cooperation spent about $1,000 for fire prevention and suppression, or about $5,500 per year. The purpose of the bill is to permit the extension to the Territories of the United States of a reasonable degree of Federal cooperation in the development of adequate principles and methods for the protection of forests against damage or destruction by fire, such as is now enjoyed by the great majority of the States of the Union. The initiation of direct Federal cooperation in this work would assist and stimulate the work of the Territorial agencies and of the private owners of forest land, and the annual cost to the United States would not be large. The passage of this bill will extend the benefits of sections 1 and 2 also to the Territory. These sections provide cooperation by the Federal Government in conducting the preliminary investigations and in the forest-fire prevention and suppression. The representative for the department at the hearings testified this would ultimately cost about $1,250 per year. The Department of Agriculture approves of the legislation, as indicated by the following letter: Hon. GILBERT N. HAUGEN, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, Chairman Committee on Agriculture, House of Representatives. DEAR MR. HAUGEN: Reference is made to your letter of April 5, inclosing copy of House Joint Resolution 284, authorizing the Secretary of Agriculture to cooperate with the Territories of the United States under the provisions of sections 1 and 2 of the act of Congress entitled "An act to provide for the protection of forest lands, for the reforestation of denuded areas, for the extension of national forests, and for other purposes, in order to promote the continuous production of timber on lands chiefly suitable therefor," and asking for a report thereon: In substance, this proposed legislation would extend to the Territories sections 1 and 2 of the act of June 7, 1924 (secs. 563 and 564, title 16, U. S. Code), which sections are now applicable to the States only, and which provide for the following activities: Section 1. Federal cooperation with the States in determining their problem of protecting forest lands in private and State ownership from fire. Section 2. When conditions are found to be such as to warrant the initiation of cooperative projects, this section of the law enables the Federal Government to reimburse the States in an amount not to exceed the sums which they themselves expend in the work of prevention, detection, and control of forest fires. Such Federal expenditures as might later be made in the Territories would be paid out of the regular Federal appropriations as now made under the act. The department believes that the same cooperation should be offered to the Territories as is given to the States and therefore recommends the favorable consideration of House Joint Resolution 284. Sincerely yours, ARTHUR M. HYDE, Secretary. O PROVIDE FOR THE ADVANCE PLANNING AND REGULATED CONSTRUCTION OF PUBLIC WORKS, FOR THE STABILIZATION OF INDUSTRY, AND FOR AIDING IN THE PREVENTION OF UNEMPLOYMENT DURING PERIODS OF BUSINESS DEPRESSION JANUARY 27, 1931.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union and ordered to be printed. Mr. GRAHAM, from the Committee on the Judiciary, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany S. 5776] The Committee on the Judiciary, to whom was referred the bill S. 5776, after consideration, reports the same favorably with amendments and recommends that the bill as amended do pass. The committee amendments are as follows: Page 1, line 4, insert "1931" in lieu of "1930". Page 2, line 23, insert after the word "Office" the word "of". Page 4, line 7, after the words "assigned to" add the words "it by". Page 7, line 16, strike out the word "estimate" and insert in lieu thereof the word "estimates". Senate bill 5776, which passed the Senate on January 21, 1931, and which has been referred to this committee, is the same as H. R. 16384 which was reported to the House on January 22, 1931 (H. Rept. No. 2334), with the exception of a few typographical errors and corrections that are necessary to the perfection of the bill. With these Amendments your committee reports back to the House S. 5776 with the recommendation that it be passed. O ESTABLISHMENT OF A TERM OF THE DISTRICT COURT FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA AT ORLANDO AND TO ABOLISH THE TERMS OF COURT AT OCALA AND FERNANDINA, FLA. JANUARY 27, 1931.-Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be printed Mr. GRAHAM, from the Committee on the Judiciary, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany H. R. 7118] The Committee on the Judiciary, to whom was referred the bill H. R. 7118, after consideration, reports the same favorably with amendments and recommends that the bill as amended do pass. The committee amendments are as follows: Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert in lieu thereof the following: That section 76 of the Judicial Code (U. S. C., title 28, sec. 149) be, and the same is hereby, amended to read as follows: "The State of Florida is divided into two districts, to be known as the northern and southern districts of Florida. The southern district shall include the territory embraced on the 1st day of July, 1910, in the counties of Baker, Bradford, Brevard, Citrus, Clay, Columbia, Dade, De Soto, Duval, Hamilton, Hernando, Hillsboro, Lake, Lee, Madison, Manatee, Marion, Monroe, Nassau, Orange, Osceola, Palm Beach, Pasco, Polk, Putnam, Saint John, Sumter, Suwanee, Saint Lucie, and Volusia. Terms of the district court for the Southern District shall be held at Tampa on the second Monday in February; at Key West on the first Mondays in May and November; at Jacksonville on the first Monday in December; at Miami on the fourth Monday in April; and at Orlando on the first Monday in October; Provided, That suitable rooms and accommodations for holding court at Orlando are furnished without expense to the United States. The district court for the southern district shall be open at all times for the purpose of hearing and deciding causes of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction. The northern district shall include the territory embraced on the 1st day of July, 1910, in the counties of Alachua, Calhoun, Escambia, Franklin, Gadsden, Holmes, Jackson, Jefferson, Lafayette, Leon, Levy, Liberty, Santa Rosa, Taylor, Wakulla, Walton, and Washington. Terms of the district court for the northern district shall be held at Tallahassee on the second Monday in January; at Pensacola on the first Mondays in May and November; at Marianna on the first Monday in April; and at Gainesville on the second Mondays in June and December." HR-71-3-VOL 1-59 Amend the title so as to read: A bill to amend section 76 of the Judicial Code by providing for the establishment of a term of the District Court of the United States for the Southern District of Florida at Orlando and to abolish the terms of court at Ocala and Fernandina, Fla. The purpose of this bill is to provide for a term of the United States District Court in the Southern Judicial District of the State of Florida to be held at Orlando on the first Monday in October and providing that suitable rooms and accommodations for holding said court at Orlando are furnished free of expense to the United States. The bill further provides that the terms of court now held at Ocala on the third Monday in January and at Fernandina on the first Monday in April shall be abolished. This bill as amended has the approval of the Attorney General as well as District Judges Akerman and Ritter of the southern district and it also has the approval of Mr. Hughes, United States attorney for this district. There is attached hereto and made a part of this report a communication, dated January 20, 1931, from the Attorney General, addressed to Hon. George S. Graham, chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives, together with office memorandum. Hon. GEORGE S. GRAHAM, DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, Washington, D. C., January 20, 1931. Chairman Committee on the Judiciary, House of Representatives, Washington, D. C. DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: Replying further to your letter of January 19 referring H. R. 7118, providing for the establishment of a term of court at Örlando, Fla., to this department for consideration and recommendation, I have the honor to inclose herewith a copy of an office memorandum of January 20, and to state that, amended as suggested therein, I have no objection to the enactment of the measure. Respectfully, WILLIAM D. MITCHELL, Attorney General. JANUARY 20, 1931. Memorandum for Mr. Caldwell. Referring to the attached papers in regard to H. R. 7118, a bill for the establishment of a term of court at Orlando, Fla., you are advised that an unfavorable report was made on this bill about a year ago, for the reason that information received from the court officials and from Examiner Zimmerman indicated that there was not sufficient business arising in the vicinity of Orlando to justify the additional expense involved in holding terms of court at Orlando. However, during the past two months we have been making a survey of the judicial districts, asking the court officials, among other things, whether an increase or decrease in the number of places of holding court was necessary. In reply to such inquiry Judge Ackerman states that the terms of court at Fernandina and Ocala should be abolished, and provisions made for holding court at Orlando. Judge Ritter and United States Attorney Hughes concur in this recommendation. The district attorney states that since he has been connected with the office no court has ever been held at Fernandina, and that there is no necessity for holding court there. In the Tampa division the center and source of the largest amount of court business (outside of Tampa) is at Orlando, which is about 100 miles from Tampa. Very few cases originate at Ocala, and there is no need for a term of court there. The Ocala business could well go to Orlando, a distance of about 85 miles. |