The two groups are working together more and more to eliminate any possibility of duplication.

(NOTE. Mr. Speck later submitted the following memorandum concerning the discussion of duplication of work in the Solicitor's office:)

Memorandum for Mr. Speck.

MARCH 26, 1941.

There appears to be a general impression among some members of the subcommittee of the Appropriations Committee of the House that there is a duplication of work by this Department whenever an abstract of title is submitted to the Attorney General for his opinion as to the validity of title pursuant to section 355, Revised Statutes, as amended. There is no duplication of work whatsoever by this Department. It is the practice of this Department to forward the abstract of title to the Department of Justice accompanied by a letter and related data requesting the opinion of the Attorney General. When the preliminary opinion of the Attorney General requires this Department to meet certain requirements then an examination of the abstract by this Department becomes necessary in order that it may furnish the Attorney General with proper curative data. If there are no requirements to be met by this Department, no further attention is given to the title by this Department.

There are at the present time three attorneys in the field who examine titles and submit reports as to the condition of the title, in a very small proportion of cases considered by this office, to the Solicitor for his consideration and final opinion. One of these attorneys is in New Mexico. He renders an opinion as to the validity of title which is accepted by the Solicitor without further consideration. The Solicitor has such confidence in the integrity and ability of this attorney that the review of his work has been found by experience to be wholly unnecessary. A title examiner is assigned to the staff of the superintendent of the Five Civilized Tribes, who examines titles and submits a report as to the validity of title to the Solicitor for his consideration and opinion. This opinion is reviewed and the abstract is examined in a cursory manner to determine whether or not this opinion can be sustained. The law of the Five Civilized Tribes is considered the most difficult branch of Indian law and it very often becomes necessary for the Solicitor's office to engage in extensive legal research before a final opinion as to the validity of title can be rendered. The review by the Solicitor commences where the title examiner left off. An attorney in Wyoming examines titles for the Solicitor. His comments are submitted together with the abstract and if, upon cursory examination of the abstract and the report of title, it appears that the report may be sustained, an opinion as to the validity of title is prepared. It should be noted that the field work of the attorneys consists not only in examination of title but in the procurement of curative data and also closing activities. This work facilitates the review and examination in the Solicitor's office without duplicating the work performed by these attorneys. In the two instances, note above, review of the field title examiners' work is necessary as the facilities for legal research in the field are limited and until such time as the Solicitor can rely upon the opinion of these title examiners, it seems expedient to review their work, and at the same time avoid a duplication of the work performed by them. The vast majority of cases submitted for the opinion of the Solicitor are accompanied by no report or opinion as there are no other title examiners in the field.

THEODORE SPECTOR, Chief of Land Title Division.

Mr. LEAVY. Yet I think that Congress could possibly consider carefully changing the law, because the practice as to the big transactions which my colleague from New York refers to here applies also to the little transactions involving a transaction of $50 or $100 too often, and the individual who is dealing with the Government in parting with his property stands a chance and is compelled to wait for many months before the transaction becames a closed transaction, and has even been known to die and the heirs get the small amount of money involved. In the interest of economy and expedition much improvement can be made there.

Mr. SPECK. An improvement was made last year by the enactment of a law which permits the Attorney General to accept title to low value lands where there are unimportant defects. As a result of this

law, it is not necessary to acquire in all cases a perfectly clear title, which in many cases is more expensive to obtain that the land being bought.

Mr. LEAVY. As a matter of fact, a title that is 100 or 150 years old, any one who is going to be supertechnical can find something you can label a "cloud," but there is no defect in the title, that actually affects its marketability.

Mr. BURLEW. We had one case that cost the Department $1,600 to clear the title which was a case of that kind.

Mr. SHEPPARD. Let me ask this question: In the field, instead of this gentleman passing legal opinion on the title, is it not generally briefed and then submitted for opinions here?

Mr. SPECK. That is correct.

Mr. SHEPPARD. That is entirely different from the record. As the record now exists, from reading it I would be under the impression that opinions were made in the field; that was incorrect and erroneous as to the procedure.

Mr. SPECK. I thank you sir; I had tried to correct that impression. Mr. LEAVY. Whenever a matter comes in to your Department that finally results in litigation and takes you into court, then the handling of that litigation is entirely in the hands of the Department of Justice? Mr. SPECK. In the large majority of cases; yes.

