of life and property both ensued. What worse offense is there that a marine captain could commit than this? It is not the absence of skill that is charged. It is not in the strictest sense an accident that is charged. It is a violation of regulations causing the death of human beings and the loss of a steamer. I should expect to see in a cas of this kind an indefinite suspension of license or certainly one for a period of not less than six months. I deeply regret that the law seems such that charges can not be brought against the local inspectors who impose this trivial penalty for neglect of duty. I wish you to impress upon them that I regard them as having been derelict and as deserving of a severe reprimand. I trust in future cases they may show a higher sense of the value of human life and of the purpose for which they sit in judgment on violators who by such violations cause loss of life and property. O WILLIAM C. REDFIELD, Secretary. CONGRESS PUBLIC LANDS FOR CEMETERY AND PARK PURPOSES. APRIL 5, 1916.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union and ordered to be printed. Mr. TAYLOR of Colorado, from the Committee on the Public Lands, submitted the following REPORT. [To accompany H. R. 11162.] The Committee on the Public Lands, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 11162) to amend an act entitled "An act to authorize entry of public lands by incorporated cities and towns for cemetery and park purposes," approved September 30, 1890, and for other purposes, having had the same under consideration respectfully recommend that it be amended as follows: Page 2, strike out all of line 19 after the word "county" and all of line 20, and insert in lieu thereof the following: applying therefor, and when such application is made by any incorporated city or town, such lands to be within the exterior limits of the county in which it is situated and within thirty miles of such city or town. Page 3, line 11, strike out the words "the Interior" and insert in lieu thereof the word "Agriculture." And that as so amended the bill do pass. A bill similar to this was introduced on the opening day of this session of Congress, December 6, 1915, as H. R. 41. That bill was referred by your committee to the Interior Department for report, and the Secretary reported thereon as follows: DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, MY DEAR MR. FERRIS; I am in receipt of your request for report upon H. R. 41, and after a conference with the author of the bill, Mr. Taylor, have drafted a substitute measure, which, it is believed, will better accomplish the purpose sought. I inclose copy of the said substitute, and have to advise that I know of no objection to the enactment thereof. H. R. 41 in its present form should not be enacted; particularly that portion which specifically authorizes cities or towns to select lands in water-power sites for cemetery or sewer purposes. Cordially, yours, HON. SCOTT FERRIS, FRANKLIN K. LANE, Chairman Committee on the Public Lands, House of Representatives. A Bill To amend an act entitled "An act to authorize entry of the public lands y incorporated cities and towns for cemetery and park purpose," approved September thirtieth, eighteen hundred and ninety, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the act of Congress approved September thirtieth, eighteen hundred and ninety, entitled "An act to authorize entry of the public lands by incorporated cities and towns for cemetery and park purpose" (Twenty-sixth Statutes at Large, page five hundred and two), be, and the same is hereby, amended to read as follows: "That any incorporated city or town shall have the right, under rules and regulations prescribed by the Secretary of the Interior, to purchase at $1.25 an acre, for cemetery or sewerage purposes, not exceeding one-quarter section of nonmineral public lands not reserved for public use other than for a forest reserve, such lands to be located within five miles of the city or town applying therefor. "SEC. 2. That any incorporated city or town shall have the right to select and acquire, under rules and regulations prescribed by the Secretary of the Interior, at $1.25 an acre, not exceeding six hundred and forty acres of nonmineral public lands not reserved for public use other than for a forest reserve, necessary or useful for the protection of the water supply of said city or town, such lands to be located within twenty miles of the city or town applying therefor. "SEC. 3. That any county or incorporated city or town shall have the right, under rules and regulations prescribed by the Secretary of the Interior, to select and acquire title to not exceeding six hundred and forty acres of nonmineral public lands not reserved for public use other than for a forest reserve, for public park purposes, such lands to be within the exterior limits of the county or within thirty miles of the incorporated city or town applying therefor: Provided, That any such selection and grant for public park purposes shall be upon the express condition that the county, city, or town shall construct and maintain a substantial and permanent wagon and automobile road to the exterior limits of such public park, and in the case of the incorporated city or town such road shall extend from the city or town in question to the exterior limits of the public park. "SEC. 4. That all patents issued under the provisions of this act shall contain the stipulation and reservation that the lands shall revert to the United States in case the county, city, or town shall fail to comply with the conditions herein expressed, shall fail to occupy or use the lands for the purpose granted, or shall attempt to sell or dispose of the same: Provided, That selections under this act for lands within forest reserves shall be subject to approval by the Secretary of the Interior." That substitute bill recommended by the Secretary of the Interior was introduced by Mr. Taylor on February 9, 1916, as H. R. 11162, which is the bill under consideration. This bill was also referred by the committee to the Interior Department for report, and on March 8, 1916, the Secretary again reported thereon as follows: DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, MY DEAR MR. FERRIS: I am in receipt of your request for report upon H. R. 11162, a bill which proposes to authorize the selection by incorporated cities or towns of lands for cemetery, sewerage, or water supply purposes, and by counties, cities, or towns of lands for public-park purposes. The bill was drafted in this department and suggested as a substitute for H. R. 41, and the department has no objection to interpose to its enactment. The author of the bill, in communication dated February 13, 1916, states that some members of the Public Lands Committee have suggested amendments, and he would like to have some discussion of the proposed amendments by this department. The first suggestion mentioned is that there should be some provision preventing the location of water-power sites as parks; the second suggestion that the limit of distance for parks should be increased from 30 to 50 miles, and a third suggestion to the effect that the bill should permit counties to locate public parks outside of the limits of the county applying for the park. It was thought that the existing water-power withdrawals and the authority vested in the Secretary of the Interior to make rules and regulations might be sufficient to preclude the acquirement of valuable power sites, but if this is not deemed sufficient, this department believes that some provision should be made in the bill which will make