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The SPEAKER. The Clerk will report the next amendment in disagreement.

The Clerk read as follows:

Page 54, line 11, strike out "$1,034,520" and insert "$1,145,000." Mr. DICKINSON of Iowa. Mr. Speaker, I move to recede and concur with an amendment.

The Clerk read as follows:

Moved by Mr. DICKINSON of Iowa: That the House recede from its disagreement to the amendment of the Senate No. 84, and agree to the same with an amendment, as follows: In lieu of the sum inserted by said amendment insert the following: " $1,125,500: Provided, That the Secretary of Agriculture shall investigate and report to the next regular session of Congress as to the feasibility of a five-year cooperative program, or a program extending over such term of years as to hin shall seem most advisable for the purposes in view, for the eradication, suppression, or bringing under control of predatory animals within the United States, and the estimated cost thereof as compared to the present method."

The SPEAKER. The question is on the motion of the gentleman from Iowa.

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"FLOOD RELIEF, VERMONT AND NEW HAMPSHIRE "For the relief of the State of Vermont, $2,654,000, and for the relief of the State of New Hampshire, $653,300, in the matter of roads and bridges damaged or destroyed by the flood of 1927: Provided, That any sums appropriated under this authorization shall be expended in accordance with the provisions of the Federal highway act, except that the provision limiting Federal payments to not exceed $15,000 per mile shall not apply and the provision restricting the expenditure of Federal funds upon roads on the system of Federalaid highways shall not apply to the extent that such expenditure is hereby authorized on roads and bridges not on but which are extensions of said system within municipalities having a population of 2,500 or more, as shown by the last available census."

Mr. DICKINSON of Iowa. Mr. Speaker, I move to recede and concur with an amendment. The Clerk read as follows:

Mr. DICKINSON of Iowa moves that the House recede from its disagreement to the amendment of the Senate No. 99, and agree to the same with an amendment as follows:

64 FLOOD RELIEF, VERMONT, NEW HAMPSHIRE, AND KENTUCKY "For the relief of the following States as a contribution in aid from the United States, induced by the extraordinary conditions of necessity and emergency resulting from the unusually serious financial loss to such States through the damage to or destruction of roads and bridges by the floods of 1927, imposing a public charge against the property of said States beyond their reasonable capacity to bear, and without acknowledgment of any liability on the part of the United States in connection with the restoration of such local improvements, namely: Vermont, $2,654,000; New Hampshire, $653,300; Kentucky, $1,889,994; in all, $5,197,294, to be immediately available and to remain available until expended: Provided, That the sums hereby appropriated shall be expended by the State highway departments of the respective States, with the approval of the Secretary of Agriculture, for the restoration, including relocation, of roads and bridges so damaged or destroyed, in such manner as to give the largest measure of permanent relief, under rules and regulations to be prescribed by the Secretary of Agriculture: Provided further, That the amount herein appropriated for each State shall be available when such State shall have or make available a like sum from State funds for the purposes contained herein."

Mr. DICKINSON of Iowa. Mr. Speaker, I think the House ought to have an explanation of this amendment. Because of the damage by floods in Vermont, New Hampshire, and also in the State of Kentucky, two amendments were added on the floor of the Senate, the first one, No. 99, being based on a Budget estimate. No. 100 was not based on a Budget estimate, but a Budget estimate has later been sent to the House covering it. The amendments of the Senate provided originally for the damage on primary roads, so far as Vermont and New Hampshire were concerned. Our committee thought that under no circumstances should the Government of the United States ever assume any obligations for either the rebuilding or the repairing of a

The SPEAKER. The question is on the motion of the gen-primary-road system on which Federal funds had been used tleman from Iowa.

The motion was agreed to.

The SPEAKER. The Clerk will report the next amendment in disagreement.

The Clerk read as follows:

Amendment 98: Page 80, line 3, strike out the word insert the word "shall."

may"

and

Mr. SNELL. Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the gentle man from Iowa about these increases in amendments 96, 97, and 98, what they are and what they do?

Mr. DICKINSON of Iowa. That is an additional $1,000,000 for roads and trails. The authorization in the law was for $7,500,000. In the last bill the committee cut that down to $6.500,000. It does not correspond with the authorization under the law with the result that they absorbed their balance, and at the end of this year they need the whole authorization. While the Budget was only for $6,500,000 the House allowed the Budget estimate, and the Senate allowed the authorization of $7,500,000.

for building, the reason for that being that if we ever became committed to the policy of repairing primary roads there would be a continuous demand on the Congress every time any primary roads were destroyed to appropriate out of the Federal Treasury for their repair and rebuilding.

