No interest problem could arise if the total amount of the awards equaled or exceeded the $100,000,000 limitation fixed by the act. that the awards will be less than the maximum and will be certified by the arbiter It is probable, however. to the Secretary of the Treasury by September or October of this year. these circumstances only a portion of the awards could be paid from the existing Under appropriation and the remainder would have to await action by Congress, drawing 5 per cent interest in the meantime. Should these additional amounts total as much as $40,000,000, interest would accrue thereon at the rate of approximately $160,000 per month, and it is possible that $1,000,000 or more in interest might accrue before Congress could act. Your committee considers this resolution an emergency matter, effecting economy in government, and unanimously recommends its adoption. О MAY 26 (calendar day, MAY 27), 1930.-Ordered to be printed Mr. CAPPER, from the Committee on the District of Columbia, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany S. 3344] The Committee on the District of Columbia, to whom was referred the bill (S. 3344) supplementing the national prohibition act for the District of Columbia, having considered the same, reports favorably thereon, with the recommendation that the bill do pass, with the following amendments: On page 2, line 5, before the word "public", strike out the word "or", and in the same line, after the word "public", strike out the words "or private". On page 2, line 10, strike out the word "or" at the end of the line, and in line 11, after the word "public", strike out the words "or private". On page 6, line 1, after the word "thereto", strike out the word "or" and insert "for purpose of sale, or is unlawfully". On page 6, line 12, beginning with the word "under", strike out the language down to and including the word "warrant" in line 14. On page 6, line 15, strike out the words "such liquor" and insert, in lieu thereof, the word "it". On page 7, line 10, after the word "court", strike out the period and insert a colon and the following: And provided further, That in the event that the court should order a sale of the vehicle, and it shall sell for a sum less than the value thereof, as such value was estimated in fixing the penalty of the bond, the owner will pay the difference between such value and the proceeds of such sale, plus any lien against the vehicle, together with the expense and cost of the sale. If the vehicle so released on bond is not surrendered to the custody of the court at the hearing or trial for the forfeiture thereof, the bond shall be declared forfeited and the court shall thereupon issue an order directed to the principal and sureties therein to show cause why a judgment should not be entered against them for the penalty therein specified. PURPOSE OF THE BILL The object of this bill is to provide a more effective means than the law now provides for enforcement of the national prohibition act and other Federal laws in the District of Columbia. It is intended to enlarge the powers of the District Commissioners and of the Metropolitan police department in enforcing the Federal laws. Necessity for this legislation has been recognized by the President and by the Attorney General of the United States. At public hearings held by the committee, representatives of the police department in charge of prohibition enforcement activities also stressed the need for additional legislation of this character to cope with the manufacturers and vendors of illicit liquor in the District. The bill would reenact suitable portions of the Sheppard law, which was the District's prohibition act prior to the passage of the national prohibition act. There is doubt as to what parts of the Sheppard law were impliedly repealed by the national act. The bill under consideration would dissipate such doubt by incorporating in the bill some of the Sheppard law's provisions and repealing the remainder of that law. CONTENTS OF THE BILL The bill is divided into 16 sections. Sections 1 and 2 are formal, the first containing definitions, the second defining in general the scope and intent of the proposed legislation. Section 3 reenacts a section of the Sheppard law prohibiting drinkng and drunkeness in public, and providing penalties therefor. The committee has amended this section to cause it to be applicable only to offenses committed in public. Section 4 defines the offense of driving vehicles, not including automobiles, while intoxicated, and provides penalties therefor. Automobiles are excluded because of adequate provision for punishment of driving while intoxicated in the traffic act of the District. Most of the language of this section is taken from the Sheppard law. In section 5, also redrawn from the Sheppard law, it is stated that anyone who "knowingly permits any building owned or leased by him or under his control," or any part of such building, to be used for maintaining a common nuisance as defined by the national prohibition act, without attempting to eject to lawbreaker, shall be deemed guilty of maintaining a nuisance and be subject to the penalty provided in the national act therefor. Section 6 clarifies and defines the authority of the District Commissioners and the Metropolitan police in investigating and reporting violations of the prohibitory laws. This legislation is considered most necessary for the District, as only a very few members of the police department now have the status of Federal agents in enforcing the national prohibition act. The section also provides penalties to be imposed upon officers who fail to report knowledge of offenses to the United States Attorney or the corporation counsel. Sections 7 and 8 require the United States Attorney and the corporation counsel to prosecute diligently cases arising under the various sections of the proposed legislation. The corporation counsel will have jurisdiction over offenses outlined in sections 3 and 4. Section 9 is based upon section 25, Title II, of the national act, and makes it unlawful to possess, in the District, liquor or property used or intended for use in violating the prohibitory laws. The section also declares no property right to exist in such liquor or property which, if found to be unlawfully held or possessed, shall be destroyed "unless the court shall otherwise order.' Section 10 gives police court judges authority to issue warrants for the arrest of persons charged with offenses against the prohibitory laws and, under certain limitations, search warrants. The latter, the bill provides, may be directed to any Federal agent or District policeman charged with enforcement of the national act. It is provided