clear the intent of Congress not to permit the acquisition of such power sites under the provisions of this measure. As to the second suggestion, that the limit of distance for parks be raised from 30 to 50 miles, I have to state that the limit of 30 miles was fixed because it was believed that that was, under modern methods of conveyance, within a reasonable and accessible distance from the city or town, and would therefore be utilized by the citizens. If the limit be raised to a greater distance, it is improbable that many of the residents of the cities or towns would be able to avail themselves of the park, certainly not in the frequent visists, which would furnish the only reason for the grant. If the parks are located at such a great distance that they can only be visited once or twice during the season, there would appear to be no sufficient reason for the grant proposed, as camping privileges may be secured in existing forest reservations and national parks. As to the third suggestion, the department does not believe it advisable to recommend the granting of parks located outside of the limits of the county to which the grant is proposed, but believes that same should be within its exterior limits and subject in this way to county control and responsibility. It is noted that the draft heretofore submitted by the department and the bill as introduced provide that selections for lands within forest reserves shall be subject to approval by the Secretary of the Interior. This is an evident clerical error, and should read "by the Secretary of Agriculture.” Cordially, yours, Hon. SCOTT FERRIS, FRANKLIN K. LANE, Chairman Committee on the Public Lands, House of Representatives. The present park law, approved September 30, 1890 (26 Stat., 502), and which is sought to be amended by this bill, reads as follows: That incorporated cities and towns shall have the right, under rules and regulations prescribed by the Secretary of the Interior, to purchase for cemetery and park purposes not exceeding one quarter section of public lands not reserved for public use, such lands to be within three miles of such cities or towns: Provided, That when such city or town is situated within a mining district the land proposed to be taken under this act shall be considered as mineral lands, and patent to such land shall not authorize such city or town to extract mineral therefrom; but all such mineral shall be reserved to the United States, and such reservation shall be entered in such patent. While that law, enacted over 25 years ago, was fairly well adapted to conditions as they existed in the West at that time, it has long since become inoperative and obsolete; notwithstanding the imperative requirements of a practical and reasonable city park law applicable to actual present-day conditions in the West has been rapidly increasing every year. The present law limits a city or town to the selection of 160 acres of land for either cemetery or park purposes within 3 miles of such city or town, while throughout the entire West, practically speaking, there has not for 20 years been any suitable park sites left vacant within 3 miles of any city or town. So that the law, so far as park sites are concerned, has for many years been substantially a dead letter, notwithstanding every civilized human being these days recognizes the absolute necessity of every city and town having commodious public parks and recreation grounds. The modern necessity for these outing places was not foreseen 25 years ago, when the entire West was in reality an outing place and when sites could in many instances have been readily obtained. Those former convenient park sites have, however, long since gone into private ownership, and, generally speaking, there are now no vacant and suitable park sites within many miles of nearly all the Western cities and towns. For that reason this bill has increased the distance from 3 miles to 30 miles. Unless it is imperatively necessary, no city will go out 30 miles, or any farther than it is compelled to, in order to obtain a suitable site for a city recreation ground. But no city should be deprived of a suitable natural park, even if it may be compelled to go as far as 30 miles to obtain one. With the present very general use of automobiles a park out 20 miles, or even 30 miles, ís no less accessible than was a park out 3 miles 25 years ago. So that this extension of distance is not only necessary in many instances to reach a park site that a city would be justified in taking and paying $1.25 an acre for, and improving and beautifying it at public expense, but anything within a 30-mile limit is to-day readily accessible to a large per cent of the inhabitants of every town. In fact, there was a strong pressure upon the committee to make the limit 50 miles. The present law limits the amount of land that may be taken for a city park to 160 acres. In many instances, owing to the irregular topography of the country, it is impossible for a city or town to select, according to the Government survey, sufficient land within the limit of 160 acres to properly control a park site. And it was conclusively shown to your committee and the Secretary of the Interior that a section of land is a very reasonable and necessary maximum limit. No city or town will purchase more than it actually needs for a park, because ordinarily the money must be raised by private subscription, and the citizens will endeavor to locate a park just as economically as possible, and it will be seldom that 640 acres are taken, but it will also be seldom where 160 acres would be sufficient. The committee, therefore, deems it wise, in order to encourage park selections and improvements, to adopt 640 acres as the limit for parks. Concerning cemeteries your committee has retained in section 1 the limit in the present law of 160 acres. But owing to the fact that in a large majority of cases there is no suitable cemetery site within 3 miles, the Secretary of the Interior and your committee recommend that the 3-mile limit be raised to 5 miles. Section 2 of the bill pertains to the selection of land for the protection of the water supply of cities. Congress has passed a great many individual bills on this subject, and the policy of the Interior Department and Congress has been to encourage cities and towns in the protection of their water supply from pollution, and in the preservation of the source of supply and protection of reservoir sites and springs used for municipal purposes. Therefore section 2 is necessary in the bill for the purpose of enacting a general law upon this subject. The distance of 20 miles is a reasonable compromise. In many instances cities go 40 and 50 miles, and in some cases over 100 miles for their water supply. But in the main, the distance is approximately within a 20-mile radius of the city; and for the purpose of making the law general and definite and relieving a large number of cities and towns from the necessity of special legislation, your committee feels that this section is important. Many cities and towns do not feel like incurring the expense, bother, and annoyance of trying to secure special legislation and thereby jeopardize their water rights, and in many instances they are caused a great deal of expense and loss thereby. The present law does not allow a county as such to locate a park or recreation ground. In a large number of counties throughout the West there are no large cities or good-sized towns, and yet there is a large rural population. The rural population several times a year gather at some place or other for a general outing and basket pícnic |