The result was that after going over these items very carefully we cut out all reference to primary roads. We do not want to Kentucky in the amendment which we have offered to the assume any obligations for their repair. We have included Senate amendment, and if this amendment be agreed to I shall move to further insist upon the disagreement to the Kentucky amendment, because Kentucky is cared for in the amendment that I have offered as amendment to No. 99. We have made these appropriations entirely a gratuity, based on the emergency, the emergency being that these people suffered a loss that is very extreme, and that the demand on them now is beyond the taxing ability of these various localities to bear. We have gotten away from the responsibility of the Government so far as the repair or rebuilding of the primary roads are concerned. We do not limit the use of the appropriation to primary roads, but make it applicable to roads and bridges, because in the State of Kentucky, as I understand it, a great many of their roads that were destroyed and a great many of their bridges that were destroyed were not on the primary Mr. Speaker, I move to system, but were on the school-road system or the rural routes. Mr. WARREN. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield? Mr. DICKINSON of Iowa. Yes.

Mr. SNELL. That is all there is to it?
Mr. DICKINSON of Iowa.

Yes.

Mr. SHREVE. Is this authorization continued from year to year?

Mr. DICKINSON of Iowa. It is. recede and concur in amendment No. 98. The motion was agreed to.

The SPEAKER. The Clerk will report the next amendment in disagreement.

The Clerk read as follows:

Mr. WARREN. Do I understand the gentleman to say that in case of a great disaster to the Federal-aid roads in the Nation, Congress ought not to be committed to replacing those

Amendment 99: Page 81, after line 16, insert the following: roads?

Mr. DICKINSON of Iowa. Absolutely ought not to be. Mr. WARREN. I might inform the gentleman that a bill has been pending during this entire session having that in view, which has the indorsement of the department and the indorsement of 36 highway commissions in the country.

Mr. LAGUARDIA. It naturally would.

Mr. DICKINSON of Iowa. Committing Congress to the rebuilding of roads when they are destroyed?

Mr. WARREN. By some great disaster, such as floods. Mr. DICKINSON of Iowa. That is a matter entirely for the legislative committee. I do not want to approve it in this way.

Mr. LAGUARDIA. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield? Mr. DICKINSON of Iowa. Yes.

Mr. LAGUARDIA. While it is true that the gentleman has avoided assuming responsibility, nevertheless these amendments establish the precedent of a gratuity under similar circumstances.

Mr. DICKINSON of Iowa. That is absolutely true.
Mr. LAGUARDIA. And unfortunately.

Mr. DICKINSON of Iowa. That is the danger of this amendment. I regret that these amendments were put on an appropriation bill, but they are here, and we have to deal with them. This is an emergency, and the people think they ought to have relief. There is no place where they can go other than to the Federal Treasury to obtain that aid. We have handled the matter in what we think is the safest, sanest way, without fixing a policy that will plague us hereafter.

Mr. SNELL. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
Mr. DICKINSON of Iowa. Yes.

Mr. SNELL. I think the wording of the amendment proposed by the gentleman is a very great improvement over the Senate amendment. I am glad the gentleman has put it as a straight, square contribution, on account of a great disaster, and then there can be no precedent except under exactly same conditions. I am opposed to the practice of adding these large matters to appropriation bills. The custom has grown up of late that every time some one has something before a committee, or which has been reported out from a committee but which has not been passed, he runs over and gets it attached to an appropriation bill in the Senate. That is absolutely unfair and against the principles of our legislative policy. I do not think the House ought to continually stand for it. I appreciate that this is a serious proposition confronting these people at this time. I shall not oppose this amendment, but as a general policy we ought to insist that these appropriations not come to the House in this way. I know the gentleman agrees with me in that policy.

Mr. DICKINSON of Iowa. I absolutely agree with the gentleman.

Mr. ALMON. Will the gentleman yield?

Mr. DICKINSON of Iowa. Yes.

Mr. ALMON. The Committee on Roads gave very careful consideration and hearings to the Kentucky and Vermont cases and reported bills favorably by a unanimous vote. Under those bills the money of the Federal Government was to be expended under the directions of the Director of Public Roads.

Mr. DICKINSON of Iowa. That is the case in this amendment, under rules and regulations to be prescribed by the Secretary of Agriculture. But we have gone further than that. We have required that the States shall also match dollar for dollar out of the State funds, not township or county funds, every dollar that we are appropriating here, so that they will have a constructive road-building policy out of these funds rather than patchwork which might occur if we permitted them to use county or township funds.

Mr. RAMSEYER. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield? Mr. DICKINSON of Iowa. Yes.

Mr. RAMSEYER. How did the committee arrive at these sums to be contributed to these three different States?

Mr. DICKINSON of Iowa. They are set forth in the Budget estimates. It is my understanding that the Budget estimates are based on reports of the State engineers, approved by the Bureau of Roads in the Department of Agriculture, as to what the damages were.

