State of Kentucky, twenty thousand dollars. State of Texas, twenty thousand dollars. SEC. 2. That the Secretary of Commerce and Labor is hereby authorized, empowered, and directed to establish a fish-cultural and biological station on or near the Gulf of Mexico at a point on or near the coast of the State of Florida, to be selected by him in said State: Provided, That the State of Florida donates and transfers, free of cost, to the Government of the United States the necessary land and water rights upon which may be erected such buildings, wharves, and other structures as may be necessary for the proper equipment of said station: Provided further, That for the necessary surveys, erection of buildings and other structures, and for the proper equipment of said fish-cultural and biological station, the sum of fifty thousand dollars, or so much as may be necessary, be, and is hereby, appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated. SEC. 3. That the Secretary of Commerce and Labor be, and he is hereby, authorized to purchase from the State of Michigan the fish hatchery belonging to said State, located at Sault Sainte Marie, Michigan, and a sum not exceeding twelve thousand dollars is hereby appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, for said purchase. SEC. 4. That it shall not be lawful to make any contract for any of the buildings provided for in this act or to make any plans and approve any specifications for buildings or improvements the total cost of which shall exceed the amount of money herein appropriated. Any contracts, plans, or specifications made or approved involving an expenditure of money greater than the amounts herein specified shall be null and void and shall not be enforceable. As amended the committee recommend that the bill do pass. O PATENTS GRANTED TO OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES OF THE GOVERNMENT IN CERTAIN CASES. FEBRUARY 2, 1907.-Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be printed. Mr. CHANEY, from the Committee on Patents, submitted the following REPORT. [To accompany H. J. Res. 224.] The Committee on Patents, to whom was referred House joint resolution No. 224, have considered the same and find that it has been repeatedly charged, in Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union, that naval officers have, in the line of their duty, in Government time and with the use of Government material, discovered certain forms of smokeless powder and have patented the same in their own names and sold such patents to manufacturers, thus conferring, or claiming to confer, upon them monopolies whereby the Government has been made the subject of extortion in its purchase of powder. There are persistent rumors that similiar things have been done by officers and employees in other branches of the Government service and that such officers and employees have used their official positions to induce the adoption of their inventions for Government use. If such abuses exist, it is probable additional legislation should be devised to abate them; but the exercise of proper care in the preparation of such legislation requires that Congress have full information as to the truth of such charges and rumors and as to whether the alleged abuses exist, and, if so, their details, character, and extent; and to this end the information called for by the proposed joint resolution is highly desirable. The committee therefore report said resolution back without amendment, with the recommendation that the same be adopted. O SALE OF CERTAIN TIMBER ON MENOMINEE INDIAN RESERVATION, WIS. FEBRUARY 2, 1907.-Committed to the Commmittee of the Whole House on the state of the Union and ordered to be printed. Mr. BROWN, from the Committee on Indian Affairs, submitted the following REPORT. [To accompany H. R. 24043.] The Committee on Indian Affairs, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 24043) to authorize the sale of timber on certain of the lands reserved for the use of the Menominee tribe of Indians in the State of Wisconsin, have had the same under consideration and recommend its passage. This bill is identical with H. R. 13372, which this committee reported on February 2, 1906, at the first session of this Congress, and which passed the House February 8, 1906. It was reported at that time as an emergency measure, the committee in its report stating (Rept. No. 744, 1st sess. 59th Cong.): The bill under consideration is an emergency measure authorizing the Secretary of the Interior to sell the timber on lands belonging to the Menominee Indian Reservation in Wisconsin, said lands having been visited by a destructive cyclone on July 16, 1905, which blew down from 15 to 20 per cent of the standing timber on some twenty-seven sections. The Department decided that under the authority given in the act of Congress of June 12, 1890 (26 Stat. L., 146), that they could not permit more than 20,000,000 feet to be cut and sold in any one year, and as it is deemed necessary that the timber which is blown down should be sold with as little delay as possible, the necessity for the legislation was apparent, and the draft of this bill, together with the correspondence relating to the subject-matter, was sent to the Speaker of the House of Representatives by the Secretary of the Interior January 3, 1906, and was ordered to be printed and referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs on January 4, but did not reach the committee until January 27 because of delay in the printing office. The necessity for this legislation is fully set forth in House Document No. 287, first session Fifty-ninth Congress, which contains correspondence giving information as to damage done by the cyclone and information as to the necessities of the case. It appears from the information given that the destruction extended over some twenty-seven sections, and that out of some 100,000,000 to 125,000,000 feet of standing timber from 20,000,000 to 30.000,000 feet were blown down, and that in order to save this down timber from destruction it should be logged without unnecessary delay. It further appears that it is advisable to dispose of and have logged all of the timber on these lands for reasons more fully set forth in the correspondence referred to. The bill was drafted in the Department, and is furnished as the best means possible to protect the interests of the Indians. The committee have given the provisions of the bill careful consideration and recommend the bill, with the amendments offered, as the best means of dealing with the proposition. As stated in the foregoing report, the provisions of this bill, in the opinion of the committee, furnishes the best means possible of disposing of this blown-down timber; that is, selling it by stumpage and to the highest bidder for cash. After the passage of H. R. 13372 by the House the bill was amended in the Senate committee by striking out everything after the enacting clause and substituting four sections, the provisions of which authorized the Secretary of the Interior to permit the business committee of the Menominee tribe of Indians to cause to be cut into logs and hauled to suitable places for sawing dead and down timber and to make contracts with portable mill owners to come upon the reservation and saw into lumber the logs so cut, etc. As amended, the bill was reported to the Senate, and passed. It 'was sent to conference, and the conferees agreed upon the Senate substitute, and as amended was approved by the President June 28, 1906. Nothing whatever has been done under the provisions of this act of June 28, 1906. The blown-down timber has deteriorated to a certain extent, but otherwise is still in the condition it was when H. R. 13372 was introduced as an emergency measure. The Commissioner of Indian Affairs recommends that this act be repealed and that the original bill (H. R. 13372) be enacted. Attention is directed to the report of General Superintendent of Logging J. R. Farr, dated December 11, 1906, upon this matter, this report being made to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, and is contained in House Document No. 490, Fifty-ninth Congress, second session. Among other things, he says: * * * The bill (the act of June 28, 1906) is not practicable and should be repealed and a new bill introduced at the earliest opportunity. * * * The blown-down timber is estimated at 35,000,000 feet, scattered over 30 sections, and these sections are located in several townships. The entire amount of timber, standing and down, in this district is estimated at 200,000,000 feet. ***Thirty-five million feet scattered over this vast territory is not a sufficient quantity to justify the building of railroads and the branches necessary to pick it up, while if the 200,000,000 feet is sold the main line of a railroad may be extended through the territory and the necessary branches built so as to reach the timber without making the sleigh hauls unreasonably long and expensive. If an effort is made to log and handle this down timber alone, the expense will absorb the timber, if not more. An operation of this kind can not fail to jeopardize the balance of the timber by extending logging roads, logging camps, and general operations throughout a forest of this kind. * * * The percentage of down timber in this district is large enough to demand action, and a bill should be passed permitting the honorable Secretary of the Interior to advertise this timber for sale to the highest and best bidder, with a privilege of manufacturing a part on the reservation and transporting a part for manufacture elsewhere, and driving by water such portions of the timber as will float. Of course the Secretary can reserve the right to reject any or all bids. The general superintendent also says that another feature which should be kept in mind is that all the timber standing and down in this district is mature and the market has never been better, and a sale is strictly in accordance with good business methods, even if a portion had not been blown down. He says the Indians can not handle this timber. Every Indian who can log or will work in a logging camp is |