CONGRESS, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. { REPORT

1288

RIGHT OF WAY FOR PIPE LINE AND RESERVOIR, LINCOLN NATIONAL FOREST.

JANUARY 16, 1915.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union and ordered to be printed.

Mr. Young of Texas, from the Committee on Agriculture, submitted the following

REPORT.

[To accompany S. 2278.]

The Committee on Agriculture, to whom was referred the bill (S. 2278) granting the El Paso & Rock Island Railway Co. a right of way for its pipe lines and reservoir upon the Lincoln National Forest for the carrying and storage of water for railroad purposes, having considered the same, report thereon with a recommendation that it do pass with the following amendments:

(a) On page 1, line 3, strike out the word "permanent.

(b) On page 2, line 10, at the end of the line strike out the period and insert a colon and add the following: "Provided, That the Secretary of Agriculture may upon abandonment or nonuse of the same for the purpose for which it is granted for a period not less than one year declare said right of way or any part thereof forfeited and annul the same."

(c) On page 4, line 16, strike out the words "and for," and in lieu thereof insert the words "of or."

(d) On page 4, line 16, between the word "concerning" and the word "rights," insert the word "water."

This bill was passed by the Senate July 9, 1914. It grants to the El Paso & Rock Island Railway Co. a right of way over a portion of the Lincoln National Forest Reserve in New Mexico for a pipe line for the carrying of water owned by the company to its line of railroad for use in operation of its engines. It appears that the El Paso & Rock Island Railway Co. is a part of the El Paso & Southwestern System. The companies composing this system own lines of railroads running from Tuscon, Ariz., to Tucumcari, N. Mex., and, together with the Southern Pacific Co., form a trunk line between St. Louis and Chicago on the east and Los Angeles on the west, the

portion of such line owned by the El Paso & Rock Island extending from Alamogordo, N. Mex., to Tucumcari, N. Mex.

The bill does not grant to the railway company any water or right to use of water owned by the Federal Government nor any fee simple title to the land covered by the right of way, but only a right of way or easement for a pipe line and reservoir to convey water already owned by the company over this national forest reserve similar to the rights granted by general statutes to mining and irrigation companies and municipalities for the conveyance of water for mining, irrigation, and domestic purposes. There is not water sufficiently pure and free from deleterious substances available for the operation of the engines of this company except the supply of water owned by it in the Sacramento Mountains, which it conveys to its line through its pipe lines aforesaid. The company has been granted by the Secretary of Agriculture, who has control of this reservation, a permit to lay and maintain the pipe line and reservoir to convey said water across said reservation. Under the law, the Secretary of Agriculture has no power to grant anything more than a revocable license or permit and this bill simply grants an easement not revocable, though forfeitable, if it is not used.

The testimony before this committee and before the Senate Committee on Public Lands, which considered the bill when it was pending before the Senate, was to the effect that the company has spent many hundreds of thousands of dollars in acquiring this water and laying this pipe line and that the value of its properties, both that invested in the pipe line and reservoir and that invested in its line of railroad, and the prosperity of its business, are absolutely dependent upon its having some title to the right of way other than a mere revocable permit. Your committee is advised that the Secretary of Agriculture, who has control of this reservation, does not object to the granting of this right of way.

O

SANITARY CONDITIONS IN COMPOSING ROOMS.

JANUARY 16, 1915.-Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be printed.

Mr. WALTERS, from the Committee on the District of Columbia, submitted the following

REPORT.

[To accompany H. R. 18383.]

The Committee on the District of Columbia, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 18383) entitled "A bill to provide better sanitary conditions in composing rooms within the District of Columbia,' having considered the same, report it back with the recommendation that it pass when amended as follows:

Page 1, line 3, after the word "That," insert the words "the melting pots of."

Page 1, line 9, strike out the words "when deemed necessary." Page 2, strike out all of section 2.

Page 2, line 11, strike out the figure "3" and insert the figure "2." Page 2, line 15, strike out all the balance of said line after the word "operated" and all of lines 16, 17, 18, and 19 and insert in lieu thereof the following: "; and each day operated shall constitute a separate offense."

Page 2, line 20, strike out the figure "4" and insert in lieu thereof the figure "3."

Proper sanitary conditions can not be maintained in composing rooms where such machines as are described in the bill are in operation unless means are taken for the removal of the resultant noxious fumes

and gases, which may be done at no large expense. The larger composing rooms throughout the country are so equipped, usually at the instance of the owners.

The Government Printing Office is now taking steps to comply with this sanitary requirement. The Public Printer reports as follows: GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, January 6, 1915.

MY DEAR MR. WALTERS: In reply to your communication of January 5, relative to the matter of flue connections on melting pots of typesetting machines, I have the honor to state that the monotype machines in this office are so fitted and the linotype machines are now being attended to.

Respectfully,

Hon. A. H. Walters,

House of Representatives United States,

CORNELIUS FORD,

Public Printer.

Washington, D. C.

63D CONGRESS, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. ( 3d Session.

{

REPORT No. 1290.

LEGISLATIVE JOURNALS AS SECOND-CLASS MATTER.

JANUARY 16, 1915.-Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be printed.

Mr. Moon, from the Committee on the Post Office and Post Roads, submitted the following

REPORT.

[To accompany S. 1701.]

The Committee on the Post Office and Post Roads, to whom was referred Senate bill 1701, report thereon with a recommendation that it do pass.

The Senate Committee on Post Offices and Post Roads, among other things, said in its report on the bill:

The purpose of the bill is to give to the journals of State legislatures a rate of 1 cent per pound or fraction thereof. Second-class mail matter now enjoys a cheap rate of postage because of the educational value assumed to attach to newspapers and periodicals. It certainly will be of interest to the people to be informed from day to day of the proceedings in their State legislatures. Practically, if not quite all, of the State constitutions provide that the title shall briefly express the subject matter of the bill. Journals usually include the yea-and-nay vote upon the passage of bills. It is believed, therefore, that this bill will facilitate the spread of knowledge among the people vitally interested, not only as to the matters engrossing the attention of their representatives, but, also, in an authoritative way, as to the attitude of their representatives on legislative matters.

The House committee concurs in this view of the bill.