71ST CONGRESS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 2d Session BLACK BASS BILL MAY 23, 1930.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union and ordered to be printed Mr. NELSON of Maine, from the Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany S. 941] The Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, to whom was referred the bill (S. 941) to amend the act entitled "An act to regulate interstate transportation of black bass, and for other purposes," approved May 20, 1926, having considered and amended the same, report thereon with a recommendation that it pass. The amendment of the committee strikes out all after the enacting clause and inserts in lieu thereof a substitute, which, while covering substantially the same provisions as the matter proposed to be stricken out, includes other provisions calculated to strengthen the existing law relating to illegal interstate traffic in black bass. The need for legislation regulating the interstate transportation of black bass has long been recognized. The original act to regulate the interstate transportation of black bass, and for other purposes, approved May 20, 1926, has utterly failed to meet that need. The act was not broad enough to make enforcement practicable and the machinery of such enforcement was entirely lacking. So far as is known not a single prosecution has been had, or even attempted, under the law since its enactment. In the opinion of your committee the amendments suggested in this bill are highly necessary in order to make the original act effective and place it on an enforceable basis. The several new propositions embodied in the suggested amendments, briefly stated, are as follows: 1. It is made a Federal offense to deliver, or knowingly receive for transportation or to transport, in interstate commerce, black bass contrary to a State law prohibiting their removal from such state. Failure of the original law to prohibit interstate shipment of black bass contrary to state law constituted a defect similar to that originally found in the so-called Lacey Act regulating interstate commerce in wild animals and birds and parts thereof which rendered the Lacey Act practically unenforceable until amended. The prohibition of shipment contrary to State law renders it possible to institute Federal prosecution on documentary evidence obtained from transportation companies and the consignees. Under the present wording of the act it is necessary to trace back the individual shipments and uncover evidence showing the actual illegal taking, sale, purchase, or possession of the particular fish involved in the particular shipment. 2. Any interstate shipment of black bass must be clearly and conspicuously marked on the outside of the package with the words "Black bass", and an accurate statement of the number of the fish therein contained, with the names and addresses of the shipper and consignee. The value of this provision in the tracing of illegal shipments is, of course, apparent. 3. It is made a Federal offense knowingly to purchase or receive any such black bass transported in violation of this act, or to make a false record of the contents of any such shipment. Under the present law even knowingly to purchase or receive black bass illegally shipped in interstate commerce_constiutes no Federal offense, and it is exceedingly difficult for the Federal agents investigating violations of the act to secure information from, or cooperation on the part of, a consignee, who does not like to be placed in the position of a voluntary informer on the alleged shipper. Moreover, illegal shipments may now be covered up by false records. The amendment does not require the keeping of such record but merely prohibits the making of a false record or the rendition of a false account. 4. All black bass transported into a State in interstate commerce are declared to be subject to the operation and effect of the laws of that State, to the same extent and in the same manner as though the fish had been produced in such State. This provision is similar to that in the Lacey Act and other existing legislation. 5. Power to enforce the provisions of the act is vested in duly authorized employees of the Department of Commerce, the department particularly concerned with the subject. 6. Provision is made for the confiscation of illegal shipments of black bass, not only on conviction of the offender, but upon the judgment of the court that the same were transported, delivered, purchased, or received in violation of the act. The prime motive in connection with the interstate transportation of black bass is the commercial profit derived therefrom. The power to confiscate illegal shipments offers an opportunity to take the profits out of such transactions and constitutes an effective means of reducing the traffic to a minimum. This legislation is sponsored by the Izaak Walton League of America, with its 2,000 chapters and its 100,000 members, by the Bureau of Fisheries, and by the countless anglers of America, 15,000,000 of whom take out fishing licenses each year, with a resulting annual income to the various States of from thirty-five to forty millions of dollars. The passage of this Federal legislation should result in the enactment by the States of more adequate laws for the protection of their black bass. an issue of Treasury bills can not be quoted at any given price, but the seller and buyer have to make a series of computations for each transaction and the dealers find that for each bill they handle they have to keep an account on a daily accural basis. The discount houses print and circulate daily offering sheets, and in the case of Government securities their lists show the price of each issue, the true interest yield, and in a separate column the yield to corporations after an allowance has been made for tax exemptions, but in the case of Treasury bills it is impossible to show the yields on a taxable basis because of the various prices at which the bills were bought or sold and result, perhaps, in a dozen different calculations in the tax-exempt feature. All of this bookkeeping brings the Government no net return, for one holder's loss exactly offsets another's gain. These