Mr. RAMSEYER. Did the Budget Bureau approve all three of these items?

Mr. DICKINSON of Iowa. Yes; it approved all three of

them.

Mr. RAMSEYER. And figured it out to the dollar what each State shall get?

Mr. DICKINSON of Iowa. I do not say the Budget Bureau figured it out to the dollar; but I do say that the road departments in the various States made estimates of these damages and certified them to the Department of Agriculture.

Mr. RAMSEYER. Does the amount given to each State represent one-half of the damage they have sustained? How did you arrive at the amount?

Mr. DICKINSON of Iowa. I will yield to the gentleman from Kentucky to speak with respect to that State.

Mr. ROBSION of Kentucky. The State of Vermont, I understand, figured the damage out at something over $7,000,000. Mr. RAMSEYER. Who figured that out?

Mr. ROBSION of Kentucky. I understand the bureau of roads of Vermont and the Bureau of Roads in the Department of Agriculture. Their claim here is limited to $2,654,000. And that is the ratio in the State of New Hampshire. In Kentucky the Federal Bureau of Roads and the State highway commission took the matter up, and Mr. MacDonald, Director of the Bureau of Roads, says the loss there is about 30 per cent of the entire loss. The amount claimed in the Vermont bill and in the Kentucky bill is figured at about 30 per cent of the actual loss to bridges and roads.

Mr. CHAPMAN. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
Mr. ROBSION of Kentucky. Yes.

Mr. CHAPMAN. Is it not true that the Kentucky Legislature has already authorized an equal amount to that provided in the amendment?

Mr. ROBSION of Kentucky. Yes.

Mr. DOWELL. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
Mr. DICKINSON of Iowa. Yes.

Mr. DOWELL. There were extensive hearings held on these propositions before the Committee on Roads. All of these facts were brought before the legislative committee, and it received the approval of the committee. It is much less than the actual damages, as the evidence before the committee shows.

Mr. SNELL. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
Mr. DICKINSON of Iowa. Yes.

Roads as to the last two propositions, if I may ask? OrigiMr. SNELL. What changed the mind of the Bureau of nally they were not fit for it.

Mr. DOWELL. I do not know what changed the mind of the Bureau of Roads as to the last two propositions.

I want to say that the gentleman from New York [Mr. SNELL] has expressed my views also on the method of making these appropriations. But in this instance there has been a thorough investigation by the House committee, and the facts have been presented in the regular way.

Mr. ROBSION of Kentucky. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield further?

Mr. DICKINSON of Iowa. Yes.

now.

Mr. ROBSION of Kentucky. This consideration, ladies and gentlemen of the House, enters into this matter: Great territories in Vermont and New Hampshire and Kentucky were devastated. Their roads and bridges have been destroyed. The people are hopeless and helpless, and if they are ever going to receive this relief they need it now, and they must have it They are not responsible for the items being put on in the Senate. We would have been very glad to have had them considered here. But the Committee on Roads considered the matter carefully, and it was the unanimous report of the members of the committee that these claims were all right. Mr. HALE. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield? Mr. DICKINSON of Iowa. Yes; I yield to the gentleman from New Hampshire.

Mr. HALE. So far as New Hampshire is concerned, Mr. Speaker, the total damage, as estimated by the Federal Bureau of Public Roads, was $2,710,000. The amount of money given in this appropriation to New Hampshire is $653,300, or about 25 per cent of our total damage on our road system. That amount is fixed by the Federal Department of Public Roads as the amount of damage accruing solely and strictly on the Federal highway system. It does not take into account the damage on other roads, and it takes no account of the damage done to life and property elsewhere throughout the State.

Mr. DICKINSON of Iowa. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Vermont.

Mr. GIBSON. Mr. Speaker, the gentleman from Iowa [Mr. RAMSEYER] inquired as to how the amounts carried in the amendment were arrived at. The amount, so far as Vermont is concerned, was arrived at through a survey made by the engineers of the Public Roads Bureau of the Department of Agriculture. This survey showed a total road and bridge damage of $7,377,469, or a damage of $21 plus for every man, woman, and child in the State.

Now, the Vermont item carried in this amendment represents just the damage to the Federal-aided roads as determined by this survey, $2,654,000.

Mr. DICKINSON of Iowa. I yield to the gentleman from Kentucky [Mr. ROBSION].

of our State under the personal supervision of Dr. A. T. McCormack and his able assistants. Never in the history of any disaster, I venture to say, has there been given such splendid aid to a stricken community.

But there is one problem in which we must have aid if we are again to go forward in the onward march of civilization. I refer to the rebuilding of post roads and bridges.

