for the customs service at or in the vicinity of Los Angeles, Cal., and to my letter of December 19, 1911, in which your committee was informed that the department would give prompt attention to the matter and would communicate further on the subject after suitable inquiry, I now have the honor to advise you that the department has made a careful investigation, the result of which confirms its earlier investigation that there is need for a suitable launch in the customs district of Los Angeles. I therefore return the bill herewith with my approval and the recommendation that it pass, amended as follows:

At the end of the bill add the following: "and this sum, or so much thereof as may be necessary, is hereby appropriated out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated." FRANKLIN MACVEAGH,

Respectfully,

Secretary.

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PAYMENTS ON CERTAIN TOWN LOTS IN THE KIOWA, COMANCHE, AND APACHE CEDED LANDS IN OKLAHOMA.

FEBRUARY 5, 1913.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union and ordered to be printed.

Mr. STEPHENS of Texas, from the Committee on Indian Affairs, submitted the following

REPORT.

[To accompany H. R. 28191.]

The Committee on Indian Affairs, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 28191) authorizing the extension of payments on certain town lots in the Kiowa, Comanche, and Apache ceded lands in Oklahoma, having had the same under consideration, recommend that the bill be amended and that as amended it do pass:

Amend the bill by inserting after the word "Lawton," in line 5, the word "Oklahoma"; and after the word "they," in line 6, strike out the word "fall" and insert in lieu thereof the word "become." The bill as amended is as follows:

A BILL Authorizing the extension of payments on certain town lots in the Kiowa, Comanche, and Apache ceded lands in Oklahoma.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Secretary of the Interior is hereby authorized, in his discretion, to extend each of the deferred payments on the town lots of the north addition to the city of Lawton, Oklahoma, one year from the date on which they become due under existing law: Provided, That no title shall issue to any such purchaser until all deferred payments, interest, and taxes have been made as provided in the act of March twenty-seventh, nineteen hundred and eight (Thirty-fifth Statutes, page forty-nine), and the act of February eighteenth, nineteen hundred and nine (Thirty-fifth Statutes, page six hundred and thirty-seven).

The following reasons, borne out by departmental letter and facts presented, appealed to your committee:

(1) The bill extends the payments one year from date on which they become due under existing law.

(2) The lot purchasers under present law, which is continued in force, get no title until all payments are made.

(3) The purchasers pay interest on deferred payments to the Indians and taxes to the local community, the same as if the lands were deeded property.

(4) The proceeds of the sale are not available for the Indians, and if paid in they only become a part of their trust funds.

(5) The purchasers are improving the property and it is constantly growing more valuable, so there is no chance to lose any of the Indians' funds.

(6) The bill will assist the purchasers and the local community, and will harm neither the Indians, the Government, nor the local community.

The following letter of the Assistant Secretary of the Interior explains the attitude of the department toward the relief sought: DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, Washington, February 1, 1913.

Hon. JOHN H. STEPHENS,

Chairman Committee on Indian Affairs, House of Representatives.

SIR: I am in receipt of your request for a report on H. R. 28191, which proposes to authorize an extension of time for the payment of the purchase price of town lots in the north addition to the city of Lawton.

The addition referred to, embracing 320 acres, was subdivided into residence lots, which were sold at public auction during the year 1908 for a total sum of $282,095. Everything considered, this was one of the most successful, if not the most successful, sale of town lots ever conducted by the Government, in so far as the prices obtained are concerned.

By the act of February 18, 1909 (35 Stat., 637), the Secretary of the Interior was authorized to permit the unpaid purchase money for these lots to be paid in such installments and at such times as he might deem proper, provided that the purchasers or their assigns should pay interest on the deferred payments at the rate of 4 per cent per annum, and also pay the local authorities a sum equivalent to the State, county, city, and school tax, at the legal rate.

Pursuant to this authority it was directed by this department that the unpaid purchase money should be paid in eight equal semiannual installments, the last of which will become due on February 18, 1913.

It would be difficult, without an extended examination and awaiting reports from the register and receiver of the land office at Guthrie, to determine the exact amount of the purchase price now remaining unpaid, but a compilation on May 20, 1912, shows that on that date $207,708. 52 had been paid, leaving a balance of $81,488.46 unpaid.

