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the ninth civil district of Maury County, Tenn., and providing that the net fund be deposited in the military post construction fund, and for the repeal of Public Law No. 542 (H. R. 12479), Seventieth Congress.

The applicable provisions of existing law on this subject are the act of Congress approved April 23, 1904 (33 Stat. 296) pursuant to which the reservation is now held by the Columbia Military Academy, and the act of Congress approved May 26, 1928 (Public No. 542, 70th Cong.) which authorized the Secretary of War to dispose of the reservation at its appraised value.

The proposed legislation is similar to H. R. 16214, Seventieth Congress, upon which report was made on January 30, 1929. As stated therein the appraisal of the property provided for in the act of May 26, 1928, was made by the National Real Estate Board, Nashville, Tenn., and certified to June 16, 1928. The value was appraised at $30,214.69, which represented the fair market value of the land without regard to the buildings thereon. The effect of the present bill, if enacted into law, would be to permit the Secretary of War to accept $10,000 for this reservation instead of the appraised value.

I do not favor the passage of the bill.

If any additional information from the War Department is desired, I shall be pleased to furnish it. Should hearings be held upon the proposed legislation suitable witnesses will be designated to appear.

Sincerely yours,

JAMES W. GOOD, Secretary of War.

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RESTORATION OF FORT MCHENRY, MD.

JANUARY 29, 1930.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union and ordered to be printed

Mrs. KAHN, from the Committee on Military Affairs, submitted the

following

REPORT

[To accompany H. R. 8162]

The Committee on Military Affairs, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 8162) to amend the act entitled "An act to repeal and reenact chapter 100, 1914, Public No. 108, to provide for the restoration of Fort McHenry, in the State of Maryland, and its permanent preservation as a national park and perpetual national memorial shrine as the birthplace of the immortal Star Spangled Banner, written by Francis Scott Key, for the appropriation of the necessary funds, and for other purposes," approved March 3, 1925, introduced by Mr. James at the request of the Treasury Department, having considered the same, report thereon with the recommendation that it do pass. The language of the act of March 3, 1925, with this amendment shown in italics, is as follows:

[Matter inclosed in black brackets is stricken out and new matter inserted is italicized]

[PUBLIC-No. 543-68тH CONGRESS]

[H. R. 5261]

AN ACT To repeal and reenact chapter 100, 1914, Public, Numbered 108, to provide for the restoration of Fort McHenry, in the State of Maryland, and its permanent preservation as a national park and perpetual national memorial shrine as the birthplace of the immortal "Star-Spangled Banner," written by Francis Scott Key, for the appropriation of the necessary funds, and for other purposes

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That an act authorizing the Secretary of War to grant the use of the Fort McHenry Military Reservation in the State of Maryland to the mayor and city council of Baltimore, a municipal corporation of the State of Maryland, making certain provisions in connection therewith, providing access to and from the site of the new immigration station heretofore set aside be, and hereby is, repealed and reenacted to read as follows:

"That the Secretary of War be, and he is hereby, authorized and directed so soon as it may no longer be needed for uses and needs growing out of the late war, to begin the restoration of Fort McHenry in the State of Maryland, now occupied and used as a military reservation, including the restoration of the old HR-71-2-VOL 29

Fort McHenry proper to such a condition as would make it suitable for preservation permanently as a national park and perpetual national memorial shrine as the birthplace of the immortal 'Star-Spangled Banner,' written by Francis Scott Key, and that the Secretary of War be, and he is hereby, further authorized and directed, as are his successors, to hold the said Fort McHenry in perpetuity as a military reservation, national park, and memorial, and to maintain it as such, except that part mentioned in section 3 hereof, and that part now in use by the Department of Commerce for a light and fog-signal station under revocable license from the War Department with the maintenance of the electric lines thereto and such portion of the reservation, including improvement, as may be reserved by the Secretary of War for the use of the Chief of Engineers, the said reservation to be maintained as a national public park, subject to such regulations as may from time to time be issued by the Secretary of War.

