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COAST GUARD CUTTER ON LAKE ERIE

MAY 20. 1930.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union and ordered to be printed

Mr. CROSSER, from the Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, submitted the following

REPORT

[To accompany H. R. 122841

The Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 12284) to provide for the construction of vessels for the Coast Guard for rescue and assistance work on Lake Erie, having considered the same, report thereon with a recommendation that it pass.

Between 34 and 35 per cent of all the water-borne commerce of the United States is carried on the Great Lakes. Stated in terms of net tons the total United States sea commerce was in 1928: 499,973,927, and the total on the Great Lakes was 269,007,513. The total number of Coast Guard cutters is 36. Of this total, 35 cutters are on the seas, and only one on the Great Lakes.

The Coast Guard cutter is greatly needed to assist ships in distress because of storms. Lake Erie, contrary to the notion of many, who have not seen the Great Lakes, is in reality an inland sea. The extreme length of the lake is 240 miles and its width is 57 miles. Calculated on the basis of percentage of water-borne commerce. carried, there should be on the Great Lakes 12 of the 36 cutters now owned by the Government. Calculated on the basis of the number of casualties there should be five Coast Guard cutters assigned to duty on the Great Lakes.

It is clear, therefore, that the Coast Guard cutter provided for in the pending bill gives the Great Lakes only two-fifths of what they should have on the basis of casualties.

Certainly it needs no argument to show the wisdom and necessity of having at least one cutter on Lake Erie to help ships in distress.

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FLOOD CONTROL ON TRIBUTARIES AND OUTLETS OF

MISSISSIPPI RIVER

MAY 21, 1930.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union and ordered to be printed

Mr. SEARS, from the Committee on Flood Control, submitted the

following

REPORT

[To accompany H. R. 8479]

The Committee on Flood Control, to which was referred the bill (H. R. 8479) to amend section 7 of Public Act No. 391, Seventieth Congress, approved May 15, 1928, having considered the same, report it to the House with the following amendments with the recommendation that it do pass:

Page 2, line 1, after the word "tributaries", insert the words "or outlets".

Page 2, line 11, after the word "stage", strike out the period and insert a colon and the following words:

Provided further, That if the Chief of Engineers finds that it has been or will be necessary or advisable to change the location of any such flood-control work in order to provide the protection contemplated by this section, such change may be approved and/or authorized.

The purpose of this bill is to liberalize section 7 of the act of May 15, 1928, for flood control on the Mississippi River and its tributaries. Under the construction given section 7, no provision was made for reimbursing of those on the tributaries above the backwater area, who, in order to protect themselves from further floods, proceeded to rebuild and repair the levees destroyed by the floods of 1927. It developed that this reconstruction and repair work would have come under the provisions of this section had it occurred subsequent to the passage of the act. Therefore, the reimbursement covered under the terms of this bill would apply only to work done between the flood of 1927 and the passage of the flood control act on May 15, 1928. Testimony before the committee disclosed that practically all of this emergency work was done by commissioners of levee districts and others pledging their personal credit or by different levee districts issuing certificates of credit.

Under further construction of section 7 it was found that where levees had been destroyed and it was impracticable to reconstruct them on the original right of way, the Army engineers were without power to relocate these levees. It was certainly not the intention of Congress to compel the engineers to reconstruct a levee upon a right of way which would be immediately destroyed.

Under the construction given this section, the engineers were unable to protect any levee constructed under authority of section 7 by the Government from the perils of caving banks.

Therefore, this bill proposes to reimburse those parties who from dire necessity were compelled to provide flood works before the Government authorized the expenditure for this purpose. In many instances, it was disclosed by the testimony, this emergency work saved the Government money due to the fact that the floods against which this protection was given would have made greater inroads and made the task of the Government more difficult and expensive.

The engineers should have authority to relocate these levees in order to have them serve the most practical and useful purposes. The committee adopted an amendment providing that a relocation can be made only by authority of the Chief of Engineers, and with his approval. The engineers should have the authority also to protect any of those works for which the Government, under this section, stands responsible from the dangers of the caving banks.

Under the construction given section 7, outlets from the Mississippi River were not included, and the committee has therefore adopted an amendment which will include them. This will apply to emergency work on the Atchafalaya River in Louisiana.

Five million dollars were authorized under section 7 of the flood control act, of which amount only $1,033,543 have been spent.

In compliance with paragraph 2a of Rule XIII, the following shows the insertion made in the law by the bill:

SEC. 7. That the sum of $5,000,000 is authorized to be appropriated as an emergency fund to be allotted by the Secretary of War on the recommendation of the Chief of Engineers in rescue work or in the repair or maintenance of any flood-control work on any tributaries of the Mississippi River threatened or destroyed by flood including the flood of 1927: Provided, That the unexpended and unallotted balance of said sum, or so much thereof as may be necessary, may be allotted by the Secretary of War on the recommendation of the Chief of Engineers in the reimbursement of levee districts or others for expenditures for the construction, repair, or maintenance of any flood-control work on any tributaries or outlets of the Mississippi River that may be threatened, impaired, or destroyed by flood or that have been impaired, damaged, or destroyed by flood; and also in the construction, repair, or maintenance, and in the reimbursement of levee districts or others for the construction, repair, or maintenance of any flood-control work on any of the tributaries of the Mississippi River that have been impaired, damaged, or destroyed by caving banks or that may be threatened or impaired by caving banks of such tributaries, whether or not such caving has taken place during a flood stage: Provided further, That if the Chief of Engineers finds that it has been or will be necessary or advisable to change the location of any such flood-control work in order to provide the protection contemplated by this section, such change may be approved and/or authorized.

RETIREMENT OF EMPLOYEES IN THE CLASSIFIED CIVIL

SERVICE

MAY 21, 1930.-Ordered to be printed

Mr. LEHLBACH, from the committee of conference, submitted the following

CONFERENCE REPORT

[To accompany S. 15]

The committee of conference on the disagreeing votes of the two Houses on the amendment of the House to the bill (S. 15) to amend the act entitled "An act to amend the act entitled 'An act for the retirement of employees in the classified civil service, and for other purposes,' approved May 22, 1920, and acts in amendment thereof," approved July 3, 1926, as amended, having met, after full and free conference, have agreed to recommend and do recommend to their respective Houses as follows:

That the Senate recede from its disagreement to the amendment of the House and agree to the same with the following amendments: 1. In section 1, on page 1, in the last line of the engrossed copy of the amendment after the word "clerks," insert the following: employees of the Indian Service at large excepting clerks,

2. In section 1, on page 2, in line 3, after the words "navy yards" strike out the comma and insert including leading men and quartermen but excluding master mechanics and foremen,

3. In section 2, on page 4, in line 21, after the word "years" strike out the period, insert a comma, and the following: except that where the head of the department or establishment certifies, and the Civil Service Commission agrees, that by reason of expert knowledge and special qualifications the continuance of the employee would be advantageous to the public service, further extensions of two years may be granted.

4. In section 3, on page 6, in line 23, after the figures "1924" strike out the comma and insert and amendments thereof,

5. In section 4, on page 9, in line 9, after the word "exceed" insert three-fourths of.

6. In section 4, on page 9, in line 14, after the word "hereof," insert the following: together with interest at 4 per centum per annum compounded on June 30 of each year,

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