62D CONGRESS, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. 1st Session. ERRORS IN THE ENROLLMENT OF CERTAIN APPROPRIATION ACTS. AUGUST 7, 1911.-Ordered to be printed. Mr. FITZGERALD, from the committee of conference, submitted the following CONFERENCE REPORT. [To accompany H. J. Res. 1.] The committee of conference on the disagreeing votes of the two Houses on the amendments of the Senate to the joint resolution (H. J. Res. 1) to correct errors in the enrollment of certain appropriation acts approved March 4, 1911, having met, after full and free conference have agreed to recommend and do recommend to their respective Houses as follows: That the Senate recede from its amendments numbered 2 and 3. That the House recede from its disagreement to the amendment of the Senate numbered 1, and agree to the same. That the House recede from its disagreement to the amendment of the Senate, amending the title of the joint resolution, and agree to the same. JOHN J. FITZGERALD, A. S. BURLESON, J. G. CANNON, Managers on the part of the House. GEO. C. PERKINS, MURPHY J. FOSTER, Managers on the part of the Senate. STATEMENT OF THE MANAGERS ON THE PART OF THE HOUSE. The managers on the part of the House at the conference on the disagreeing votes of the two Houses on the amendments of the Senate to the House joint resolution No. 1 to correct errors in the enrollment of certain appropriation bills approved March 4, 1911, submit the following written statement in explanation of the effect of the action agreed upon and submitted in the accompanying conference report, namely: It is recommended that the two amendments of the Senate striking out the preamble of the resolution and amending the title thereof be agreed to, and that the Senate recede from its two amendments striking out the provision reimbursing the University of Idaho the sum of $500, and the provision repealing that part of the naval appropriation act approved March 4 last, having reference to partial payments to builders of naval vessels. 62D CONGRESS, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. 1st Session. BLACK WARRIOR RIVER, ALA. AUGUST 7, 1911.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union and ordered to be printed. SPARKMAN, from the Committee on Rivers and Harbors, submitted the following REPORT. [To accompany S. 943.] The Committee on Rivers and Harbors, to whom was referred the bill (S. 943) to improve navigation on the Black Warrior River in the State of Alabama, have bad the same under consideration, and recommend that the same be amended by striking out all after the enacting clause and inserting the following in lieu of the part so stricken out, and that as thus amended the bill do pass: That the Secretary of War is hereby authorized, in his discretion, to change the detailed plans and specifications for the construction of Lock and Dam Seventeen, on the Black Warrior River, Alabama, so as to increase the height of the pool level over the dam crest of Lock Seventeen to a height of sixty-three feet above the pool level of Lock Sixteen, so as to render unnecessary the building of Locks Eighteen and Nineteen, as now authorized, and so as to provide for the extension of slack water up the Mulberry and Locust forks of the Black Warrior River to Sanders Shoals and Nichols Shoals, respectively, and for the development of water power. SEC. 2. That the Secretary of War is hereby authorized and directed to have prepared such detailed plans and estimates as may be necessary to carry into effect the purposes of this act, and he is further authorized in his discretion to suspend operations during his investigations and to enter into supplemental agreements with the present contractors for Lock and Dam Seventeen, providing for the annulment of existing contracts or for their modification so as to cover the work required for the construction of the higher lock and dam, as he may deem most advantageous for the interests of the United States. SEC. 3. Should the construction of the higher dam at site seventeen be found advisable the appropriations and authorizations heretofore made for the cost of locks and dams on the Black Warrior, Warrior, and Tombigbee Rivers, Alabama, shall be available for the construction of Dam Seventeen and such locks as may be necessary to overcome the lift between the pools created by Dams Sixteen and Seventeen. SEC. 4. That the Secretary of War is authorized and empowered to enter into a contract with the Birmingham Water, Light and Power Company, a corporation organized under the laws of the State of Alabama, its successors and assigns, for the purpose of carrying out the stipulations and performances herein mentioned. It shall be provided in said contract that the company, its successors and assigns, shall have the right to construct, maintain, own, and operate, at its own cost, in connection with Dams and Locks Sixteen and S venteen, for a period of fifty years from the time fixed in this act for completion of the works herein authorized, electrical power stations and other structures for the development of water power for industrial and other purposes, and for converting to its own use, benefit, and profit the power developed with the surplus water not needed for lockage, including the right to sell, lease, or otherwise dispose of said power: Provided, That the company shall furnish and deliver, free of charge to the Government, at Locks Sixteen and Seventeen, all power necessary for the o; eration of said locks and for the lighting of the Government grounds and houses situated at said locks. The said contract shall further provide for the payment by the company to the Government of an annual rental for its use of the water power developed at Dams Sixteen and Seventeen. For a period of twenty years the rental shall be at the rate of one dollar per annum per horsepower developed, which rate shall be subject to rea justment by the Secretary of War at the end of that period and thereafter at the end of every ten-year period. Payment or the power developed at each dam shall begin one year after the locks and dam at Seventeen shall have been completed. Beginning with the year nineteen hundred and twenty, the minimum rental to be paid to the Government by the company shall be on the basis of fifteen thousand horsepower. The company shall have ingr ss and egress over Government lands for the construction aud operation of its plants and works and the right to use Government lands at or near said locks for the erect ng of power houses and appurtenances in connection therewith, subject to regulation by the Secretary of War. It shall e provided further in the contract that the company shall transfer to the Government flowage rights over all lands that will be temporarily or permanently overflowed by reason of the construction of Dam Seventeen. The Government shall have free access to Il the books of the company and all other records necessary for ascertaining and calculating the price, rates, and amount of power produced, developed, or sold by the company at said locks and at its storage reservoir. The contract shall further provide that the works herein con em lated, except the storage reservoir at or near Sanders Shoals, on the Mulberry Fork of the Black Warrior River, shall be