Mr. ROBSION of Kentucky. Mr. Speaker, for the information of the House this great cloudburst in the mountains of Kentucky occurred just at the time of the Mississippi flood, and the papers did not carry much about it, but the fact is that 99 lives were lost and $57,000,000 worth of property was destroyed, not counting much personal property. Four hundred and one bridges were swept away and 2,500 miles of high-stitution there are certain limitations beyond which Congress ways destroyed or greatly damaged. That gives you some idea of the damage and havoc wrought.

Mr. THATCHER. Is it not a fact that all of these affected counties have already been bonded to the constitutional limit, their money expended on roads that have been swept away, and that they are utterly helpless to raise any more funds?

Mr. ROBSION of Kentucky. That is true. Let me give you one sentence from Mr. MacDonald's (Director Federal Bureau of Roads) report on this matter:

The greatest and most serious of public and private losses were in the mountain counties. Most of these counties have a low assessed valuation, and those for which we have reports show a decrease of assessed valuation. These counties had issued bonds up to the legal limit of indebtedness to build roads and bridges; the storm came; the roads and bridges are gone, the debts remain, and the people are hopeless and helpless.

This is from Mr. MacDonald's report.

Mr. KETCHAM. Will the gentleman from Iowa permit me to ask a question of the gentleman from Vermont? Mr. DICKINSON of Iowa. Yes.

Mr. KETCHAM. Will the gentleman from Vermont please tell the House what the total damage to property of other kinds than that represented in roads was in the State of Vermont? Mr. GIBSON. The total direct property loss in the State of Vermont, as shown by this survey, was $30,435,000, an amount equal to one-tenth of the value of all property assessed for

taxation in the State.

Mr. VINSON of Kentucky. And if the gentleman will permit, in that connection the property loss in Kentucky aggregated $56,000,000.

Mr. ROBSION of Kentucky. Fifty-seven million dollars.
Mr. GIBSON. I will say to the gentleman from Michigan

that I did not take into consideration the indirect losses or business losses, which are estimated at about $100,000,000.

Mr. DICKINSON of Iowa. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentle woman from Kentucky [Mrs. LANGLEY].

Mrs. LANGLEY. Mr. Speaker and colleagues, I want to bring this point to you. While I am a devout believer in and simple follower of the faith and precept that we owe our first allegiance to the constituency that sent us here, and of necessity must conceive it our highest duty to serve their best interests first, yet there is another duty of equal importance to deal with all problems as if they were our very own. That, to my mind, is the corner stone of representative government. I trust that in dealing with the terrific devastation to post roads and bridges wrought in Kentucky by the May cloudburst of last year, with the grave havoc and death toll which followed in its wake, you, my colleagues, will feel that for the time being the mountains of Kentucky belong to you.

To-day we are confronted with the tragic aftermath of this flood, and in the interest of and love for Kentucky may I not briefly sketch for you a picture of the situation which we find ourselves facing?

To go back to the early pioneer history of eastern Kentucky more than a hundred and forty years ago, the Virginians trekked across the Cumberlands and settled in the valleys along the Big and Little Sandy River and North Fork of the Kentucky. There they built their simple homes and although cut off from the outside world, because of the inaccessibility, lived a Godfearing and law-abiding people, in whose veins flows the purest Anglo-Saxon blood in all the world.

Suddenly, without warning, on the 29th of last May in the middle of the night, following two days of heavy rain, the creeks and rivers began to rise, and by midnight the tide of the Kentucky River was 75 feet high and came rushing down the valley carrying in its wake railroad tracks, bridges, fences, telephone and telegraph wires, houses, débris of all kinds, the most tragic shock being the toll of human lives-60 in four of my counties.

With never a murmur nor complaint, but with calm dignity and brave fortitude, as everlasting as life itself, our people in the stricken area began to carry on; and with the cooperation of thousands of sufferers, each aiding the other, we have gradually returned somewhat to normalcy. I want to mention here the magnificent work done by the American Red Cross and the unparalleled service rendered by the public health department

I do not lose sight of the fact that under our Federal Con

can not go and beyond which the burden must inevitably fall upon the locality. But with the present heavy bonded indebtedness of our counties we can not meet the damage to our post roads and bridges, and if aid is not given us we are put back at least 50 years. The very lifeblood is taken from us with our means of transportation and intercommunication crippled.

Not only is this a national problem from the standpoint of justice but it is the only practicable way it can be effectively and promptly handled.

You will recall that there was practically no publicity for our mountain flood last year outside of Kentucky, due to the overwhelming newspaper space demanded by the Mississippi flood. The visit of Secretary Hoover, accompanied by Mr. Fieser, of the American Red Cross, attracted quite a good deal of attention to it, however.

While I realize that it is unprecedented for the Federal Congress to build roads and bridges following any kind of a devastation, I feel that this grave national disaster justifies the passage of this amendment.

