EXEMPTION OF ELEEMOSYNARY INSTITUTIONS FROM

THE ROBINSON-PATMAN ACT

APRIL 19, 1938.-Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be printed

Mr. WALTER, from the Committee on the Judiciary, submitted the

following

REPORT

[To accompany H. R. 8148]

The Committee on the Judiciary, to whom was referred the bill H. R. 8148, to amend Public Law No. 692, Seventy-fourth Congress, second session, after consideration, report the same favorably to the House with an amendment with the recommendation that as so amended the bill do pass.

The committee amendment is as follows: "Strike out all of line 9."

The reported bill provides that the Robinson-Patman Act shall not apply to purchases of their supplies for their own use by schools, colleges, universities, public libraries, churches, hospitals, and charitable institutions not operated for profit.

The Robinson-Patman Act prohibits price discriminations between purchasers in interstate commerce, excepting differentials which make only due allowance for differences in the cost of manufacture, sale, or delivery resulting from the different methods or quantities in which such commodities are sold and delivered, where the effect of such discrimination may be substantially to lessen competition or tend to create a monopoly in any line of commerce, or to injure, destroy, or prevent competition.

The committee does not feel that the wholesome purpose of the Robinson-Patman Act will be interfered with by the enactment of this bill to make certain that favors in price which are occasionally extended to eleemosynary institutions, because of the character of the institution, do not fall under the ban of the act.

In this connection there follows a self-explanatory communication from the president of the Hospital Bureau of Standards and Supplies, a nonprofit-making association of 200 voluntary hospitals located from Mains to Texas:

HOSPITAL BUREAU OF STAN "ARDS AND SUPPLIES,

New York, N. Y., December 18, 1937. Hon. H. W. SUMNERS, United States House of Representatives,

Washington, D. C. MY DEAR CONGRESSMAN: The 2,700 voluntary nonprofit hospitals of the country spend over 150 million dollars a year on foodstuffs and supplies for the care of the needy sick, who would otherwise be a burden on Federal, State, and municipal institutions.

Because of the charitable nature of their work many suppliers have hitherto allowed these institutions special prices on their purchases. This the RobinsonPatman Act now prohibits and as a consequence, hospital supply bills are increasing about 20 percent.

Most, if not all, of these institutions have for years operated at a deficit. If these deficits are to be increased by 30 million dollars a year, many hospitals may have to close their doors. The needy sick must be caried for and such à development would throw an almost impossible additional burden on the Federal, State, and municipal institutions.

We, therefore, respectfully request that you keep these facts in mind when the proposed amendment to the Robinson-Patman Act, exempting the eleemosynary institutions of the country, comes up for consideration of the Congress. Sincerely yours,

John H. Hayes, President.

3d Session

No. 2162

RIVERS AND HARBORS BILL

APRIL 19, 1938.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state

of the Union and ordered to be printed

Mr. MANSFIELD, from the Committee on Rivers and Harbors,

submitted the following

REPORT

[To accompany H. R. 10298]

The Committee on Rivers and Harbors, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 10298) authorizing the construction, repair, and preservation of certain public works on rivers and harbors, and for other purposes, having considered the same, report it to the House with the recommendation that it do pass with the following amendments:

On page 6, line 10, after the word "navigation,” insert a comma, and at the end of line 10 insert the word "and".

On page 6, after line 15, insert two new paragraphs as follows: Catskill Creek, New York. Jamaica Bay, New York. On page 6, after. line 20, insert two new paragraphs as follows: Herring Creek, Saint Marys County, Maryland. Cadle Creek, Anne Arundel County, Maryland. On page 7, line 8, strike out "Cadde” and insert in lieu thereof “Cadet”.

On page 7, after line 22, insert new paragraph, as follows:

Chefuncte River and Bogue Falia, Louisiana, from Lake Pontchartrain to Covington.

On page 8, after line 4, insert new paragraph, as follows:

Tillamook Bay, Oregon, with a view to protection of Bay Ocean, and property thereon, from erosion in storms.

Section 1 of the bill adopts 39 projects, practically all of which are necessary modifications of existing waterway improvements, and are deemed to be urgent for the present requirements of commerce and navigation.

The total cost of the work adopted is $33,903,850, the appropriations of same to be distributed over a number of years. No appropriation for the coming fiscal year is called for.