"That any and all repairs, improvements, changes, and alterations in the grounds, buildings, and other appurtenances to the reservation shall be made only according to detailed plans which shall be approved by the Secretary of War, and all such repairs, improvements, or alterations shall be made at the expense of the United States, and all such improvements, together with the reservation itself, shall become and remain permanently the property of the United States: Provided, That permission is hereby granted the Secretary of the Treasury to use permanently a strip of land sixty feet wide belonging to said fort grounds, beginning at the north corner of the present grounds of the fort and extending south sixty-three degrees thirty minutes east, [six hundred and fifty feet] six hundred and eighty feet to the south corner of the site set aside for the immigration station at Baltimore, said strip of land being located along the northwest boundary of the land ceded to the Baltimore Dry Dock Company and the land of the said immigration station, the same to be used, if so desired, in lieu of acquiring, by purchase or condemnation, any of the lands of the dry dock company so that the Secretary of the Treasury may, in connection with land acquired from the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company, have access to and from said immigration station and grounds over the right of way so acquired to the city streets and railroads beyond, the Secretary of the Treasury to have the same power to construct, contract for, and arrange for railroad, and other facilities upon said outlet as fully as provided in the act approved March 4, 1913, setting aside a site for an immigration station and providing for an outlet therefrom: Provided, however, That if the Secretary of the Treasury accepts and makes use of said strip of land for the purposes aforesaid the War Department shall have equal use of the railroad track and other roads constructed over which to reach the city streets and railroads beyond from the other parts of the fort grounds: Provided further, That the Secretary of War may in case of a national emergency close the said military reservation and use it for any and all military purposes during the period of the emergency, and for such period of time thereafter as the public needs may require: And provided further, That the Secretary of War is hereby authorized and directed to dispose of the useless temporary buildings and contents constructed during the recent war and from the proceeds thereof there is hereby authorized to be appropriated such sum as may be necessary not exceeding $50,000 for use by the Secretary of War in the restoration of said Fort McHenry reservation and for other purposes consistent with this act. Approved, March 3, 1925.

The reason for this legislation is clearly set forth in the following letters from the Treasury Department and the War Department, which are therefore made a part of this report:

TREASURY Department,
Washington, December 26, 1929.

The SPEAKER HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. SIR: I have the honor to refer to the act of Congress (Public, No. 543, 68th Cong.) approved March 3, 1925, which provides for the restoration of Fort McHenry, in the State of Maryland, and its permanent preservation as a national park and perpetual national memorial shrine as the birthplace of the immortal Star-Spangled Banner, written by Francis Scott Key, for the appropriation of the necessary funds, and for other purposes.

* * *

Paragraph 3 thereof provides, among other things," that permission is hereby granted the Secretary of the Treasury to use permanently a strip of land sixty feet wide belonging to the said fort grounds, beginning at the north corner of the present grounds of the fort and extending south sixty-three degrees

thirty minutes east, six hundred and fifty feet to the south corner of the site set aside for the immigration station at Baltimore * *

The distance from the north corner of the present grounds of the fort, extending south 63° 30' east to the south corner of the site set aside for the immigration station is 680 feet, according to the maps and plats of the fort and the immigration station grounds on file in the Treasury Department and the War Department, and not 650 feet as set forth in the aforesaid act. It is therefore recommended that the said act be amended so as to read 680 feet instead of 650 feet. A draft of the desired legislation is inclosed.

Respectfully,

OGDEN L. MILLS,

Acting Secretary of the Treasury.

JANUARY 27, 1930.

Hon. W. FRANK JAMES,

Chairman Committee on Military Affairs,

House of Representatives.

DEAR MR. JAMES: In accordance with your verbal request of January 25, 1930, careful consideration has been given to the bill H. R. 8162, Seventy-first Congress, second session, proposing to amend the act of Congress approved March 3, 1925 (43 Stat. 1109), regarding a strip of land at Fort McHenry, Md., used by the Treasury Department in connection with an immigration station.

The act of March 3, 1925, supra, which provides for the restoration of Fort McHenry, in the State of Maryland, and its permanent preservation as a national park and perpetual national memorial shrine as the birthplace of the immortal Star-Spangled Banner, and for other purposes, is the only existing law which will be affected by the bill in question. The act, inter alia, granted permission to the Secretary of the Treasury to use permanently in connection with an immigration station a definitely described strip of land 60 feet wide and extending for a distance of 650 feet.

As the purpose to be accomplished by the enactment of the bill H. R. 8162, into legislation will be to increase the length of the strip of land referred to above from 650 feet to 680 feet, and as the change appears to be desired by the Treasury Department, no objection will be interposed by the War Department as to its

passage.

Sincerely yours,

PATRICK J. HURLEY,
Secretary of War.

O

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