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ninety feet, and of W street from its present terminus west of Flagler place to Second street, with a width of eighty feet, and of W street west of Second street eastward to Second street, with a width of fifty feet."

Strike out the word "thirty," in line 4, page 1 of the bill, and insert in lieu thereof the word "sixty."

Sixty days should be granted within which to institute the condemnation proceedings.

Amend section 7 of the bill by striking out all of the section after the word "land," in line 11, and insert in lieu thereof the following: "by the disbursing officer of the District of Columbia from moneys advanced to him by the Secretary of the Treasury upon requisitions of the Commissioners of the said District, as provided by law; and a sufficient sum to pay the amounts of said judgments and awards is hereby appropriated, one-half from the revenues of the District of Columbia and the other half out of moneys in the United States Treasury not otherwise appropriated."

With the amendments suggested the Commissioners recommend favorable action on the bill.

HENRY B. F. MACFARLAND,

Very respectfully,
Hon. J. H. GALLINGER,
Chairman Committee on the District of Columbia,

President Board of Commissioners District of Columbia.

United States Senate.

APRIL 6, 1906.

SENATOR: The Commissioners of the District of Columbia have the honor to submit the following on Senate bill 5119, Fifty-ninth Congress, first session, "Authorizing the extension of W and Adams streets northwest," which you referred to them for report touching the merits of the bill and the propriety of its passage.

A plat is inclosed, showing in blue the land proposed to be taken for the extension of W and Adams streets proposed by the bill. A bill for this purpose has already been introduced in the Senate this session, being Senate bill 2099. This bill provided for the extension of the two streets in the usual form in which streets have been extended by law in the District of Columbia for several years past. The Commissioners recommended favorable consideration on that bill.

The present bill (S. 5119) provides for the purchase of the land necessary to extend the streets for a stated sum and the assessment of this sum by a jury on adjacent property benefited, the lands of the Prospect Hill Cemetery being withdrawn from the area of assessment.

At the request of Hon. J. J. Hemphill, who represented the cemetery property, the Commissioners gave him a hearing and have delayed this report until that hearing should have been held.

The sum which this bill proposes to appropriate for the purchase of the land necessary is the estimate which the Commissioners made of the cost of the land. This estimate was based on what the office believed to be good information, but it does not necessarily represent the value of the land as it may be determined by a jury. The Commissioners believe that the jury which assesses the adjacent property for benefits by reason of the extension of streets should also pass upon the value of the land taken for the streets, so that the assessment for benefits should equal the cost of the land so ascertained, with the necessary expenses of condemnation. They therefore believe that Senate bill 2099, authorizing the extension of these streets in the ordinary manner, should be passed in preference to the bill (S. 5119).

If Congress desires that the cemetery company should not be subject to assessment, a provision could be added to Senate bill 2099 exempting the cemetery property from assessment, which would meet this objection.

The Commissioners do not therefore recommend the passage of this bill.

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EXTENSION OF GENESEO PLACE AND SUMMIT PLACE.

DECEMBER 14, 1906.-Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be printed.

Mr. BABCOCK, from the Committee on the District of Columbia, submitted the following

REPORT.

[To accompany S. 5246.]

The Committee on the District of Columbia, to whom was referred the bill (S. 5246) to provide for the extension of Geneseo place and Summit place, District of Columbia, report the same back to the House with the recommendation that it do pass when amended as follows:

Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert in lieu thereof the following:

That, under and in accordance with the provisions of sections four hundred and ninety-one a to four hundred and ninety-one n, both inclusive, of subchapter one of chapter fifteen of the Code of Law for the District of Columbia, within ninety days after the passage of this act the Commissioners of the District of Columbia be, and they are hereby, authorized and directed to institute in the supreme court of the District of Columbia a proceeding in rem to condemn the land that may be necessary for the extension of Geneseo place, Lanier Heights northwest, in said District, in a southwesterly direction in prolongation of its present lines and to extend Summit place in an easterly direction with a width of forty feet to connect with said extension of Geneseo place, said extension of Summit place to be north of the northerly line of lot one hundred and ninetyeight of Lanier Heights and said line extended, the name of Geneseo place to be changed to Summit place.