Mr. LEAVY. And you would furnish assistance particularly by giving them the man who had done the ground work in the case? Mr. SPECK. We participate in preparing the brief.

Mr. LEAVY. I think that is all I have, Mr. Chairman, on that.

IMPORTANT CASES HANDLED BY THE SOLICITOR'S OFFICE DURING FISCAL YEARS 1940 AND 1941

Mr. JOHNSON of Oklahoma. As I recall, last year there was some discussion of the outstanding cases in which your office had assisted wherein you had saved the Government thousands and thousands of dollars.

Mr. BURLEW. Millions of dollars as a matter of fact.

Mr. SPECK. In the section 36 case it was some $7,000,000 I believe. Mr. JOHNSON of Oklahoma. Have you tried any outstanding cases since you were here last year? If so, will you place something in the record on that?

Mr. SPECK. I would be glad to do that.

Mr. BURLEW. We would rather place that in the record, Mr. Johnson.

Mr. SPECK. I would rather review that. I have not that information now.

Mr. JOHNSON of Oklahoma. All right.

(The information referred to is as follows:)

The following is a list of some of the important matters handled by the office of the Solicitor during the fiscal year 1940 and to date. To enumerate all the important cases and matters dealt with during this period would present a list of considerable length, and for the purposes of this record, the matter slisted were selected at random.

Questions of vital importance to the preservation of the interests of the United States in the oil and gas deposits of the public domain, together with complex problems of administrative law, were presented in Dunn v. Ickes, a case brought to test the scope of the authority vested in the Secretary of the Interior with respect to the consideration of applications for oil and gas leases under the Mineral Leasing

Act of February 25, 1920. Decisions upholding the contentions of the Department in this controversy were entered by both the district court and the court of appeals. Petition for certiorari denied by Supreme Court of the United States on November 12, 1940.

The highly important suits of Fox v. Ickes, Parks v. Ickes, and Eder v. Ickes, contesting the authority of the Secretary of the Interior to redetermine the amount of water deliverable to water users on a reclamation project under the contracts now in effect, and to impose rental charges for water used in excess of the amount thus redetermined, were tried in the district court and a decision sustaining the position of the Department rendered. Basic applications of the provisions of the reclamation law and of the contracts entered into pursuant thereto are involved. An appeal has recently been taken from the decision of the district court, and it is probable that these suits, which have already been before the Supreme Court on jurisdictional points, may be carried there again. The case of Burley Irrigation District v. Ickes, raising issues fundamental to the utilization of water on reclamation projects for the generation of hydroelectric power, was argued and won in the court of appeals, after a decision favorable to the Department in the district court during the preceding fiscal year. Petition for certiorari was denied in Supreme Court of the United States on February 3, 1941.

In Glass v. Ickes the action of the district court in dismissing a libel suit attacking the privileged character of public statements made in the performance of official duties was sustained by the court of appeals. This decision clarifies authorities of the Secretary of the Interior and other Department heads that are of prime importance ot the efficient conduct of the public business placed under their care. Petition for certiorari was denied in Supreme Court of the United States on January 6, 1941.

The transfer of the functions of the Bureau of Insular Affairs from the War Department to the Department of the Interior, which became effective on the first day of the fiscal year, added to the duties of the office of the Solicitor an entirely new type of litigation work. This work consists of the defense in the Supreme Court of the United States of actions against officials of the Commonwealth of the Philippines brought in the insular courts and sought to be appealed to that tribunal. These cases are handled by the Solicitor personally. In Compania General de Tabacos de Filipinas v. Collector of Internal Revenue, a suit to recover taxes paid under protest on the ground that their imposition violated the equal-protection clause of the Philippine Constitution, briefs were submitted in opposition to the petition for certiorari, and the petition was denied by the Supreme Court on March 4, 1940. Other cases won were Manila Electric Company v. Collector of Internal Revenue in which a petition for certiorari was denied on October 14, 1940; Luzon Brokerage Company, Inc. v. Public Service Commission and V. Fragante, Director of Bureau of Public Works, in which certiorari was denied on February 17, 1941; and Wells Fargo Bank and Union Trust Company v. Collector of Internal Revenue for the Philippine Islands, in which certiorari was denied on March 10, 1941. In this connection, the following is quoted from a letter dated February 21, 1941, received from Hon. J. M. Elizalde, Resident Commissioner of the Philippines to the United States: "I note that up to date the Department of the Interior has been successful in every court case it had handled in behalf of the Commonwealth of the Philippines and I avail myself of this opportunity to thank your Department for the effective legal assistance given to my office."

