DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge receipt by Departmental reference of January 18, 1905, for report of Senate bill No. 6647, entitled "A bill granting to the Choctaw, Oklahoma and Gulf Railroad Company, the power to sell and convey to the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway Company, all the railway property, rights, franchises, and privileges of the Choctaw, Oklahoma and Gulf Railroad Company, and for other purposes." Under the provisions of this bill the Choctaw, Oklahoma and Gulf Railroad Company is authorized and empowered to sell and convey to the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway Company, all its property, rights, franchises, and privileges, and the said last-named company is authorized and empowered to purchase, hold, maintain, and operate the railway heretofore constructed by the first-named company, subject to all the conditions and limitations contained in the several acts of Congress authorizing the organization of the said Choctaw, Oklahoma and Gulf Railroad Company, and the construction of its lines in the Indian Territory. It is further provided that before any such sale and conveyance shall be made, the terms thereof shall be approved by a majority of the directors of the Choctaw, Óklahoma and Gulf Railroad Company. Reporting thereon, your attention is invited to the fact that it has been publicly well known that the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway Company has secured the control of the Choctaw, Oklahoma and Gulf Railroad Company, and is now operating the railroads of said company by virtue of such control, under lease or otherwise. The lines of railroad of these two companies do not parallel each other within the Indian Territory, but constitute practically connecting lines of railroad. No objection is seen by this office to the enactment into law of the provisions of the said bill. The bill is returned herewith. Very respectfully, The SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR. F. E. LEUPP, Commissioner. Mr. GALLINGER, from the Committee on the District of Columbia, submitted the following REPORT. [To accompany H. R. 17109.] The Committee on the District of Columbia, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 17109) to define the limits of square 1131, in the city of Washington, D. C., having considered the same, report thereon with a recommendation that it pass. Your committee adopt the report of the Committee on the District of Columbia of the House of Representatives, which is as follows: The Committee on the District of Columbia, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 17109) to define the limits of square 1131, in the city of Washington, D. C., report the same back to the House with the recommendation that it do pass. The purpose of this legislation is to have the surveyor of the District of Columbia mark out the square 1131 on the lines named, and to record in his records a plat of such area, there now being no record on file in the surveyor's office. The measure has the approval of the Secretary of War and the Commissioners of the District of Columbia, as will be seen by reference to their following communications on the subject: [First indorsement.] WAR DEPARTMENT, January 12, 1905. Respectfully returned to the chairman Committee on the District of Columbia, House of Representatives, inviting attention to the accompanying report of the Chief of Engineers, U. S. Army, of yesterday's date and blueprint referred to. ROBERT SHAW OLIVER, SIR: I have the honor to return herewith a letter, dated the 6th instant, from the Committee on the District of Columbia, United States House of Representatives, inclosing for the views of the War Department thereon H. R. 17109, Fifty-eighth Congress, third session, "A bill to define the limits of square 1131 in the city of Washington, D. C." This bill has been under consideration by Col. Chas. S. Bromwell, U. S. Army, in charge of public buildings and grounds, who reports, under date of the 10th instant, as follows: "The piece of ground mentioned in the accompanying bill (H. R. 17109) is located south of H street south, and would be situated between Twentieth and Twenty-first streets east if those streets were extended to the waters of the Eastern Branch of the Potomac River. If laid out in accordance with the bill, it would form a square containing 4,393 square feet more than square 1130, just north of it. * * By deed, dated July 26, 1904, the Acting Secretary of War quitclaimed all the right, title, and interest of the United States in and to said ground to Sidney Bieber, the latter having paid into the Treasury of the United States therefor the sum of $1,000, under the terms of the act approved March 19, 1904. (33 Stat. L., 143). "Although referred to as square 1131 in the quitclaim deed mentioned, the ground is not shown on any map of the present day as a square of the city of Washington, and no boundaries are specified and no dimensions are given in the deed. "There is nothing on record in this office which would authorize me to state that the ground should be laid off on the lines and given the dimensions specified in the bill." Inasmuch as all the right and title of the United States to the ground has been quitclaimed by the Secretary of War to Mr. Sidney Bieber, I know of no objection to the passage of the bill by Congress, provided the Commissioners of the District of Columbia are satisfied that the boundaries and dimensions of the land as given in the bill are proper and correct. A map showing the location of the ground is herewith. Very respectfully, Hon. Wм. H. TAFT, A. MACKENZIE, Brig. Gen., Chief of Engineers, U. S. Ármy. Secretary of War. OFFICE COMMISSIONERS OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, DEAR SIR: The Commissioners of the District of Columbia have the honor to submit the following on House bill No. 17109, Fifty-eighth Congress, third session. To define the limits of square 1131, in the city of Washington, D. C.," which you referred to them for examination and report. The object of this bill is to define the limits of square 1131 in the city of Washington, D. C. By an act of Congress, approved March 19, 1904, the Secretary of War was authorized and directed to convey unto Sidney Bieber, his heirs and assigns, all the right, title, and interest of the United States in and to all of this square upon the payment by said Bieber into the Treasury of the United States of such sum of money as the Secretary of War should determine proper. The Commissioners are informed that the Secretary of War has conveyed this square in accordance with the terms of said act. The square was not laid down on any of the plats of the city of Washington on file in the office of the surveyor of the District of Columbia. The bill directs the surveyor to mark out this square on the lines named therein and record a plat of such area known as square No. 1131. A map and blueprint are inclosed herewith. The map shows in red, on a small scale, the location of the proposed square with relation to the other squares of the city of Washington. The blueprint, which is on a larger sale, shows a survey made by the surveyor of the District of Columbia to determine the lines of the square. The description given in the bill is drawn in accordance with said survey. The Commissioners know of no objection to the passage of the bill. Very respectfully, Hon. J. W. BABCOCK, HENRY B. F. MACFARLAND, President Board of Commissioners District of Columbia. Chairman Committee on the District of Columbia, House of Representatives. О ད 3d Session. No. 3538. AMENDING ACT RELATING TO OBSCENE LITERATURE. JANUARY 31, 1905.-Ordered to be printed. Mr. CLAPP, from the Committee on Interstate Commerce, submitted the following REPORT. [To accompany H. R. 9493.] The Committee on Interstate Commerce, to whom was referred House bill 9493, having examined the same, report said bill favorably and recommend its passage without amendment. The above-mentioned bill is similar to the bill which has passed the Senate upon full report. |