COLLECT AND PUBLISH CERTAIN ADDITIONAL COTTON STATISTICS

JUNE 12, 1930.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union and ordered to be printed

Mr. RANKIN, from the Committee on the Census, submitted the following

REPORT

[To accompany S. 2323]

This bill passed the Senate on January 6, 1930. The object of it is to inform the cotton trade, and the public generally, of the actual number of bales of low-grade cotton known as linters on hand in the United States at the time of the publication of what is known as the carry-over report, which shows the number of bales of cotton of other grades on hand.

Linters is the lowest-grade cotton produced in the United States, and is obtained from reginning the seed after they have gone through. the gin once and the long fiber has been taken from them. This reginning strips the seed clean, or practically so, and produces a short, unspinnable, cotton that is used largely for the manufacture of mattresses, upholstery, etc.

This bill simply proposes to have the number of bales of linters on hand in the United States published in a separate item of the carryover report every year, and will require no additional appropriation. Therefore, the members of the Committee on the Census recommend that the bill do pass.

O

ADDITIONAL DISTRICT JUDGE FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA

JUNE 12, 1930.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union and ordered to be printed

Mr. GRAHAM, from the Committee on the Judiciary, submitted the

following

REPORT

[To accompany H. R. 12842]

The Committee on the Judiciary, to whom was referred the bill H. R. 12842, after consideration, reports the same favorably and recommends that the bill do pass.

This bill is made necessary by the death of the late Judge Lake Jones who was appointed under the act of September 14, 1922, which provided that no successor should be appointed in case of a vacancy occurring in the office two years after the passage of the act.

The bill has been referred to the Attorney General and he has advised the committee of the necessity for the appointment of a successor. The statistics furnished by the department show the necessity of relief in the district if the docket is to be kept abreast with the business.

There is printed herewith and made a part of this report the communication received from the Attorney General together with the inclosure.

Hon. GEORGE S. GRAHAM,

Chairman Committee on the Judiciary,

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, Washington, D. C., June 11, 1930.

House of Representatives, Washington, D. C.

MY DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: In reply to your letter of the 10th instant relative to H. R. 12842, a bill to authorize the appointment of an additional district judge for the southern district of Florida, I beg leave to recommend the enactment of said bill.

Until the death of Judge Lake Jones quite recently the southern district of Florida was provided with three district judges. The position held by Judge Jones was created by the act of September 14, 1922, and under the terms of that

act lapsed upon the death of the incumbent. unless Congress shall give authority.

A successor can not be appointed

I inclose a copy of a brief office memorandum relative to the Federal court business in the southern district of Florida, which indicates the need for three judges in that district.

Respectfully,

Memorandum for Assistant Attorney General Sisson.

Referring to your inquiry as to the volume of business, in the southern district of Florida, you are advised that during the 4-year period ending June 30, 1929, there were commenced in said district 4,816 civil and private suits, and 3,511 criminal cases. There were terminated during the said 4-year period 4,041 civil and private suits and 3,414 criminal cases. At the close of business June 30, 1926, there were pending in said district 827 civil and private suits and 1,177 criminal cases, or a total of 2,004. On June 30, 1929, there were pending 1,562 civil and private suits and 1,042 criminal cases, or a total of 2,604, which is an increase of 600 in the number of pending cases as compared with June 30, 1926. We have no figures available as to the fiscal year 1930, but a report received from the United States Attorney under date of January 4, 1930, in reference to prohibition and narcotic cases, shows that there were pending on December 31, 1929, 842 criminal cases under the National Prohibition Act, as compared with 446 on June 30, 1929, and that on December 31, 1929, there were pending 189 criminal prosecutions under the narcotic law, as compared with 185 at the close of June 30, 1929. It is obvious that there is some congestion of the dockets and that three permanent district judges are needed in the said district.

Respectfully,

PANAMA CANAL-RETIREMENT OF EMPLOYEES

JUNE 12, 1930.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union and ordered to be printed

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

REPORT

[To accompany H. R. 12759]

The Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 12759) for the retirement of employees of the Panama Canal and the Panama Railroad Co., on the Isthmus of Panama, who are citizens of the United States, having considered the same, report thereon with a recommendation that it pass.

The bill has the approval of the Governor of the Panama Canal and his administrative associates and of the employees of the Panama Canal and the Panama Railroad on the Canal Zone. It presents legislation for which the employees of the Panama Canal havę appealed for the past 10 years and which has been urgently recommended by every governor of the Panama Canal since the canal was opened to traffic in 1914, including Governors Goethals, Harding, Morrow, Walker, and Burgess.

The bill is the result of the joint study and labor of the various retirement committees of the canal employees and the different governors and their administrative assistants, during the last eight years; its most important provisions have been prepared by the officials of the Bureau of Efficiency in cooperation with the governor of the canal, representatives of the employees of the canal, and members of the committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce. Officials of the Panama Canal and representatives of the employees endeavored to formulate a plan for retirement legislation that would meet the peculiar conditions of employment on the Panama Canal when the first bill for retirement of all employees in the classified Civil Service of the Government was under consideration in 1920; but a satisfactory agreement could not be reached at that time, and pending further study and a more complete agreement on the subject, the classified civil-service employees of the Panama Canal were blanketed under the general provisions of the civil service retirement act of May 22, 1920.

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