United States v. Santa Fe Pacific Railroad Company (Walapai case). A suit to enjoin the Santa Fe Pacific Railroad Co. from interfering with the alleged possessory rights of the Walapai Tribe of Indians to certain lands in northwestern Arizona. This case was especially referred to the Solicitor by the Department of Justice and a petition for writ of certiorari was granted by the Supreme Court of the United States on March 10, 1941. The case will be argued at the beginning of October 1941 term of Court.

Important suits brought to obtain the interpretation of treaties guaranteeing to Indian tribes the right to hunt and fish on nonreservation lands, and to test the effectiveness of State statutes restricting the right to hunt and fish as applied to members of these tribes, are now pending. Outstanding among these is State of Washington v. Tulee, a criminal action through which the State is endeavoring to establish that Indians granted by treaty the right to fish, in common with whites, at all usual and accustomed places must, whenever they seek to exercise this right at places within the jurisdiction of the State, secure the licenses and pay the fees required by its laws. The Solicitor General has assigned this case to the Solicitor and he, personally, is working on the appeal to be taken in the case.

Two decisions of considerable moment in the administration of Indian affairs were rendered by the Supreme Court during the year. In United States v. United States Fidelity & Guaranty Company the doctrine that Indian nations are not subject to suit except to the extent specifically authorized by the Congress was reaffirmed, and a judgment against an Indian nation on a claim with respect to which this immunity had not been expressly waived by the Congress was declared to be absolutely void and open to collateral attack. In Board of County Commissioners of the County of Jackson, Kansas v. United States the allowance of interest in a suit to recover taxes unlawfully assessed on tax-exempt Indian lands was held to be governed by equitable considerations in the absence of any controlling statutory or treaty provisions expressly providing for interest, and the claim for interest was denied upon a consideration of the circumstances presented by the particular suit decided.

One of the most important and prolonged public-land controversies ever to come before the Department or the courts, United States v. Standard Oil Company of California, was brought to a successful conclusion during the year, through the affirmance of the decision of the District Court for the Southern District of California by the Circuit Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and through the denial of a vigorously pressed petition for certiorari by the Supreme Court of the United States. This action resulted in the quieting of the Government's title to section 36 in the Elk Hills oil field of California, a square mile of extremely valuable oil lands in the geologic center of a naval petroleum reserve, and in the recovery of approximately $7,137,000 as damages for the oil and gas extracted from that section while adversely held under claim of title. Important issues concerning the effect of adjudications of the Department in public-land matters were also decided in favor of the Government.

Another public land controversy of scarcely less importance, in which a favorable decision was rendered by the Supreme Court during the year, was United States v. City and County of San Francisco. The decision of the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the provisions of the Raker Act of December 19, 1913, requiring municipal distribution of electric energy produced through the use of the lands and rights-of-way granted San Francisco under that act, as a valid exercise of the power of the Congress to control the disposition of the public domain, and sustained the contention of the Department that the arrangements for the distribution of such energy made by San Francisco were not in conformity with these provisions.

An important land controversy in which the position of the Government was upheld by the Circuit Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit during the year is St. Marie v. United States, a case in which certain Indians are attempting to compel the allotment to them of lands valuable for town-site purposes on the Agua Caliente Indian Reservation. A petition for certiorari in this case is now awaiting action by the Supreme Court. The power of the States to condemn rights-of-way for highway purposes through allotted Indian lands without obtaining the approval of the Secretary of the Interior is another land matter of significance which came before the courts during the year.

During the course of the year the Court of Appeals disposed of the war minerals relief cases of Mineral Ridge Manganese Corporation v. Ickes and Crowley v. Ickes on a basis in line with the contentions of the Department. In the former case the holding of the district court that determinations of the Secretary of the Interior rendered pursuant to the War Minerals Relief Act of May 18, 1936, are not reviewable was affirmed. Fourteen war minerals relief cases instituted under other laws were disposed of by the district court, leaving eight such cases pending at the close of the fiscal year 1940.

