STATEMENT OF THE MANAGERS ON THE PART OF THE HOUSE

The managers on the part of the House at the conference on the disagreeing votes of the two Houses on the amendments of the Senate to the bill (H. R. 7562) to encourage and promote the ownership of farm homes and to make the possession of such homes more secure, to provide for the general welfare of the United States, to provide additional credit facilities for agricultural development, and for other purposes, submit the following statement in explanation of the effect of the action agreed upon by the conferees and recommended in the accompanying conference report.

FARM TENANT PROVISIONS

The Senate amendment authorized the Corporation created in the amendment to acquire land, and sell or lease it to persons eligible to the benefits of the act. The conference agreement with respect to the farm-tenant title follows the substance of the House bill with the following differences:

(1) Under the conference agreement, loans may be made for a period not in excess of 40 years. The House bill term was 30 years. (2) Under the conference agreement, applications for loans, which are to be passed on by the county committee, are to be filed with the county agent in the county or with such person as the Secretary designates.

(3) The conference agreement contains a provision, adapted from the Senate amendment, under which the loan instruments are to contain a term that the borrower carry out such proper farming practices as the Secretary prescribes.

(4) The conference agreement contains a provision, adapted from the Senate amendment, under which the loan instruments are to contain a term to the effect that, without the consent of the Secretary, final payment may not be accepted or the Government's interest released prior to 5 years from the making of the loan.

(5) The conference agreement contains a provision, which was implicit in both the House bill and the Senate amendment, which expressly gives the Secretary the power to declare the entire amount due under the loan agreement immediately payable on default in the performance of, or upon any failure to comply with, any term or condition of the mortgage or deed of trust.

(6) The conference agreement rewords the provision of the House bill making the provisions of the Frazier-Lemke Act unavailable to the borrower until he has paid at least 15 percent of his indebtedness. (7) The conference agreement contains a provision adapted from the Senate amendment under which the Secretary is, so far as practicable, to exercise his powers to avoid production expansion where expansion would defeat the parity policy of section 7 of the Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act, and to assist beneficiaries of the title to become established on lands now under cultivation.

(8) Under the House bill $50,000,000 was authorized to be appropriated for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1940, and no authorization was made for later years. The Senate amendment authorized that sum to be appropriated for the fiscal year 1940 and for each fiscal year thereafter. The conference agreement adopts the Senate provision.

(9) The conference agreement contains a provision under which administrative expenses for carrying out the farm-tenant title (personnel, overhead, etc.) are not to exceed in any fiscal year 5 percent of the amount appropriated for the fiscal year. The Senate amendment fixed a flat $400,000 as the upper limit.

REHABILITATION LOANS

There are no express provisions in the Senate amendment authorizing the making of rehabilitation loans as such, but the Senate amendment does authorize loans of the kind which may be made under title II of the House bill. These loans under the House bill and the Senate amendment may be made to the beneficiaries of the tenant provisions. The conference agreement contains the loan and debt adjustment provisions of title II of the House bill with two minor clarifying changes. Under the House bill the purposes for which loans could be made included "other farm needs". The first change made by the conference agreement is for the purpose of making clear that the phrase "other farm needs" includes minor repairs and minor improvements to real property. The second makes it clear that loans made under the title are renewable.

SUBMARGINAL LAND

The Senate amendment contains no express provision relating to retirement of submarginal land. The conference agreement contains the provisions of the House bill without change.

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Under the Senate amendment, a corporation is established to carry out its provisions. The House bill conferred the powers on the Secretary of Agriculture and did not provide for a corporation. The conference agreement establishes a corporation in the Department of Agriculture, the directors of which are to be Department officials, who serve without additional compensation. The Secretary of Agriculture can empower the Corporation to exercise the functions conferred upon him under the farm tenant and rehabilitation loan titles and in the parts of the general title which relate to such subjects. When so authorized the act applies to the Corporation just as it does to the Secretary. The Corporation can exercise no powers under the submarginal land title. The Corporation in order effectively to exercise the powers conferred upon it must have the power conferred in the Senate amendment to acquire, hold, and dispose of real and personal property. In the conference agreement, that power has been strictly limited, so that it is not a general one but is confined only to the necessities of exercising the powers given it and must be exercised subject to the limitations of the act. Thus a granted corporate power with respect to real and personal property may not be construed to authorize a general property purchase and sale program contrary to the terms of title I or II.

The remainder of the general title in the conference agreement is the same as the same title in the House bill with the following differences: (1) The conference agreement omits the provision of the House bill under which reductions in personnel were to be determined in accordance with a geographical rule. The provision for requiring apportionments of appointments of personnel in accordance with the census has been made to apply only where it is practicable to do so.

