RIGHT OF WAY THROUGH MOUNT OLIVET CEMETERY, SALT LAKE COUNTY, UTAH.

FEBRUARY 10, 1913.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union and ordered to be printed.

Mr. TAYLOR of Colorado, from the Committee on the Public Lands, submitted the following

REPORT.

[To accompany S. 8092.]

The Committee on the Public Lands, to whom was referred the bill (S. 8092) granting to the Emigration Canon Railroad Co., a corporation of the State of Utah, permission, in so far as the United States is concerned, to occupy for a right of way for its railroad track a certain piece of land now included in the Mount Olivet Cemetery, Salt Lake County, Utah, having had the same under consideration, respectfully report the same back to the House with the recommendation that it do pass.

The Senate report (No. 1120) fully explains the objects and purposes of this bill, and your committee deems it sufficient to adopt that report, which is as follows:

By an act of Congress approved January 23, 1909 (35 Stat. L., p. 589), a portion of the Fort Douglas Military Reservation, amounting to about 50 acres, was conveyed by deed to the Mount Olivet Cemetery Association, of Salt Lake City, Utah. The act provided that the said land should be used by the Mount Olivet Cemetery Association as a cemetery for the burial of the dead, and when it should cease to be used for such purpose it should revert to the United States. The act of Congress referred to is as follows:

[PUBLIC NO. 194; H. R. 23863.]

AN ACT For the exchange of certain lands situated in the Fort Douglas Military Reservation, State of Utah, for lands adjacent thereto, between the Mount Olivet Cemetery Association, of Salt Lake City, Utah, and the Government of the United States.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Secretary of War, for and on behalf of the United States, is hereby authorized and directed to grant and convey by deed to the Mount Olivet Cemetery Association, of Salt Lake City, Utah, the following-described tract of land: Commencing at the southwest corner of the Fort Douglas Military Reservation and running thence east along and upon the south line of said Fort Douglas Military Reservation eighty rods; thence north parallel with the west boundary line of the said military reservation to the southeast corner of the Mount Olivet Cemetery grant; thence west along the south boundary line of the said Mount Olivet Cemetery grant eighty rods to the intersection of said line with the west line of said military reservation; thence south along and upon said west line of said military reservation

to the place of beginning, containing an area of fifty acres, more or less. Said land to be by the said Mount Olivet Cemetery Association permanently used as a cemetery for the burial of the dead: Provided, That when it shall cease to be used for such purpose it shall revert to the United States.

SEC. 2. That the deed provided for in the foregoing section of this act shall not b delivered to the said Mount Olivet Cemetery Association until said association shall have conveyed, or caused to be conveyed, to the United States in fee simple, free and clear of all incumbrances, subject to the approval of the Attorney General of the United States, the following-described land, to wit: The fractional southwest quarter of section two, township one south, range one east, Salt Lake meridian, containing one hundred and fifty and ninety-two one-hundredths acres, situate in Salt Lake County, State of Utah.

Approved, January 23, 1909.

The Emigration Canon Railroad Co., a corporation of the State of Utah, operates its line on the south side of the present Fort Douglas Military Reservation and what was formerly the west side, before the grant to the Mount Olivet Cemetery Association. There is a 70° curve at the southwest corner of the reservation at the foot of a 5 per cent grade, and the company is desirous of eliminating this excessive curve and has asked the Mount Olivet Cemetery Association to sell a right of way over a small portion of the land granted to it by Congress under the act of January 23, 1909, above set forth. The Mount Olivet Cemetery Association is willing to sell the right of way desired to the Emigration Canon Railroad Co., but, because of that portion of the act of January 23, 1909, which provides "said land to be by the said Mount Olivet Cemetery Association permanently used as a cemetery for the burial of the dead: Provided, That when it shall cease to be used for such purpose it shall revert to the United States," does not care to do so until the consent of Congress is given to the sale.

Both the Secretary of War and the Department of Justice have expressed the opinion that the proper way for the Government to grant the Emigration Canon Railroad Co. the right, so far as the United States is concerned, to occupy the land, for right of way, was by special act of Congress. The following letter from the assistant to the Attorney General expresses that opinion:

Hon. REED SMOOт, United States Senate.

DEPARTMENT of Justice, Washington, D. C., July 25, 1912.