difficulties are so great that a number of important buyers of Treasury obligations are withdrawing altogether from the purchase of the bills, and I am convinced that unless the present law can be modified the Treasury may presently have difficulty in continuing this method of financing on a satisfactory basis. There is also quoted the letter from E. C. Wagner, Esq., president Discount Co. of New York, one of the largest dealers in Government securities, which is referred to in the letter from Mr. Case and which indicates the difficulties that that company is experiencing because of the necessity for computing capital gains or losses resulting from the sale or other disposition of Treasury bills? DISCOUNT CORPORATION OF NEW YORK, Mr. J. HERBERT CASE, New York, N. Y. DEAR MR. CASE: You are, I know, well informed in regard to the disappointment on the part of the money market when the announcement was made that the exemption of income derived from an investment of United States Treasury bills would be measured by the discount actually received for each individual bill at the time of issue. This corporation performs an important function in endeavoring to even up the temporary surplus funds of banks and bankers through our holdings of bank acceptances and short-time Government securities. In order to obtain more favorable rates for money, it has been our custom to farm out our holdings of short-term Government securities by means of repurchase agreements, so that the investor of money gains the benefit of the exemption of taxation from the income derived. In this manner we frequently place out blocks of $5,000,000, or more of one issue of certificates, the coupon being the same for the entire block. We have been unable, however, to arrange repurchase agreements in the case of United States Treasury bills, because a block of Treasury bills may have been bought at a dozen different rates of discount and the calculation of the benefit of the tax exemption is too complicated for the moneyed party borrowed from. We are, therefore, obliged in the case of Treasury bills to rely on straight loans and pay the full rate of interest. Moreover, the interest which we pay is not deductible as an expense on our income tax return. All of this makes the financing of the purchase of Treasury bills very difficult for dealers. I have taken up the matter of financing the carrying of Treasury bills because after all, that is the first thing a dealer has to do when handling them. The next step is to arrange a sale. There again we meet with considerable sales resistance on the part of banks and bankers, who appear to so strongly object to the work necessitated in calculating the exemption from taxation of the resulting revenue. When visiting banks with the object of making trades or borrowing money, one normally would only have to bear in mind that one had $5,000,000 or $10,000,000 United States Government certificates to sell. In the case of Treasury bills, it is not only necessary to know the dollar volume but a dealer must carry with him the particulars of the original discount at which they were bought, so as to be able to inform the buyer of the conditions of the suggested purchase. The net result is that whereas the market anticipated that the United States Treasury bill would become the premier security of the world and the most easily traded in, it is in fact to-day the least popular of all United States issues. We have no hesitation in saying that in our opinion Congress should change the law so that the current market discount is exempt from taxation. If this is done, holders of Treasury bills need make only one entry of the income, instead of which we are obliged to carry a complicated set of books, copies of which are handed you with this letter. If you can prevail upon the Secretary of the Treasury to appeal to Congress to make the necessary change in the act, it will do much to broaden the market for Treasury bills and ensure the capacity of the Government to continue to borrow in this form on advantageous terms. Thanking you for your customary courtesy, we are, Yours very truly, BLACK BASS BILL MAY 23, 1930.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union and ordered to be printed Mr. NELSON of Maine, from the Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany S. 941] The Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, to whom was referred the bill (S. 941) to amend the act entitled "An act to regulate interstate transportation of black bass, and for other purposes," approved May 20, 1926, having considered and amended the same, report thereon with a recommendation that it pass. The amendment of the committee strikes out all after the enacting clause and inserts in lieu thereof a substitute, which, while covering substantially the same provisions as the matter proposed to be stricken out, includes other provisions calculated to strengthen the existing law relating to illegal interstate traffic in black bass. The need for legislation regulating the interstate transportation of black bass has long been recognized. The original act to regulate the interstate transportation of black bass, and for other purposes, approved May 20, 1926, has utterly failed to meet that need. The act was not broad enough to make enforcement practicable and the machinery of such enforcement was entirely lacking. So far as is known not a single prosecution has been had, or even attempted, under the law since its enactment. In the opinion of your committee the amendments suggested in this bill are highly necessary in order to make the original act effective and place it on an enforceable basis. The several new propositions embodied in the suggested amendments, briefly stated, are as follows: 1. It is made a Federal offense to deliver, or knowingly receive for transportation or to transport, in interstate commerce, black bass contrary to a State law prohibiting their removal from such state. Failure of the original law to prohibit interstate shipment of black bass contrary to state law constituted a defect similar to that originally found in the so-called Lacey Act regulating interstate commerce in wild animals and birds and parts thereof which rendered the Lacey |