to worry greatly, and said here we have spent all our money and labor for seven years for nothing, and the strain became so great that she drowned herself. Last summer I lost my leg above the knee, and I now have only a beautiful baby girl left, so if you take back the land too, what will become of me? Please let me know as soon as possible. I inclose a picture of my home here. I have spent over $3,000 for improvements. I will ask you to put yourself in my position for a moment and I'm sure you will give me the land. Very truly, yours, G. J. DAHL. The above letter refers to claim list No. 6-023,Tongass Settlement, Alaska, and the difficulty is that Mr. Dahl located his homestead seven years ago on a small island some miles from Juneau, so that the location touches both sides of the island, although the homestead comprises only 40 acres; nevertheless the distance from a shore corner on one side of the island to a shore corner on the opposite side is less than 80 rods, and patent can not be granted until the law is amended. The records in the case of Henry Harrison Berry, of Fairbanks district, Alaska, show he has expended $7,190 in improvements on his homestead. His agricultural products of 1914 were valued at $2,720. The entry is held for rejection because apparently Berry has more than 160 rods frontage on Chena River. Berry shows this stream is not a navigable stream excepting for small motor and row boats, but the department feels compelled to hold it to be navigable. FAIRBANKS, ALASKA, July 28, 1917. Hon. CHAS. A. SULZER, Delegate from Alaska, Washington, D. C. MY DEAR MR. SULZER: I settled here 12 years ago next September, when there were no surveys of any kind; no roads; nothing but a wilderness. I followed the homestead law as I understood it as to staking. As it happened the Chena River or Chena Slough makes a bend in the form of a V on the northerly end of my homestead and this is what the contention is over. I made final proof on the land in June, 1914, and the proof was considered good. Since the letter received in November, 1915, Í have not heard anything from the Land Office. I have nothing to show. I and my family have toiled for 12 years and the land that we reclaimed is not worth a dollar to us to-day as far as a live asset or security is concerned. We feel we are not treated as we should be or as the law intended. Very sincerely, yours. HARRY BUZBY. The peculiar twisting of the Chena Slough in this case has thus far prevented this very worthy family from obtaining a just reward for untiring efforts in a new land. The above letters set forth a condition which obtains more or less throughout the Territory of Alaska. The Committee on the Public Lands has given much consideration to this measure during the past year. The Delegate from Alaska has introduced three different bills covering this subject-H. R. 8564, January 10, 1918; H. R. 11896, May 3, 1818, and the bill under cons sideration, H. R. 12210, May 21, 1818 each one making variou, changes and modifications as suggested by members of the committeeSecretary Franklin K. Lane, of the Interior Department, and Secretary D. F. Houston, of the Department of Agriculture. The bill as finally reported meets with the hearty approval of all concerned, and your committee is confident the present measure protects every interest of the Government and the public and at the same time affords a just relief, long past due to worthy and bona fide settlers who have braved the hardships of hewing homes out of the wilderness in Alaska. The following joint report shows conclusively that there is no need for the 80-rod strip reservation within the forest reserves which now embrace practically all of the coast of Alaska that is at all suitable for agriculture; and as the bill provides that outside of lands under control of the Department of Agriculture, the elimination of the reserved spaces is in the discretion of the Secretary of the Interior all public interests are amply safeguarded. Hon. SCOTT FERRIS, House of Representatives. MAY 23, 1918. DEAR MR. FERRIS: Receipt is acknowledged of your letters of May 22, inclosing a copy of H. R. 12210, to amend the act of May 14, 1898, as amended by the act of March 3, 1903, entitled "An act to extend the homestead laws and to regulate the sale and entry of public lands along the shores of navigable waters in Alaska," with the request that your committee be sent the views of the Department of the Interior and the Department of Agriculture with reference to this measure. This measure has been made the subject of a conference between officers of the Department of Agriculture and the Department of the Interior. For purposes of clearness and expedition a joint report is submitted. The bill, if enacted, would furnish relief from certain restrictions in the homestead law which are applicable only in the Territory of Alaska. The special provisions in the homestead law as applicable to Alaska, requiring that alternating 80-rod strips be left between homesteads fronting on navigable waters and limiting the frontage of any entry to 160 rods, has been found, in many cases, to work unnecessary hardship, without, in such instances, the slightest offsetting public advantage. In the national forests this restriction is unnecessary, since all lands are already reserved and no land is opened to entry until first examined, classified, and listed by the Secretary of Agriculture for entry under the forest homestead act. Lands needed for public purposes, such