Secretary of the Interior under the general authority conferred upon him by the act of June 6, 1924, as amended. While no formal expression of departmental views has yet been received with respect to the bill, representatives of the Bureau of Fisheries appeared before the committee and personally and informally stated their opinions that the bill is meritorious and that no objection to its enactment is known. Of course, the passage of the measure will not in any manner result in increased Government expenditures or impose any financial burden upon the United States. In compliance with paragraph 2a of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, changes in section 5 of the act of Congress approved June 26, 1906, made by the bill are shown as follows (existing law proposed to be omitted is enclosed in black brackets; new matter is printed in italics; and existing law in which no change is proposed is shown in roman): "SEC. 5. That it shall be unlawful to fish for, take, or kill any salmon of any species in any manner or by any means except by hand rod, spear, or gaff for personal use and not for sale or barter in any of the waters of Alaska over which the United States has jurisdiction from six o'clock postmeridian of Saturday of each week until six o'clock antemeridian of the Monday following, or during such further closed time as may be declared by authority now or hereafter conferred, but such authority shall not be exercised to prohibit the taking of fish for local food requirements or for use as dog [feed.] feed, nor shall such authority be exercised to prohibit any person from fishing for or taking salmon by hook and line, either for personal use or for sale, during any weekly closed period in any of the waters of Alaska where salmon fishing is otherwise permitted by law and the regulations based thereon. Whenever the Secretary of the Interior shall find that conditions in any fishing area make such action advisable, he may advance twelve hours both the opening and ending time of the minimum thirty-six hour closed period herein stipulated. Throughout the weekly closed season herein prescribed the gate, mouth, or tunnel of all stationary and floating traps shall be closed, and twenty-five feet of the webbing or net of the heart of such traps on each side next to the pot shall be lifted or lowered in such manner as to permit the free passage of salmon and other fishes." О 76TH CONGRESS 3d Session } SENATE { REPORT No. 1875 ALLOWING RED CROSS VESSELS TO LAND AT BELLIGERENT PORTS JUNE 18 (legislative day, MAY 28), 1940.—Ordered to be printed Mr. PITTMAN, from the Committee on Foreign Relations, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany S. J. Res. 279] The Committee on Foreign Relations of the United States Senate having had referred to it the joint resolution (S. J. Res. 279) to amend section 4 of Public Resolution No. 54, approved November 4, 1939, entitled "Joint resolution to preserve the neutrality and the peace of the United States and to secure the safety of its citizens and their interests," hereby report the same to the Senate with the recommendation that it do pass with the following amendment: On page 1, line 9, after the word "vessels" insert a comma and the words "unarmed and not under convoy,". Hon. Breckinridge Long, Assistant Secretary of State, and Hon. Norman Davis, chairman of the American Red Cross, appeared before the committee in support of the joint resolution. The committee found that the American Red Cross vessel McKeesport is 2 days out of the port of New York destined for Balbao, Spain; that the original destination of the said vessel was Bordeaux, France; that it was impossible to land at Bordeaux, France, or at any other belligerent port, in compliance with the law which requires safe conduct granted by states named in any proclamation, issued under authority of the Neutrality Act of 1939; that some of the governments named in the proclamation have no address for their governments and cannot be reached; that other governments, while sympathetic with the Red Cross, do not feel able to guarantee safety; and that unless said section 4 of the Neutrality Act of 1939 with reference to American Red Cross vessels is amended the McKeesport will probably have to return to an American port. The amendment simply strikes out the provision of section 4 requiring safe conduct and further requires that such vessels must be unarmed and not under convoy. The amendment provided by the resolution would permit such a vessel as the McKeesport to change its destination with the permission of the President of the United States under section 3 (a) of the Neutrality Act. This section prevents American vessels from entering combat areas. This restriction applies to Red Cross vessels the same as to other vessels. This section 3 (a) gives protection against a Red Cross vessel attempting to run a blockade or of entering a dangerous zone. The President, of course, would grant no permission in such a case. The committee find that an emergency exists for action upon this resolution and, therefore, recommend to the Senate that it be immediately enacted, as amended. 76TH CONGRESS 3d Session } SENATE { REPORT No. 1876 RIVER AND HARBOR IMPROVEMENTS IN THE INTEREST OF NATIONAL DEFENSE JUNE 18 (legislative day, MAY 28), 1940.-Ordered to be printed Mr. BAILEY, from the Committee on Commerce, submitted the following REPORT (To accompany H. R. 9972] The Committee on Commerce, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 9972) authorizing the improvement of certain rivers and harbors in the interest of the national defense, and for other purposes, having considered the same, report thereon with amendments and as so amended recommend that the bill do pass. The amendments of the committee have been made in accordance with a letter received from the President of the United States, addressed to the chairman of the committee, as follows: Hon. JOSIAH W. BAILEY, THE WHITE HOUSE, Washington, June 15, 1940. Chairman, Senate Committee on Commerce, United States Senate. MY DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: In my message to the Congress of May 21, 1940, vetoing H. R. 6264, a bill authorizing new river and harbor improvements, I stated that I would be glad to approve separate legislation covering the few projects in the bill that were of national-defense value. Based upon this statement, there has been introduced and is now pending before Congress H. R. 9972, a bill which would authorize 23 projects of river and harbor improvement estimated to cost a total of $24,823,000. I have carefully reviewed the projects contained in this bill and have reached the conclusion that the following items are not of sufficient value to national defense as to warrant my approval of them at this time: Kennebec River, Maine.. Boston Harbor, Mass., (H. Doc. 362, 76th Cong.)_ Nantasket (Hull) Gut and Weymouth Fore River, Mass. $2, 000, 000 2, 300, 000 141, 000 120, 000 45, 000 60, 000 465, 000 1, 000, 000 6, 131, 000 |