From reports made to the Commissioner of the General Land Office relative to the advisability of offering other lands in that locality for sale, it would appear that the local financial conditions are such as would perhaps justify granting the extension of time proposed by this bill, and in view of the fact that the holders of the lots would be required to pay interest at the rate of 4 per cent per annum on the deferred payments, I know of no reason why this bill should not be enacted.

Respectfully,

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SAMUEL ADAMS,
Acting Secretary.

MANUFACTURE OF DENATURED ALCOHOL.

FEBRUARY 5, 1913.-Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be printed.

Mr. PALMER, from the Committee on Ways and Means, submitted the following

REPORT.

[To accompany H. R. 25283.]

The Committee on Ways and Means, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 25283) to permit the manufacture of denatured alcohol by mixing domestic and wood alcohol while in process of distillation, having had the same under consideration, report it back to the House without amendment and recommend that the bill do pass.

The United States Government until January 1, 1907, imposed and collected a tax on all alcohol produced and sold in this country, no matter for what purpose it was to be used. Upon that date, however, there went into operation the act of June 7, 1906, known as the denatured-alcohol law. By the provisions of this act, domestic alcohol to be used "in the arts and industries and for fuel, light, and power," "provided the said alcohol shall have been mixed in the presence and under the direction of an authorized Government officer, after withdrawal from the distillery warehouse, with methyl alcohol, or other denaturing material or materials, or admixture of the same, suitable to the use for which the alcohol is withdrawn, but which destroys its character as a beverage and renders it unfit for liquid medicinal purposes," may be sold tax free.

The act of June 7, 1906, was amended by a later act of March 2, 1907, and has been still further amended and supplemented as to minor details by various other laws since passed. At the time of the passage of the acts above mentioned, it was supposed that the only way in which denatured alcohol could be produced was

(1) By mixing ethyl alcohol.

(2) By making the various denaturing materials to be mixed with it for the purpose of denaturing it.

(3) By mechanically mixing the ethyl alcohol with these denaturing materials in such proportions and under such conditions as would accomplish the desired result.

Various efforts have been made to devise a method of producing denatured alcohol in a continuous process, in a single operation, and under one roof. Recently, a corporation known as the Distol Manufacturing Co., of Philadelphia, claims to have succeeded in perfecting such a method. This process may be briefly described as one whereby the usual apparatus of an ethyl-alcohol distillery is attached to the usual apparatus for the destructive distillation of wood (by means of which methyl alcohol is produced) in such a manner that the ethyl alcohol, before it has passed through the state of vapor, or while in the original closed and continuous process of distillation, is intermingled with the vapors arising from the destructive distillation of wood or other suitable denaturing material, or materials, or admixture of the same, thereby producing a distillate which is neither ethyl alcohol nor methyl alcohol, although containing both substances, but which is suitable for industrial purposes, while unfit for use as a beverage or for liquid medicinal purposes. Those who have devised this process call the product "distol" and claim that it differs in no essential respects from what is already known as denatured alcohol.

When the denatured-alcohol acts were passed, no process such as is above described was known to the trade, and consequently the laws were so drawn as to provide for no other method of denaturing alcohol save the mechanical admixture of the finished products. Therefore, when the manufacture of denatured alcohol under the new method was about to be started, and application was made to the Commissioner of Internal Revenue for permission to utilize the new process, it was discovered that without an amendment to the legislation now on the statute books, it was not within the power of the commissioner to grant such privilege. It is for this reason that the proposed amendment to the denatured-alcohol law has been drafted. It is believed that the new process is entirely practicable and can be operated in such a way as to make sure that the revenues of the Government will be entirely safeguarded. It is claimed by those who have devised the new process that it will result in very much cheaper denatured alcohol, so that under this process all the long-promised benefits of the denatured-alcohol laws will finally accrue to the people. If the new process should turn out to be everything which its promoters claim, it will constitute a distinct advance in the production of denatured alcohol. It seems to the committee, therefore, that it ought to be encouraged. As the change in the law suggested by H. R. 25283 is necessary in order that the commercial possibilities of the new process should be fully tested by actual operation, the Committee on Ways and Means is unanimous in favorably reporting the bill and urging its passage by the Congress.

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