CORRECT THE SPELLING OF THE NAME OF THE ISLAND OF PORTO RICO

FEBRUARY 20, 1932.-Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be printed

Mr. DAVILA, from the Committee on Insular Affairs, submitted the following

REPORT

[To accompany H. J. Res. 149]

The Committee on Insular Affairs, to whom was referred the joint resolution (H. J. Res. 149) to correct the spelling of the name of the island of Porto Rico, having considered the same, reports favorably thereon and recommends that the joint resolution do pass.

This legislation is proposed in accordance with the will of the people of Porto Rico, as expressed in a concurrent resolution adopted by the Porto Rican Legislature in April, 1930, a copy of which is embodied in this report.

The legislative resolution stresses the desirability of thus doing justice to the history, language, and traditions of the island, and points out that the word "porto," although of Latin derivation, has not been adopted into the language of the island.

The resolution of the Porto Rican Legislature referred to is as follows:

I, Jose Munoz Rivera, secretary of the Senate of Porto Rico, do hereby certify: That the following concurrent resolution was unanimously approved by the Senate of Porto Rico on April 3, 1930, and by the House of Representatives on April 12:

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION REQUESTING THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA OFFICIALLY TO RESTORE THE TRUE NAME OF THE ISLAND

Whereas in accordance with all historical data relative to the discovery and colonization of our island, the original name, given thereto by its discoverer and consecrated in the royal orders of the colonizing nation, was Isla de San Juan; Whereas the first city founded on Porto Rican soil, and denominated Villa de Caparra, was given the name of Ciudad de Puertorrico;

Whereas subsequently, and by virtue of the transfer of the old Ciudad de Puertorrico to the site now occupied by our capital city, the aforesaid names of San Juan and Puertorrico became the exclusive patrimony of our city and of our island, respectively;

Whereas the history and traditions of our people have since then sustained and consecrated the name of Puerto Rico, given to our island, as its sole name; Whereas immediately following the change of sovereignty which took place in the island, the Congress of the United States of America, without justifying reasons, officially gave the island the name of Porto Rico;

Whereas the aforesaid name of Porto Rico is an impure idiomatic compound partly formed of the foreign word, "porto," which, although of Latin origin, has not yet been adopted into our language, but is here used illegitimately to substitute the word, "puerto," genuinely Spanish, though no license, reasons of diction, or advantages of euphony exist to warrant such substitution;

Whereas there are no reasons either in the history, language, or the traditions of our people, supporting the legitimacy of the foreign term, "porto," which officially forms part of the name of our island: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the Senate of Porto Rico (the House of Representatives concurring): (1) To request the Congress of the United States of America, and the same is hereby requested, officially to restore to our island its true name of Puerto Rico in place of Porto Rico as it is now called because it is considered that full justice will thus be done to our history, our language, and our traditions.

(2) That for the proper purposes, a copy of this resolution be forwarded to the Congress of the United States of America, to the Hon. Herbert Hoover, President, and to our Resident Commissioner, Hon. Felix Cordova Davila.

For transmittal to His Excellency Herbert Hoover, President of the United States of America, as provided in the second paragraph of said resolution, I have hereunto set my hand and caused to be affixed the seal of the Senate of Porto Rico at San Juan, P. R., on this the 6th day of May, A. D. 1930.

PROTECTION OF THE PALO VERDE VALLEY, CALIF.

FEBRUARY 20, 1932.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union and ordered to be printed

Mr. SWING, from the Committee on Irrigation and Reclamation, submitted the following

REPORT

[To accompany H. R. 4715]

The Committee on Irrigation and Reclamation, to whom was. referred the bill (H. R. 4715) having considered the same, report thereon with a recommendation that it do pass with the following amendments: On page 2, line 11, strike out the figures "1932" and insert in lieu thereof the figures "1934", and on page 4, line 1, strike out the figures "22" and insert in lieu thereof the figures "25".

