DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA NATIONAL GUARD.

JUNE 19, 1918.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union and ordered to be printed.

Mr. CRAGO, from the Committee on Military Affairs, submitted the

following

REPORT.

[To accompany 8. 3735.]

The Committee on Military Affairs, to whom was referred the bill (S. 3735) to provide for enlistments in the National Guard of the District of Columbia and for other purposes, having considered the same, report thereon with a recommendation that it do pass, with the following amendment:

At the end of section 1, line 8, page 3, strike out the period, insert a semicolon, and add the following language:

"Provided, That at the expiration of the existing emergency the provisions of this act shall be and become null and void."

The primary intent of the proposed law is to grant authority by which the strength of the National Guard of the District of Columbia may be augmented and maintained, through the period of the war, by permitting the enlistment of men beyond the age limit prescribed in the act of June 3, 1916. This is made necessary by reason of the fact that conditions in the District of Columbia are such that it will be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to form at this time a National Guard force in the District sufficiently large for all the purposes for which it may be needed, if all the limitations and restrictions now imposed by law with respect to personnel are enforced. A large per cent of the men of suitable age in the District of Columbia who can leave the District for an extended period without injury to Government business or neglect of their families or important business interests, have been commissioned or enlisted in the Federal forces or will be taken by the selective draft.

Briefly, as amended by the committee, the bill provides

(1) That during the present war the age limit for those enlisted or commissioned shall be fixed by the President.

(2) That enlistment of men beyond the age limit prescibed in the act of June 3, 1916, and the appointment of officers as therein specially

provided, shall be for the period of the war and for service in the District of Columbia, and in case of emergency, in the adjoining States of Maryland and Virginia.

(3) That during the period of the war retired officers of the National Guard of the District of Columbia may be assigned to active duty therein; and that officers who have resigned from the National Guard and officers and enlisted men who have been honorably discharged therefrom may be commissioned by the President, thereby extending the list of those eligible for commission as specified in section 74, act of June 3, 1916.

(4) That enlistments under the six-year contract, as heretofore prescribed, may be continued for those who so elect.

While not affecting the enlistment of such men as are able to volunteer for the full period of six years, nor the appointment to permanent commissions of officers qualified under the present law, the proposed law will enable men who are employed in Government departments, or who are engaged in large business affairs, or who have families to support, to enter the National Guard of the District for the period of the war, undergo military training, and hold themselves in readiness to respond to a call in an emergency for the protection of the city of Washington or of any important points in near-by territory.

In a report on the bill the War Department states that it is believed the proposed legislation is necessary and will be advantageous, and recommends enactment thereof. Favorable action on the bill is also urged by the Commissioners of the District of Columbia, the Washington Board of Trade, and the Washington Chamber of Commerce. In further explanation and support thereof, we submit a copy of a letter on the subject from the President, which is as follows:

THE WHITE HOUSE, Washington, June 13, 1918.

MY DEAR MR. DENT: Will you not pardon me if I express an interest in S. 3735? The police forces of the District are not adequate for more than the ordinary police duties, and I feel that it is perhaps a matter of rather critical importance that a resident military force should be available in the District.

Cordially and sincerely, yours,

Hon. S. HUBERT DENT, jr.,

House of Representatives.

WOODROW WILSON.

2d Session.

No. 672.

TO ABOLISH THE OFFICE OF RECEIVER OF PUBLIC MONEYS AT WAUSAU, WIS.

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

Mr. TILLMAN, from the Committee on the Public Lands, submitted the following

REPORT.

[To accompany H. R. 10432.]

The Committee on the Public Lands, to which was referred H. R. 10432, having considered the same, report it to the House with the recommendation that it do pass.

The advisability of this legislation is set forth in the following communication from the Department of the Interior:

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR,

Hon. SCOTT FERRIS,

Washington, June 5, 1918.

Chairman Committee on the Public Lands,

House of Representatives.

MY DEAR MR. FERRIS: I am in receipt, by reference from your committee, of H. R. 10432, entitled "A bill to abolish the office of receiver of public moneys at Wausau, Wis., and for other purposes, " with request for report thereon and such suggestions and recommendations as the department may see fit to offer.

