2d Session.

CORRUPT PRACTICES IN ELECTIONS.

SEPTEMBER 20, 1918.-Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be printed.

Mr. POLK, from the Committee on Election of President, Vice President, and Representatives in Congress, submitted the following

REPORT.

[To accompany S. 3438.]

The Committee on Election of President, Vice President, and Representatives in Congress, to which was referred, by order of the House, the act (S. 3438) to prevent corrupt practices in the election of Senators, Representatives, or Delegates in Congress, having considered same, report thereon with a recommendation that it pass, with the following amendments:

In line 4, strike out the word "things" and insert the word "thing" in lieu thereof.

In line 8, strike out the words "or persons.'

In line 8, strike out the word "their" and insert the word "his" in lieu thereof.

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WATER SUPPLY FOR OLATHE, COLO.

SEPTEMBER 20, 1918.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House and ordered to be printed.

Mr. TAYLOR of Colorado, from the Committee on the Public Lands, submitted the following

REPORT.

[To accompany H. R. 5989.]

The Committee on the Public Lands, to which was referred the bill (H. R. 5989) to grant certain lands to the town of Olathe, Colo., for the protection of its water supply, having had the same under consideration, respectfully recommend that it be amended as follows: Page 2, line 11, after the word "same," change period to semicolon and add the following:

And provided further, That title to the land shall revert to the United States should the same or any part thereof be sold or cease to be used for the purposes herein provided.

As so amended, the committee recommends that the bill do pass. This bill was referred to the Department of the Interior for investigation and consideration, and the Acting Secretary has reported thereon as follows:

Hon. SCOTT FERRIS,

Chairman Committee on the Public Lands,

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR,
Washington, May 29, 1918.

House of Representatives.

MY DEAR MR. FERRIS: I am in receipt of your letter of May 14, 1918, transmitting for report H. R. 5989, a bill to grant certain lands to the town of Olathe, Colo., for the protection of its water supply, and in response thereto I have the honor to submit the following: S. 1

The lands proposed to be granted are the SE. sec. 24, T. 48 N., R. 12 W., of sec. 19, SW. of sec. 20, T. 48 N., R. 11 W., New Mexico principal meridian, Colorado. The land contains 646.49 acres. The W.SE. and NE.SE. of said sec. 24, the N. S. sec. 19, and the N. S. sec. 20, are subject to a transmission line for the town of Olathe filed July 27, 1912, under the act of February 15, 1901 (31 Stat., 790). The map of said line was approved by this department on October 28, 1914. The land was also temporarily withdrawn by Executive Order No. 2725 in aid of the legislation proposed in this bill.

It has been the policy of Congress in legislation of this character to provide that if the corporation should fail to use the land for the purpose mentioned or devote the same to other uses the title thereto shall revert to the United States, and I therefore

suggest that the bill be amended by attaching to the end thereof the following proviso:

"And provided further, That title to the land shall revert to the United States should the same or any part thereof be sold or cease to be used for the purpose herein provided." When the bill is amended as above suggested, I see no objection to its passage. Cordially, yours,

ALEXANDER T. VOGELSANG,

Acting Secretary.

The bill and the report speak for themselves. The little city of Olathe is one of the most important towns in western Colorado; it is growing and the public-spirited citizens and officials are improving the town and building in a most creditable way for the future. They very naturally desire to own and control the land upon which are situated their town reservoirs and water-supply pipe lines and waterworks system for the proper protection of the city; and while it has always seemed a question of justice to require payment for the land to be used for this purpose, and surround the granting by the many restrictions contained in this bill, nevertheless the city is willing to accept title upon these conditions and is quite anxious to have this measure pass as expeditiously as possible. For that reason your committee favorably recommends the bill and trusts it may be expeditiously and favorably acted upon by the House.

SANATORIUM FOR TREATMENT OF DISCHARGED SOLDIERS AND SAILORS.

SEPTEMBER 20, 1918.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union and ordered to be printed.

Mr. CANTRILL, from the Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds, submitted the following

REPORT.

[To accompany H. R. 12917.]

The Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 12917) to provide for the establishment of a sanatorium for the treatment of persons discharged from the military and naval service of the United States, and for other purposes, having considered the same, report thereon with the recommendation that the bill do pass with the following amendments:

Amendment No. 1: In lines 3 and 4, on page 2, strike out the words "there is hereby appropriated."

Amendment No. 2: In line 4, on page 2, capitalize the letter "t" in the word "the."

