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The managers on the part of the House on the disagreeing votes of the two Houses on H. R. 12766, a bill to increase the efficiency of the Military Establishment of the United States, make the following statement:

The differences between the two Houses were so wide that the conferees were compelled to rewrite in a great many particulars the bill of the House and the Senate amendment thereto.

The bill, as agreed upon by the conferees, provides for a standing Army in time of peace of 175,000 enlisted men of the line, in addition to which are to be added the enlisted men of the Hospital Corps, the Quartermaster Corps, the Signal Corps, and the Philippine Scouts.

The section of the Senate amendment providing for a Volunteer Army was stricken from the Senate amendment, as was also the provision providing for a reserve army through training in schools, known as the Hardwick amendment.

The provision in the Senate amendment providing for vocational training of enlisted men of the Regular Army was modified so as to give to the Secretary of War full discretion as to the hours of instruction and training.

The organizations provided for in the Senate amendment were accepted by the House.

The increase of officers and organizations are to be made in five annual increments. The General Staff Corps, The Adjutant General's Department, the Inspector General's Department, the Judge Advocate General's Department, and the Quartermaster Corps are all adequately provided for to meet the increase in the Army. The Senate accepted the provision of the House bill with regard to the Medical Corps, which provided for 7 medical officers for every 1,000 of the enlisted strength of the Army.

The Ordnance Department is provided for as in the House bill. The Signal Corps is increased and the aviation section of the corps is also increased.

The Senate accepted the House provision as to veterinarians.

The Senate accepted the House provision as to Porto Rico Regiment of Infantry.

The House accepted the number of detached officers provided for in the Senate amendment for duty with the National Guard and other detached duty. The House accepted the provision for the retirement of the officers of the Philippine Scouts.

Enlistment in the Regular Army are provided for as follows: A term of seven years, three years with the colors and four in the reserve, and the further provision that an enlisted man serving in continental limits of the United States after one year's honorable service may be furloughed to the reserve upon the recommendation of his company, troop, battery, or detachment commander, in the discretion of the Secretary of War.

Provision is also made for reenlistment.

Provision is made for an Army reserve and also for an Enlisted Reserve Corps.

Provision is also made for an Officers' Reserve Corps, both for the Regular Army and the National Guard.

The Reserve Officers' Training Corps, which the President is authorized to establish and maintain in civil educational institutions, is retained in the bill as it appeared both in the House bill and the Senate amendment, and is known as the Pomerene guard provision.

The Senate accepted the House provision as to the organization and federalization of the National Guard, with the exception that the oath of commissioned officers and enlisted men of the National Guard is the same as is provided for in the Senate amendment and the section of the Senate amendment with regard to the adjutant generals of the States is incorporated in the bill.

The nitrate proposition as it passed the House was agreed to by the Senate, no change having been made in the House provision.

There is retained in the bill the House provision for the utilization and mobilization of the industries of the country in time of war, and also the House provision providing for a board of five citizens to investigate and report upon the practicability of the Government manufacturing arms, munitions, and equipment.

Also the provision authorizing the Secretary of War to purchase or otherwise procure gauges, dies, tools, and fixtures known as the Tilson amendment.

The bill also provides for summer training camps.

JAMES HAY,

S. H. DENT, Jr.,
JULIUS KAHN,

Managers on the part of the House.

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FEDERAL MOTION-PICTURE COMMISSION.

MAY 17, 1916.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union and ordered to be printed.

Mr. HUGHES, from the Committee on Education, submitted the

following

REPORT.

[To accompany H. R. 15462.]

The Committee on Education, to whom was referred H. R. 15462, have considered the same and submit the following report, with the recommendation of the committee that the bill do pass:

The necessity for regulation of motion pictures is apparent. It has been acknowledged by a large majority of the film manufacturers by their voluntary submission of their films to unofficial boards for approval. That the public demands this regulation is demonstrated by the scrupulous regularity with which the producers exhibit such approval at the end of each picture.

The vicious picture brings the larger return to exhibitor and producer, because it gets the money of the regular customer and the sensation seeker also. This state of affairs constitutes a temptation hard to resist, and, in fact, the production of vicious pictures is constantly increasing just because they are more profitable. If the industry is to endure, if decent people are to stay in the business, this cancer must be cut out. A Federal regulatory commission should prove a fearless surgeon, and we therefore favor such a commission.

This statement of conditions is made in the brief filed with the committee by the legal representatives of four of the ten manufacturers who produce 90 per cent of the motion pictures in the United States, and by the legal representatives of one of the largest distributors of motion pictures in this country. The brief in full accompanies this report.

This bill has the earnest support of the leading moral and religious organizations of the Nation. A similar bill was unanimously reported to the House from this committee in the last Congress.

With the acknowledgment of the need of regulation both by the motion-picture interests and the public they serve, the question arises as to what shall be the regulation and who shall do the regulating. The National Board of Review at New York City is composed of

representatives of various moral and civic organizations. The expenses of this board are paid by some of the leading motion-picture interests, and it has no legal authority. At the request of the manfacturers this board passes upon the pictures. It is estimated that more than 95 per cent of all pictures produced in this country are passed upon by this unofficial board.

