76TH CONGRESS 3d Session } SENATE { REPORT No. 1808 PAYMENT TO EMORY POULSON FOR CERTAIN FLOWAGE RIGHTS, FORT HALL PROJECT, IDAHO JUNE 11 (legislative day, MAY 28), 1940.-Ordered to be printed Mr. THOMAS of Oklahoma, from the Committee on Indian Affairs, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany S. 4042] The Committee on Indian Affairs, to whom was referred the bill (S. 4042)_authorizing the payment of an amount not to exceed $4,500 to Emory Poulson for certain flowage rights, Fort Hall Indian irrigation project, Idaho, having considered same, report thereon with the recommendation that it do pass without amendment. This proposed legislation was suggested by the Secretary of the Interior in a communication dated May 22, 1940, addressed to the President of the Senate, who referred the same to your committee for consideration and in accord with the request of the Secretary of the Interior, your committee authorized the introduction of a bill in form identical with the draft of the proposed bill submitted by him, thereupon a bill, S. 4042, was introduced which thereafter was referred to your committee for further consideration. A full explanation of the purpose of this proposed legislation is contained in the said communication from the Secretary of the Interior dated May 22, 1940, a copy of which is attached hereto and made a part of this report, as follows: The PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, SIR: There is transmitted herewith a draft of a proposed bill to authorize the payment of damages to Emory Poulson or his heirs and the acquisition of an easement over certain of his land which may be flooded in future through the operation of the Fort Hall irrigation project, in Idaho. For the reasons hereinafter stated I recommend that this proposed legislation be enacted. The land affected is described as the NE1⁄4 NE, S1⁄2 NE, sec. 30; SW NW1⁄4 sec. 29, T. 3 S., R. 43 E., Boise meridian, containing 160 acres of land, more or less. It is so situated that it has been flooded or damaged by seepage the greater part of the crop season for a number of years due to certain construction works which the Government has placed in the natural drain leading from Grays Lake. The lake is operated as a natural reservoir on the Fort Hall irrigation project. There appears to be no feasible way to prevent damaging the land if the water is to be conserved for irrigation purposes for which it is needed. From investigations already made and discussions had with Mr. Poulson it is believed that settlement can be effected, including the acquisition of an easement grant from him for future flooding purposes by payment of a sum of not more than $4,500. Prior to the flooding of the land it was principally valuable for the production of hay. In evaluating the claim, estimates of the value of hay produced on the land and the market price of hay during the 10-year period from 1927 to 1937, inclusive, were used as a basis for determining the amount to be paid in settlement of the claim. The estimated annual production as well as the annual price for which the hay probably could have been sold were carefully considered and compared with bulletins on agricultural statistics published by the Department of Agriculture covering hay production and prices in the State of Idaho. Mr. Poulson's claim appears to come within the decisions in similar cases which have been considered by the courts. In the case of United States v. King (59 Fed. 9), a rice farmer in South Carolina was damaged by flood waters from the Savannah River as a result of harbor improvements of the Federal Government, and the court awarded damages in the case. Another similar case is that of Jacobs v. United States (290 U. S. 13), wherein the court held that where there was flooding of land contemplated by the Government as the result of the construction of a dam in a stream there was an implied promise to pay, for which the Government was liable under the fifth amendment to the Constitution. The adjustment of this matter by the enactment of a bill of the nature herein proposed would be in conformity with action heretofore taken by Congress by the act of June 20, 1938 (52 Stat. 1363), for the relief of certain other landowners, similarly situated with respect to the Fort Hall irrigation project. Very truly yours, E. K. BURLEW, Acting Secretary of the Interior. O JUNE 11 (legislative day, MAY 28), 1940.-Ordered to be printed Mr. SHIPSTEAD, from the Committee on Indian Affairs, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany S. 3353] The Committee on Indian Affairs, to whom was referred the bill (S. 3353) providing for the expenditure of funds for cooperation with the public school board of Cass County, Minn., for the improvement of public-school facilities to be available to Indian children, having had same under consideration report thereon with the recommendation that it do pass with the following amendments: Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the following: That there is hereby authorized to be appropriated, out of any funds in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, the sum of $65,000 for the purpose of cooperating with the public school board, Cass County, Minnesota, for the construction, extension, equipment, and improvement of the public-school facilities at a location or at locations to be agreed upon by the Secretary of the Interior and the school officials of Cass County, Minnesota: Provided, That the expenditure of any money so authorized shall be subject to the express conditions that the school maintained by the said district in the said building shall be available to all Indian children of the district, on the same terms, except as to payment of tuition, as other children of said school district: Provided further, That plans and specifications for construction, extension, or improvement of structures shall be furnished by local or State authorities without cost to the United