SIR: I have received from the Secretary of War with his letter of July 3, 1912, to me a letter dated July 1, 1912, addressed to you by Mr. Le Grand Young; a copy of a letter written to you on June 11, 1912, by the Assistant Secretary of War; and your letter of July 1, 1912, to the Secretary of War, all of said correspondence being in relation to the matter of a right of way for the Emigration Canon Railway Co. over a corner of land of Mount Olivet Cemetery Association, Salt Lake City, Utah, said cemetery land having been conveyed by the Secretary of War to that association under the act of Congress approved January 23, 1909 (35 Stat. L., 589, ch. 37), requiring: "Said land to be by the said Mount Olivet Cemetery Association permanently used as a cemetery for the burial of the dead: Provided, That when it shall cease to be used for such purpose it shall revert to the United States."

The Secretary of War, by deed of February 10, 1909, conveyed the land to the cemetery association, and by this means the United States parted with its title and now has no other interest than the right of reversion in case the property is not used for a place for the burial of the dead.

Neither the Secretary of War nor myself are authorized to direct the United States attorney to appear in this case, as suggested by Mr. Young, with a view of divesting the United States of any of its property rights, however remote they may be, as Congress alone has the power to dispose of the public property, as evidenced by the act of January 23, 1909, which gave the Secretary of War permission to convey the land described therein to the cemetery association, but reserved the right to reenter into possession upon a breach of the condition imposed.

The Secretary of Way may have the power to grant a permit for such road to cross one corner of the cemetery to the extent of whatever interest the Government now has or may in the future own, but I believe that the proper action to take is to get the consent of Congress expressed by the passage of an act for the desired purpose. For the Attorney General:

J. A. FOWLER, Assistant to the Attorney General.

62D CONGRESS, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. REPORT 3d Session. No. 1496.

EFFICIENCY OF NAVAL MILITIA, ETC.

FEBRUARY 10, 1913.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of. the Union and ordered to be printed.

Mr. Foss, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, submitted the

following REPORT.

[To accompany S. 4584.]

The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was referred the bill (S. 4584) to promote the efficiency of the Naval Militia, and for other purposes, having had the same under consideration, report the same with the following amendments, and as amended recommend that the bill do pass.

Page 17, line 21, before the word "service," insert the word" naval." Page 17, line 22, after the word "States," insert the words "in time of war."

Page 17, line 24, before the word "service," insert the word "naval." Page 18, line 1, after the word "States," insert the words "in time of war."

Page 18, line 2, before the word "service," insert the word "naval." Page 18, line 3, before the word "service," insert the word "naval." Page 18, line 3, after the word "service," insert the words "in time of war."

Page 18, strike out all of lines 6 to 19, inclusive.

At the end of section 19 insert the following proviso:

Provided, That all expenditures authorized to be paid by the Secretary of the Navy under the provisions of this act shall be paid out of the two hundred thousand dollars appropriated in section ten of this act, except such additional expenditures as may be authorized by the annual naval appropriation act.

The bill as amended is identical with H. R. 2588 as amended by the committee, and House Report No. 728, Sixty-second Congress, second session, is adopted as the report on this bill.

The bill as amended meets the recommendations of the General Board of the Navy Department, as well as the officers of the Naval Militia of the various States. At present there is no Organized Naval Militia, but many States of the Union have organizations which are independent and which are not subject to Federal control except wherein they receive the benefit of an annual appropriation of $125,000, distributed among the various State organizations proportionate to their strength at the rate of about $10 per man. In order

that the State organizations may participate in this Federal appropriation the Navy Department requires certain regulations to be enforced regarding the care of the equipment loaned to such organizations and in matters of the general efficiency of the personnel.

The provisions of the bill under consideration tend to promote the efficiency of the various Naval Militias, and creates an Organized Militia which, in time of war, under certain conditions, will be subject to Federal control. In time of peace the Navy Department shall have such control as to prescribe the physical, moral, and military qualifications of the officers and enlisted men thereof. It is believed, therefore, that a more useful auxiliary of the naval force will be created, a force well trained and ready for service at the outbreak of war, and yet so organized as not to destroy local interest and sentiment, which is essential to all volunteer organizations in time of peace. The bill establishes and defines, as far as is practicable, the same relation between the Regular Navy of the United States and the Organized Naval Militia as exists between the Regular Army and the National Guard under the terms of what is known as the Dick bill. The bill carries an appropriation of $200,000 per year, and will make the allotment per man approximately the same as in the terms of the Dick bill for the National Guard.

