PERMITS TO COMMITTEE ON INAUGURAL CEREMONIES. JANUARY 22, 1909.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union and ordered to be printed. Mr. SMITH, of Michigan, from the Committee on the District of Columbia, submitted the following REPORT. [To accompany S. R. 106.] The Committee on the District of Columbia, to whom was referred the joint resolution (S. R. 106) authorizing the granting of permits to the committee on inaugural ceremonies on the occasion of the inauguration of the President-elect on March 4, 1909, etc., report the same back to the House with the recommendation that it do pass, when amended as follows: Insert in line 6, page 1, after the word "Washington," the words "except such rooms therein as are used and occupied for the payment of pensions." This joint resolution in all essential respects is identical with House joint resolution 202, reported by your committee on December 18, 1908 (Rept. No. 1808, 60th Cong., 2d sess.). The amendment above reported is the same amendment that was made to the House joint resolution when it was under consideration in Committee of the Whole (Cong. Record, Jan. 11, 1909, pp. 763, 772). The report on the House joint resolution set forth at length the replies received by your committee from the several officials to whom the resolution was submitted for examination and report. As those replies are matters of record and of recent date it is not deemed necessary to repeat them here. They were all favorable to the passage of the joint resolution, with the single exception of that of the Commissioner of Pensions, transmitted by the Secretary of the Interior. In reference to the use of the Pension building for inaugural receptions, your committee respectfully repeats what it said in the report above referred to, viz: The Pension building has been successively used for the inaugural reception to the President and Vice-President elect since the inauguration of President Cleveland in 1885. No other building, public or private, is available to accommodate the many thousands who attend this function. Such receptions have been accorded each incoming Chief Executive since the time of President Washington. It has hence become by custom a recognized part of the inaugural ceremonies whereto the representatives of all the nations are invited guests. As part of the nation's quadrennial installation of its Chief Executive, it has become in a practical sense a national function. The court of the Pension building, 400 by 116 feet, and the galleries opening thereon afford ample and safe accommodation, and as the building is wholly fireproof and all decorations of every sort, except flowers used on this occasion, are rendered noncombustible by the use of fireproof solutions, the danger from fire is practically eliminated. The building is also most effectively guarded from fire or accident by the constant presence of trained firemen and policemen, and in the successive inaugural occasions for the past twenty-five years no injury to persons or property has occurred from fire or accident. The band concerts which follow the inaugural reception afford ample opportunity for all who do not attend the reception to visit the building and enjoy a view of the decorated interior. The suggestions of the Commissioner of Pensions as to cost to the Government in the enforced idleness of the pension-office force during the occupancy of the building for this purpose is, in the view of the committee, met by the plain answer that such force is continuing in service, and as the work of the bureau is now substantially up to current date the suggested loss is not real-such as would occur in a manufacturing plant where the output ceases when the employees are idle. The further suggestion that delay in payment of quarterly pensions, now carried on in part in the Pension building, will be delayed can and will be fully obviated by the reservation of proper rooms and space now used therefor on the ground floor of the building-a matter fully within the control of the Secretary of the Interior under the power conferred upon the Secretary by the express terms of section 1 of the resolution. This is a matter fully understood by the Secretary of the Interior and the inaugural committee. Therefore no delay or inconvenience on that account can occur. The safe storage of the files and furniture of the office has been provided for on all such former occasions and, as the committee is advised, the files are removed from the great court to the basement, where they are fully protected by the same fireproof, solid brick construction which makes the entire building indestructible. Your committee therefore recommends the passage of the joint resolution as amended. INDIAN APPROPRIATION BILL. JANUARY 22, 1909.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union and ordered to be printed. Mr. SHERMAN, from the Committee on Indian Affairs, submitted the following REPORT. [To accompany H. R. 26916.] The aggregate of items in the accompanying bill making appropriations for the current and contingent expenses of the Indian Department and for fulfilling treaty stipulations with the various Indian tribes for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1910, and for other purposes is $9.913,828.44. The estimates for the Indian Service, upon which the bill is based, will be found in the estimates for appropriations for the fiscal year 1910, page 257 et seq. (H. Doc. No. 1031, 60th Cong., 2d sess.), and aggregate The appropriations in this bill amount to $11, 451, 576. 05 9, 913, 828. 44 1,537, 747.61 Apparent excess of estimates over items carried in the bill... The following table shows the estimates submitted for the fiscal year 1910, under several divisions of the bill, the amounts recommended to be appropriated, and the appropriations contained in the appropriation bill for 1909: Excess of amount in bill for 1910 over appropriation for 1909.. $9,913, 828. 44 9, 707, 107. 26 206, 721. 18 |