My people's confidence in the existing governmental instruit will never be. The stricken counties have reached the end mentality for handling this matter is not diminished, and I hope of their tether; they are staggering under a bonded indebtedness. To attempt to make them contribute would not only add a grievous burden to the people already sadly impoverished, but would cripple and render ineffective the progress already made earnestly, hopefully, staunchly, and prayerfully by the beloved and true people of the mountains.

The kind of spirit which has developed this land will carry it on, but if the Federal Government refuses to help them they will feel that the richest nation on earth is unwilling to help her own people, the Government for whom many of them have fought, bled, and died, and they will say: "This is our compensation. When our country needs help, we are eager to go forward and proffer it valiantly, but when we need help they refuse it. We not only gave of our wealth, our time, but of our lives, and our children and our children's children. Does not this fact alone warrant our being assisted when this need is imminent?"

The passage of this token of love given to her stricken children will be a sublime message of devotion and will inspire the hearts of all America with the realization that when grave disaster comes upon us America helps America's own. [Applause.]

Deep in every loyal heart there burns a tiny flame,

That glows with added brilliance at the mention of a name;
Its tiny beams make light the path of weary feet that roam
And brightens up the winding lane that leads to home, sweet home.
To live lives we leave behind us is not to die.

I earnestly plead, in behalf of Kentucky, Vermont, and New
Hampshire, for the adoption of this amendment. [Applause.]
Mr. HASTINGS. Will the gentleman yield to me?
Mr. DICKINSON of Iowa.

Yes.

Mr. HASTINGS. Mr. Chairman, I only want to detain the House a moment. I am not against this amendment. I have no doubt but what there is a very great emergency in Vermont, New Hampshire, and Kentucky; and I have no doubt but what this amendment was thoroughly justified before the Senate Committee and before the conferees. I rise to congratulate the Representatives of Vermont, New Hampshire, and Kentucky upon their good fortune and upon their very great diligence both in the House and over in the Senate in securing favorable action upon this amendment and getting these appropriations to repair their roads.

I want to take occasion now, my fellow members, to say that while emergencies existed in these three States, we must not forget that emergencies in varying degrees existed in a number of other States of the Union and that instead of appropriations for caring for emergencies in three States there ought to have been a comprehensive bill reported to the House to take care of all emergencies in all the States because of the disastrous floods of 1927.

I had a similar bill for Oklahoma, H. R. 10800, providing a much smaller amount-to be exact, $230,000. I had an itemized statement that was prepared by the State Highway Engineer of Oklahoma showing in detail the exact damage done on every

road in Oklahoma, which thoroughly justified, in my judgment, favorable action upon the bill which I had introduced to take care of the emergency in my State.

Mr. MACGREGOR. Will the gentleman yield?

Mr. HASTINGS. In a moment. I made every effort I possibly could to secure a hearing before the Committee on Roads. Unfortunately, along about this time the chairman was ill, and I am therefore not complaining about it, but anyway, we did not get a hearing; we did not get favorable action, and the bill was not favorably reported out. I am not complaining particularly about that, but I do say that there were emergencies in other surrounding States like Arkansas and Missouri, as well as Oklahoma and some of the other States, and what we should have done and what we should have up now for consideration is a comprehensive bill that would take care of all emergencies where there was road and bridge damage as a result of the disastrous floods of 1927.

I did not want to permit this opportunity to pass without expressing my disappointment, I might say, not that these emergencies are cared for, because I am not complaining about that, but because all emergencies were not taken care of in a comprehensive bill.

Mr. MACGREGOR. Will the gentleman yield?
Mr. HASTINGS. I now yield to the gentleman.

Mr. MACGREGOR. The gentleman does not admit, of course, that the great State of Oklahoma, with its millions of wealth, could not pay for this small item of expense in the State of Oklahoma. Kentucky and Vermont are entirely different. There a great load was on a people who could not stand it. Down in Kentucky the people could not afford to build any more roads because all of their wealth had been exhausted.

Mr. HASTINGS. Oh, if the gentleman would permit the Representatives to come in here now and over in the Senate and picture the distress and the poverty of their respective districts we would be shedding tears all over the House, and of course they would justify appropriations for these States; but I venture the assertion that if you went back to the great State of Kentucky or the imperial Commonwealths of Vermont or New Hampshire and then pictured the poverty of those great States, their splendid citizenship would resent it and they would all boast that their respective States are the greatest and the most prosperous States in all this Union. This appeal made here is for an appropriation from the Federal Treasury and has proved successful.

Mr. MACGREGOR. Oklahoma has some of the richest people in the world in it.

