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74TH CONGRESS 1st Session

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SENATE

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REPORT No. 484

TO AMEND AN ACT ENTITLED "AN ACT TO ACCEPT THE CESSION BY THE STATE OF OREGON OF EXCLUSIVE JURISDICTION OVER THE LANDS EMBRACED WITHIN THE CRATER LAKE NATIONAL PARK, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES"

APRIL 15, 1935.-Ordered to be printed

Mr. McNARY, from the Committee on Agriculture and Forestry, submitted the following

REPORT

[To accompany S. 2185]

The Committee on Agriculture and Forestry, to whom the bill (S. 2185) to amend an act entitled "An act to accept the cession by the State of Oregon of exclusive jurisdiction over the lands embraced within the Crater Lake National Park, and for other purposes," was referred, having considered the same, recommend that the bill do pass without amendment.

The action of the committee is based on the report of the Secretary of the Interior, which report the committee deems sufficient for a report and so quotes it:

The purpose of this proposed legislation is to permit the United States commissioner for the Crater Lake National Park to reside outside the boundaries of the park. The park is closed during several months of the year, on account of the heavy snowfall in that region during the winter months, and it is therefore impracticable for the commissioner to reside within the boundaries of the park throughout the year. During such time the superintendent and other officials of the park maintain offices at Medford, Oreg., where the Government has acquired buildings for that purpose.

The former commissioner, William Gladstone Steel, died on October 20, 1934, and on October 25, 1934, his daughter, Jean Gladstone Steel, was appointed United States commissioner to succeed him. On January 26, 1935, the Comptroller General of the United States ruled that no salary is payable for any period during which the commissioner does not reside within the boundaries of the park, and disallowed the claim of Jean Gladstone Steel for her salary from October 25 to December 31, 1934. There was also disallowed a claim for the salary of William Gladstone Steel from September 1 to October 20, 1934. One of the purposes of the proposed legislation is to allow payment of this accrued salary. Therefore, I recommend that S. 2185 receive favorable consideration by the Congress.

74TH CONGRESS 1st Session

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SENATE

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REPORT No. 485

TO AMEND THE ACT ENTITLED "AN ACT TO PROVIDE FOR THE COLLECTION AND PUBLICATION OF STATISTICS OF TOBACCO BY THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE", APPROVED JANUARY 14, 1929, AS AMENDED

APRIL 15, 1935.-Ordered to be printed

Mr. SMITH, from the Committee on Agriculture and Forestry, submitted the following

REPORT

[To accompany S. 2215)

The Committee on Agriculture and Forestry, to whom the bill (S. 2215) to amend the act entitled "An act to provide for the collection and publication of statistics of tobacco by the Department of Agriculture", approved January 14, 1929, as amended, having considered the same, recommend that the bill do pass without amend

ment.

The committee based its action on the report of the Department of Agriculture contained in a letter dated April 3, 1935, which is quoted below:

The bill is aimed primarily at the improvement and simplification of the reports which dealers and manufacturers are required to make quarterly, setting forth in detail the stocks of leaf tobacco owned or held by them. Under its terms, section I of the act of January 14, 1929, would be amended so as to make possible, in the discretion of the Secretary, a breaking down of groups of grades when necessary to avoid combining in the same figures tobaccos of widely differing characteristics. This situation exists with respect to one group of grades of the type known as "Burley, U. S. type 31", in which the B or heavy-leaf group combines short tip leaf with tobacco more properly designated as "heavy leaf. Much complaint has been registered with the Department over this particular item and in order to open the way to a separation, this bill provides the proper authority.

The proposed amendment of section I of the original act omits a requirement now prevailing that stocks of leaf tobacco shall be reported on the basis of time of production, specifically as "new crops" and "old crops." This existing requirement is troublesome to the dealers and manufacturers who must prepare the reports, and the resulting separation of statistics has not been found of practical value. The effect of omitting the requirement, therefore, will be to cut in half the work entailed upon those required by law to furnish these statistics, and the Department welcomes the opportunity to relieve them of this unnecessary burden.