Amendment No. 3: In lines 4 and 5, on page 2, strike out the words "out of any moneys in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated" and insert in lieu thereof the words "is hereby authorized."

Amendment No. 4: In line 11, on page 2, strike out the word "appropriated" and insert the word "authorized."

Amendment No. 5: Strike out all of the language on page 2, beginning with the word "in" in line 14, down to and including the word appropriation" in line 19, and insert in lieu thereof the following: "In carrying the foregoing authorizations into effect the Secretary of the Treasury is authorized to enter into contracts for such construction, equipment, and so forth, or to purchase materials and employ laborers and mechanics, and construct, equip, and so forth, said sanatorium, and so forth, as in his judgment shall best meet the public exigencies within the limits of this authorization."

This bill seeks to give the United States the power to acquire by gift a tract of land of not less than 1,000 acres adjacent to the city of Dawson Springs, Ky., for the purpose of erecting a sanatorium for the treatment of persons discharged from the military and naval forces of the United States, and persons who are now, or hereafter

may be, beneficiaries of the United States Public Health Service, and authorize an appropriation of $1,500,000 for the construction of this sanatorium and other necessary buildings and approach work for the accommodation of patients, officers, etc., of the sanatorium. Dawson Springs, Ky., is located in western Kentucky on the main line of the Illinois Central Railroad which runs from Louisville, Ky., to New Orleans, La., and within 12 miles of where the Louisville & Nashville Railroad running from St. Louis and Chicago to Jacksonville crosses the Illinois Central Railroad. It has mineral water of great medicinal value, especially for rheumatism, dyspepsia, and kidney trouble.

The business men of Dawson Springs agree to execute a deed to the fee simple title of not less than 1,000 nor more than 10,000 acres of land to the Government upon which to locate this sanatorium, and for other purposes connected with the operation of same. As the hearings show, there are now 14,000 tubercular discharged soldiers from the Army and Navy, and the Government has no hospitals in which to place them. The war-risk insurance act provides that discharged soldiers and sailors shall be treated in Government hospitals; or, as the language of the act states, "shall be furnished Governmental hospital, medical, and surgical service." Dr. Charles E. Banks, senior surgeon, United States Public Health Service, and chief medical adviser, War-Risk Insurance Bureau, testified at the hearings in part as follows:

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Dr. BANKS. * There are only two classes of hospitals to which we can send these discharged soldiers and sailors now, the hospitals of the United States Public Health Service and the hospitals of the Indian Medical Service, because the Army and Navy hospitals are not open for the treatment of civilians. They are entirely occupied in the treatment of men connected with the active service in the war. The CHAIRMAN. These men are soldiers and sailors, are they not?

Dr. BANKS. They are discharged soldiers and sailors. They are civilians. They have resumed their civilian status and they are not eligible for admission into Army and Navy hospitals.

The CHAIRMAN. Can you tell us how many there are now, approximately?

Dr. BANKS. You mean the number discharged already?

The CHAIRMAN. Yes; suffering from tubercular trouble.

Dr. BANKS. About August 1 there were 14,000 discharged for tuberculosis.

The CHAIRMAN. Approximately, how many would you say are still in the service troubled with that disease?

Dr. BANKS. That I could not say.

Mr. BURNETT. That is not limited to tubercular patients, as I understand it. Dr. BANKS. No; it is not. I was going on to say that the great problem which confronts the War-Risk Insurance Bureau in caring for these discharged soldiers and sailors is tuberculosis.

Practically 22 per cent of the men discharged from the Army and from the Navy are suffering from tuberculosis, and that is about the proportion of cases which have applied for compensation before the War-Risk Insurance Bureau. It is not only a great problem from the standpoint of the discharged soldier, but it is a great public health and economic problem, because these men who have broken down in the cantonments and across the water are returning to their homes in a diseased condition and are a menace to their families and the communities where they reside.

The CHAIRMAN. Colonel, why is it that this bill does not limit it to tubercular people? You would not put tubercular patients and other patients in the same institution, would you?

Dr. BANKS. It was thought that the peculiar situation of Dawson Springs in connection with the water there was such that it could be utilized for the treatment of certain types of chronic diseases for which that water would be very efficacious. My original idea was to limit it to a tuberculosis hospital, but I think the officials of the United States Public Health Service thought there would probably be a sufficient amount of land there to add other units for the treatment of certain types of kidney disease and diseases of joints, rheumatism, etc.

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