Page images
PDF
EPUB

for the purposes aforesaid: Provided, however, That the terms of this act shall not apply to any lands upon Bishop Creek or its branches in said county of Inyo.

SEC. 5. That all lands over which the rights of way mentioned in this act shall pass shall be disposed of subject to such easements: Provided, however, That if construction of said waterworks shall not have been begun in good faith within five years from the date of approval of this act, or if after such period of five years there shall be a cessation of such construction for a period of three consecutive years, then all rights hereunder shall be forfeited to the United States.

SEC. 6. That the city of Los Angeles is prohibited from ever selling or letting to any corporation or individual, except a municipality, the right for such corporation or individual to sell or sublet the water sold or given to it or him by the city.

SEC. 7. That the right to amend, alter, or repeal this act at any time is hereby reserved.

The city of Los Angeles is a great and growing municipality, and its future growth and prosperity depends upon an abundant supply of water and

power.

The city proposes to expend a very large sum in the acquisition of water rights and in the construction of canals and the necessary plant for the purpose of procuring water from Owens River, about 200 miles distant. It is estimated that the proposed project will involve an expenditure of $23,000,000. It is necessary in order to carry out the plan to secure a grant of right of way from the United States through the public lands and the Sierra, Santa Barbara, and San Gabriel Timber Land Forest reserves.

Your committee having carefully considered the whole matter, are of the opinion that the substitute herewith reported will accomplish the desired purpose, and that its terms are sufficiently guarded for the purpose.

The city has already acquired by purchase a number of private rights to water to be used in carrying out the project.

The supply of water at Los Angeles is wholly inadequate at this time, and the necessity of this measure is very urgent.

Your committee recommend that the substitute be agreed to and that the bill do pass.

H R-59-1-Vol 3- -54 O

WATERS OF LITTLE RIVER FOR USE OF ELECTRIC LIGHT AND POWER PLANT.

JUNE 26, 1906.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union and ordered to be printed.

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

REPORT.

[To accompany H. R. 20173.]

The Committee on the Public Lands, to whom was referred the bill H. R. 20173, having had the same under consideration, respectfully submit the following report:

This bill is to authorize Henry T. Henderson and associates to divert the waters of Little River in Alabama for use in the operation of a water-power plant near Blanche, in Cherokee County, Ala., from certain unsurveyed lands belonging to the United States Government. Just above the lands which belong to the Government is a large waterfall known as "Little River Falls." Below the falls is a gulf with high and precipitous bluffs, and in this gulf, known as "Mays Gulf," are several hundred acres of lands which have never been surveyed. Through these lands the stream known as "Little River" meanders, and on this stream just above the falls is located the proposed power plant of Henry T. Henderson and associates.

The statement before the Committee on the Public Lands was that Henderson and his associates were informed by the officials of their local land office that the Government had no claim on these lands, and in this belief they invested a considerable sum of money in beginning the construction of their power plant.

After they had spent a considerable amount they found that the stream which they wished to divert ran for some distance through Government lands. The lands in the gulf are broken, rocky, full of bowlders, and almost totally inaccessible. Neither the land nor the water have much value. The bill has been referred to the Interior Department, and the objection there was that the bill did not require Henderson and his associates to pay for said water. This objection has been met by the proviso at the end of the bill, and with that amendment made we recommend that the bill do pass.

O

AMENDING THE RIVER AND HARBOR ACT OF MARCH 3, 1905.

JUNE 26, 1906.-Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be printed.

Mr. BURTON, of Ohio, from the Committee on Rivers and Harbors, submitted the following

REPORT.

[To accompany H. R. 20290.]

The Committee on Rivers and Harbors, to which was referred the bill (H. R. 20290) to amend the river and harbor act of March 3, 1905, having considered the same respectfully recommend that the bill do pass.

This bill provides that the Secretary of War may modify the conditions of the plan for the improvement of the inner harbor of the city of Milwaukee, as set forth in paragraph 28 of House Document No. 120, Fifty-eighth Congress, second session, and authorized by the river and harbor act of March 3, 1905, by omitting from said plan the turning basin at the head of navigation on the Kinnickinnic River. The report in question, referred to in the river and harbor act, recommends the establishment of three turning basins, each having at least a diameter of 360 feet and a depth of 21 feet in the Kinnickinnic River, these basins to be connected by a channel 100 to 150 feet wide and 20 feet deep. Basin No. 1 is to be located at the mouth of the Kinnickinnic River, basin No. 2 at a sharp bend in the river immediately above Clinton Street Bridge, and basin No. 3 at the present head of navigation; but, as a condition of the prosecution of the work by the Government, the Secretary of War must have satisfactory assurance that the city of Milwaukee will comply with certain conditions recommended in the said report, namely, furnish the land for the improvement and maintain the improvement after it is completed.

A municipal committee at Milwaukee has recently reported that at present there seems no need that basin No. 3, at the head of navigation, should be constructed. It is certainly not desirable that the Government or the municipality should incur the expense of providing this basin unless it is necessary. On the other hand, the proviso in the river and harbor act referred to creates some doubt whether the Secretary of War would be authorized to proceed with the improvement of the other two basins unless the land for all three should be acquired by the city of Milwaukee. To remove this doubt it is desirable that this bill should pass.

[ocr errors]

HOURS OF LABORERS ON PUBLIC WORKS.

JUNE 26, 1906.-Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be printed.

Mr. GARDNER, of New Jersey, from the Committee on Labor, submitted the following

REPORT.

[To accompany H. R. 11651.]

The Committee on Labor, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 11651) limiting the hours of daily service of laborers and mechanics employed upon work done for the United States or any Territory or the District of Columbia, thereby securing better products, and for other purposes, beg leave to submit the following report, and recommend that said bill do pass.

This is a bill enacting that

Each and every contract hereafter made to which the United States, any Territory, or the District of Columbia is a party, and every such contract made for or on behalf of the United States or any Territory or said District, which may require or involve the employment of laborers or mechanics, shall contain a provision that no laborer or mechanic doing any part of the work contemplated by the contract, in the employ of the contractor or any subcontractor contracting for any part of said work contemplated, shall be required or permitted to work more than eight hours in any one calendar day; and each and every such contract shall stipulate a penalty for each violation of the provision directed by this act of five dollars for each laborer or mechanic, for each and every calendar day in which he shall labor more than eight hours; and any officer or person designated as inspector of the work to be performed under any such contract, or to aid in enforcing the fulfillment thereof, shall, upon observation or investigation report to the proper officer of the United States or any Territory or the District of Columbia, all violations of the provisions in this act directed to be made in each and every such contract, and the amount of the penalties stipulated in any such contract shall be withheld by the officer or person whose duty it shall be to pay the moneys due under such contract, whether the violation of the provisions of such contract is by the contractor, his agents, or employees, or any subcontractor, his agents, or employees. No person, on behalf of the United States or any Territory or the District of Columbia, shall rebate or remit any penalty imposed under any provision or stipulation herein provided for, unless upon a finding which he shall make up and certify that such penalty was imposed by reason of an error in fact.

Nothing in this act shall apply to contracts for transportation by land or water, nor shall the provisions and stipulations in this act provided for affect so much of any contract as is to be performed by way of transportation, or for such materials as may usually be bought in open market, whether made to conform to particular specifications or not. The proper officer on behalf of the United States, any Territory, or

« PreviousContinue »