The bill provides that enlistments in the Organized Militia shall be carried on under the regulations prescribed by the Secretary of the Navy, which are, in fact, the same as required for entrance into the Regular Navy, and also provides for examinations of officers who may desire to qualify for commissions in the Regular Navy in the event of

war.

It is not contemplated that the Organized Naval Militia shall enter the naval service of the United States in time of war as separate and distinct organizations in charge of fighting ships, but that the organizations may be divided up among the various fighting vessels in the battle line and its officers disseminated throughout the fleet. Experience has shown that with the limited Federal control possessed by the Navy Department at present the State Naval Militia organizations as they exist to-day are efficient and perform excellent work during their summer maneuvers with the fleet, where they drill side by side with the regular officers and men of the Navy.

The Naval Militia at the outbreak of the Spanish War actually furnished in the war 3,332 officers and men, and so efficient was their work during the war that they received favorable commendation from their various commanding officers of the Regular Navy, and the strength of the Naval Militia in the various States grew to about 5,500 men and became a most valuable recruiting bureau for the Navy Department. The militia of the various States to-day numbers about 7,000 efficient and well-trained officers and men. If this bill be enacted into law, the President, in the event of war, can call upon these men, and the department states that they can be on board ship in fighting condition within 36 hours.

Furthermore, the naval service has become so technical in character that those who would volunteer for duty in the service in time of need should be provided with facilities for perfecting themselves in the essentials of the service in time of peace. The Naval Militia of the various States is composed of highly trained mechanics and engineers whose daily trades and professions particularly fit them for the

technical service of the Navy. It is therefore on the Naval Militia that the department may largely depend for skilled artisans and technically trained men who have sufficient training in the naval side of their respective trades or professions to make them valuable for immediate service at any time.

In connection with the questions bearing upon the existing requirements in the various militias as to physical qualifications and professional qualifications the following excerpts from the Militia Law and Regulations of the State of Massachusetts are given as a general example:

REGULATIONS, ARTICLE 4.

SEC. 74. Every candidate for admission to the Massachusetts Volunteer Militia must be an able-bodied male of 18 years or upward.

Enlistment.

78. Officers making enlistments will prepare these rolls in triplicate.

79. Company commanders, immediately upon making enlistments, will notify recruits to appear before them to sign the enlistment rolls, and, after physical examínation by a medical officer, will then order the recruits to appear at such time and place as shall be appointed for muster.

80. In signing enlistment rolls recruits will sign the Christian names in full.

81. In the case of a regiment the companies of which are scattered in such a manner that the recruits can not, without much expense, go to a medical officer, the regimental commander will order such officer to travel to the armories of companies having recruits to muster, notifying the company commanders of such visit, and ordering them to have their recruits ready for examination at a stated time.

MILITIA LAW.

SEC. 84. The officers named in the preceding section as recruiting officers shall be mustering officers for mustering in and administering the prescribed oath of enlistment to all soldiers enlisted by them. Mustering officers shall forward to the commander in chief, through the proper military channels, the returns of the enlistment and muster in of soldiers as soon as practicable and not later than 10 days thereafter. Such returns shall be in such form, and accompanied by such certificates, descriptive lists, and other information relating to the recruit, as may be required by law or prescribed in orders by the commander in chief. But no recruit shall knowingly and intentionally be accepted who is not eligible for enlistment under the law or who is physically or otherwise below the standard prescribed by the commander in chief. No recruit having been accepted shall be mustered into the service until all the requirements of the statute law, of the militia regulations, and of all proper orders relating to the enlistment and muster in of soldiers have been complied with.

EXHIBIT A.

EXAMINING BOARDS.

SEC. 61. Commissioned officers-except the staff officers of the commander in chief, medical officers, veterinarians, and chaplains shall, upon being notified as provided in section 51, appear before a board of three medical officers, which shall examine the officers who appear before it as to their physical fitness to perform their duties. Such officers as said board finds to be physically competent, and so certifies, shall thereafter appear before an examining board, consisting of not less than five nor more than seven officers designated by the commander in chief. Members of said board shall not take part in the examination of or give any opinion, information, or advice as to the fitness or competence of any officer who has any business or family connection with them or might, as a result of the examination, come under their immediate command. The commander in chief may, if he thinks it necessary, make a temporary detail to fill a vacancy in said board caused by temporary ineligibility or absence.

SEC. 62. A complete record shall be kept by the secretary of the board, elected by the board from its members, of all meetings of the board. Such record shall embrace a statement at length of the proceedings, including the names of the members present, the name of any officer temporarily assigned for duty upon the board, the name of any