The bill contains a new proviso in section I to the effect that the Secretary of Agriculture may, in his discretion, omit the collection of statistics from any dealer, manufacturer, cooperative association, warehouseman, etc., who does not own or have in stock in the aggregate 25,000 pounds or more of leaf tobacco on the date as of which the reports are made. It has been found that certain dealers and others operate on such a small scale and on such a seasonal basis that the effort to obtain reports involves great difficulties and does not result in the collection of statistics of any significance.

In the same paragraph, authority is given to the Secretary to classify as "nondescript" any tobacco which has deteriorated on account of age or other causes to the extent that it is no longer merchantable or suitable for use in manufacture.

Also in this paragraph, language has been inserted which provides that an annual report on tobacco statistics shall be issued. The apparent purpose of this is to renew the annual bulletins of tobacco statistics formerly published by the Bureau of the Census, which Bureau administered the law pertaining to quarterly tobacco stocks reports superseded by the act of January 14, 1929. Comprehensive statistics on tobacco are now embodied in the yearbooks of this Department, but in this form cannot be as readily and widely disseminated as would be possible in an annual bulletin such as the bill contemplates. There is a rather wide-spread demand for this, and in my opinion it would serve a useful purpose.

Section 2 of the present bill seeks to amend section 2 of the act insofar as it is necessary to make the language conform to the first change discussed above and also to authorize the Secretary to demonstrate tobacco standards, prepare samples, and make a charge therefor.

Section 3 seeks to amend section 5 of the original act by giving the Secretary access to the stocks and records of persons or firms required to make reports when necessary for the purposes of the act. Perhaps it should be pointed out at this time that the Department has had very fine cooperation from the tobacco trade in general in connection with the collection of these reports. It is only in scattered instances that any difficulty is encountered and the language in question would place the Department in a better position to obtain compliance with the provisions of the existing law.

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74TH CONGRESS 1st Session

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SENATE

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REPORT No. 486

TO FIX STANDARDS FOR TILL BASKETS, CLIMAX BASKETS, ROUND-STAVE BASKETS, MARKET BASKETS, DRUMS, HAMPERS, CARTONS, CRATES, BOXES, BARRELS, AND OTHER CONTAINERS FOR FRUITS OR VEGETABLES, TO CONSOLIDATE EXISTING LAWS ON THIS SUBJECT, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

APRIL 15, 1935.—Ordered to be printed

Mr. SMITH, from the Committee on Agriculture and Forestry, submitted the following

REPORT

[To accompany S. 1460]

The Committee on Agriculture and Forestry, to whom the bill (S. 1460) to fix standards for till baskets, climax baskets, round-stave baskets, market baskets, drums, hampers, cartons, crates, boxes, barrels, and other containers for fruits or vegetables, to consolidate existing laws on this subject, and for other purposes, was referred, having considered the same, recommend that the bill do pass with the following amendment:

On page 2, line 14, strike out the word "tables" and insert in lieu thereof the word "vegetables".

The action of the committee was based on the report made on this bill by the Department of Agriculture and the pertinent portion of said report is quoted below as follows:

There are now four Federal statutes relating to containers for fresh fruits and vegetables. Under these laws the number of sizes of boxes for berries was reduced from 18 to 3, of till baskets from 30 to 5, of climax baskets from 31 to 3, of hampers from 42 to 9, of round-stave baskets from 29 to 9, and of splint baskets from 25 to 6. A considerable reduction is believed also to have been effected in the number of sizes of barrels in use.

The net result of the enforcement of these acts has been a benefit to the manufacturers of containers through reduction of costs and the extension of markets; to carriers through making it possible to work out improved methods of stowing and bracing loads thus helping to solve the problem of damage in transit; to growers, shippers, and receivers of fruits and vegetables through providing a definite basis for market quotations and for negotiating purchases and sales; and to consumers through assuring them that the containers in which they buy fruits and vegetables are of correct and proper capacities. These laws have been on the statute books long enough for certain weaknesses and inconsistencies to become manifest. Furthermore, during the years since these laws were enacted new developments in the packaging of fruits and vegetables have taken place. New

types of containers such as cartons have been introduced, and some of the older types, such as crates and boxes, have come to have a new importance. The time, therefore, seems ripe for the consolidation of these 4 statutes into 1 law-at the same time correcting such weaknesses as now exist and extending the principle of standardization to types of containers not now standardized.

