The following report has been made by the Secretary of the Interior: DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, DEAR MR. FERRIS: I am in receipt of your request for report upon H. R. 8492, a bill to restore homestead rights in certain cases. On January 7, 1916, I submitted a report upon H. R. 401, a bill designed to secure the same end, stating that I was not convinced that the legislation is warranted by the facts before me, but that if enacted the bill should be amended in certain respects. Upon further consideration of the subject, in connection with H. R. 8492, and of the fact that in many instances where lands in former Indian reservations were disposed of by competitive bidding, either at public auction or through sealed bids, prices varying from $5 to more than $30 an acre have been paid, thus imposing upon the entrymen a heavy financial burden in addition to the added requirement that he meet the provisions of the homestead laws, it would seem that such transactions were really more in the nature of sales for the benefit of the Indians, and in cases where so large a payment was made, it may be equitable to accord to such purchasers who have completed the payments the right to make other entries, if otherwise qualified. I have therefore caused to be drafted a tentative form of measure, which I herewith submit and recommend be substituted for H. R. 401 and H. R. 8492, and to the enactment of which I know of no valid objection. Cordially, yours, Hon. SCOTT FERRIS, Chairman Committee on Public Lands, FRANKLIN K. LANE, Secretary. House of Representatives. O PATENT APPLICATIONS. MARCH 30, 1916.-Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be printed. Mr. OGLESBY, from the Committee on Patents, submitted the following REPORT. [To accompany H. R. 13720.] The Committee on Patents, to whom was referred House bill 13720, respectfully report that they have had the same under consideration and recommend that the bill be passed. The bill proposes to amend section 4894 by adding thereto the following: "Provided, however, That no application shall be regarded as abandoned which has become the property of the Government of the United States and with respect to which the head of any department of the Government shall have certified to the Commissioner of Patents, within a period of three years, that the invention disclosed therein is important to the armament or defense of the United States." The purpose of the amendment is to permit the Government to hold in patentable status applications for such patents as it might desire to keep secret and with full protection from the consideration of conflicting applications by others. The result of its enactment will not keep secret patents issued by the Government, nor will it relieve the Government in any manner from the strict rules of the office against additions or changes in applications which would result in incorporating new matter into them. It would confer no benefit whatever upon the Government which is not now enjoyed by any applicant who for any reason has succeeded in keeping his application alive in the office for a number of years. It merely relieves the Government from the requirement of the statute under which applications must be brought up for action at least once in each year to escape the holding of abandonment. The amendment is so drawn as to limit its benefits to the United States and only to the United States in matters relating to national defense. LEO N. LEVI MEMORIAL HOSPITAL ASSOCIATION. MARCH 30, 1916.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union and ordered to be printed. Mr. TILLMAN, from the Committee on the Public Lands, submitted the following REPORT. [To accompany S. 1388.] The Committee on the Public Lands, to whom was referred the bill (S. 1388) to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to furnish hot water from the hot springs on the Hot Springs Reservation for drinking and bathing purposes free of cost to the Leo N. Levi Memorial Hospital Association, beg leave to report it back to the House with the recommendation that the bill do pass. Amend by inserting after the word "water," in line 4, the words "for five tubs." Amend by adding after the word "prescribe," in line 8, the following: "Provided, That said hospital association shall, upon request of the superintendent of the Hot Springs Reservation or his duly authorized representative, immediately after being notified, send an ambulance or conveyance for, and accept and treat without charge therefor, any emergency patients so sent to the hospital for treat ment." With the amendments above shown, your committee is of the opinion that this bill should be enacted." The Leo N. Levi Memorial Hospital Association is a charitable organization and conducts a charitable hospital and sanatorium at Hot Springs, Ark., and makes use of the water of the hot springs, paying the Government therefor at the rate of $60 per tub per annum. Inasmuch as this is a charitable institution, and inasmuch as it was thought that the amendments would properly safeguard the measure, the committee feels that the bill should pass. The second amendment was submitted to the hospital association, and it has agreed to accept the amendment, as shown by the letter from the secretary of the association, attached herewith. The bill as amended is approved by the Secretary of the Interior, and his report to the Committee on Public Lands of the Senate is printed herewith. It is as follows: Hon. HENRY L. MYERS, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTerior, Chairman Committee on Public Lands United States Senate, Washington, D. C. MY DEAR SENATOR: Your letter of December 17, 1915, has been received, inclosing, with request for report thereon, Senate bill No. 1388, "To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to furnish hot water from the hot springs on the Hot Springs Reservation for drinking and bathing purposes free of cost to the Leo N. Levi Memorial Hospital Association.' The bill in question is in terms as follows: "Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Secretary of the Interior be, and he is hereby, authorized to supply a sufficient quantity of hot water from the hot springs on the Hot Springs Reservation for drinking and bathing purposes to the Leo N. Levi Memorial Hospital Association without cost or charge therefor, under such rules and regulations as he may prescribe." The act approved June 3, 1912 (37 Stat., 121), entitled "An act authorizing the Leo N. Levi Memorial Hospital Association to occupy and construct buildings for the use of the corporation on lots numbered 3 and 4, block numbered 114, in the city of Hot Springs, Ark.," provides: "That the exclusive right to use, occupy, and enjoy the possession of all of lots numbered three and four, in block numbered one hundred and fourteen, in the city of Hot Springs, Arkansas, is by this act granted to the Leo N. Levi Memorial Hospital Association, a corporation organized under the laws of the State of Arkansas, for the purpose of erecting and maintaining thereon a suitable and sightly building for the use of the said corporation. The rights and privileges granted under this act shall continue as long as the property is used and occupied for the purposes mentioned in this act, subject, however, to the following conditions and limitations, namely, that unless said Leo N. Levi Memorial Hospital Association shall within five years after the passage of this act erect and equip a suitable and sightly building for the purposes above mentioned, or if said Leo N. Levi Memorial Hospital Association shall at any time hereafter use or permit the premises to be used for any other purpose than that herein granted, then and in either event all the rights, privileges, and powers by this act granted and conferred upon said association shall be forfeited to the United States. "SEC. 2. That upon compliance with the conditions and requirements of section one of this act by said corporation the Secretary of the Interior, in his discretion, is hereby authorized to lease the said association a sufficient quantity of hot water to accommodate said association for all drinking purposes, and to supply not more than five bathtubs, under such rules and regulations as he may prescribe; and all improvements made upon said property shall be subject to the approval of the Secretary of the Interior. "SEC. 3. That the right to alter, amend, or repeal this act is hereby expressly reserved." Subsequent to the enactment of the foregoing legislation the corporation called attention to the fact that the hospital to be maintained by the association was purely a charitable institution; that no charge would be made for baths, and it would therefore be a hardship to require it to pay the usual rate of $60 per tub per annum. In response thereto the department held that the provisions of section 2 of the act of June 23, 1912, supra, were mandatory and would not permit the association to receive the water from the springs without paying therefor. Accordingly the association has been paying for water supplied the bathhouse connected with the hospital since November, 1914, for five tubs, at the rate of $60 per tub, aggregating in all $300 per annum. Therefore the remission of this charge for hot water is sought to be secured through the medium of the legislation now under consideration. The bill was referred to the superintendent of the Hot Springs Reservation for report, who suggests the following amendments thereto: After the word "water," in the fourth line, insert the words "for five tubs." After the word "prescribe," in the eighth line, insert the following: "Provided, That said hospital association shall, upon request of the superintendent of the Hot Springs Reservation or his duly authorized representative, immediately after being notified, send an ambulance or conveyance for, and accept and treat without charge therefor, any emergency patients so sent to the hospital for treatment." |