SENATE

71ST CONGRESS 2d Session

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REPORT No. 500

AMENDING SECTION 39 OF TITLE 39 OF THE UNITED STATES CODE

APRIL 21 (calendar day, APRIL 22), 1930.-Ordered to be printed

Mr. FRAZIER, from the Committee on Post Offices and Post Roads, submitted the following

REPORT

[To accompany S. 3044)

The Committee on Post Offices and Post Roads having considered the bill (S. 3044) to amend section 39 of title 39 of the United States Code, report favorably thereon with two amendments and recommend that as amended the bill do pass.

On page 1, line 9, after the word "class" strike out the semicolon and insert a comma and the following: "and by the Postmaster General when the office is in the fourth class;". This is simply to correct an omission in quoting the present law.

On page 2, line 14, strike out the period, insert a comma and the following: "which period in the continental United States shall not exceed thirty days." This amendment provides a reasonable limitation during which compensation shall be paid to acting postmasters whose bonds have not yet been approved.

The reasons for the proposed legislation are contained in a letter from the Post Office Department dated January 14, 1930, and reading as follows:

Acknowledging the letter from your committee of January 10 inclosing a printed copy of S. 3044, a bill to amend section 39 of title 39 of the United States Code, this proposed legislation embodies an amendment to existing law that will correct the untenable position of the United States denying compensation to a person performing the duties of postmaster in an emergency due to death, resignation, or removal of a postmaster, and of having to designate an acting postmaster without proper authority under the law to draw the salary of the position. It is believed to be most desirable and I would urge that it be enacted into law.

The committee also informally discussed the bill with the Postmaster General, who expressed no objection to the proposed amendment and who urged favorable action, in order that those who render faithful service as acting postmasters shall receive compensation in all cases.

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APRIL 21 (calendar day, APRIL 22), 1930.-Ordered to be printed

Mr. PHIPPS, from the Committee on Post Offices and Post Roads, submitted the following

REPORT

[To accompany H. R. 7395]

The Committee on Post Offices and Post Roads, having had under consideration the bill (H. R. 7395) to extend to Government postal cards the provision for defacing the stamps on Government-stamped envelopes by mailers, reports the same back to the Senate with the recommendation that it do pass.

This proposed legislation is recommended by the Postmaster General in his annual report for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1929, in which he states as follows:

The act of February 20, 1925 (39 U. S. C. 369), authorized users of Governmentstamped envelopes to deface the postage stamps thereon under certain conditions. In such cases the Postal Service is relieved from the time and expense involved in canceling the stamps on the envelopes at the time of mailing and therefore where large quantities of mail are presented the handling and dispatch of such mail is materially facilitated and expedited. For this reason it would materially benefit the Postal Service if the same facilities were extended to Government postal cards.

Hearings were held on this measure by a subcommittee of the House Committee on Post Offices and Post Roads. At that time representatives of the department called attention to the fact that authorized users of stamped envelopes are permitted to deface the postage stamps thereon under existing regulations. This has benefited the service in the saving of expense. It is believed that the extension of the privilege to cover post cards would not only facilitate the handling of this class of mail matter but also save considerable expense to the Post Office Department.

APRIL 21 (calendar day, APRIL 22), 1930.-Ordered to be printed

Mr. PHIPPS, from the Committee on Post Offices and Post Roads, submitted the following

REPORT

[To accompany H. R. 8650]

The Committee on Post Offices and Post Roads, having had under consideration the bill (H. R. 8650) to authorize the Postmaster General to charge for services rendered in disposing of undelivered mail in those cases where it is considered proper for the Postal Service to dispose of such mail by sale or to dispose of collect-on-delivery mail without collection of the collect-on-delivery charges or for a greater or less amount than stated when mailed, reports the same, with the recommendation that the bill do pass.

This proposed legislation is recommended by the Postmaster General in his annual report for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1929, in which he states:

Perishable matter is frequently sent as insured or collect-on-delivery mail, and frequently its inherent nature is such that its return to the senders is not desired, in which event, when the senders so request, it is treated as "abandoned." In some instances such matter is destroyed; in others it is sold. The proceeds of the sale of such "abandoned" mail become the property of the Postal Service. In certain cases postmasters are authorized to sell the contents of mail which is not abandoned; in other cases in which postmasters have not the authority from the department and the senders do not care to abandon the mail, senders request postmasters to sell and remit the proceeds. In either event postmasters act directly or indirectly as the agent of the senders. In those cases where sale is consummated it is believed that a charge should be made for the sale and remittance of proceeds, and if authority were given for a charge or commission in such cases authority might be given for the similar disposition of other perishable mail where the sender so requests for which permission is not now given. Cases also arise where the charges on C. O. D. mail are either canceled or changed to a greater or less amount than that which was stated on the matter when it was mailed, requiring additional services on the part of the postmasters at both offices of mailing and address without additional compensation therefor. These changes are not due to fault of the Postal Service. It is believed that a charge should be made for such services performed which were not contemplated at the time the C. O. D. articles involved were mailed.

Your committee is of the opinion that authority should be given for the sale of undeliverable parcels containing perishable matter, and after such sale to remit proceeds with a proper fee deducted. There is no just reason why the Post Office Department should bear the expense of this necessary action without compensation. It is believed that the imposition of a proper fee will have a remedial effect and will produce some additional revenue for the Postal Service. It is provided that reasonable fees for services in effecting delivery of collect-on-delivery mail upon terms differing from those stipulated at the time of mailing may be established by the Postmaster General. The committee urges the enactment of this measure.

APRIL 21 (calendar day, APRIL 23), 1930.-Ordered to be printed

Mr. CAPPER, from the Committee on Agriculture and Forestry, submitted the following

REPORT

[To accompany S. 3950]

The Committee on Agriculture and Forestry, to whom was referred the bill (S. 3950) authorizing the establishment of a migratory-bird refuge in the Cheyenne Bottoms, Barton County, Kans., having fully considered the same, report favorably thereon with a recommendation that the bill do pass.

This measure would authorize an appropriation of $300,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1932, for the purchase of approximately 20,000 acres of land in what is known as Cheyenne Bottoms, Barton County, Kans., to be used as a migratory-bird refuge in accordance with the provisions of the migratory bird conservation act of February 18, 1929 (45 Stat. 1222).

Establishment and maintenance of such a migratory-bird refuge at Cheyenne Bottoms, to take care of the Great Plains flight of wild fowl and to provide a breeding place for these wild fowl, have the approval of the Bureau of Biological Survey, Department of Agriculture, and the indorsement of the Department of Agriculture, as evidenced by the inclosed letter from Arthur M. Hyde, Secretary of Agriculture.

The Izaak Walton League, the American Game Protective Association, and sportsmen generally are in favor of the establishment of the migratory-bird refuge at Cheyenne Bottoms, and their approval is on record in the hearings held before the committees in the Senate and the House of Representatives.

Cheyenne Bottoms, as explained more fully in Secretary Hyde's letter, attached, is a basinlike depression just east of a line drawn through Great Bend and Hoisington, Kans. It provides an ideal stopping place and feeding ground for the Great Plains flight from Alaska, Canada, to the Gulf of Mexico, when there is sufficient water collected in this basin to make a sizable lake.