additional homes situated at strategic places in the country should be authorized and established One of the homes suggested was to be located in the Pacific Northwest, a there is only one home on the Pacific coast, at Los Angeles, Calif., in the extreme Pacific Southwest, and with the heavily increasing population of Washington, Oregon, and Idaho, it was felt that a home would be needed in that territory. As to Roseburg, Oreg., the site suggested, the board have no knowledge of the location proposed, but is of the opinion that a home in the Pacific Northwest will be needed by the time authorization, appropriation, and construction can be accomplished. GEORGE H. WOOD, President Board of Managers, National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers. PROPOSED ESTABLISHMENT OF HOME AT ROSEBURG, OREG. Hon. HARRY C. RANSLEY, MAY 9, 1930. House of Representatives, Washington, D. C. MY DEAR MR. RANSLEY: I was unavoidably detained from attending the hearing before the House Committee on Military Affairs to-day on the proposition of the establishment of a branch of the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers in Roseburg, Oreg., but feel that a letter will probably give the committee all the information on this subject which I could have given if I had been present and testified. Need of a home in the Pacific Northwest.-The Board of Managers at their September meeting, 1928, after carefully studying the increasing curve of population of the National Home, in their recommendations to Congress, suggested the immediate establishment of a home in the southern States and also stated that, in their opinion, within a short time another branch home was indicated in the Pacific Northwest. The steady growth of population since that time fully confirms the estimates made by the board referring specifically to the Pacific Northwest. During the last winter, 1929-30, over 1,500 applicants were turned away from the Pacific Branch at Sawtelle, Calif., as there were no beds available in either hospital or barracks at that branch for their accommodation. Fortunately, in June of this year we opened four additional barracks at the Pacific as more than that number were turned away during the last winter and this Branch with a capacity of 1,400 beds, but these will be absorbed immediately means that in the winter of 1930-31 we will have no beds available on the Pacific coast. Under these circumstances it would appear that an additional branch of the National Home in the Pacific Northwest, i. e., Washington, Oregon, or Idaho, is needed and can be utilized as soon as it is ready for occupancy. A curve covering estimated population in the home continued to the year 1935 would show a population of over 35,000 in the various branches of the home, and this winter's peak load of nearly 22,000 completely exhausted our facilities at all branches, with the exception of the Eastern Branch, at Togus, Me., therefore additional construction is strongly indicated and it is my opinion that a home in the Pacific Northwest would be very strategically located. Home at Roseburg, Oreg.-I have no knowledge whatsoever of the situation at Roseburg, Oreg., to-day. Therefore I am not in a position to recommend or disapprove location of a branch of the National Home at Roseburg. Of course, it would be necessary to have a tract of 250 to 300 acres, because the Board of Managers are of the opinion that it is to the best interests of the Government to establish branch homes with a minimum capacity of 2,000, which can be increased with demand to a population of 4,000, and this number we feel is a maximum that can be efficiently and economically administered. As far as Roseburg is concerned, the question of acreage and what buildings are there now would have to be very carefully studied, and I do not feel that I would be in position to pass personally on the Roseburg proposition without a personal investigation. Therefore I feel that as far as the legislation proposed of the location of a branch of the National Home in the Pacific Northwest is concerned, that the facts warrant such action. As to a specific location at Roseburg, I have not full information to warrant my forming an opinion. Very sincerely, GEORGE H. WOOD, O ADDITIONAL DISTRICT JUDGE FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF MISSOURI MAY 27, 1930.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union and ordered to be printed Mr. DYER, from the Committee on the Judiciary, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany H. R. 12347] The Committee on the Judiciary, to whom was referred the bill H. R. 12347, after consideration reports the same favorably and recommends that the bill do pass. This is one of a series of bills reported favorably by the committee pursuant to the recommendation of the National Committee on Law Observance and Enforcement that adequate court and prosecuting officials be provided to take care of the congestion in the Federal courts. A careful examination was made by the subcommittee which considered the recommendations of the Law Enforcement Commission and they have recommended this bill. The report of the Attorney General for 1929 shows that there were pending at the close of business as of June 30, 1929, 121 civil cases, 278 criminal cases and 396 bankruptcy cases. During the period from June 30, 1928, to June 30, 1929, 1,119 criminal cases were commenced and 1,097 were terminated. O CLAIM OF THE GOVERNMENT OF NORWAY MAY 27, 1930.