ADDING CERTAIN SURPLUS LAND TO PETERSBURG NATIONAL MILITARY PARK, VA., AND DEFINING THE BOUNDARIES THEREOF

JUNE 15, 1949.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed

Mr. PETERSON, from the Committee on Public Lands, submitted the

following

REPORT

[To accompany H. R. 4208)

The Committee on Public Lands to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 4208) to add certain surplus land to Petersburg National Military Park, Va., to define the boundaries thereof, and for other purposes, having considered the same, report favorably thereon with an amendment and recommend that the bill as amended do pass. The amendment is as follows:

Page 2, following line 7, add the following new section:

SEC. 2. The Secretary of the Interior is further authorized to adjust the boundary of the Petersburg National Military Park through purchase, exchange, or transfer: Provided. That in doing so the total area of the park will not be increased and that such changes will become effective upon publication of the description thereof in the Federal Register by the Secretary of the Interior

EXPLANATION OF THE BILL

H. R. 4208 authorizes the transfer by the Department of the Army to the Department of Interior of approximately 206 acres of land for inclusion in the Petersburg National Military Park, Va. The bill also provides that the 1,531 acres of land now administered as a part of the park, upon publication of a description thereof in the Federal Register, shall constitute the Petersburg National Military Park.

No expenditure of Federal funds is required. H. R. 4208 merely defines the boundaries of the Petersburg National Military Park and effectuates an agreement reached between the Department of the Army and the Department of the Interior for exchange of lands.

The boundaries of the Petersburg National Military Park never have been definitely prescribed by Congress. The park lands were

placed under the jurisdiction of the National Park Service, Depart ment of Interior, in 1933, through governmental reorganization. The Interior Department recommends the enactment of this bill so that the park boundaries may be permanently established.

The committee has amended the bill to authorize adjustment of the boundary of the park by purchase, exchange, or transfer of lands, provided in so doing the maximum acreage of the park would not exceed the acreage specified in the bill.

The following pertinent comments from the Interior Department's favorable report further explain the purpose of the bill:

This bill would authorize the transfer by the Department of the Army to this Department of two tracts of land comprising 206 acres. Such land would become a part of the park. Also, the bill provides that the lands now administered as a part of the park, aggregating approximately 1,531 acres, upon publication of a description thereof in the Federal Register. shall constitute the Petersburg National Military Park.

We recommend the enactment of this proposed legislation.

Petersburg National Military Park was transferred to the administrative jurisdiction of this Department through governmental reorganization in 1933 from the War Department. The boundaries of the park were not clearly defined. Additions of lands to the park have intensified this problem. It is very desirable that boundaries be permanently established and that thev be set forth as prescribed in this bill

The proposed transfer by the Secretary of the Army to this Department of 206 acres of land, as provided in the bill, is merely to effectuate an agreement previously reached with that Department that these lands would be transferred in exchange for lands that were eliminated from the park and transferred to the Secretary of War pursuant to the act of June 5, 1942 (56 Stat. 322)

We are informed that your committee proposes to adopt an amendment to the bill that would authorize adjustment of the boundary of the park by purchase, exchange, or transfer of lands so that the maximum acreage of the park would not exceed the acreage specified in the bill. We are agreeable to such an amendment.

Enactment of H. R. 4208 as amended is unanimously recommended by the Committee on Public Lands.

O

METHODS FOR PAYMENT OF TAX ON FERMENTED MALT

LIQUORS

JUNE 15, 1949.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed

Mr. EBERHARTER, from the Committee on Ways and Means, submitted the following

REPORT

(To accompany H. R. 5114]

The Committee on Ways and Means, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 5114) to permit the use of additional means, including stamp machines, for payment of tax on fermented malt liquors, provide for the establishment of brewery bottling house on brewery premises, and for other purposes, unanimously report favorably thereon without amendment and recommend that the bill do pass.

GENERAL STATEMENT

The first section of the bill would amend section 3150 (b) of the Internal Revenue Code by changing the designation of paragraph "(2)" to "(4)" and by the insertion of two new paragraphs designated "(2)" and "(3)". Paragraph "(2)" would provide for payment of the tax on fermented malt liquor by stamp, under such rules and regulations, permits, bonds, records, and returns, and with the use of such tax-stamp machines or metering or other devices and apparatus. as the Commissioner with the approval of the Secretary shall prescribe. Paragraph "(3)" would provide for the imposition of penalties designed to punish fraud in connection with the manufacture or use of tax-stamp machines or the forging, altering, or counterfeiting of tax stamps. The purpose of paragraph "(2)" is to authorize the use of tax-stamp machines as an alternative method of paying the tax on fermented malt liquor

Section 2 would technically amend section 3152 of the code by striking out subsections "(a)" and "(c)" and by relettering the remaining subsections in alphabetical sequence. Subsection (a), which requires every brewer to obtain tax stamps from the collector of internal revenue for his district, would be stricken out because it is inconsistent

with the use of the tax-stamp machines as an alternative method of paying the tax authorized by the proposed amendment of section 3150 (b). If the present method of paying the tax by engraved stamp should be continued, the proposed amendment of section 3150 (b) would furnish ample authority to provide by regulation for the procurement of such stamps by the brewer. While subsection (c) purports to require the United States to furnish brewers the instruments prescribed for attaching, protecting, and canceling stamps for fermented malt liquor, it is unnecessary since brewers now provide themselves with such instruments.

