Since no Army nurses have yet been retired for disability, no immediate additional expense will be incurred by the passage of the proposed legislation. Its enactment will, however, increase the pay of nurses who may be retired in the higher grades in the future over what they would receive under the decision of the Comptroller General. It is not practicable to make an accurate estimate of the amount of this increase, but it will be small. Favorable consideration of this legislation during the present session of Congress is recommended. Sincerely yours, F. H. PAYNE, Acting Secretary of War. TRANSPORTATION INVESTIGATION FEBRUARY 25, 1931.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union and ordered to be printed Mr. PARKER, from the Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany H. J. Res. 519] The Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, to whom was referred the joint resolution (H. J. Res. 519) directing an investigation and study of transportation by the various agencies engaged in interstate commerce, having considered and amended the same, report thereon with a recommendation that it pass. Those paragraphs of section 12 of the interstate commerce act revised to July 1, 1929, mentioned in last paragraph of H. J. Res. 519 appear below. SEC. 12. [As amended March 2, 1889, February 10, 1891, and February 28, 1920.] [U. S. Code, title 49, sec. 12.] (1) That the commission hereby created shall have authority to inquire into the management of the business of all common carriers subject to the provisions of this act, and shall keep itself informed as to the manner and method in which the same is conducted, and shall have the right to obtain from such common carriers full and complete information necessary to enable the commission to perform the duties and carry out the objects for which it was created; and the commission is hereby authorized and required to execute and enforce the provisions of this act; and, upon the request of the commission, it shall be the duty of any district attorney of the United States to whom the commission may apply to institute in the proper court and to prosecute under the direction of the Attorney General of the United States all necessary proceedings for the enforcement of the provisions of this act and for the punishment of all violations thereof, and the costs and expenses of such prosecution shall be paid out of the appropriation for the expenses of the courts of the United States; and for the purposes of this act the commission shall have power to require, by subpoena, the attendance and testimony of witnesses and the production of all books, papers, tariffs, contracts, agreements, and documents relating to any matter under investigation. (2) Such attendance of witnesses, and the production of such documentary evidence, may be required from any place in the United States, at any designated place of hearing. And in case of disobedience to a subpoena the commission, or any party to a proceeding before the commission, may invoke the aid of any court of the United States in requiring the attendance and testimony of witnesses and the production of books, papers, and documents under the provisions of this section. (3) And any of the circuit courts of the United States within the jurisdiction of which such inquiry is carried on may, in case of contumacy or refusal to obey a subpoena issued to any common carrier, subject to the provisions of this act, or other person, issue an order requiring such common carrier or other person to appear before said commission (and produce books and papers if so ordered) and give evidence touching the matter in question; and any failure to obey such order of the court may be punished by such court as a contempt thereof. The claim that any such testimony or evidence may tend to criminate the person giving such evidence shall not excuse such witness from testifying; but such evidence or testimony shall not be used against such person on the trial of any criminal proceeding. (4) The testimony of any witness may be taken, at the instance of a party, in any proceeding or investigation pending before the commission, by deposition, at any time after a cause or proceeding is at issue on petition and answer. The commission may also order testimony to be taken by deposition in any proceeding or investigation pending before it, at any stage of such proceeding or investigation. Such depositions may be taken before any judge of any court of the United States, or any commissioner of a circuit, or any clerk of a district or circuit court, or any chancellor, justice, or judge of a supreme or superior court, mayor or chief magistrate of a city, judge of a county court, or court of common pleas of any of the United States, or any notary public, not being of counsel or attorney to either of the parties, nor interested in the event of the proceeding or investigation. Reasonable notice must first be given in writing by the party or his attorney proposing to take such deposition to the opposite party or his attorney of record, as either may be nearest, which notice shall state the name of the witness and the time and place of the taking of his deposition. Any person may be compelled to appear and depose, and to produce documentary evidence, in the same manner as witnesses may be compelled to appear and testify and produce documentary evidence before the commission as herein before provided. (5) Every person deposing as herein provided shall be cautioned and sworn (or affirm, if he so request) to testify the whole truth, and shall be carefully examined. His testimony shall be reduced to writing by the magistrate taking the deposition, or under his direction, and shall, after it has been reduced to writing, be subscribed by the deponent. (6) If a witness whose testimony may be desired to be taken by deposition be in a foreign country, the deposition may be taken before an officer or person designated by the commission, or agreed upon by the parties by stipulation in writing to be filed with the commission. All depositions must be promptly filed with the commission. (7) Witnesses whose depositions are taken pursuant to this act, and the magistrate or other officer taking the same, shall severally be entitled to the same fees as are paid for like services in the courts of the United States. 3d Session No. 2884 TO CONFER JURISDICTION ON COURT OF CLAIMS TO HEAR AND DETERMINE CERTAIN CLAIMS OF EASTERN EMIGRANT AND WESTERN CHEROKEE INDIANS OF OKLAHOMA AND NORTH CAROLINA FEBRUARY 25, 1931.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union and ordered to be printed Mr. WILLIAMSON, from the Committee on Indian Affairs, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany S. 5979] The Committee on Indian Affairs, to whom was referred the bill (S. 5979) to confer jurisdiction on the Court of Claims to hear and determine certain claims of the Eastern Emigrant and Western Cherokee Indians of Oklahoma and North Carolina, having considered the same, report thereon with a recommendation that it do pass with the following amendments: Strike out all after the enacting clause and substitute in lieu thereof the following: That all claims against the United States of the Eastern or Emigrant Cherokees, so called, and the Western Cherokee or Old Settler Indians, so called, who are duly enrolled members of the Cherokee Tribe of Indians in Oklahoma, as classes, respectively, may be submitted to the Court of Claims, and jurisdiction is hereby conferred upon the Court of Claims notwithstanding the lapse of time or statutes of limitation to hear, examine, adjudicate, and render judgment in any and all legal and equitable claims arising under or growing out of any treaty or agreement between the United States and the Cherokee Indians, or arising under or growing out of any act of Congress in relation to Indian affairs which the said Eastern or Emigrant and Western or Old Settler Cherokees may have against the United States, which claims have not heretofore been determined and adjudicated on their merits by the Court of Claims or the Supreme Court of the United States and paid in full: Provided, That said Eastern or Emigrant and Western or Old Settler Cherokee Indians may act together or as two bodies hereunder as they may be advised: Provided further, That the said Eastern or Emigrant and Western or Old Settler Cherokees may intervene in any suit or suits now pending in the Court of Claims under authority of the act of Congress approved March 19, 1924, in which the Cherokee Nation is partly plaintiff and the United States party defendant. SEC. 2. Any and all claims against the United States within the purview of this act shall be forever barred unless suit or suits or intervening petition shall be filed, subject to amendment, however, as herein provided in the Court of Claims within two years from the date of approval of this act, and such suit or suits shall make the said Eastern or Emigrant and/or Western or Old Settler Cherokees |