November 30 and used by you as the basis of that letter, is so discredited that no action can be taken upon it, and that there must be an entirely new examination of the land in question to determine whether there has been any illegal action whatever." The examination of the lands and fences of the Warren Live Stock Co., thus suggested by President Roosevelt, was undertaken as soon as the weather would permit in 1907 by Messrs. Scott, Altom, Fahey, and Lawton, agents of the General Land Office, who made complete surveys and examinations, and in June and July, 1907, submitted reports to the effect that the Warren Live Stock Co. had no public lands inclosed. In September, 1907, the Commissioner of the General Land Office took final action on the reports approving them and closing the cases. The record shows that in February, 1906, a few months before Inspector Linnen made his report, N. J. O'Brien, one of the oldest and most trusted agents of the Interior Department, had made a report to the effect that the Warren Live Stock Co. had no public lands inclosed. The above-mentioned reports of the special agents of the Land Office, made in June and July, 1907, as above stated, and the letters of the Commissioner of the General Land Office approving the same are not included in the report of the majority, though the committee had copies of the same and it was understood that they were to be included in the report. The letters of the commissioner closing the cases are appended hereto, and speak for themselves. From the above it will be seen that the finding of the majority, that at the date of the Linnen report the Warren Live Stock Co. had large acreages of public lands inclosed, has no basis or excuse except the Linnen report, which report, according to the investigation of the Department of Justice, concurred in by President Roosevelt, was disproven by the very maps and exhibits presented in support of it,, and further utterly discredited by reports of special agents of the General Land Office made immediately prior and subsequent to the Linnen report. We submit that the above statement, based on the record herein presented, raises a strong presumption that this entire alleged investigation could have had no other object or purpose than a purely political one to discredit Senator Warren, who is a stockholder in the Warren Live Stock Co. There is no claim of any unlawful inclosures within the last six years, and the claim of unlawful inclosures in 1906 is disproven by the overwhelming evidence of the record. F. W. MONDELL. M. W. B. PUGH, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, GENERAL LAND OFFICE, Washington, September 25, 1907. Chief of Field Division, Cheyenne, Wyo. SIR: June 22, July 10 and 29, 1907, you submitted reports of the examination of Special Agents J. C. Scott and J. B. Altom of an unlawful inclosure alleged to have been maintained by the Warren Live Stock Co. in Laramie County, Wyo. It was found as the result of such examination that said company maintains no illegal inclosure of public lands in Wyoming, and it is recommended that the case be closed. The case has accordingly been marked closed on the records of this office, and will make the proper notations on your docket closing the case. Very respectfully, you FRED DENNETT, Assistant Commissioner. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, Mr. M. D. McENIRY, Chief of Field Division, Denver, Colo. GENERAL LAND OFFICE, Washington, September 25, 1907. SIR: July 20, 1907, this office directed investigation of an alleged unlawful inclosure maintained by the Warren Live Stock Co. in Colorado, in connection with their inclosure in Laramie County, Wyo. August 30, 1907, you transmitted the joint report of Special Agents John L. Fahey and D. J. Lawton, finding upon personal examination that said inclosure embraces the following lands: No fraud is found in connection with the entries included in said inclosure. In view of the fact ascertained by the special agents that no unlawful inclosure exists the case has been closed on the records of this office. You will make the proper notations on your docket. Very respectfully, FRED DENNETT, Assistant Commissioner. O CONVEYANCE OF CERTAIN LAND TO THE STATE OF TEXAS. JANUARY 16, 1913.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union and ordered to be printed. Mr. SLAYDEN, from the Committee on Military Affairs, submitted the following REPORT. [To accompany H. R. 27875.] The Committee on Military Affairs, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 27875) to authorize the President to convey certain land to the State of Texas, having considered the same, report thereon with a recommendation that as amended it do pass. Amend by adding after the word "authorized," in line 4, the words "in his discretion, to direct the Secretary of the Interior." Fort Brown, which is near the city of Brownsville, in Texas, has been abandoned as a military station. After its discontinuance as a military station it was turned over to the Secretary of the Interior to be administered as a part of the public domain. Subsequently it was, by Executive order, withdrawn from settlement, sale, location, or entry, and was reserved for the use of the Department of Agriculture as a plant-introduction garden and experiment station in the development of forage crops. In cooperation with the department of agriculture of the State of Texas it is now being used in that line of work. With the expectation that a much larger appropriation will be secured from the State of Texas if the transfer is made, and that this subtropical station may be erected into a much greater and more important experiment station, to the profit of the whole country, the passage of the bill is advised. Should the State fail to use the land for the agricultural and research work, it will revert to the United States. A letter from Mr. B. T. Galloway, Chief of the Bureau of Plant Industry, is appended for the information of the House. UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, Hon. JOHN N. GARNER, House of Representatives. DEAR MR. GARNER: Mr. Jones has called my attention to your telephone message, to the effect that you would like to have a memorandum showing the metes and bounds of the Brownsville reservation in Texas. I note that you desire to introduce a bill turning over these grounds to the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station. Our arrangements with Director Youngblood, of the Texas station, involve turning over the entire tract to the Texas station. It will not be necessary to reserve any for the use of this department, as we expect to secure what space we need through cooperation with Director Youngblood. This is in direct line with our general policy of having the States control the land upon which we do work rather than to have the Federal Government own or control such land. Herewith is a copy of the Executive order issued at the time the tract was set aside for our use. This copy gives, in detail, the metes and bounds of the entire reservation. If we can be of any further assistance, please command me. Very truly, yours, PENALTIES UNDER CORPORATION-TAX LAW. JANUARY 16, 1913.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union and ordered to be printed. Mr. BRANTLEY, from the Committee on Ways and Means, submitted the following REPORT. [To accompany H. R. 27323.] The Committee on Ways and Means, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 27323) to provide for refund or abatement under certain conditions of penalty taxes imposed by section 38 of the act of August 5, 1909, known as the special excise corporation-tax law, having had the same under consideration, report it back to the House without amendment and recommend that the same do pass. This measure has the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury, which is evidenced by the letter herewith attached and made a part of this report. TREASURY DEPARTMENT, OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY, Hon. O. W. UNDERWOOD, Chairman Committee on Ways and Means, House of Representatives, Washington, D. C. SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge your letter of December 18 transmitting copy of H. R. 27323, a bill to provide for refund or abatement under certain conditions of taxes or penalty imposed by section 38 of the act of August 5, 1909, and requesting that I offer suggestions as to the advisability of enacting this measure into law. The Treasury Department has several times recommended that the drastic provisions of the law as it now stands should be modified. I am of opinion that the proposed bill, providing as it does for refund or abatement of all taxes or assessments over and above $100 in any individual case, accomplishes the desired purpose admirably by providing a punishment which, taken in connection with paragraph 9 of section 38 of the tariff act of August 5, 1909, will prove amply sufficient to insure the proper compliance with the provisions of this law and at the same time prevent the infliction of drastic punishment for simple neglect. The language of the proposed bill seems to be free from criticism, and I unqualifiedly recommend that the proposed measure be enacted into law. FRANKLIN MACVEAGH, Respectfully, Secretary. O |