(2) Under the House bill, land could be acquired without regard to section 355 of the Revised Statutes under which various restraints are put upon land acquisition. The conference agreement limits that exception so that acquisition of submarginal land must be in accordance with section 355 whenever that section by its terms applies.

(3) An express provision in the conference agreement which was adapted from the Senate amendment requires that litigation be conducted under the supervision of the Attorney General by the various district attorneys.

(4) Under the House bill, property held by the Secretary was tax-exempt but property which was in the hands of the beneficiaries of the tenant and rehabilitation provisions was subject to taxation. By reason of the inclusion of a corporation in the conference agreement, it is necessary to carry over some of the provisions of the Senate amendment relating to taxation and tax exemption of the corporate property. The conference agreement provides that even though title is in the Secretary or the Corporation, real and personal property in the hands of beneficiaries of titles I and II is subject to taxation. Property of the Corporation or the Secretary (used for administrative purposes) and property owned by them and not in the hands of such beneficiaries is tax-exempt. The Corporation's franchises, income, notes, etc., are tax-exempt. An express provision of the conference agreement preserves the power and duty of the Secretary to make such payments in lieu of taxes on property held by him as are now authorized by law.

(5) The conference agreement provides that the county committee shall meet on the call of the county agent or such person as the Secretary may designate.

(6) The conference agreement contains a provision taken from the Senate amendment under which the President is authorized to transfer to the Secretary or the Corporation any land under the supervision of the Secretary which is suitable for use under the act and authorizes them to use and dispose of such land in such manner, and subject to such terms and conditions as the President determines will best carry out the objectives of the act.

(7) The conference agreement contains a prohibition on making of loans, and transferring real property to corporations for farming purposes. A comparable provision is found in the Senate amendment.

(8) Inasmuch as the House bill did not contain any provision for a corporation, the usual penalty provisions in relation to transactions by and property of Federal corporations, were not included. The conference agreement provides for a corporation, and hence includes the penalty provisions of the Senate amendment.

(9) Section 49 of the House bill contained certain provisions prohibiting officers, attorneys, and employees of the United States to be

the beneficiaries of any fees, commissions, or gifts in connection with any transaction or business of the United States under the bill. The conference agreement makes it clear that this provision is to apply to officers, attorneys, and employees of the Corporation.

The House recedes on the title and short title to the bill.

REIMBURSEMENT OF THE FORT BERTHOLD INDIANS OF NORTH DAKOTA

JULY 12, 1937.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union and ordered to be printed

Mr. CASE, from the Committee on Indian Affairs, submitted the following

REPORT

[To accompany S. 642]

The Committee on Indian Affairs, to whom was referred the bill (S. 642) for the relief of the Indians of the Fort Berthold Reservation in North Dakota, having considered the same, report thereon with a recommendation that it do pass without amendment.

This pending bill was prepared by the Department of the Interior. The following is taken from the Senate Report No. 771, dated June 15, 1937:

The object of this legislation is to carry into effect an obligation solemnly assumed by the United States in its dealings with the Fort Berthold Indians, composed of the Arickarees, Gros Ventres, and Mandans, who have at all times maintained peace and friendship with the Government and who were the allies of the United States during the Sioux wars (Report Commissioner on Indian Affairs, 1873, pp. 158-159). This obligation arises out of a treaty negotiated with these Indians on July 27, 1866 (Kappler's Laws and Treaties, vol. 2, 1052) which was not ratified but the provisions of which were carried into effect by both parties to it. Under this treaty the said Indians ceded to the United States the right to establish roads, highways, telegraph lines, military posts, and depot stations upon lands used by the said Indians as hunting grounds and upon lands reserved to them by the Fort Laramie Treaty of September 17, 1851 (Kappler's Laws and Treaties, vol. 4, 1065). The United States agreed to pay the said Indians, as a consideration for ceding such rights and privileges upon and over their lands, the sum of $20,000 per year for a period of 20 years. The said Indians permitted their lands to be used as agreed and the United States appropriated and paid the said Indians in due time the said $400,000, so that the United States received what it bargained to buy and the said Indians in return received the amount agreed upon for such rights and privileges. The said Indians from every standpoint of fairness and equity were entitled to receive the said money in return for what the United States received from them. While the 1866 treaty was not formally ratified, its terms were in effect approved by the Department in submitting estimates under said treaty (Report Commissioner on Indian Affairs for 1868, p. 336), and by Congress in making appropriations called for under its provisions, and the United States accepted the benefits H. Repts., 75-1, vol. 3- -3