Section 2234, United States Revised Statutes, provides that the President shall appoint, by and with the advice of the Senate, a register of the land office and a receiver of public moneys for each land district established by law. Section 2237 fixes their salaries at $500 per annum each, and section 2238 allows them certain fees and commissions. Section 2240 provides that their compensation, including salary, fees, and commissions, shall in no case exceed in the aggregate $3,000 per year each. There is no provision of law by which the duties of either officer can be devolved upon the other in the event of a vacancy in either position by death, resignation, or removal, and a vacancy in one or the other position operates as a virtual closing of the land office for the transaction of public business. The act of October 1, 1890 (26 Stat., 657), makes some provision for relieving the situation, in the event of a vacancy, in the matter of final proofs set for hearing during such vacancy, but does not authorize the transaction of any other class of business, which has often resulted through the death of a register or receiver, in the cessation of the public business of the land office in which the vacancy occurred, and caused much inconvenience to settlers on the public lands.

The bill under consideration proposes to abolish the position of receiver of public moneys at Wausau, Wis., and devolve his duties on the register, and that the fees and commissions now allowed by law to both register and receiver shall, 10 days after the passage and approval of the act, be paid to and accounted for by the register in the same

manner, and in like amounts, in which they are now required to be paid to and accounted for by the receiver, but limits the salary, fees, and commissions of the register to $3,000 per annum.

The following is a statement of the business transacted in the Wausau, Wis., land office during the nine months ended March 31, 1918:

Entries, including applications and final proofs..

Receipts...

Expenses, including compensation of register and receiver ($1,504.38) and incidentals ($11.50)..

138

$1,657.60

$1,515.88

The compensation of the register and receiver during the fiscal year 1917 was less than $1,100 each.

No rent is paid as the office is located in a Federal building.

The area of unappropriated public lands in the State of Wisconsin, which comprises one land district, the land office of which is located at Wausau, on July 1, 1917, was but 6,329 acres; a report made in September, 1917, showed 470 pending, uncompleted entries covering 28,052 acres. Like all old offices, this office has considerable miscellaneous correspondence in the way of perfecting old titles and giving information to the public.

From the above it will be seen that under any circumstances the office should be closed within the next two or three years, and if the offices of register and receiver are not consolidated so as to make a living salary for one officer in charge, the office had best be closed at once, and its remaining business transferred to the General Land Office by operation of existing law.

The bill is identical with the act of May 2, 1914 (38 Stat., 371), abolishing the office of receiver of public moneys at Springfield, Mo., and devolving the duties thereof on the register.

Cordially, yours,

CONGRESS, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. No.

DISPOSITION OF USELESS PAPERS, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR AND DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.

JUNE 20, 1918.-Ordered to be printed.

Mr. TALBOTT, from the Joint Select Committee on the Disposition. of Useless Papers in the Executive Departments, submitted the following

REPORT.

The Joint Select Committee of the Senate and House of Representatives, appointed on the part of the Senate and on the part of the House of Representatives, to which were referred the reports of the heads of departments, bureaus, etc., in respect to the accumulation therein of old and useless files of papers which are not needed or useful in the transaction of the current business therein, respectively, and have no permanent value or historical interest, with accompanying statements of the condition and character of such papers, respectfully report to the Senate and House of Representatives, pursuant to an act entitled "An act to authorize and provide for the disposition of useless papers in the executive departments,' approved February 16, 1889, as follows:

Your committee have met and, by a subcommittee appointed by your committee, carefully and fully examined the said reports so referred to your committee and the statements of the condition and the character of such files and papers therein described, and find and report that the files and papers described in the report of the Secretary of the Interior in House Document No. 946, Sixty-fifth Congress, second session, dated February 15, 1918, and in the letter from the Department of Labor, dated March 14, 1918, are not needed in the transaction of the current business of such departments and bureaus and have no permanent value or historical interest.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES.

March 18, 1918.

The Vice President appointed Mr. France and Mr. Hollis members of the Joint Select Committee on the part of the Senate, as provided for in the act of February 16, 1889, as amended by the act of March 2, 1895, entitled "An act to authorize and pro. vide for the disposition of useless papers in the executive departments," for the dis. position of useless papers in the Department of Labor.

Attest:

JAMES M. BAKER

Secraa