as harborage purposes, are not opened to entry anyhow, no matter how far distant from other patented lands, and no matter how small an amount of shore line is involved. The present law, therefore, merely operates to prevent the listing of land which might be used for agricultural purposes, and which is of no value for harborage or other water-front purposes. In effect, the measure under consideration would leave such spaces reserved, excepting where it is found they are not needed for public purposes. Outside of the national forests, discretion in making such exceptions and restoring such reserved spaces to entry would, by this measure, be vested in the Secretary of the Interior. The enactment of this measure would enable the executive departments to afford immediate relief to many worthy settlers who have in good faith occupied, improved, and cultivated lands of no special value because of their water frontage, and have in every way complied with the requirements of the homestead law, excepting that they are found to be within 80 rods of another entry fronting upon navigable water, or it is found that their water frontage, following the sinuosities of the shore, exceeds the 160-rod limitation. Since this measure fully protects all public interests, while at the same time allowing the utilization of lands which would otherwise remain unnecessarily unused and reserved, it is our opinion that the bill under consideration should be enacted into law. Very truly, yours, ALEXANDER T. VOGELSANG, Secretary of Agriculture. In view of the facts set forth in this report it is hoped the pending bill will be speedily enacted into law by the Congress, in order that those who have devoted their lives and fortunes to winning a new land for the Stars and Stripes may have justice accorded them, and that our brave soldiers and sailors who are carrying the flag over the battle fields of Europe may have an opportunity to join in the development of our vast territory of 600,000 square miles in Alaska after they have won a glorious victory and return to enjoy the fruits of peace. BRIDGE ACROSS ROCK RIVER, ILL. AUGUST 27, 1918.-Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be printed. Mr. HAMILTON of Michigan, from the Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, submitted the following REPORT. [To accompany H. R. 12631.] The Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 12631) granting the consent of Congress to the county of Winnebago, in the State of Illinois, and the town of Rockford, in said county and State, to construct a bridge across Rock River, at or near Camp Grant, having considered the same, report thereon with a recommendation that it pass. The bill has the approval of the War Department, as will appear by the letter attached and which is made a part of this report. [Second indorsement.] WAR DEPARTMENT, July 8, 1918. Respectfully returned to the chairman Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, House of Representatives. So far as concerns the interests of navigation I know of no objection to the favorable consideration by Congress of the accompanying bull, H. R. 12631, present session, to authorize the construction of a bridge across the Rock River, at or near Camp Grant, in Winnebago County, Ill. O B. CROWELL, Assistant Secretary of War. H R-65-2-vol 2- -51 2d Session. No. 763. TO INCREASE TEMPORARILY THE MILITARY ESTABLISHMENT OF THE UNITED STATES. AUGUST 30, 1918.-Ordered to be printed. Mr. DENT, from the committee of conference, submitted the fol lowing CONFERENCE REPORT. [To accompany H. R. 12731.] The committee of conference on the disagreeing votes of the two Houses on the amendments of the Senate to the bill (H. R. 12731) to increase temporarily the Military Establishment of the United States, having met, after full and free conference have agreed to recommend and do recommend to their respective Houses as follows: That the House recede from its disagreement to the amendment of the Senate, and agree to the same with an amendment as follows: In lieu of the matter proposed by the Senate insert the following: That the second sentence of section two of the act entitled "An act to authorize the President to increase temporarily the Military Establishment of the United States," approved May eighteenth, nineteen hundred and seventeen, as amended, be, and is hereby, amended to read as follows: "Such draft as herein provided shall be based upon liability to military service of all male citizens and male persons residing in the United States, not alien enemies, who have declared their intention to become citizens, between the ages of eighteen and fortyfive, both inclusive, and shall take place and be maintained under such regulations as the President may prescribe not inconsistent with the terms of this act: Provided, That the President may draft such persons liable to military service in such sequence of ages and at such time or times as he may prescribe: Provided further, That a citizen or subject of a country neutral in the present war who has declared his intention to become a citizen of the United States shall be relieved from liability to military service upon his making a declaration, in accordance with such regulations as the President may prescribe, withdrawing his intention to become a citizen of the United States, which shall operate and be held to cancel his declaration of intention to become an American citizen, and he shall forever be debarred from becoming a citizen of the United States.” |