that search warrants to search any private dwelling may issue if the dwelling is being used for the sale of liquor, if a still or distilling apparatus is set up or used therein, or if liquor is unlawfully delivered thereto for purpose of sale or is unlawfully removed therefrom. The section also contains provision that property seized under a search warrant issued under this proposed legislation shall not be recoverable by writ of replevin or similar process, but shall be subject to such disposition as the court may order. No liquor is to be returned after seizure, it is provided, unless the court be satisfied that the claimant lawfully acquired, possessed, and used the same. Section 11 gives Federal prohibition agents and District police authority to seize any vehicle used in the District to transport or assist in transporting liquor illegally, and to confiscate liquor found in such vehicles. The discovery of liquor in any vehicle, it is provided, shall be prima facie evidence of illegal transportation or possession. The section further defines the procedure for recovery of the vehicle so seized under bond. The committee has added clause to protect the court and any lienors from loss if, at a sale ordered by the court, the vehicle should fail to be sold for the total amount of the bond. In such case, the owner of the vehicle would be compelled to pay the difference. Section 12 would permit the court the choice of selling a seized vehicle, or of turning over to the commissioners or the Treasury Department that vehicle, for use in enforcement of the prohibitory laws. The section also contains provisions for the payment of liens on forfeited vehicles, for an annual accounting to Congress of vehicles acquired for official use under the section, and for the disposition of vehicles no longer needed for such official use. Section 13 extends to all officers engaged in the performance of duties under this proposed legislation the power and protection afforded by section 28, Title II, of the national act. Section 14 prescribes penalties for selling liquor to minors; delivering or furnishing (not selling) liquor to minors, and for the second violation of the national act by any District physician or pharmacist. In the last-named case, any such physician or pharmacist, on second conviction, would be deprived of his license to practice for one year. Section 15 provides authorization for an appropriation of $2,000 for the use of the District Commissioners as a rotating fund, to be used in obtaining evidence of violations of the prohibitory laws. The method of disbursement and a plan of accounting are specified in the section. Section 16 repeals the Sheppard Act. LETTER OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL There is appended hereto, as part of the report on this bill, a letter from the Attorney General of the United States, suggesting the advisability and necessity of this legislation for the District. Hon. ARTHUR CAPPER, DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, Chairman Senate Committee for the District of Columbia, MY DEAR SENATOR CAPPER: Under date of November 8 I acknowledged receipt of your letter of October 30, in which you suggested the need of some legislation to aid in administering justice in the District of Columbia and stated that the Senate District Committee are anxious to improve law enforcement in the capital of the Nation and would welcome any suggestions that I care to make. I have the honor herewith to submit some suggestions on this subject. They are limited to matters with which the Department of Justice deals and I have refrained from making any reference to matters which would normally be covered by legislation nation-wide in its application. It may be that some of these suggestions are not within the province of your committee, but that. of course, is for you to determine. We 1. I inclose for your consideration a draft of a bill for an act supplemental to the national prohibition act for the District of Columbia, together with an explanatory memorandum prepared in this department. The basis for this draft is a bill submitted November 21 to this department by Senator Howell, of Nebraska, the inclosed draft being a revision of Senator Howell's bill. used Senator Howell's bill as a basis in order that those interested in this matter might work along the same lines and avoid confusion. Many things in this bill are more in the nature of clarifications of existing law than new legislation. It enlarges and more sharply defines the duties and powers of the District Commissioners and the police of the District in the matters of prohibition enforcement, and in that respect it responds to the suggestion of the President in his recent message to the Congress. 2. I recommend legislation to provide at once two additional judges for the Supreme Court of the District. I am inclosing for your information documents containing a mass of statistical information respecting the business of the court, together with reports from its chief justice and the United States attorney. There is no room for difference of opinion as to the need for at least one additional judge. I am satisfied that two additional judges should now be provided and that the only question about the second additional judge is whether he may be needed after the lapse of three or four years. If it be deemed advisable to anticipate that event, the legislation might provide that the first vacancy occurring after the expiration of four years shall not be filled unless it be in the office of chief justice to be filled by then advancing an associate. There is a very serious congestion of cases in that court. Criminal cases where the accused are in jail without bond are kept fairly current, being given preference. The calendar of cases where the defendants are able to give bail is many months behind. Delay in the trial of criminal cases means lax law enforcement. Witnesses move away, die, or disappear, acquittals result, cases have to be nolle prossed. guilty defendants thus escape punishment, and the whole machinery of law enforcement slows down, and we lose the deterrent effect of speedy trial and punishment. A similar condition exists in the District respecting padlock injunction cases under the national prohibition act, which should be effective weapons in the enforcement of that statute. There are a large number of those pending in the District, and it takes from one to one and one-half years to secure a trial in such a case after it is instituted. The prompt trial and disposition of such cases would tend to deter proprietors and tenants of real estate from allowing the use of their property for the violation of the national prohibition |