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Amendment numbered 60:

That the House recede from its disagreement to the amendment of the Senate numbered 60, and agree to the same with an amendment, as follows:

Omit the matter stricken out and inserted by said amendment; and the Senate agree to the same.

Amendment numbered 66:

That the House recede from its disagreement to the amendment of the Senate numbered 66, and agree to the same with an amendment, as follows:

In lieu of the sum proposed insert $1,623,000; and the Senate agree to the same.

Amendment numbered 101:

That the House recede from its disagreement to the amendment of the Senate numbered 101, and agree to the same with an amendment, as follows:

In lieu of the matter inserted by said amendment insert the following: $900,000, and not to exceed 10 per centum of this appropriation and of Federal grants reimbursed under this appropriation shall be expended for personal services, including the employment of one general superintendent of public assistance services at $5,600 per annum, one assistant superintendent of such services at $4,600 per annum, and one stenographertypist (secretary) at $2,000 per annum, to be appointed without reference to civil-service requirements, ; and the Senate agree to the same.

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The managers on the part of the House at the conference on the disagreeing votes of the two Houses on the amendments of the Senate to the bill (H. R. 5610) making appropriations for the Government of the District of Columbia and other activities chargeable in whole or in part against the revenues of such District for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1940, and for other purposes, submit the following statement in explanation of the effect of the action agreed upon and recommended in the accompanying conference report as to each of such amendments, namely:

Amendment No. 1: Appropriates $6,000,000 as a Federal contribution to the operation of the Government of the District of Columbia, instead of $5,000,000, as proposed by the House, and $7,750,000, as proposed by the Senate, and provides that the provisions of the act and the action of administrative officers in anticipation of enactment shall be effective as if such act had been approved on July 1, 1939.

Amendment No. 59: Provides $229,000 for the construction of an eight-room addition to the Ketcham School, as proposed by the Senate.

Amendment No. 60: Strikes out the provision of the House appropriating $20,000 for plans and specifications for a new building to house the Abbott Vocational School, and eliminates the provision of the Senate with reference to this school.

Amendments Nos. 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, and 71, relating to school buildings and grounds: Strike out the Senate amendments providing for plans and specifications for new buildings to replace old elementary schools and for the purchase of land for such new school buildings, and correct the totals for such items.

Amendment No. 101: Appropriates $900,000 for relief in the District of Columbia, as proposed by the House, instead of $1,500,000, as proposed by the Senate, and provides that 10 percent of such sum shall be available for personal services, instead of 81⁄2 percent, as proposed by the House, and the elimination of any limitation on personal services, as proposed by the Senate.

Ross A. COLLINS,
GEORGE MAHON,
KARL STEFAN,

FRANCIS CASE,

Managers on the part of the House.

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VIRGINIA (MERRIMAC)-MONITOR COMMISSION

JULY 14, 1939.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union and ordered to be printed

Mr. KELLER, from the Committee on the Library, submitted the

following

REPORT

[To accompany H. Con. Res. 32]

The Committee on the Library, to whom was referred the concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 32) establishing a commission to be known as the Virginia (Merrimac)-Monitor Commission, having considered the same, report favorably and unanimously thereon without amendment and recommend that the concurrent resolution do pass.

By the terms of this concurrent resolution there is created a congressional commission to be known as Virginia (Merrimac)-Monitor Commission, to consist of six Members, three from the Senate and three from the House, to serve without compensation, for the purposes stated in the next paragraph, to appoint a secretary and such other assistants as may be needed, if they can be procured to serve without cost to the United States, to confer with State, municipal, and other commissions and agencies, and to report their recommendations to the Congress on or before April 15, 1940.

The purpose of this concurrent resolution is to secure congressional consideration of the feasibility, practicability, and desirability of creating in Hampton Roads, Va., or on or near the shores thereof, at a site to be selected by the Commission, a suitable memorial in commemoration of the battles in Hampton Roads, Va., (1) on March 8, 1862, participated in by the United States frigate Merrimac, raised after burning, and rechristened the Confederate States ironclad Virginia, and the Cumberland, Congress, Minnesota, Roanoke, and St. Lawrence; and (2) on March 9, 1862, the first battle in the history of the world between ironclads; that is, the Confederate ironclad Virginia (Merrimac) and the United States ironclad Monitor.

These engagements constituted the most important event in the history of the world in naval engagements and wrought a revolution in naval architecture.

The results of the battle were of such moment that it has been said that the battle is to be classed with Gettysburg and Vicksburg in its influence on the war, and that its fame, for other reasons as well, went far beyond the United States.

Knox, in Decisive Battles Since Waterloo, published in 1887, says on page 228:

Probably no naval conflict in the history of the world ever attracted as much attention as did the battle in Hampton Roads, between the Monitor and the Merrimac. It revolutionized the navies of the world and showed that the wooden ships, which had long held control of the ocean, were of no further use for fighting purposes.

James Phinney Baxter, 3d, associate professor of history in Harvard University, in his work entitled "The Introduction of The Ironclad Warship," says (p. 324):

Although the battle of Hampton Roads did not inaugurate the era of ironclad warships, the success of the Monitor gave a great impetus to the adoption of the revolving armored turret.

On page 311 the same author says:

The news that a wooden frigate, cut down and armored, had swept all before it until confronted by a little ironclad built in a few months at a cost of less than 60,000 (pounds), caused tremendous excitement in Great Britain, where popular interest in the Navy was keenest. The conversion of the great mass of the British public to the importance of ironclads followed so closely on the heels of the conversion of British experts, that the public and the press failed to give the Admiralty credit for changing its ground in 1861.

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The London Times asserted that the ironclad problem had now been removed from the region of theory to the region of fact and cried out that the British Navy had been reduced to two ships. In the House of Commons Bentinck exclaimed that

"We have learned what if 2 months ago any man had asserted he would have been scouted as a lunatic; we have learned that the boasted Navy of Great Britain, when opposed to iron vessels, is useless as a fighting navy."

"MERRIMAC"

The Confederate ironclad is generally referred to in history as the Merrimac. It was the wooden screw steamer, U. S. frigate Merrimack (name usually spelled "Merrimac"), originally 3,200 tons, built at Boston Navy Yard, launched June 14, 1855, completed February 25, 1856, at a cost of $685,842.19. This vessel was originally 275 feet long, with a beam of 38 feet 6 inches, and depth 27 feet 6 inches, maximum speed of 12 knots, and average speed of 9 knots. She had cruised the West Indies; had sailed around Cape Horn; became flagship of the Pacific Station, returned by Cape Horn; was stationed at Panama in 1859; returned to Gosport (Norfolk) Navy Yard; taken out of commission February 16, 1860; fired by Union troops when they evacuated Norfolk on April 20, 1861; scuttled and sunk at Norfolk, but without damage to her hull and machinery; raised and taken to drydock May 30, 1861, reconditioned there, and converted into an ironclad, with her exposed parts protected by iron, provided with an ironclad ram and with a battery of 10 guns.

In publication No. 4 of the Mariners' Museum, Newport News, Va., prepared by S. B. Besse, entitled "U. S. Ironclad Virginia," with data and references for a scale model, may be found a brief history of ship, her dimensions, hull lines, and description of her armament.

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