CONFERRING AUTHORITY TO FIX THE SIZE OF FARM UNITS ON DESERT-LAND ENTRIES

MARCH 20, 1930.-Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be printed

Mr. SMITH of Idaho, from the Committee on Irrigation and Reclamation, submitted the following

REPORT

[To accompany H. R. 1186]

The Committee on Irrigation and Reclamation, to whom was rereferred the bill (H. R. 1186) to amend section 5 of the act of June 27, 1906, conferring authority upon the Secretary of the Interior to fix the size of farm units on desert-land entries when included within national reclamation projects, because of an inadvertence in not incorporating in the report the statute it is proposed to amend, report the bill favorably, and in compliance with the rules of the House of Representatives, section 731A, there is herewith presented the proviso sought to be amended in section 5 of the act of June 27, 1906, chapter 3359, Thirty-fourth Statutes, page 520, with the words stricken out printed in black brackets, and the parts inserted being indicated by italics:

Provided, That if after investigation the irrigation project has been or may be abandoned by the Government, time for compliance with the desert land law by any such entryman shall begin to run from the date of notice of such abandonment of the project and the restoration to the public domain of the lands withindrawn in connection therewith, and credit shall be allowed for all expenditures and improvements [heretofore] theretofore made on any such desert-land entry of which proof has been or may be filed; but if the reclamation project is carried to completion so as to make available a water supply for the land embraced in any such desert-land entry, the entryman shall thereupon comply with all the provisions of the aforesaid act [action] of June [seventeenth,] 17, [nineteen hundred and two,] 1902, and shall relinquish within a reasonable time after notice as the Secretary may prescribe and not less than two years all land embraced within his desert-land entry in excess of [one hundred and sixty acres] one farm unit, and as to such [one hundred and sixty acres] retained farm unit, he shall be entitled to make final proof and obtain patent upon compliance with the regulations of said Secretary applicable to the remainder of the irrigable land of the project and with the terms of payment prescribed in said Act of June [seventeenth,] 17, [nineteen hundred and two,] 1902, and not otherwise. But nothing herein contained shall be held to require a desert-land entryman who owns a water right and reclaims the land embraced in his entry to accept the conditions of said reclamation act.

Report 580 of February 1, 1930, to accompany H. R. 1186 follows:

The Committee on Irrigation and Reclamation, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 1186) to amend section 5 of the act of June 27, 1906, conferring authority upon the Secretary of the Interior to fix the size of farm units on desertland entries when included within national reclamation projects, having considered the same, report thereon with the recommendation that it do pass with the following amendment:

Page 2, line 11, after the word "relinquish," insert "within a reasonable time after notice as the Secretary may prescribe and not less than two years".

The reasons for the passage of the measure grow out of the fact that as withdrawals are made for reclamation projects under the national reclamation laws some lands are included that are in private ownership or that have been entered under the desert land law and have not passed to patent.

Under existing law the Secretary of the Interior, prior to the commencement of construction work upon a project, is authorized to require owners of private lands to dispose of any acreage at a price fixed by the Secretary of the Interior in excess of the acreage defined as adequate for a farm unit upon the particular project. The Secretary of the Interior is without authority, however, to require entrymen under the desert land act to reduce their holdings below 160 acres.

In the interest of uniformity and of closer settlement, it seems desirable that when reclamation projects are undertaken by the Federal Government the Government ought to be given authority to define the acreage of farm units, so that reclamation would be carried forward in the interest of the largest number of people and not for the benefit of a limited number of landowners or persons who had made entry upon land and had not yet received patent when such entries were in acreages in excess of the prescribed unit.

The pending bill (H. R. 1186) has been recommended for passage by the Secretary of the Interior, Ray Lyman Wilbur, in a letter addressed to the chairman of the Committee on Irrigation and Reclamation, dated December 14, 1929; also by the Commissioner of Reclamation, Elwood Mead, in a memorandum for the Secretary of the Interior, dated December 9, 1929.

A similar bill was recommended for passage by the former Secretary of the Interior, Hubert Work, in the Seventieth Congress, in a report dated April 13, 1929.

The documents referred to herein are made a part of this report for the convenience of the House.

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR,
Washington, December 14, 1929.

CHAIRMAN COMMITTEE ON IRRIGATION AND RECLAMATION,

House of Representatives.

DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: I am in receipt of your request of December 5 for a report on H. R. 1186.

In this connection there is transmitted herewith a memorandum from the Commissioner of Reclamation; also a copy of a letter addressed to you by Secretary Work on April 13, 1928, reporting upon H. R. 12779, Seventieth Congress, first session, which is an identical bill.

I am glad to concur in the recommendation that H. R. 1186 be enacted into law. Very truly yours,

Memorandum for the Secretary.

RAY LYMAN WILBUR, Secretary.

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR,
BUREAU OF RECLAMATION,
Washington, December 9, 1929.

Subject: Report on H. R. 1186, entitled "A bill to amend section 5 of the act of June 27, 1906, conferring authority upon the Secretary of the Interior to fix the size of farm units on desert-land entries when included within national reclamation projects."

Reference is made to letter addressed to you December 5, 1929, and referred to this office for report to you from the chairman of the House Committee on Irrigation and Reclamation submitting a copy of the above-described bill.

H. R. 1186 is identical with H. R. 12779, Seventieth Congress, first session, upon which the department submitted report under date of April 13, 1928.

Copy of this report is inclosed for convenient reference. I recommend that a favorable report be made upon the bill.

The letter of December 5, 1929, is returned herewith.

MY DEAR MR. SMITH: Your letter of April 9, 1928, has been received inclosing for report a copy of H. R. 12779, "To amend section 5 of the act of June 27, 1906, conferring authority upon the Secretary of the Interior to fix the size of farm units on desert-land entries when included within national reclamation projects."

The bill proposes to amend section 5 of the act of June 27, 1906 (34 Štat. 519). This section deals with desert-land entries which, after being allowed, are included within the exterior limits of a withdrawal of land for the construction of a reclamation project. The Government development in the vicinity of the desert-land entries often interferes with the entrymen's plans for making improvements or for reclaiming their land, and section 5 of the existing act of June 27, 1906, allows the desert-land entrymen in such cases to obtain an extension of time, and later to obtain a water right from the Government project, if carried to completion.

The existing act provides that if in such case the desert-land entryman obtains a water right from the Government project, he must reduce his holdings to 160 acres. H. R. 12779, if enacted, would require the desert-land entrymen in such cases to reduce their holdings to the area fixed by the Secretary of the Interior as sufficient for the support of a family. This area, on projects like the Owyhee, where the quality of the land is excellent, and the growing season is long, is often less than 160 acres, and the change in the law is therefore desirable, in the interest of closer settlement. The amendment would also require the desert-land entryman who depends upon the Government project for a water supply to comply with the regulations of the department applicable to the irrigable land of the project generally.

In line 5 of the second page of the bill the word "theretofore" is substituted for "heretofore" in the existing law. This seems to be necessary, as otherwise the entryman would be denied credit for improvements placed on his holdings subsequently to June 27, 1906, a result not intended at the present time. Line 10, page 2, change "action" to "act".

I recommend the favorable consideration of the bill.