Section 3 would so amend section 3157 (a) of the code as to provide for the transfer of unfermented, partially fermented, or fermented malt liquor from the brewery to another building or place (brewery bottling house) on the brewery premises for the sole purpose of being bottled and to provide for payment of the tax on bottled fermented malt liquor at the time of sale or removal for consumption or sale. Section 3157 (a), as it now exists, does not permit the bottling of unfermented, partially fermented, or fermented malt liquor on the brewery premises; it authorizes the withdrawal and transfer of such liquor from vats in the brewery by pipe line or conduit to a brewery bottling house located off the brewery premises for the purpose of being bottled, but requires payment of the tax at the time of removal of the product to such bottling house.

The amendment would substitute the phrase "fermented malt liquor" for the phrase "fermented liquor" wherever the latter appears in the section, and would make other changes in the provisions of the section which are designed to accomplish its purpose. The amendment would permit cereal beverages and fermented malt liquor to be transferred by pipe line or conduit from vats or tanks in the brewery to the brewery bottling house. The pipe line or conduit would be constructed and operated in such manner and with such cisterns, vats, tanks, valves, cocks, faucets, meters, and gages or other utensils or apparatus, located in the brewery or in the bottling house, and such locks, seals, and other fastenings, and under such rules and regulations as may be prescribed by the Commissioner, with the approval of the Secretary. The provision in the existing law expressly requiring all locks and seals to be provided by the Commissioner at the expense of the United States is omitted from the section. The Commissioner could, however, under his regulatory authority continue to require the use of such Government locks and seals as may be deemed advisable.

The proviso to section 3157 (a) would require payment of the tax "at the time of removal for consumption or sale. The section now requires payment of the tax at the time of removal of the fermented malt liquor from the brewery to the brewery bottling house, which presently must be located off the brewery premises. This in effect requires payment of the tax at the time the fermented malt liquor is removed from the brewery premises.

Section 4 would amend section 3158 of the code to authorize the bottling of fermented malt liquors and cereal beverages on the brewery premises. The bottling of such products on the brewery premises would be permitted only in the brewery bottling house located on such premises. The amendment would require the brewery bottling house to be separated from the brewery in such manner as the Com

missioner, with the approval of the Secretary, may by regulations prescribe. The amendment would also expressly authorize, subject to such conditions and under such regulations as the Commissioner with the approval of the Secretary may prescribe, the temporary storage in the brewery of undelivered tax-paid fermented malt liquor in stamped barrels or kegs returned to the brewery. The regulations now permit undelivered tax-paid fermented malt liquor returned to the brewery to be held there in temporary storage. The regulations contemplate the return to the brewery for temporary storage therein of undelivered tax-paid fermented malt liquor in stamped barrels or kegs only. The temporary storage of such tax-paid fermented malt liquor in the brewery is permitted for refrigeration to prevent spoilage. Refrigeration is not necessary to prevent spoilage of bottled fermented malt liquor.

It is understood that the brewing industry desires permission to manufacture on the brewery premises, in addition to vitamins, ice, malt, and malt sirup, other by products incidental to the manufacture of fermented malt liquors and cereal beverages, such as malt tonics and refined yeast, and to process spent hops on such premises. It is also understood that the industry desires an extension of the authorized use of the brewery bottling house so as to permit the storage therein of bottles, tools, and supplies necessary or incidental to the manufacture or bottling of fermented malt liquor and cereal beverages. The Treasury Department has no objection to the granting of such privileges.

The amendment of sections 3157 (a) and 3158 of the code, providing for the bottling of fermented malt liquor on the brewery premises, will obviate the filing, investigation, and consideration of claims under section 3154 of the code, as amended by the act of July 3, 1948 (Public Law 899, 80th Cong.), and the making of refunds or the allowance of credits thereunder. Section 3154, as amended, authorizes refund or credit to a brewer (1) in the amount of the tax paid by him on fermented malt liquor removed from the brewery to the brewery bottling house and which has become unsalable by reason of its condition, and (2) in the amount of tax paid by him (not to exceed 21⁄2 percent of the tax paid during the month on fermented malt liquor removed from the brewery to the bottling house) on fermented malt liquor manufactured by him which was lost in his bottling house through breakage or leakage or in the process of filling, capping, pasteurizing or labeling. According to a survey made by the Treasury Department in 1938, the average bottling-house loss of fermented malt liquor taxpaid for bottling, exclusive of the quantity becoming unsalable by reason of its condition, is 2.39 percent. Section 3154, as amended, therefore, in effect provides for refund or credit in the amount of the tax paid on practically all bottling-house losses except to the extent that the loss through breakage or leakage or in the process of filling, capping, pasteurizing, or labeling exceeds 21⁄2 percent of the tax paid on the quantity removed during the month from the brewery to the bottling house.

Section 5 would amend section 3159 of the code by relettering subsections "(j)", "(k)", and "(l)" and "(k)", "(l)", and "(m)" and by the insertion of a new subsection designated "(j)" which would specifically provide for the punishment, by fine and imprisonment, of any brewer or other person who removes or in any way aids in

H. Repts., 81-1, vol. 4—61