Mr. HASTINGS. We admit it. We have a great, resourceful State with a citizenship unexcelled. That argument is beside the question. What I am trying to point out, all similar emergencies should have been cared for and not just the three States of Vermont, New Hampshire, and Kentucky.

Mr. DICKINSON of Iowa. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from North Carolina [Mr. WARREN].

Mr. WARREN. Mr. Speaker, I do not wish to delay any further the consideration of this measure, because I know the temper of the House. I know the House is in favor of the proposition.

I was a member of the committee that heard these measures, and they were given careful consideration and attention. I disagree with the gentleman from Iowa [Mr. DICKINSON] in his assumption that the Committee on Roads reported this on the ground of a gratuity.

Mr. DICKINSON of Iowa. I did not make that statement at all. We are reporting it now on the ground of a gratuity.

Mr. VINSON of Kentucky. If the gentleman will permit, so far as Kentucky is concerned I will say that our bill at all times has been bottomed upon the idea that it is a gratuity following a great national catastrophe which the local communities were unable to wholly care for.

Mr. DICKINSON of Iowa. And I may say that the matter would not be here now being discussed on the floor if we had not accepted it as a gratuity.

Mr. VINSON of Kentucky. Mr. Speaker, the conference report accompanying II. R. 11577 (agriculture appropriation bill) contains the information that the committee of conference had not agreed to amendments 99 and 100 therein. The first amendment appropriated moneys for the relief of Vermont and New Hampshire in the restoration of certain portions of her road system damaged and destroyed by the floods of 1927. Amendment 100 relates to appropriation for Kentucky in the sum of $1,889,994 for the same purpose.

In virtue of the rules governing this body neither of these amendments could be agreed to in conference, but it is necessary fo have the amendments submitted to the House for their action. This parliamentary condition obtains for the good reason that items added to an appropriation bill in the Senate which has

not authority of law, to which a point of order in the House could have been successfully maintained, if the amendment had originated therein, must be reported back to the House and acted upon by it. This procedure has been followed and subsequent to the reading of the amendments in question, the gentleman from Iowa [Mr. DICKINSON] moves that the House recede and concur in the Senate amendment with the following amendment:

For the relief of the following States as a contribution in aid from the United States, induced by the extraordinary conditions of necessity and emergency resulting from the unusually serious financial loss to such States through the damage to or destruction of roads and bridges by the floods of 1927, imposing a public charge against the property of said States far beyond its reasonable capacity to bear, and without acknowledgment of any liability on the part of the United States in connection with the restoration of such local improvements, namely: Vermont, $2,654,000; New Hampshire, $653,300; Kentucky, $1,889,994; in all, $5,197,294, to be immediately available and to remain available until expended: Provided, That the sums hereby appropriated shall be expended by the State highway departments of the respective States, with the approval of the Secretary of Agriculture, for the restoration, including relocation, of roads and bridges so damaged or destroyed in such manner as to give the largest measure of permanent relief, under rules and regulations to be prescribed by the Secretary of Agriculture: Provided further, That the amount herein appropriated for each State shall be available when such State shall have or make available a like sum from State funds for the purposes contained herein.

In order that there may be a logical statement of the facts preceding this action of the House, I take the trouble to record chronologically the steps which have been followed in the enactment of this legislation:

THE HOUSE BILL

On February 6, 1928, my colleague, Mr. ROBSION of Kentucky, introduced H. R. 10565. Thereupon a hearing was held before the Committee on Roads, to which the bill had been referred on February 9, 1928, at which appeared the former Governor of Kentucky, W. J. Fields, Dr. A. T. McCormack, secretary of the State board of health of Kentucky, Judge Noah Bentley, county judge of Letcher County, and the various members of the Kentucky delegation. The bill was given a unanimous report by the committee on March 14, after having amended the bill in some particulars. The bill as amended and reported to the House reads as follows:

A bill to authorize an appropriation for the relief of the State of Kentucky on account of roads and bridges damaged or destroyed by the recent floods

Be it enacted, etc., That there is hereby authorized to be appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, the sum of $1,889,994 for the relief of the State of Kentucky, to restore and recondition the roads and bridges damaged or destroyed by the floods in said State in the year of 1927: Provided, That any sums appropriated under this authorization shall be expended under the supervision and direction of the Department of Agriculture and Bureau of Public Roads in cooperation with the State highway department of the State of Kentucky: Provided further, That the amount herein authorized to be appropriated shall be available when the State of Kentucky shall make available a like sum, which shall be expended to restore and recondition said roads and bridges: Provided further, That not more than $3,000 per mile on any road and not more than $15,000 on any bridge shall be expended out of any funds appropriated under this act: Provided further, That no part of any sums appropriated under this act shall be expended for rights of way, or damages of any kind or character, or for engineering fees incurred by the State of Kentucky, or any subdivision thereof: And provided further, That no part of any sum appropriated under this act shall be expended for the restoration of any road, street, or highway within any incorporated town or city. REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON ROADS

The unanimous report of the committee which was made by Mr. ROESION of Kentucky, excluding the special reference to the amendments and the draft of the bill as amended, reads as follows:

This bill as amended provides an authorization of $1,889,994 for the relief of the State of Kentucky to assist in the restoration and reconditioning of the roads and bridges damaged or destroyed by unprecedented floods in said State in the year 1927.

