Mr. MYERS, from the Committee on Public Lands, submitted the fol lowing REPORT. [To accompany S. 8250.] The Committee on Public Lands, to which was referred the bill (S. 8250) to establish the Grand Canyon National Park in the State of Arizona, having had the same under consideration, begs leave to report it back to the Senate with the following amendments: Page 2, at the end of line 22, insert a comma. Page 4, line 11, after the word "thence" insert the word "south." Page 5, line 21, strike out the word "section" and insert in lieu thereof the word "sections." As thus amended the committee recommend that the bill do pass. The bill was referred to the Department of the Interior and the Department of Agriculture and the Secretaries of those departments furnished the committee with the following reports thereon: THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR, MY DEAR SENATOR: I have your request for a report on S. 8250, "A bill to establish the Grand Canyon National Park in the State of Arizona." The area proposed to be set aside and dedicated as a national park by this measure embraces approximately 996 square miles of public land now constituting part of the Kaibab and Tusayan National Forests, in northern Arizona. A large part of it also lies within the Grand Canyon Game Refuge, established by the act of June 29, 1906 (34 Stat., 607), and the Grand Canyon National Monument, set aside by presidential proclamation January 11, 1908, under the act of June 8, 1906 (34 Stat., 225), covers practically the entire area, thus constituting a third and paramount reservation of these lands. In the very nature of things, however, the Grand Canyon can not, as a section of two national forests, a game refuge, or a national monument, be properly developed for the public benefit, and it can not be effectively administered or adequately protected. While the south rim of the canyon has, to a small extent, been made available to the traveling public, and many thousands of tourists have thus had the opportunity of visiting certain of its scenic features, private enterprise alone, operating under extraordinary difficulties, has accomplished this development. I am informed that 106,000 tourists visited the south rim of the Grand Canyon during the calendar year 1915, but, due to lack of roads, trails, side-trip destinations, etc., this vast throng found little opportunity to obtain a full measure of enjoyment of the marvelous grandeur of this region. It seems to be universally acknowledged that the Grand Canyon is the most stupendous natural phenomenon in the world. Certainly it is the finest example of the power and eccentricity of water erosion, and as a spectacle of sublimity it has no peer. It would be futile to attempt to describe the Grand Canyon. However, a review of a few facts with relation to the canyon would be pertinent to a report of this character. The Colorado River, which flows through the gorge, drains a territory of 300,000 square miles, and it is 2,000 miles from the source of its principal tributary to its entrance into the Gulf of California. It is one of America's greatest rivers. It is proposed by this bill to establish a national park at the point in the river's course where it has worn a channel more than a mile deep. This enormous gulf measures occasionally 20 miles across the top. The sides of the gorge are wonderfully shelved and terraced, and countless spires rise within the enormous chasm, sometimes almost to the rim's level. The walls and cliffs are carved into a million graceful and fantastic shapes, and the many colored strata of the rocks through which the river has shaped its course have made the canyon a lure for the foremost painters of American landscape. A few years ago Congress appropriated $5,000 to be expended under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior in the erection of a monument on the rim of the Grand Canyon in memory of Maj. John Wesley Powell, the intrepid scientist who first explored the Colorado River Gorge in 1869. When the question of plans for a suitable monument were under discussion it occurred to me that an altar on a base of Indian architecture, situated on one of the points that overlook the canyon, would be the most appropriate form of memorial to Maj. Powell and would most nearly represent the character of the sentiments that impelled him to visit this region time after time. I thought also that it would complete the environment at one accessible point where the traveler could both contemplate the influences of the canyon and give them such interpretation as they might prompt. A memorial along the lines suggested has recently been completed; a massive base of ancient Aztec design forming the foundation on which stands the graceful altar, and on this altar there is embedded a bronze plate commemorative of Maj. Powell's services to science and to the Nation. It seems that the Grand Canyon, therefore, is entitled to the same status and to an equal degree of consideration by Congress as are enjoyed by Yellowstone, Yosemite, and the other great national parks which contain natural phenomena of the first order, and I heartily recommend immediate favorable action looking toward the enactment of this bill. I have no criticism to make of the text of the bill as it is complete in every particular, and if enacted in this form will give the Department of the Interior power to promote and improve the Grand Canyon along the same broad-gauge lines that have been followed in the development of the other great national parks of the West. As I have already indicated, this region, undeveloped by the Federal Government, has been made accessible only to a small extent by private resources. Yet it has enjoyed the patronage of more tourists during recent seasons than any two of the largest members