All of the projects adopted have been unqualifiedly recommended by the Chief of Engineers and the Board of Engineers for Rivers and Harbors of the War Department. They also have the unanimous approval of the Committee on Rivers and Harbors after exhaustive hearings and investigation.

The estimated cost to the United States of the projects adopted by this bill is itemized as follows:

Estimated

cost Mystic River, Mass.

$50, 000 Scituate Harbor, Mass.

81, 000 Plymouth Harbor, Mass.

190, 000 Hudson River, N. Y

3, 102, 000 Great Kills Harbor, Staten Island, N. Y.

114, 500 Delaware River between Philadelphia and the sea

11, 000, 000 Mantua Creek, N. J..

54, 000 Annapolis Harbor, Md. (modification of existing project).

5, 500 Channel connecting Plain Dealing Creek and Oak Creek, Md.

74, 000 Twitch Cove and Big Thoroughfare River, Md...

131, 000 Herring Bay and Rockhold Creek, Md...

43, 000 Cape Charles City Harbor, Va--

27,000 Drum Inlet, N. C.

50, 000 Intracoastal Waterway from Cape Fear River, N. C., to Winyah Bay, S. C. (basin at Southport, N. C.)--

23, 500 Fernandina Harbor, Fla.

138, 000 St. Augustine Harbor, Fla

137, 500 Courtenay Channel, Fla---

31, 000 Eau Gallie Harbor, Fla.--

11, 100 Port Everglades, Fla-

459, 000 Channel from Naples, Fla., to Big Marco Pass

50, 000 Tampa Harbor, Fla.

125, 500 Apalachicola River, Fla..

3, 750 Mississippi River between Baton Rouge and New Orleans, La..

200,000 Grand Bayou Pass, La.--

25, 000 Sabine-Neches Waterway, Tex.

4, 320, 000 Houston Ship Channel and Buffalo Bayou, Tex.

9, 000, 000 Dickinson Bayou, Tex.-

35, 000 Palacios, Tex., channel to Intracoastal Waterway.

74, 000 Port Aransas-Corpus Christi Waterway, Tex..

RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE CHIEF OF ENGINEERS IN REGARD TO THE PROJECTS ADOPTED IN THIS BILL

Mystic River, Mass.

(H. Dọc. 542, 75th Cong.) Recommends modification of the present project for improvement of Mystic River, Mass., to provide a channel 20 feet deep from the head of the existing 30-foot project channel to a point 800 feet above the Malden Bridge, with widths decreasing from 270 feet at the lower end to 75 feet through the drawspan, thence increasing to approximately 340 feet to form a turning basin above the bridge, at an estimated initial cost of $50,000, with maintenance estimated at $1,500 annually in addition to the amounts now required.

SCITUATE HARBOR, Mass

(H. Dọc. 556, 75th Cong.) Recommends that the existing project for Scituate Harbor, Mass., be modified to provide for extending the existing north jetty 300 feet in an easterly direction, at an estimated cost of $81,000 for new work, with maintenance estimated at $500 annually in addition to that now required.

PLYMOUTH HARBOR, Mass.

(H, Doc. 577, 75th Cong.) Recommends modification of the present project for improvement of Plymouth Harbor, Mass., to provide an anchorage basin 18 feet deep, 850 feet wide, and 2,125 feet in average length on the southeast side of the project channel near Long Beach, at an estimated cost of $285,000 for new work, with maintenance estimated at $3,000 annually in addition to the amounts now required; provided local interests furnish, free of cost to the United States, spoil-disposal areas for initial work and for subsequent maintenance as may be required, and contribute onethird the initial cost of the improvement.

HUDSON RIVER, N. Y., ALBANY TO WATERFORD

(H. Doc. 572, 75th Cong.) Recommends modification of the present project for improvement of the Hudson River, N. Y., to provide a channel 14 feet deep below the established plane of lowest low water and generally 400 feet wide from the deep-water channel at Albany to the Federal lock at Troy, thence of the same depth and 200 feet wide to the southern limit of the State Barge Canal at Waterford, at an estimated cost of $3,102,000 for new work, with no increase in the estimated annual cost of main

H. Repts., 75-3, vol. 2—35