The PRESIDENT: The undersigned, the Secretary of State, has the honor to refer to his comunication, dated January 4, 1926, requesting the Congress of the United States to enact legislation providing for an appropriation of $30 as a contribution toward the support of the Central Bureau of the International Map of the World. The Congress of the United States authorized an appropriation for this purpose in Public Resolution No. 22, Sixty-ninth Congress, approved May 1, 1926, and the second deficiency act of 1926 provided an appropriation, as follows: "For the share of the United States of the expenses of the Central Bureau of the International Map of the World for the calendar year 1926, fiscal year 1927, $30." In July of this year a conference on the international map of the world on the millionth scale was held in London, to which the Government of the United States designated as delegates Col. C. H. Birdseye, chief topographical engineer, United States Geological Survey, and Dr. Isaiah Bowman, director of the American Geographical Society and member of the advisory council of the Federal Board of Surveys and Maps. At the conference held in Paris in 1913 provision was made for the establishment of the Central Bureau of the International Map of the World on the Millionth Scale in the British Ordnance Office at Southampton, England, and the annual contribution of each adhering nation for the support of the bureau was fixed at 150 francs or 6 pounds sterling. This sum was considered at the conference held in London last July to be inadequate to meet the expenses of the bureau and consequently a resolution was passed reading: "That the governments of the countries adhering to the map of the world be asked to sanction the fixing of the subscription to the central bureau at 10 pounds sterling or its equivalent." The American delegates to the recent conference in London have recommended that an annual appropriation be obtained from the Congress of the United States of 10 pounds sterling or its equivalent in order that this Government may support the Central Bureau of the International Map of the World on the Millionth Scale, and thus receive the full advantages which are to be obtained through the information service of this bureau. This information service is of considerable value to this Government in the compilation and publication of the map of the United States and its possessions which is being prepared in accordance with the specifications adopted for the international map of the world and which is of great value not only for military and naval reasons but also for purposes of commerce and aviation and for geographical and geological studies. This Government has been informed, through the appropriate diplomatic channels, of the resolution adopted at the London conference of last July (quoted above) requesting the governments of the countries adhering to the international map of the world to fix their annual subscription to the central bureau at 10 pounds sterling or its equivalent. The matter has been referred to the Secretary of the Interior, whose reply contains the following paragraph: "The Director of the Geological Survey has recommended that the United States Government sanction an increase in the amount of its annual subscription from 6 pounds to 10 pounds. It gives me pleasure to concur in this recommendation, and I respectfully suggest that you present the matter to Congress with the request that the appropriation for 1930 be fixed at $50 rather than at $30." I therefore recommend that Congress be asked to provide an annual appropriation of $50 for the payment of a contribution by the United States toward the support of the Central Bureau of the International Map of the World on the Millionth Scale. Respectfully submitted. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, FRANK B. KELLOGG. Washington, January 11, 1929. INDEMINITY TO GOVERNMENT OF GREAT BRITAIN ON ACCOUNT OF THE DEATH OF SAMUEL RICHARDSON FEBRUARY 6, 1930.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union and ordered to be printed Mr. PORTER, from the Committee on Foreign Affairs, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany H. R. 1970] The Committee on Foreign Affairs, to which was referred H. R. 1970, a bill to authorize the payment of an indemnity to the British Government on account of the death of Samuel Richardson, a British subject, alleged to have been killed at Consuelo, Dominican Republic, by United States marines, having given careful consideration to the bill, reports it to the House without amendment, with the recommendation that it do pass. The passage of the bill has been recommended by the President in a message to Congress of December 13, 1929, in which he transmitted a letter from the Secretary of State setting forth in detail the facts in the case. The President's message and the letter of the Secretary of State are as follows: To the Congress of the United States: THE WHITE HOUSE, December 13, 1929. I inclose a report received from the Secretary of State requesting the submission anew to the present Congress of the claim presented by the Government of Great Britain for the death, on November 1, 1921, at Consuelo, Dominican Republic, of Samuel Richardson, a British subject, as a result of a bullet wound inflicted presumably by a member of the United States Marine Corps, which formed the subject of a report made by the Secretary of State to the President on December 13, 1927, and the President's message to the Congress dated September 17. 