of the existing park system combined. It deserves the application of the same principles of administration that Congress has authorized the Department of the Interior to employ in the supervision and promotion of other scenic areas of similar importance. For this reason I hope that your committee will place no inhibition on the amount of public funds that the proper committees of the two Houses may recommend annually for appropriation without special authority of law, as has been done in the case of parks recently created. An inhibition of this character is entirely proper in the case of the establishment of national parks which are not enjoying a large tourist patronage or which it would not be advisable to immediately promote and improve, but such an inhibition would render the establishment of the Grand Canyon National Park to all intents and purposes a vain act, and would leave the reservation in practically its present status. The following corrections in the description of the boundaries of the proposed park should be made: In line 22, page 2, a comma should be inserted after the word "meridian"; In line 21, page 5, the word "section" should be changed to "sections." Hon. H. L. MYERS, FRANKLIN K. LANE, Secretary. Chairman Committee on Public Lands, United States Senate. Hon. HENRY L. MYERS, United States Senate. FEBRUARY 16, 1917. DEAR SENATOR MYERS: Receipt is acknowledged of the copy of the bill (S. 8250) to establish the Grand Canyon National Park in the State of Arizona, with the request that your committee be sent such suggestions as this department may see fit to offer. The bill proposes that certain lands now within the Grand Canyon National Monument, administered by this department, be reserved and set a part as the Grand Canyon National Park to be administered under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior, subject to the provisions of the national park act passed at the last session of Congress. It is provided that whenever consistent with the primary purposes of the park permits may be granted by the Secretary of the Interior for waterpower development or for irrigation, and the Secretary of the Interior is also authorized to permit the prospecting, development, and utilization of the mineral resources of said park under what is substantially a leasing system. Moreover, the Reclamation Service may enter and utilize such lands within the proposed park as may be necessary for the development and maintenance of Government reclamation projects. The proposed boundary line of this park was considered by representatives of this department, the National Park Service, and the Congressman from Arizona, and it is believed that the line described in the bill is the proper one to secure a practical administration of both the national park and national forest lands. This department has always recognized that the Grand Canyon of the Colorado is one of the most stupendous scenic wonders of the world and is of first importance for the consideration of Congress in the establishment of national parks. This area should by all means be administered in connection with the other national parks and this department heartily approves of its establishment. The bill contains several features which are not usually written into national-park laws, such as authorizing development of water power and permitting mining. Since, however, the area is to be administered by the Secretary of the Interior, this department does not feel that it should offer any suggestions in the matter. It is assumed, of course, that your committee will ask for the views of the Secretary of the Interior upon the measure. Very truly, yours, 64TH CONGRESS, SENATE. REPORT No. 1085. TO CONSTRUCT BRIDGE ACROSS ROCK RIVER. FEBRUARY 20, 1917.-Ordered to be printed. Mr. SHEPPARD, from the Committee on Commerce, submitted the following REPORT. [To accompany S. 8227.] The Committee on Commerce, having had under consideration the bill (S. 8227), granting the consent of Congress to the city of Fort Atkinson, Wis., for the construction of a bridge across the Rock River, report thereon with the recommendation that it be amended in accordance with the suggestions of the War Department contained in the attached report from that department, and as so amended recommend that the bill do pass. Respectfully returned to the chairman Committee on Commerce, United States Senate. So far as the interests committed to this department are concerned, I know of no objection to the favorable consideration by Congress of the accompanying bill (S. 8227, present session) for the construction of the proposed bridge across the Rock River at Fort Atkinson, Wis., if amended as indicated in red thereon. WM. M. INGRAHAM, Assistant Secretary of War. O 64TH CONGRESS,} SENATE. { REPORT No. 1086. TO CONSTRUCT A BRIDGE ACROSS ST. FRANCIS RIVER, ARK. FEBRUARY 20, 1917.-Ordered to be printed. Mr. SHEPPARD, from the Committee on Commerce, submitted the following REPORT. [To accompany H. R. 18534.] The Committee on Commerce, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 18534) to authorize the construction, maintenance, and operation of a bridge across the St. Francis River at or near Parkin, Ark., having considered the same, report thereon with a recommendation that it pass. Favorable report from War Department attached. [Second indorsement.] War Department, December 22, 1916. Respectfully returned to the chairman, Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, House of Representatives. So far as the interests committed to this department are concerned, I know of no objection to the favorable consideration by Congress of the accompanying bill, H. R. 18534, present session, for the construction of the proposed bridge across the St. Francis River, Ark. O WM. M. INGRAHAM, Assistant Secretary of War. |