Fees and commissions paid out of receipts at Fairbanks and Nome, Alaska.

Total.

PAYMENTS TO STATES FROM SALES OF PUBLIC LANDS

Mr. SCRUGHAM. Going now to page 54, we have an item as follows: Payments to States of 5 per centum of proceeds from sales of public lands: For payment to the several States of 5 per centum of the net proceeds of sales of public lands lying within their limits, for the purpose of education or of making public roads and improvements, $2,000: Provided, That expenditures hereunde shall not exceed the aggregate receipts covered into the Treasury in accordance with section 4 of the Permanent Appropriation Repeal Act, 1934.

Mr. HAVELL. The justification in support of that item is as follows: The appropriation is needed to meet the Government's obligation to the States under various acts of Congress providing grants for the purpose of education, or of making public roads and improvements.

Section 13 of the act of February 22, 1889 (25 Stat. 680), which is similar to the other acts providing for payments to States, reads as follows:

"That five per centum of the proceeds of the sales of public lands lying within said States which shall be sold by the United States subsequent to the admission of said States into the Union, after deducting all the expenses incident to the same, shall be paid to the said States, to be used as a permanent fund, the interest of which only shall be expended for the support of common schools within said States, respectively."

The estimate of $2,000 for the fiscal year 1938 is the same as the appropriation for the 1937 fiscal year.

PAYMENT OF PROCEEDS OF SALES OF COOS BAY WAGON ROAD GRANT LANDS AND TIMBER

Mr. SCRUGHAM. The next item covers the payment of proceeds of sales of Coos Bay Wagon Road grant lands and timber, and is as follows:

Payment of proceeds of sales of Coos Bay Wagon Road grant lands and timber: For payment of 25 per centum of the balance of the proceeds from sales of the Coos Bay Wagon Road grant lands and timber within each of the counties of Coos and Douglas, Oregon, after deducting the accrued taxes in said counties and a sum equal to $2.50 per acre for the land title to which revested in the United States pursuant to the Act of February 26. 1919 (40 Stat., p. 1179), to be paid to the treasurer of the county for common schools, roads, highways, bridges, and port districts, $15,000: Provided, That expenditures hereunder shall not exceed the aggregate receipts covered into the Treasury in accordance with section 4 of the Permanent Appropriation Repeal Act, 1934.

Mr. HAVELL. Our justification is as follows:

The appropriation is needed to carry out the provisions of section 5 of the act of February 26, 1919, by which act title to certain lands in Coos and Douglas Counties, in the State of Oregon, was revested in the United States (40 Stat. 1180). Section 5 reads:

"That all moneys received from or on account of said lands and timber and the timber thereon under the provisions of this Act shall be deposited in the Treasury of the United States in a separate fund to be designated 'The Coos Bay Wagon Road grant fund', which fund shall be disposed of in the following manner: A separate account shall be kept in the General Land Office of the sales of said lands and timber within each of the two counties Coos and Douglas, and after the proceeds from such sales amount to a sum equal to that applied to pay the accrued taxes in that county and a sum equal to $2.50 per acre for each acre of such land therein title to which is revested in the United States pursuant to the provisions of this act, twenty-five per centum of all other moneys received from said lands shall be paid to the treasurer of the county in which the lands sold are situated, for common schools, roads, highways, bridges, and port districts, to be apportioned by the county courts for the several purposes above mentioned."

The Government has been reimbursed as provided for by the above section, and the estimate is to provide for payment to the counties 25 percent of the proceeds from sales of lands and timber.

The estimate of $15,000 for the fiscal year 1938 is an increase of $13,000 over the appropriation of $2,000 for the 1937 fiscal year. The increase is due to increased receipts.

PAYMENTS TO CERTAIN COUNTIES IN OREGON IN LIEU OF TAXES ON OREGON AND CALIFORNIA GRANT LANDS

Mr. SCRUGHAM. The next item provides:

Payments to certain counties in Oregon in lieu of taxes on Oregon and California grant lands: For payment to the several counties in the State of Oregon, pursuant to the Act of July 13, 1926 (44 Stat., p. 915), amounts of money in lieu of the taxes that would have accrued against the revested Oregon and California Railroad Company grant lands if the lands had remained privately owned and taxable, $250,000: Provided, That payments to the counties shall not exceed the aggregate receipts covered into the Treasury in accordance with section 4 of the Permanent Appropriation Repeal Act, 1934.

Mr. HAVELL. That item is justified by the following statement: The appropriation is needed to make payments to the counties in accordance with section 3 of the act of July 13, 1926 (44 Stat. 915), which provides that"On or before the 1st day of October of each year after 1926 the Secretary of the Treasury, upon the order of the Secretary of the Interior, shall pay to the several counties amounts of money equal to the taxes upon said lands within such counties, to be ascertained, computed, and reported in the same manner as for the preceding years, until all charges against said 'Oregon and California landgrant fund' shall have been liquidated and the said fund shows a credit balance available for distribution under section 10 of the Act approved June 9, 1916."

The lands involved were in the ownership of the Oregon and California Railroad Co. until forfeited to the Government by the act of June 9, 1916 (39 Stat. 218), and were on the tax rolls of the States. They were the basis for the floating of bond issues by the municipal or other authorities for State or local needs. Through the provisions of the forfeiture act title to these lands revested in the United States, thus depriving the State, or subdivisions thereof, of the revenues previously obtained from taxation. Congress made provision by the acts of June 9, 1916, and July 13, 1926, supra, for revenues to offset the loss.

The estimate of $250,000 for the fiscal year 1938 is the same as the appropriation for the 1937 fiscal year.