The Palo Verde Valley is located in Riverside and Imperial Counties in southern California some 60 or 70 miles up the Colorado River from Yuma, Ariz. This valley, formed by the alluvium from the Colorado River, averages about 7 to 10 miles wide and about 30 miles long, comprising some 79,000 acres. In 1921, 5,000 people made the Palo Verde Valley their home, farming 40,000 acres of as fertile and productive land as is to be found in the West. In 1922 the levees that had been built by the settlers at great expense and which were supposed to be ample security for the valley were overtoppedbreached-and some 30,000 acres inundated. The river was not in unusually high flood, but it was found that the bed of the river had been gradually rising and that in addition to closing the break it would be necessary to raise the levees. The additional burden for doing this, the damage suffered by the people due to the flood, the discouragement of the settlers in their losing fight against a river which seemed to keep on raising its bed as fast as the settlers raised their levees, resulted in only a part of the farmers returning to their homes. The cost of closing the break and raising the levees, together with other amounts spent on river protective works, amounted to $2,400,000. The abandonment of numerous farms, thereby reducing the number of taxpayers, caused a corresponding increase in the tax rates. Again, more farmers gave up the struggle and allowed their

holdings to go back to the desert. The tax rate for district, county, and State is now approximately $19.50 per acre, with no money in the treasury. The population has shrunk from 5,000 to 3,000; the cultivated area has been reduced from 40,000 to about 25,000 acres. River-front protective work must be done, levees must be raised or the valley will again be inundated. The settlers have reached the end of their resources. They have no money themselves. They have no credit on which they can borrow.

The Boulder Dam, when completed and in operation, will furnish security to this as well as to the Imperial Valley and the Yuma Valley. By discharging clear water from the reservoir which will pick up silt and carry it to the sea, the bed will be gradually lowered. But the Boulder Dam will not be completed for seven years. The crisis for this valley is here now. Seven years without help means the end of Palo Verde so far as the present community is concerned. The Federal Government took cognizance of this situation in 1929 when the Secretary of the Interior appointed a board of eminent and outstanding men experienced in Western matters to make a survey of certain Federal and private irrigation projects which were confronted with the most serious problems. The board consisted of the following members:

George C. Kreutzer, Director of Reclamation Economics, chairman.

Dr. Alvin Johnson, associate editor, Encyclopedia of Social Sciences, New York.

Dr. Charles A. Lory, president Colorado Agriculture College.

Dean Anson Marston, School of Engineering, Iowa State College.

Prof. Frank Adams, College of Agriculture, University of California.

A. C. Cooley, senior agriculturist of the Department of Agriculture, in charge of demonstrations on the reclamation projects.

John W. Haw, director of agricultural development, Northern Pacific Railway. Hugh A. Brown, Assistant Director of Reclamation Economics, secretary. Their report was completed and filed early in January, 1930. Of the report of this board, Secretary Wilbur said, in transmitting it to Congress:

Their conclusions represent the disinterested judgment of able and impartial minds and commend themselves to the department and to the bureau as being worthy of consideration by Congress and the interested public.

Palo Verde Valley was one of the projects to which this board directed its attention and after an exhaustive study it reported thereon recommending Federal assistance as follows:

PALO VERDE IRRIGATION DISTRICT, CALIFORNIA

This district requests the Government to assume control of its levee system and reimburse the district for past expenditures of some $3,000,000 for levees and river control.

This is a private project comprising some 90,000 acres lying along the Colorado River about 70 miles northeast of Imperial Valley.

The bonded indebtedness of the district for levees, drainage, and irrigation is $4,259,330, or an average of $47.45 an acre for the gross area of 89,693 acres, or $65.50 an acre based on 65,000 acres susceptible of irrigation. Operation and maintenance assessments are $17.50 an acre for the best land, and average $15 an acre for the producing land. State and county taxes vary from $2.25 to $2.60 an acre on the productive land.

RECOMMENDATIONS

(1) This district has the same grounds for claiming Government assistance in maintaining levees and protecting its lands from destructive floods on Colorado River as the Yuma project and Imperial Valley on the same river, and as the