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union and ordered to be printed Mr. FISH, from the Committee on Foreign Affairs, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany H. J. Res. 322] The Committee on Foreign Affairs, to which was referred House Joint Resolution 322, authorizing payment of the claim of the Norwegian Government for interest upon money advanced by it in connection with the protection of American interests in Russia, having had the same under consideration, reports thereon with the recommendation that the resolution do pass without amendment. A similar resolution passed the House in the Seventieth Congress but in the closing days of the session failed to receive action in the Senate. The committee subjoins as a part of this report a letter from the President of the United States and letters from the Hon. Wilbur J. Carr, Acting Secretary of State, as follows: To the Congress of the United States: I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State in relation to a claim presented by the Government of Norway for the payment of interest on certain sums advanced by it for this Government in connection with its representation of American interests in Moscow, and I recommend that an appropriation be authorized to effect a settlement of this claim in accordance with the recommendation of the Secretary of State. THE WHITE HOUSE, March 12, 1930. The PRESIDENT: HERBERT HOOVER. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, I have the honor to bring to your attention the request made by the Norwegian Government for the payment of interest on certain sums advanced by it for this Government in connection with its representation of American interests in Moscow. The facts of the case may be briefly stated as follows: In September, 1918, the Government of the United States requested the Norwegian Government to take charge of the protection of American interests in Moscow, stating that it would reimburse the Norwegian Government for the expenses incurred in carrying out this request. The Norwegian Government accordingly authorized its vice consul at Moscow to assume protection of American interests at that place. Various expenses were incurred by the vice consul in connection with his protection of American interests, and the Norwegian Government, by December 8, 1920, had paid him the sum of 65,162.97 kroner, representing the amount of the expenses incurred by him, with interest to the date of payment. The Norwegian Government thereupon requested reimbursement by this Government of the sum of 65,162.97 kroner with interest to the date of such reimbursement. Due, in part, to the difficulty experienced by this Government in obtaining proper documentary evidence of the expenditures incurred by the vice consul, reimbursement was not made until July 13, 1925, when the Comptroller General of the United States allowed the Norwegian Government the sum of 65,162.97 kroner, the amount paid by it to the vice consul, but disallowed the claim for interest. The Norwegian Government, in acknowledging the receipt of the sum allowed by the Comptroller General, requested that interest also be paid. Because of the fact that reimbursement was not made until nearly five years after the funds had been advanced by the Norwegian Government it is the view of this department that this Government should pursue a generous course in recognizing the assistance rendered it by a friendly foreign government in a time of emergency. The interest claimed amounts to approximately $5,000, and I have the honor to recommend that the Congress be requested to authorize the appropriation of this sum in payment of the Norwegian Government's claim, as an act of grace, and without reference to the question of the legal liability of the United States. A summary of the essential facts regarding the case being embodied in this communication it is deemed unnecessary to accompany it with copies of the correspondence in the case. All, or any part, of that correspondence will, of course, be furnished should you or the Congress so desire. It should be added that this claim was brought to the attention of the Sixtyninth Congress in a message from the President dated April 23, 1926, printed in House Document No. 343, Sixty-ninth Cong.ess, first session, and that House Joint Resolution No. 246, Sixty-ninth Congress, for the payment of this claim was introduced on May 25, 1926, and was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs. No action was taken by the committee on this resolution. House Joint Resolution No. 154, providing for the payment of this claim, was passed by the House on April 4, 1928, and was referred on that date to the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate. However, it failed of passage in that body. The matter has again been brought to the attention of the department by the Norwegian minister at this capital, who stated that he would be very much obliged to be able to inform his Government that the clain would again be taken up at the present session of Congress. Respectfully submitted. WILBUR J. CARR, Acting Secretary of State. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Hon. STEPHEN G. PORTER, Chairman Committee on Foreign Affairs, House of Representatives. MY DEAR MR. PORTER: When I appeared before the Committee on Foreign Affairs recently in connection with House Joint Resolution 271, authorizing payment of the claim of the Norwegian Government for interest upon money advanced by it in connection with the protection of American interests in Russia, the committee requested me to submit (1) a statement showing the method of computing the interest claimed by the Norwegian Government, (2) the amount ot interest on unpaid interest which had accrued since the date of the payment of the principal to the Norwegian Government, and (3) an am n ment to the resolution setting forth the essential facts concerning the payment of interest. |