[Second endorsement] WAR DEPARTMENT, Washington, March 6, 1935. Respectfully returned to the Chairman Committee on Commerce, United States Senate. The purpose of the accompanying bill, S. 1988, Seventy-fourth Congress, first session, is to extend the times for commencing and completing the construction of the bridge across the Missouri River at or near Rulo, Nebr., authorized by act of Congress approved March 4, 1933. Under the terms of the act the time for commencing construction expired March 4, 1934. So far as the interests committed to this Department are concerned, no objection is known to extending the times for commencing and completing the work of construction for the customary periods of 1 and 3 years, respectively, but I am of the opinion that it is preferable to authorize the extension of time in direct terms rather than to revive and reenact the act approved March 4, 1933. The bill herewith has been amended accordingly and as thus amended I know of no objection to its favorable consideration by Congress. GEO. H. DERN, Secretary of War. MARCH 13 (calendar day, MARCH 22), 1935.-Ordered to be printed Mr. SHEPPARD, from the Committee on Commerce, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany S. 2156] The Committee on Commerce, to whom was referred the bill (S. 2156) to extend the times for commencing and completing the construction of a bridge across the Chesapeake Bay between Baltimore and Kent Counties, Md., having considered the same, report favorably thereon and recommend that the bill do pass without amendment. The bill has the approval of the Departments of War and Agriculture, as will appear by the annexed communications. WAR DEPARTMENT, March 11, 1935. Respectfully returned to the Chairman Committee on Commerce, United States Senate. So far as the interests committed to this Department are concerned, I know of no objection to the favorable consideration of the accompanying bill, S. 2156, Seventy-fourth Congress, first session, to extend the times for commencing and completing the construction of a bridge across the Chesapeake Bay between Baltimore and Kent Counties, Md. GEO. H. DERN, Secretary of War. Hon. ROYAL S. COPELAND, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, Chairman Committee on Commerce, United States Senate. DEAR SENATOR: Receipt is acknowledged of your letter of March 6, transmitting a copy of a bill, S. 2156, with request that the committee be furnished with such suggestions touching its merits and the propriety of its passage as the Department might deem appropriate. This bill would extend for 1 and 3 years, respectively, from the date of its approval, the times for commencing and completing the construction of the bridge across Chesapeake Bay between Baltimore and Kent Counties, M authorized by section 1 of the act of Congress approved March 4, 1933, to be built by the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Co. When the original bill to authorize the construction of this bridge was pending, this Department interposed no objection thereto. The pending bill to extend the times for commencing and completing its construction is likewise without objection. Sincerely yours, M. L. WILSON, Acting Secretary. O MARCH 13 (calendar day, March 23), 1935.-Ordered to be printed Mr. O'MAHONEY, from the Committee on Public Lands and Surveys, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany S. 1307] The Committee on Public Lands and Surveys, to whom was referred the bill (S. 1307) to establish a national park on the Daniel Freeman Homestead in Gage County, Nebr., having considered the same, recommend that the bill pass with the following amendments: Strike out the title and insert a new title to read as follows: "A bill to establish the Homestead National Monument of America in Gage County, Nebraska." Page 1, line 3, after the word "that" insert: "the Secretary of the Interior is hereby authorized and directed to acquire, on behalf of the United States, by gift, purchase, or condemnation". Page 1, lines 9 and 10, strike out the language: "be purchased and designated as a national park to be named the Homestead National Park of America" and insert in lieu thereof the following: "and that when so acquired, the said area be designated the Homestead National Monument of America". Page 2, line 2, strike out the words "the sum of" and insert in lieu thereof "a sum not to exceed". Page 2, line 3 strike out the word "purchasing" and insert in lieu thereof the word "acquiring". As thus amended the committee recommends the passage of the bill. It is the object of this proposed legislation to establish a proper memorial which will be emblematical of the hardships and the trials of pioneer life in the settlement of the great West. That part of the country which is now the bread basket of the Nation was, in the main, settled under the national homestead law. The National Homestead Act was signed by Abraham Lincoln and took effect on the 1st day of January 1863. It is still on the statute books, but there now remains only a comparatively small proportion of the public domain available to entry under its terms. Indeed, withdrawal orders have, for the present at least, suspended its operation. This legislation seeks to preserve for posterity the historic emblems and relics of a period in our Nation's history which is rapidly being forgotten. The committee believes it is eminently proper that the events of this period should be preserved and while. the place of commemoration might be selected anywhere in the country settled under the Homestead Act, yet it is fitting that the place selected for its preservation should be on the land which constitutes the first homestead entry made under the act. Daniel Freeman was a Union soldier in the Civil War. He was in Nebraska on a leave of absence from his command. This leave of absence was about to expire and in order to get back to his command before its expiration, it was necessary that the land office at Brownville, Nebr., where his homestead filing was made, be opened at 12 o'clock midnight in order to permit him to make the filing. This was done and Mr. Freeman made his filing during the first few minutes of the day on which the homestead law took effect and started immediately back to his command. He served during the entire Civil War and then returned to the homestead and in due time made final proof thereon. Under this act there have been taken up in original homestead entries more than 505,000,000 acres of land and an area in excess of 275,000,000 acres has gone to final proof and United States patents have been issued therefor. It is expected, if this bill becomes a law, that this homestead will become a museum in which the literature, the implements of agriculture, the means of transportation, and all other past incidents of pioneer life of the period through which the western settlers had to pass in winning the great West, will be preserved to future generations. О |