1927, which are published as Senate Document No. 21, Seventieth Congress, first session. Copies of this are furnished for the full information of the Congress. I concur in the recommendation made by the Secretary of State and recommend that, as an act of grace and without reference to the question of the legal liability of the United States in the matter, the Congress authorize an appropriation in the sum of $1,000 in order to effect a settlement of this claim. In bringing the matter anew to the attention of the present Congress I hope that the action recommended may receive favorable consideration. HR-71-2-VOL 217 HERBERT HOOVER. The PRESIDENT: DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, December 12, 1929. On January 11, 1924, April 3, 1926, and December 13, 1927, the Secretary of State reported at length to the President concerning a claim presented by the Government of Great Britain for the death, on November 1, 1921, at Consuelo, Dominican Republic, of Samuel Richardson, a British subject, which resulted from a bullet wound infiicted presumably by a member of the United States Marine Corps, and requested that the President recommend to Congress that, as an act of grace and without reference to the question of legal liability, it authorize an appropriation in the sum of $1,000 in payment of this claim. The correspondence in the matter is published in Senate Document No. 21, Seventieth Congress, a copy of which is attached for your information. As it appears that final action in the matter was not taken by the Seventieth Congress, I have the honor to suggest that it be submitted anew to the consideration of the Seventy-first Congress. Respectfully submitted. TO MAKE THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER THE NATIONAL ANTHEM FEBRUARY 6, 1930.-Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be printed Mr. DYER, from the Committee on the Judiciary, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany H. R. 14] The Committee on the Judiciary has had under consideration H. R. 14, to make The Star-Spangled Banner the national anthem, and reports it to the House with an amendment, with the recommendation that it do pass as amended. The committee amendment is as follows: Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert in lieu thereof the following: That the composition consisting of the words and music known as The StarSpangled Banner is designated the national anthem of the United States of America. The measure is recommended by your committee for legalizing The Star-Spangled Banner as the national anthem of the United States, and as a method of further increasing the patriotism of the people of our country, and the continued popularity of the anthem. The Star-Spangled Banner was written by Francis Scott Key at Fort McHenry, Md., at the time of the bombardment of that fort by the British warships under Admiral Cockburn. The battle began on the morning of September 13, 1814, at 6 o'clock, and continued all that day and until the morning of the next day. Francis Scott Key, under a flag of truce, visited the British fleet and was placed on board the Surprise, where he was courteously treated and finally transferred to his own vessel, the Minden, which was anchored in sight of the fort. He was held a prisoner in the British fleet until termination of the expedition. Under these circumstances he composed the StarSpangled Banner, descriptive of the scenes he beheld and of his doubts and fears during that day and the night following. He heard the bombardment, viewed the bombs bursting in air, and beheld the rockets' red glare. As the perilous night passed, which meant so much for our country, and for Baltimore, in great suspense he peered through the early morning mist that he might know the outcome of the siege, and when dimly in the distance there loomed that gorgeous banner, waving so gallantly in the breeze amid the first faint rays of the morning's sun, he exclaimed with great inspiration: 'Tis the Star-Spangled Banner; Oh, long may it wave, As was well said by Captain Joyce at the hearing, Francis Scott Key was not asked to write it, nor ordered to do so. He wrote it because he couldn't help doing so. Some 200 people, representatives of the various patriotic organizations of the country, appeared before the committee, requesting the adoption of The Star-Spangled Banner as our national anthem. The great-grandson of the author, Mr. Francis Scott Key-Smith, made a stirring argument in favor of the bill. Mrs. Reuben Ross Holloway, chairman of the National Star-Spangled Banner Committee, who has worked for its adoption for many years, was represented by Mrs. N. L. Dashiell, president of the Baltimore Daughters of 1812; Capt. Walter I. Joyce, director of the national Americanization committee of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, advocated the bill and filed with the committee petitions containing over 5,000,000 signatures, a list of more than 150 patriotic organizations, letters and telegrams from 25 governors of various States, and other letters from various business organizations, all asking that The Star-Spangled Banner be made the national anthem. It was shown at the hearing that the Star-Spangled Banner anthem has been consistently played and sung as our national anthem since the writing thereof at the bombardment in 1814. It was also shown that in 1916 the anthem was promulgated by the Secretary of War, Regulations 250-5 (1-g-1), and by the Secretary of the Navy, chapter 5 (230-1). It was also shown that these regulations were approved by the President of the United States, Woodrow Wilson, the regulations reading as follows: That the composition consisting of words and music known as the Star-Spangled Banner is designated the national anthem of the United States of America. These words of adoption having already been promulgated by the Army and Navy, approved by the President of the United States, your committee has amended the bill by striking out all after the enacting clause, and inserting in lieu thereof those words, to wit: That the composition consisting of words and music known as the Star-Spangled Banner is designated the national anthem of the United States of America. As precedents for its adoption, one of our colleagues, Representative Celler, told us that among those nations adopting national anthems were France, Italy, Japan, Poland, various kingdoms of Germany, Czechoslovakia, and Great Britain, by the King's regulations based upon parliamentary decree. |