commenced within one year and that the power-house foundations to be constr cted by the company as a part of the dam shall be completed at least as soon as Dam Seventeen. The said company is hereby authorized to construct said storage dam and reservoir at Sanders Shoals in accordance with the act to regulate the construction of dams across navigable waters, as amended by the act of June twenty-third, nineteen hundred and ten: Provided, That the construction of said dam and reservoir shall be commenced within one year after the completion of Dam Seventeen, and shall be completed within ten years from the date of approval of this act. SEC. 5. That in the exercise of the authority granted to the company herein or by said contract the company shall conform to such regulations as may be imposed by the Secretary of War for the protection of navigation and of the property and other interests of the United States. The company shall at no time lower the pool level made by the erection of Dam Sixteen, nor the pool level of Dam Seventeen below sixty-three feet above the crest of Dam Sixteen, but in order to create a storage surplus for water-power purposes the Secretary of War may, in his discretion, permit flashboards or a removable crest not exceeding three feet in height to be installed on Dam Seventeen by the company, at its own expense; the United States shall not be liable to said company for any failure of water power from any cause whatsoever. The work and improvements herein provided for shall be executed under the direc tion and with the approval of the Chief of Engineers and the Secretary of War. To insure the performance by the company of the acts and obligations imposed upon it by said contract, the Secretary of War may require the company to execute a bond in such an amount and with such surety as he may determine to be necessary. Whenever the company shall have acquired and transferred to the United States Government flowage rights over all lands to be flooded and temporarily or permanently overflowed and shall have erected power stations sufficient to supply the Government with all necessary power to light and operate said locks, said bond may be reduced to an amount not to exceed fifty thousand dollars. SEC. 6. All repairs, renewals, and other necessary expenditures upon the works. which the company shall be allowed to construct exclusively for the use of power generation, shall be made by the company, so that their condition shall at no time interfere with the interests of navigation: Provided, That, whenever in the opinion of the Secretary of War, the condition of said works endangers the interests of navigation, he shall notify the said company to repair the same, and if the company shall not immediately comply with the demand of the Secretary of War to make such repairs, he is hereby authorized and empowered to enter upon such works and cause them to be repaired; and the expense thereof shall constitute a debt against said company, its successors or assigns, and a lien upon all its property. SEC. 7. That the right to alter, amend, or repeal this act is hereby expressly The following is the report of the Committee on Commerce on the Senate bill: [Senate Report No. 80, Sixty-second Congress, first session.] The Committee on Commerce, to whom was referred the bill (S. 943) to improve navigation on Black Warrior River, in the State of Alabama, having considered the same, report it with amendments, and as amended recommend its passage. The bill thus amended has the approval of the War Department, as will appear by the annexed letter, the amendments referred to therein having been incorporated in the bill as reported. The SECRETARY OF WAR. WAR DEPARTMENT, OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF ENGINEERS, SIR: I have the honor to return herewith a letter dated April 14, 1911, from the Senate Committee on Commerce, inclosing for the views of the department thereon S. 943, Sixty-second Congress, first session, "A bill to improve navigation on Black Warrior River, in the State of Alabama." The object of this bill is to authorize the Secretary of War to change that part of the existing project for the improvement of Black Warrior River which involves the construction of locks and dams designated as Nos. 17, 18, and 19, the specific purpose of the proposed modification being to permit of the practicable and economical development of water power, in connection with the work of improvement, through cooperation with local industrial interests. After modifying the project the Secretary of War is empowered to enter into contract with the Birmingham Water, Light & Power Co. for the construction of the works provided for in such modified project, the consideration being the exclusive grant to the company of the right to use and dispose of the surplus power, not required for the purposes of navigation, which may be created or developed by said works. The proposition embraced in the bill is a very important one, involving, as it does, material changes in the adopted project and the termination of an existing contract, for which reason the bill was referred for consideration to the Board of Engineers for Rivers and Harbors, created by section 3 of the river and harbor act of June 13, 1902. This board has given the subject most careful study, and in its report of the 16th ultimo, to which attention is respectfully invited, the present project and proposed changes therein are fully set forth and the contemplated plan of river improvement and power development is discussed in detail. The board reaches the conclusion that the scheme of cooperation contemplated by the bill is a worthy and desirable one, and recommends favorable action on the measure by Congress provided certain amendments designed to better safeguard the Federal interests are made therein. I concur in the views and recommendation of the board, and on a copy of the bill herewith submitted I have indicated in red the amendments considered desirable. In this connection it should be noted that, in pursuance of a provision in the river and harbor act of March 3, 1909, a survey of “Mulberry and Locust Forks of the Warrior River," has recently been completed, and the report thereon has been forwarded to Congress to-day. As this report contains information and data related to the subject matter of the bill under consideration, it is suggested that the attention of the committee be invited thereto. It is deemed proper to add that early consideration of the bill by Congress is important, as, in the absence of congressional sanction of the proposition, the department would not be justified in suspending or delaying for any considerable period the prosecution of the work already contracted for at Dam No. 17, and unless the necessary legislation is enacted within a reasonably short time the work must proceed in accordance with the plans heretofore adopted. Very respectfully, [First indorsement.] EDW. BURR, Acting Chief of Engineers. WAR DEPARTMENT, June 16, 1911. Respectfully returned to the chairman Committee on Commerce, United States Senate, inviting attention to the accompanying report of the Acting Chief of Engineers, United States Army, of yesterday's date, in whose views the department concurs. ROBERT SHAW OLIVER, |