2d Session. No. 6906. ADDITIONAL TERM OF COURT AT QUINCY, ILL. JANUARY 29, 1907.-Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be printed. Mr. ALEXANDER, from the Committee on the Judiciary, submitted the following REPORT. [To accompany H. R. 19752.] The Committee on the Judiciary, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 19752) to amend section 10 of the act approved March 3, 1905, providing for an additional division in the seventh district of Illinois and an additional term of court at the city of Quincy, after having had the same under careful consideration report it back with the recommendation that it do pass with the following amendments: Strike out all after the enacting clause to and including line 2, page 3, and amend the title so that the bill and title will read as follows: AN ACT For an additional term of court at Quincy, Illinois. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That an additional term of the circuit and district court in and for said southern district of Illinois shall be held at the city of Quincy on the first Monday of March of each year. The purpose of this act is to give to Quincy two terms of court. As matters now stand prisoners arrested for boot-legging or petty infractions of the postal or internal-revenue laws have to wait for trial six months or a year until the court to which they were bound over is held. If in jail for want of bail this is an outrage, as they may be found not guilty. If on bail or not on bail they are entitled as American citizens to a speedy, impartial trial by a jury of the country. This is guaranteed by the United States Constitution. In like manner railway damage cases removed to the United States court will have to be taken to the next Federal court, thus saving interminable delay of justice and the expense of waiting and perhaps loss of evidence meanwhile. It brings the Federal courts and the practice therein closer to the people. It will add no expense to the Government. Locally Quincy has a fine Federal court room in the post-office building and excellent arrangement for juries and the officers of the court, as well as a deputy United States marshal and a deputy clerk of the United States circuit and district court. BRIDGE ACROSS MISSISSIPPI RIVER, IOWA. JANUARY 29, 1907.-Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be printed. Mr. MANN, from the Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, submitted the following REPORT. [To accompany H. R. 24657.] The Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 24657) to authorize the New Albany Bridge Company or the Chicago and Northwestern Railway Company to reconstruct a bridge across the Mississippi River, having considered the same, report thereon with amendment, and as so amended recommend that it pass. The bill as amended has the approval of the War Department, as will appear by the indorsements attached and which are made a part of this report. Amend the bill as follows: Strike out all of section 2. On page 2, in line 24, and on page 3, in line 1, strike out the words "the privileges conferred hereunder shall cease" and insert in lieu thereof the words "this act shall be null and void.” On page 3, in line 2, strike out the words "two" and "five" and insert in lieu thereof the words "one" and "three;" and in line 3 strike out "the passage" and insert in lieu thereof "approval;" and in line 2, page 3, strike out the word "is." Renumber section 3 to section 2 and section 4 to section 3. All of the amendments suggested by the Chief of Engineers of the War Department have been agreed to by the committee and are included in the amended bill accompanying this report. [Second indorsement.] WAR DEPARTMENT, OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF ENGINEERS, Respectfully returned to the Secretary of War. structure located on the site of the present bridge or within 100 feet thereof. The bridge in question was originally constructed in 1864-65 without authority from the Federal Government, but was subsequently legalized by an act of Congress approved February 27, 1867 (14 Stat. L., 412). Section 2 of the bill proposes to authorize the corporations owning and controlling this bridge to appropriate and condemn such real and personal property, and rights of property, as may be necessary to effect the object of the bill. This proposition is an unusual one, and, in my judgment, the propriety of its incorporation in a bill of this kind is doubtful. The title and ownership of real and personal property are derived and held under State laws, and it would seem to be not within the province of Congress to confer on any person or corporation the power to take the property of another for private purposes. While the section provides that the property shall be acquired in accordance with State law, it is conceivable that the section may be construed as conferring unusual powers on the grantees, and as constituting to some extent a limitation on the rights of the owner of the property affected. If this is the intent of the provision, I regard it as inadmissible; if it is not the intent, it is without force, and is clearly unnecessary, as the grantees either have already, or can secure under State laws ample power to acquire the necessary property rights. Holding these views, I recommend that section 2 of the bill be eliminated. With this amendment and others of minor importance, all of which are indicated on the bill, I see no objection to favorable consideration by Congress. A. MACKENZIE, Brig. Gen., Chief of Engineers, U. S. Army. [Third indorsement.] WAR DEPARTMENT, January 24, 1907. Respectfully returned to the chairman Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, House of Representatives, inviting attention to the foregoing report of the Chief of Engineers, United States Army, and to the accompanying copy of amended bill referred to. ROBERT SHAW OLIVER, Assistant Secretary of War. O 59TH CONGRESS, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. ( 2d Session. CIRCUIT AND DISTRICT COURTS AT BELLINGHAM, WASH. JANUARY 29, 1907.-Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be printed. Mr. ALEXANDER, from the Committee on the Judiciary, submitted the following REPORT. [To accompany H. R. 21383.] The Committee on the Judiciary, to whom was referred House bill 21383, submit the following report and recommend the passage of the bill when the same is amended by inserting the following as section 4: That the city of Bellingham shall furnish a suitable room in which to hold said court, and light and heat the same without any expense to the United States. Bellingham is a city having a population of about 30,000 people and is situated on Puget Sound near the international boundary, about 100 miles north of Seattle. It is the only city of the first class in the State of Washington that does not have terms of the Federal court. Bellingham has four railroads, and last year its rail shipments amounted to more than 25,000 car-loads. It has a fine harbor, and the value of its water shipping for 1905 was $5,938,000. There are several ports of entry in the immediate neighborhood of Bellingham, and Sumas, a short distance from the city, is one of the largest ports of entry in the West. There are sixteen customs officials and fifteen immigration officials in the territory naturally tributary to Bellingham. Many cases of smuggling and unlawful entry originate in this territory. It works great hardship on the accused to be compelled to take witnesses to Seattle at his own expense, which he must do in all cases except when the defendant makes affidavit that he is a pauper. There are also many admiralty cases that would be tried at Bellingham. It is claimed that many personal-injury cases, that would be instituted in the Federal courts if terms were held at Bellingham, are now brought in the State court by reason of the very considerable added cost of a trial in the Federal court at Seattle. |