60TH CONGRESS, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. ( 2d Session.

RESTORING LOSS OF RIGHTS OF CITIZENSHIP TO DESERTERS FROM THE NAVY IN CERTAIN CASES.

JANUARY 27, 1909.-Ordered to be printed.

Mr. ROBERTS, from the committee of conference, submitted the following

CONFERENCE REPORT.

[To accompany S. 5473.]

The committee of conference on the disagreeing votes of the two Houses on the amendments of the House to the bill (S. 5473) to authorize the Secretary of the Navy in certain cases to mitigate or remit the loss of rights of citizenship imposed by law upon deserters from the naval service, having met, after full and free conference, have agreed to recommend and do recommend to their respective Houses, as follows:

That the Senate recede from its disagreement to the amendments of the House and agree to the same.

ERNEST W. ROBERTS,

A. F. DAWSON,

L. P. PADGETT,

Ianagers on the part of the House.
GEO. C. PERKINS,

J. H. GALLINGER,

B. R. TILLMAN,

Managers on the part of the Senate.

STATEMENT OF MANAGERS ON PART OF THE HOUSE.

The managers on the part of the House, at the conference on the disagreeing votes of the two Houses on the bill (S. 5473) "To authorize the Secretary of the Navy in certain cases to mitigate or remit the loss of rights of citizenship imposed by law upon deserters from the naval service," submit the following written statement in explanation of the effect of the action agreed upon and submitted in the accompanying conference report.

The Senate, in receding from its disagreement to the amendments of the House and agreeing to the same, without further amendment, leaves the bill without change as it passed the House of Representatives. ERNEST W. ROBERTS,

A. F. DAWSON,

L. P. PADGETT,

Managers on the part of the House.

60TH CONGRESS, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. ( 2d Session.

A BILL TO AMEND SECTION TWENTY-SIX HUNDRED AND NINETEEN OF THE REVISED STATUTES OF THE UNITED STATES.

JANUARY 27, 1909.-Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be printed.

Mr. ALEXANDER, of New York, from the Committee on the Judiciary, submitted the following

REPORT.

[To accompany H. R. 27238.]

The Committee on the Judiciary to whom was referred the bill, H. R. 24338, to amend section twenty-six hundred and nineteen of the Revised Statutes of the United States, report in lieu thereof, a bill H. R. 27238, A bill to amend section twenty-six hundred and nineteen of the Revised Statutes of the United States, as a substitute and recommend that the same do pass, and that H. R. 24338 do lie on the table.

The present law prescribes the form of bond for Customs Officers and requires the President of the United States to fix the amount of the bond. In all other cases under the Treasury Department the form of bond to be prescribed is left to the discretion of the Secretary of the Treasury so that such forms are made broad enough to cover the maximum requirements which the service demands shall be imposed upon a bonded officer. Because of the fact that the form of Customs bonds has heretofore been prescribed by law it has not been possible to amend the form so as to make the sureties liable for the acts of such Customs officer in the performance of duties so closely allied to his office that it is practically impossible to perform them through any other office, and yet which are not all made a part of his official duties under the law; such as the disbursement of funds in connection with the operation of the "Revenue Cutter Service," "Marine Hospital Service," "Quarantine Service," "Preventing the Spread of Epidemic Diseases," "Construction of Public Buildings," "Repairs and Preservation of Public Buildings," "Pay of Assistant Custodians and Janitors," etc., and it has therefore been necessary to require of such officers separate bonds to cover each of said duties which the Secretary of the Treasury has found it necessary to assign to them. These are voluntary bonds, but the officers must pay for them out of their own funds and they could just as well be included under the bond as Customs officer if the prohibition contained in the present law were removed.

It is also a handicap to have to call upon the President periodically when the receipts of a customs port warrant the increase or decrease of his bond bi-annually as required by law. In all other cases the penalties of bonds under the Department are fixed by the Secretary of the Treasury and a system has been adopted whereby they are automatically adjusted so as to bear a proper relation to the maximum liability. It is highly desirable that a similar practice may be applied to the Customs Service.