In addition to this voluntary board there are numerous official censors, both State and municipal. The establishment of such large numbers of these local boards, which are rapidly increasing, clearly demonstrates the inadequacy of the so-called National Board of Review, which by its very unofficial character can not exercise effective supervision. Though it were to exercise a careful and intelligent supervision over 95 per cent of all pictures, still there would remain 5 per cent which could be immoral and unfit to be shown. It is only fair to assume that those pictures which are most objec tionable will not voluntarily be submitted for review. An unofficial board which has not the right to examine 100 per cent of the pictures is in reality not a board of regulation, but a board of recommendation and approval. As a matter of fact, evidence before the committee discloses that a very considerable percentage of the pictures approved by the unofficial board are declared by the local boards unfit for exhibition. The decision of the National Board of Review is not binding. Pictures which have been disapproved by it are shown to the public.

The character of the motion-picture industry renders State and municipal regulation inadequate. Motion-picture films are essentially articles of interstate commerce. They are not manufactured for use in any one State or municipality, but practically every picture is exhibited in all of the States of the Union. Innumerable inspections by local boards work great hardships on the industry. In the absence of any official Federal regulation the States and cities are finding it necessary to establish these local boards to prevent the exhibition of immoral, indecent, and obscene pictures The only adequate method of regulating motion pictures is to be had in a Federal commission, and the establishment of such a commission is the one way to obviate the necessity for innumerable local boards.

The bill which this report accompanies provides for the appointment by the President of five commissioners, and a supplementary force of deputy commissioners to be appointed by the commission. The commission is required to license each film intended for interstate commerce unless it finds that such film, or a part thereof, is obscene, indecent, immoral, inhuman, or is a reproduction of an actual bull fight or prize fight, or is of such a character that its exhibition would tend to corrupt morals or incite crime.

The main offices of the commission are to be at Washington, but the commission is granted authority to establish branch offices where necessary. Each branch office is to be in charge of one of the commissioners or a deputy who is clothed with the power of a commissioner. Licenses may be issued by this commissioner or deputy com missioner at such branch office. Should he render an adverse decision on the film, the producer has the right to appeal to the full commission, and in all cases the producer can appeal from decisions of the commission to the Court of Appeals of the District of Columbia.

The commission is authorized to issue licenses for pictures which are to be shown only to people over 16 years of age.

It is provided that a film not having been licensed by the commission shall not be transported in interstate commerce. The exhibition of unlicensed pictures at places of amusement for pay in the District of Columbia or in any of the Territories of the United States, or any place where the local police power is in the jurisdiction of the Federal Government, is prohibited. The penalty for a violation of this act is a fine of not more than $1,000 or imprisonment not more than one year, or both, and the confiscation of the films illegally transported, exhibited, or changed. Motion-picture films meant for use by the learned professions and not for purposes of entertainment are excepted from the operation of this bill. Films known in the industry as "news films news films"-those depicting current events-may be granted a permit so that they can be shown immediately after manufacture, the commission having authority to withdraw the permit when this privilege is abused. All motion-picture films which are in existence at the time this act is approved shall be granted a permit to enter interstate commerce without examination.

License fees of $2 for 1,000 feet of film for originals and 50 cents for each duplicate copy are provided in this bill. It is estimated that 200 original reels of 1,000 feet each are produced weekly in this country. The best figures obtainable indicate that an average of 25 duplicates are made of each original. The income from the originals would therefore be $400 per week or $20,800 per annum, and from the duplicates $2,500 per week or $130,000 per annum. The total income is therefore estimated at $150,800. The commission is required to revise these fees after six months so that only an amount sufficient to bear the expenses of the commission will be collected.

In the consideration of this measure your committee, after once determining that regulation of motion pictures was a pressing necessity for the protection of the public, and particularly the children, against vicious and immoral pictures, sought to frame a bill which would meet the needs of the public and not work unnecessary hardships on the industry. The measure which your committee reports has the indorsement of leading producers of motion picture films and others engaged in the industry.

STATEMENT OF MESSRS. MEYERS & CLARK, ATTORNEYS FOR PARAMOUNT PICTURES CORPORATION; E. J. LUDVIGH, RALPH A. KOHN, ATTORNEYS FOR FAMOUS PLAYERS FILM Co.; ARTHUR S. FRIEND, ATTORNEY FOR JESSE L. LASKY FEATURE PLAY Co. (INC.); AND MORITZ ROSENTHAL, ATTORNEY FOR WORLD FILM CORPORATION AND EQUITABLE MOTION PICTURES CORPORATION.

Hon. D. M. HUGHES,

Chairman Committee on Education, House of Representatives,

Washington, D. C.

SIR: The undersigned, representing substantial interests in the motion-picture industry, viz, Paramount Pictures Corporation, Famous Players Film Co., Jesse L. Lasky Feature Play Co. (Inc.), World Film Corporation, and Equitable Motion Pictures Corporation, submit herewith for your consideration a revision of the Smith-Hughes bill (S. 2204; H. R. 456) which, while crude in form, covers practical points of great importance to the trade, and will, we trust, serve as a working basis for a bill to be reported by your committee.

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