PAYMENT TO OKLAHOMA FROM ROYALTIES, OIL AND GAS, SOUTH HALF OF RED RIVER

Mr. SCRUGHAM. The last item covers royalties on oil and gas to Oklahoma in connection with the south half of the Red River. That item provides:

Payment to Oklahoma from royalties, oil and gas, south half of Red River: For payment of 371⁄2 per centum of the royalties derived from the south half of Red River in Oklahoma under the provisions of the Act of March 4, 1923 (U. S. C.,. title 30, sec. 233), which shall be paid to the State of Oklahoma in lieu of all State and local taxes upon tribal funds accruing under said Act, to be expended by the State in the same manner as if received under section 35 of the Act approved February 25, 1920 (U. S. C., title 30, sec. 191), $8,000: Provided, That expenditures hereunder shall not exceed the aggregate receipts covered into the Treasury in accordance with section 4 of the Permanent Appropriation Repeal Act, 1934.

Mr. HAVELL. We desire to submit in justification of that item the following statement:

The joint resolution of Congress approved June 12, 1926 (44 Stat. 740), provides for payment to the State of Oklahoma 371⁄2 percent of oil and gas royalties received from the south half of Red River, Okla. The payment is in lieu of all State and local taxes upon Kiowa, Comanche, and Apache tribal funds received from such lands under

139751-37-pt. 1-10

the act of March 4, 1923 (42 Stat. 1448), and is to be used by the State for the construction and maintenance of public roads, or for the support of public schools or other institutions of learning. Except for the resolution cited, the 37% percent would go to the Kiowa, Comanche, and Apache Indians, to whose account the other 62% percent of the royalties is credited.

The $8,000 estimated for the fiscal year 1938 is 37% percent of the estimated receipts from royalties for the fiscal year 1937 and is $3,000 less than the appropriation for the 1937 fiscal year.

TUESDAY, MARCH 30, 1937.

BUREAU OF RECLAMATION

STATEMENTS OF JOHN C. PAGE, COMMISSIONER; GEORGE O. SANFORD, general suPERVISOR OF OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE; W. F. KUBACH, CHIEF ACCOUNTANT; AND W. R. NELSON, ENGINEER

GENERAL STATEMENT

Mr. SCRUGHAM. We will now begin the hearings on the appropriation for the Bureau of Reclamation. Mr. John C. Page, the Commissioner, will be the first witness.

Mr. Page, have you any general statement that you wish to make covering the scope and importance of Federal reclamation, and the general plan for conservation of natural resources?

Mr. PAGE. Mr. Chairman, I have a number of statements prepared here, some of which are too long to read, at this time, but I would like to have them go in the record.

Mr. SCRUGHAM. Just give a condensation of your statement, and then the full statement will be put in the record.

Mr. PAGE. I submit the following general statement in justification of the program.

WORTH OF RECLAMATION POLICY PROVED

The value of the Federal Reclamation policy in knitting together the western third of the Nation, in sustaining the people and in stabilizing the agriculture of the far Western States, in moderating the effects of droughts and similar disasters has been demonstrated repeatedly in recent years. The 1935 crop season was one of about normal precipitation throughout the West. It followed an acute drought of the previous year, and preceded the drought of 1936 much more serious than any in a generation. There was sufficient water for all Federal reclamation projects in 1935, just as there had been during the drought of 1934, and minor water shortages occurred in a few projects only in the 1936 irrigation season. Federal projects are prosperous. Only two projects went into the 1936 season with low reservoirs, and the stored water supplies for these was sufficient to provides sufficient water for reasonable crop yields.

SETTLEMENT AND DEVELOPMENT

During the calendar year 1935 the area irrigated with water supplied from works constructed by the United States was 2,935,616 acres, and the area cropped was 2,861,136 acres, representing increases of 98,411 acres and 104,438 acres, respectively, over the areas irrigated and cropped in calendar year 1934. The total value of crops grown was $106,781,294, an increase of $5,837,580 over the value reported for 1934, and $22,589,561 more than the total for calendar year 1933. Although final figures, to show the value of crops grown during 1936 on projects constructed by the United States, are not yet available, preliminary

estimates indicate that the total value of the 1936 crops will be substantially greater than those for 1935 due to increasing prices received for farm products, improved water supplies, and the irrigation and cropping of more of the lands for which water has been made available. The accumulated value of crops grown on reclamation projects since 1906, when water was first made available, amounts to $2,177,965,009, exclusive of 1936 crops. All of the above crop valuations include production from lands which also received water under Warren Act and special contracts.

Notwithstanding the acute drought which prevailed on adjacent and surrounding areas during 1936, water supply conditions, as the result of reclamation developments, were generally favorable on Federal projects, two notable exceptions being projects in South Dakota and Nebraska and even on these projects the benefits of water conservation were strikingly evident in comparison with conditions in nearby communities where similar provisions were lacking.

To supplement the number of available public land farm units previously opened to entry on a number of projects, the settlement of which had progressed satisfactorily, public notices were issued during the fiscal year ended June 30, 1936, announcing the availability of 170 public land farms, embracing approximately 10,000 acres, on the Owyhee (Oregon-Idaho), Vale (Oregon), Sun River (Montana), Belle Fourche (South Dakota), and Shoshone (Wyoming) projects for reclamation homestead entry. Many of these new farm units were taken up and, in addition, numerous tracts of private land were acquired by settlers on 1 the same and other projects. On the Vale and Owyhee projects about 1,000 acres were sold by the Vale-Owyhee Land Settlement Board. Recently, thousands of homeseekers, principally from the drought areas, many of whom are experienced in irrigation farming, have visited reclamation projects, particularly in Washington and Oregon, to investigate settlement possibilities.

The following table will give a good picture of conditions on the projects during the last calendar year, 1936:

Comparative crop results on Government projects for 1935 and 1936

[Warren Act lands excluded because complete reports from these are not available as yet for 1936]