It is provided that any sums appropriated under this authorization shall be spent under supervision and direction of the Department of Agriculture and Bureau of Public Roads in cooperation with the Kentucky State highway department; and further that the sums appropriated hereunder shall not be available unless and until the State of Kentucky shall make available a like sum to be expended in cooperation with the Federal Government.

The bill further provides, in accordance with the Federal road act, that not more than $3,000 per mile on any road and not more than

$15,000 on any bridge shall be expended out of the Federal funds; and that no portion of the Federal appropriation shall be expended for rights of way, damage of any kind or character, or for engineering fees incurred by the State of Kentucky, or any subdivision thereof; with the further provision that none of the moneys authorized under this act shall be used in the restoration of any road, street, or highway within any incorporated town or city.

Thus it appears that the provisions of the bill follow the language of the Federal road act in respect of the expenditures of the money, excepting that none of the moneys authorized herein may be used within an incorporated town or city.

The flood disaster which hit Kentucky in 1927 did not receive the prominence and publicity which otherwise might have been its lot had it not occurred during the great Mississippi flood. It was the greatest catastrophe of any character that ever visited the State of Kentucky. The cloudburst in the mountains of Kentucky came without warning, in the night. The record shows an appalling situation. The Kentucky River, within a few hours, rose 75 feet above its normal level. Nothing could withstand its onslaught. Hundreds of houses were thrown from their foundations and relentlessly swept on with the flood. Homes, farm buildings, fencing, tillable soil on the hillsides, with the more fertile soil of the narrow bottoms, were swept away. Miles of railroad were destroyed, all other lines of communication totally wiped out, until it was four days subsequent to the catastrophe that its magnitude was given to the outside world.

Ninety-nine persons lost their lives, 401 bridges were swept away entirely or materially damaged. The minimum estimate made by Red Cross representatives for the road and bridge damage is some $3,000,000. Practically 2,500 miles of road were destroyed or materially damaged. Property damage, excluding a great amount of personal property, was $56,790,000. The bridges across the mountain streams having been washed away, hundreds of school children are unable to attend the school of their locality, and accessibility to their churches is likewise hindered. The mail service is tremendously impaired. The engineer from the State highway commission, together with a Federal engineer, have placed their approval upon the estimates submitted as the basis of this authorization. In many instances the estimates are based upon the cost of the roads and bridges in the first instance, whereas the cost of replacement will be materially greater. An emergency is shown to exist which justifies this legislation.

ACTION IN SENATE

It appeared that there would be some difficulty in securing a rule for the consideration of this legislation and the bill, having been objected to on the Consent Calendar, the junior Senator from Kentucky [Mr. BARKLEY] on March 29 was successful in adding the House bill, in the language of an appropriation, to the agricultural appropriation bill, and that bill, with this item included, passed the Senate upon that day.

EXECUTIVE APPROVAL

At the time of its inclusion in the appropriation bill in the Senate the Kentucky item did not have the sanction of the Bureau of the Budget or of the Bureau of Roads. It had been thought by some that, being a legislative policy, it was not necessary to secure this indorsement. I had not subscribed to this suggestion, and after its passage in the Senate the Director of the Budget and the Chief of the Bureau of Roads were presented with the facts surrounding the disaster sought to be relieved in part and their approval secured.

CONFERENCE

In conference the amendment offered from the floor by the gentleman from Iowa [Mr. DICKINSON] was agreed to as the proper language that the amendment should contain, and the conference report was filed May 5.

STATEMENT BEFORE COMMITTEE

Under the leave granted me I include herewith a statement which I made before the Committee on Roads at the hearing on the bill:

STATEMENT OF HON. FRED M. VINSON, REPRESENTATIVE FROM THE STATE OF KENTUCKY

Mr. VINSON. I represent the ninth district of Kentucky, in eight counties of which the devastating flood of May 29-30, 1927, visited. As graphic and as eloquent as are the statements to which you have listened this morning, the story has never been told. Unless you are acquainted with our mountain country you can not get the picture.

Here it should be stated that in the floods to which reference has been made there were loss of life of 99 persons, bridges badly damaged or totally destroyed to a total of 401, roads badly damaged or totally destroyed aggregating 2,480 miles, a total damage to roads and bridges of more than $2,600,000, with the estimated property damage the stupendous sum of $56.790,000.

