the following, the deleted portions being placed within brackets and the new wording being printed in italics: That the Secretary of Agriculture is authorized and directed to erect a suitable [archway spanning the Theodore Roosevelt International Highway] memorial on the continental divide at the summit of the Rocky Mountains on the boundary between the Lewis and Clark National Forest and the Flathead National Forest in Montana and along the Theodore Roosevelt International Highway in commemoration of the leadership of Theodore Roosevelt in preserving the forest resources of the United States: Provided, [That said archway shall be erected during the year 1930, which is the twenty-fifth anniversary year of the forming of the present Forest Service: Provided further,] That there is hereby authorized to be appropriated, out of any funds in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, the sum of $25,000 for the purposes of this act. [SEC. 2.] That the plan and design of such [archway] memorial shall be subject to the approval of the National Commission of Fine Arts. [SEC. 3.] The Secretary of Agriculture is authorized to do all things necessary to accomplish said purpose, by contract or otherwise, with or without advertising, under such conditions as he may prescribe, including the engagement, by contract, of services of such architects, sculptors, artists, or firms or partnerships thereof, and other technical and professional personnel as he may deem necessary without regard to civil-service requirements and restrictions of law governing the employment and compensation of employees of the United States, and to spend in accordance with the provisions of this act such sum of money as may be placed in his hands as a contribution additional to the funds appropriated by Congress. O |