SEC. 2. That assessments shall be made by the jury as benefits, as contemplated in section four hundred and ninety-one g of the subchapter of the Code hereinbefore referred to: Provided, That the total amount found to be due and awarded as damages, plus the cost and expenses of the proceedings, shall be assessed by the said jury as benefits.

SEC. 3. That the sum of three hundred dollars, or so much thereof as may be necessary, is hereby appropriated, out of the revenues of the District of Columbia, to provide the necessary funds for the costs and expenses of the condemnation proceedings taken pursuant hereto, to be repaid to the District of Columbia from the assessment for benefits when the same are collected, and a sufficient sum to pay the amounts of all judgments and awards is hereby appropriated out of the revenues of the District of Columbia.

The amendment recommended by your committee in the nature of a substitute for the Senate bill is for the purpose of bringing the proposed legislation in harmony with sections 491a to 491n of the Code

of Law for the District of Columbia, these sections regulating proceedings for the condemnation of land for streets.

As this improvement is considered to be of advantage mainly to that immediate section of the city, provision has been made in section 2 of the substitute so that the property benefited will be assessed to cover the amount awarded as damages for land taken, as well as for the costs and expenses of the condemnation proceedings-which entire amount will be returned to the District revenues, as it will be assessed as benefits and the District of Columbia will ultimately bear no portion of the expense for this improvement.

This measure has the approval of the Commissioners of the District of Columbia, as will be seen by the following letter addressed to Senator Gallinger:

OFFICE COMMISSIONERS OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA,
Washington, April 9, 1906.

SENATOR: The Commissioners of the District of Columbia have the honor to submit the following on Senate 5246, Fifty-ninth Congress, first session, "To provide for the extension of Geneseo place, District of Columbia," which you referred to them for report touching the merits of the bill and the propriety of its passage.

A plat is inclosed showing in red the extension proposed by the bill. The bill as introduced provides for the extension of Geneseo place, but the object is to extend not only this place but Summit place, so as to make a connection between the two. The title should therefore be amended to read: "To provide for the extension of Geneseo place and Summit place, District of Columbia."

The proposed extension will connect Quarry road and Eighteenth street on a fairly good grade, and will be beneficial to the adjacent property. As the benefit will be purely local, the entire cost should be borne by the adjacent property, and the Commissioners recommend the bill be amended so as to provide for this. The estimated cost of the land to be acquired is $2,700.

The Commissioners submit an amended bill carrying out the suggestions made above and amending the description of the land to be condemned. They recommend the passage of the amended bill.

Very respectfully,

HENRY B. F. MACFARLAND, President Board of Commissioners, District of Columbia.

Hon. J. H. GALLINGER,

Chairman Committee on the District of Columbia,

O

United States Senate.

2d Session.

No. 5482.

CLOSING CERTAIN ALLEYS IN THE DISTRICT OF
COLUMBIA.

DECEMBER 14, 1906.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union and ordered to be printed.

Mr. SIMS, from the Committee on the District of Columbia, submitted the following

REPORT.

[To accompany S. 5565.]

The Committee on the District of Columbia, to whom was referred the bill (S. 5565) to close certain alleys in the District of Columbia, report the same back to the House with the recommendation that it do pass when amended as follows:

Page 2, line 1, insert before the word "the" the following: "which in no event shall be less than the average value of the abutting property."

Page 2, strike out all after the word "owners" in line 11 and insert the following: ": Provided further, That the Commissioners are hereby authorized to reject the appraisement if in their opinion such appraisement is less than the value of said property."

The purpose of the proposed legislation is to authorize the Commissioners to abandon and close all alleys in squares 330 and 547, both of which squares are owned and occupied by a street-car company, and upon a portion of each are erected buildings.

The portions of these squares not occupied by buildings are inclosed by fences, so that these alleys do not physically exist. In the case of square 330 the alley was dedicated when the square was subdivided into lots, and under the form of dedication the District of Columbia acquired merely an easement or right of way over the property, the fee remaining in the abutting property. The United States, however, holds title in fee to the grounds contained in the alley in square 547, as this was one of the alleys laid out in the original subdivision of the city of Washington. This latter alley contains 13,773 square feet, and section 2 in the reported bill provides that before abandoning and closing the same the owners of the lots

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