States, and upon approval thereof by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs actual work shall proceed under the direction of such local or State officials. Payment for work in place shall be made monthly on vouchers properly certified by local officials of the Indian Service: Provided further, That funds thus appropriated may be used as sponsors' contribution for the construction, extension, equipment, and improvement of the said public school facilities approved and carried on under funds of the Work Projects Administration: Provided further, That any amount expended on any project hereunder shall be recouped by the United States within a period of thirty years, commencing with the date of occupancy of the project, through reducing the annual Federal payments for the education of Indian pupils enrolled in public or high schools of the district involved, or by the acceptance of Indian pupils in such schools without cost to the United States, and in computing the amount of recoupment for each project interest at 3 per centum per annum shall be included on unrecouped balances. 8. Repts., 76-3, vol. 3- -52 Amend the title so as to read: A bill for expenditure of funds for cooperation with the public-school board, Cass County, Minnesota, for the construction, extension, equipment, and improvement of public-school facilities to be available to Indian children in the district. After receipt of this bill by your committee, it was referred to the Secretary of the Interior for further consideration and report, and thereafter, on May 2, 1940, he submitted his report, which report contains the suggestion that the bill be amended, as herein recommended. A copy of the said report of the Secretary of the Interior dated May 2, 1940, is attached hereto and made a part of this report, as follows: Hon. ELMER THOMAS, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, Chairman, Committee on Indian Affairs, United States Senate. MY DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: This is in further reference to your request for a report on S. 3353, authorizing an appropriation of $65,000 for cooperation with the public-school board of district No. 5 at Onigum and Walker, Minn., for the construction, extension, equipment, and improvement of public-school facilities. There has been considerable discussion as to the most desirable location for the proposed new school. The bill in its present form provides for a school building at Onigum and Walker, and might therefore be construed to authorize a division of the appropriation between the two schools. Provided the bill is amended as suggested by the attached draft of a bill incorporating the desired changes, I recommend the enactment of S. 3353. According to the records the scholastic enumeration of children in the Walker School District is 653, of which number 120, or 18 percent, are Indians. The average attendance for the school year 1939 was 514.34. This figure is exclusive of Onigum, where the scholastic enumeration of children was 70 and all were Indians. A few children from Onigum are now being transported to Walker. The Walker District comprises 74,182 acres. Of this land 33,542 acres are taxable, leaving 40,640 acres of nontaxable land, of which 27,040 acres are United States forest reserve, 8,680 acres are Indian land, and 4,920 are State land. The State aid received by the Walker School District for the fiscal year 1939 amounted to $23,316, and the amount derived from taxation amounted to $10,106, making a total of $33,422. The district has a bonded indebtedness of $24,500. There are outstanding registered warrants amounting to $9,820 and unregistered warrants amounting to $4,100, making a total indebtedness against the district of $38,420. The district is bonded to the limit under existing law. The former school at Onigum was destroyed by fire. School is now being conducted in three makeshift buildings. The present school facilities at Walker do not permit the absorption of the Indian children from Onigum. An addition was built to the Walker school over a year ago, but even with this addition, which includes a modern gymnasium and auditorium, the building is crowded. There are approximately 600 pupils attending the school. Walker is the local educational and trading center, and would like to enlarge its school to accommodate all of the children of the locality. This would be desirable in many ways and would avoid segregation of the Indian children. It would, however, involve daily transportation of all children from Onigum, and young children in the first and second grades would leave home about 7:30 in the morning and not reach home until 5 in the evening. This would be a great hardship for the younger children. There has been some discussion of the possibility of keeping the first four grades in school at Onigum and transporting the older pupils to Walker, but the Walker school board objects to such an arrangement. In recent years appropriations for aid of public-school districts have provided for recoupment by the United States over a period of 30 years with interest at 3 percent on unrecouped balances. In this connection it might be said that there was some hesitancy about approval of the bills authorizing expenditure of Federal funds for improvement of public-school facilities located on land not belonging to the Government and in some cases not on an Indian reservation. Objection was made to an outright grant of funds for this purpose, especially when the Government continues to pay tuition for Indian children enrolled in the school. I therefore recommend inclusion of a provision covering recoupment by the United States, and interest on unrecouped balances, to accord with other similar grants of aid to public-school districts enrolling Indian children. The Director of the Bureau of the Budget has advised me that there is no objection to the presentation of this report to the Congress. Sincerely yours, О HAROLD L. ICKES, |