The eight counties of my district comprise about one-third of the flooded area; in it is one-third of the total bridges destroyed, onethird of the road mileage involved, and approximately one-third of the loss in life. In my district 24 persons were drowned, 111 bridges

were badly damaged or totally washed away, 788 miles of road were likewise damaged or destroyed. The damage of roads and bridges was vastly in excess of $430,650, the amount presented in the estimates of the county officials under the O. K. of the State highway commission. I repeat that unless one is acquainted with this section of country you can not visualize the damage wrought by this catastrophe. It came without warning in the stealth of the night. Nothing in that section ever approached this flood in its devastating effects upon life and property. Twenty-seven counties of Kentucky were involved in the flood calamity-6 counties in the first congressional district, 2 counties in the second, 2 counties in the seventh, 8 counties in the ninth, 8 counties in the tenth, and 1 county in the eleventh.

Last night a member of the Kentucky delegation not living in the flood area inquired about the damage to the completed roads wrought by the flood. He did not know that in the whole of the flood area in eastern Kentucky at the time of the flood surfaced roads did not exceed 6 miles. South of the Midland Trail, Federal Road No. 60, which runs across Kentucky between Ashland and Louisville, there are but 6 miles of surfaced road in the areas visited by the flood.

I was born in the mountains of Kentucky. I was reared in that hill country. I live there now as a matter of choice. I know something about the conditions that obtain there resultant from the flood and I know something about the characteristics of our people. Every word spoken relative to the inability to reach the school or the church of their locality because of the lack of bridges which were washed out in the flood is true. Further, I state to you that the estimates submitted to this committee from the mountain counties do not state the minimum damage. It is not fair to call their estimate a minimum, because it is below the minimum flood damage.

For illustration, the estimate from one county in my districtMorgan-submitted to me by my good friend C. P. Henry, county judge, shows that 56 bridges were badly damaged or totally destroyed and 323 miles of road likewise damaged. The total estimate to repair this damage is some $37,860-$30,000 for repairing the roads and $7,860 for repairing the bridges; and then appended to the report is a statement that this estimate is based upon free labor to do the job. Mr. ROESION. Do you mean that 56 bridges were destroyed? Mr. VINSON. Fifty-six bridges badly damaged or destroyed and 323 miles of road thus affected.

I say to you that the hill people are a conscientious folk, and have not formed the habit of coming to the Federal father for aid and succor, and in that connection I say to you that there is no spot in the land where the people respect the Federal Government and love the flag more than those who reside among the Kentucky hills.

With your permission, I will discuss the fiscal affairs of the counties in my district within the flood area in connection with the damage sustained. I want to prove conclusively to you that these counties, because of certain legal limitations in our State constitutions, can not perform the task of reconstruction. I would show you the legal status of the State in respect to its inability to do this job. ELLIOTT COUNTY

Take Elliott County as an illustration. Eight persons were drowned. They lost 5 large bridges, running from 70 to 200 feet in length, and reported 24 miles of road badly damaged or destroyed. Their estimate of less for the bridges is $102,500; for the roads, $49,000-a total of $151,500. The loss to the bridges is below the minimum cost of replacing them. The Laurel Bridge, 200 feet in length, was washed away. The estimate to replace it is $50,000. The engineers from the State highway commission who are here now state that it would easily cost $75,000.

Relative to the roads, there are 2 miles of a road leading from their county seat which was totally destroyed. When I say totally destroyed I mean that every vestige of the road had disappeared. Ten miles of this road they report as badly damaged. It was in that section that Governor Fields in visiting the region was compelled to dismount from his horse and lead it along the precipices. We would call such a condition destroyed.

Elliott County had in 1920 a population of 8,887 people scattered over an area of 263 square miles. Its total assessed valuation for the year 1927 (as of July 1, 1926) was $1,473,494. The flood damage to property is reflected in the first recapitulation for 1928 (as of July 1, 1927), which gives the total assessed valuation at $1,315,796. The total income from all sources for the year 1927 was $12,500. This total included a check of some $3,600 which the county received as its portion of the State truck fund. The amount of their road fund, exclusive of the truck check, is $5,500. The statement submitted to the committee shows that the total road indebtedness is $95,000, of which $41,000 is represented by bonds voted by its people. My information is-and if I am incorrect Governor Fields will point it outa bond issue of $50,000 was voted in Elliott County. Governor FIELDS. Yes, sir.

Mr. VINSON. When it came to selling these bonds the total assessed valuation would not permit the sale of all of them. In other words, the people voted more than they could legally issue. I believe I am safe in saying that this condition in respect to bond issues obtains in almost every county in the flood area.

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