The four statutes now in effect are the Standard Apple Barrel Law (37 Stat. ch. 273, p. 250), the Standard Barrel Law (38 Stat. ch. 158, 1186), the Standard Container Act of 1916 (U. S. C. title 15, sec. 251, 256) and the Standard Container Act of 1928 (U. S. C. title 15, sec. 257).

The standard apple barrel law, enacted in 1912, was superseded by the standard barrel law which established the same barrel as standard for fruits, vegetables, and other dry commodities, except cranberries, and established a special barrel for cranberries. However, the standard apple barrel law was not repealed and is still on the statute books. It contains 1 section establishing standard grades for apples when packed in barrels. These grades have never been used to any extent and other and more specific grades for apples have been formulated by this Department and promulgated as official standards. As the standard apple barrel law has been superseded by subsequent legislation, it should be repealed as provided in S. 1460.

The standard barrel law establishing a standard barrel for fruits, vegetables, and other dry commodities, and also a standard barrel for cranberries was enacted in 1915. So far as is known, the law was not intended to apply and has never been applied to barrels for dry commodities other than fruits and vegetables. Consequently, in S. 1460 the implication that barrels for other dry commodities are subject to regulation has been omitted. Except for changes in the sizes of the subdivisions of the cranberry barrel, suggested by the American Cranberry Exchange, S. 1460 contemplates no changes in the standards established by the Barrel Act. However, it is believed that the subdivisions of the fruit and vegetable barrel could be eliminated altogether in view of the limited use that is made of them.

The standard barrel law makes nonstandard barrels unlawful only when actually containing fruits, vegetables, or some other dry commodity. It operates, therefore, to penalize a possibly innocent user of a nonstandard barrel rather than the manufacturer of such a container and provides no adequate control over such manufacturer. Under S. 1460 the manufacturer would be held primarily responsible, which appears desirable.

The Standard Barrel Law made no provision as to the Department, Bureau, or office by which it should be enforced. It provided that rules and regulations establishing variations and tolerances under the act should be made by the Director of the Bureau of Standards and approved by the Secretary of Commerce. No direct mandate was given to any Department or Bureau to enforce this act and no appropriation was ever made for its enforcement. Tolerances and variations were, however, established by the Director of the Bureau of Standards and such enforcement work as has been attempted has been done by that Bureau.

The Standard Container Act of 1916 establishes standards for Climax baskets for grapes and other fruits and vegetables and for the small till baskets or cups used for berries, small fruits, and vegetables. This act has several weaknesses, one of the most important being that it is an interstate commerce act and not a weights and measures law. It, therefore, applies only to interstate transactions. Consequently, a manufacturer in any State may make nonstandard baskets and sell them within the State without interference under this act. Moreover, berry growers, for example, in such a State may pack their berries in such nonstandard baskets and, wittingly or otherwise, successfully evade this act only to find when the berries are shipped to another State and reach the retail stores their sale in such containers may be illegal in that State. S. 1460 provides that the containers standardized by this act shall be placed on the same basis as barrels and be established by Congress as standard measures under its authority to establish weights and measures rather than under its authority to regulate interstate commerce. S. 1460 provides no new standards for these containers; it seeks merely to reenact the existing standards under provisions for their more effective enforcement.

The Standard Container Act of 1928 established standards for the larger baskets used for fruits and vegetables described as round-stave baskets, splint baskets, and hampers. This act is a weights and measures law and applies in intrastate as well as interstate transactions. It prohibits the manufacture of containers that would be deceptive in appearance, and, in addition to other penalties, provides for seizure, by court action, of nonstandard baskets. It has

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