The making of far-reaching adjustments in the rates charged for electric energy produced at the Boulder Canyon Dam was an outstanding item among the many difficult reclamation problems handled. The Solicitor personally conducted the complicated negotiations leading to the drafting of the Boulder Canyon Project Adjustment Act and to the initiation of the revised contractual arrangements requisite for the effectuation of its purposes. Another matter of exceptional importance was the preparation and presentation of the Government's case before the special master appointed to take testimony in Nebraska v. Wyoming and Colorado, an original suit in the Supreme Court for an equitable apportionment of the waters of the North Platte River. The United States has formally intervened in this suit in order to protect its claim to the ownership of all unappropriated waters on the public domain and its large investment in reclamation projects on the North Platte River.

The enforcement of the Connally "Hot Oil" Act required a large amount of attention during the fiscal year, and extensive collaboration with the Department of Justice in analyzing evidence of violations and in preparing cases for trial. Fundamental questions concerning the authority of the Department to require companies allegedly engaged in producing oil solely for intrastate consumption to submit reports on their operations were presented in several cases. An adverse decision in one of these, The President v. Skeen, has been appealed to the Circuit Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Various other intricate legal problems having to do with petroleum conservation were considered, An exhaustive brief minutely analyzing the major constitutional aspects of the proposed Petroleum Conservation Act of 1939, now pending before the House of Representatives, was submitted.

Several suits involving timber operations on Indian lands were successfully concluded during the year, $177,000 being recovered in a single case.

During the fiscal year the Solicitor's staff prepared, with the aid of the Department of Justice, a compilation in 46 volumes of all Federal laws and treaties pertaining to Indian affairs, and a comprehensive Handbook of Federal Indian Law, designed primarily to provide administrators, United States attorneys, the Indian tribes, and their attorneys with legal guidance on the many complex problems in this field. The handbook was based on an analysis of more than 4,000 statutes and treaties and 5,000 judicial decisions and administrative rulings. Although such a survey had been recommended by the Congress and the Department for almost a century, its inception had been deterred by the diversity and quantity of relevant material and the dearth of previous research. The growing complexity and variety of legal and administrative problems concerning Indians and the great sums involved in pending litigation made imperative the surmounting of these difficulties.

Grazing matters received during the year presented many nonroutine problems of considerable difficulty. A proposed exchange of approximately 11,000 acres of national forest land for approximately 100,000 acres of grazing land was one of the larger items. Regulations under the Pierce Act of June 23, 1938, were drafted. These regulations establish an orderly procedure for the leasing of State, county, and privately owned lands in aid of the administration of grazing districts. Important litigation relating to the authority of the Secretary of the Interior to impose license fees in connection with grazing operations on the public domain was pending at the end of the year.

The legal staff assigned to the Bureau of Reclamation is charged with the performance of highly involved and important legal work incident to the construction and maintenance of Federal reclamation projects. During the fiscal year 1940 upward of 25.000 matters required consideration by the attorneys assigned to this work. This was approximately 5,000 more matters than were disposed of during the preceding fiscal year. A substantial portion of the individual items handled presented nonroutine problems of marked complexity and difficulty. multiple purpose projects of the Bureau of Reclamation, such as the Central Valley Project in California and the Columbia Basin project in the Pacific Northwest, are essential factors in unlocking the natural resources and developing the basic industries of the 17 Western States. As such, they constitute vital links in the national-defense economy of the country as a whole.

The

Twenty-four suits, including one in the Supreme Court of the United States, were completed during the fiscal year 1940, as compared with an average of 18 suits closed during each of the 4 preceding years. Fifty-nine suits were pending at the end of the fiscal year. Water-right litigation in particular required much attention by the legal staff, due in large measure to the specialized technical problems raised and the ramified factual situations presented. Complicated suits relating to water rights on the Humboldt River were, after considerable difficulty, settled by mutual agreement. At the end of the year important water-right litigation affecting the Kendrick, North Platte. Carlsbad, and Yakima projects was still pending, while proceedings affecting other projects were in the immediate offing.

Approximately 5,000 contracts involving in the neighborhood of $70,000,000 were handled during the year. Of special significance were contracts for the sale of power in connection with the Parker Dam project, and contracts for the acquisition of power sites and the relocation of public utilities in connection with the Columbia Basin project. A single contract for the relocation of Great Northern Railway facilities involved about $2,700,000. Work was actively prosecuted on the extensive program for the revision of repayment contracts authorized by the Reclamation Project Act of 1939. By the end of the year