WITHDRAWAL AND RESERVATION OF TRACTS FOR PARKS, PLAYGROUNDS, AND COMMUNITY CENTERS

An act to authorize the extension of the application of the act entitled "An act to authorize the reservation of public lands for country parks and community centers within reclamation projects, and for other purposes," approved October 5, 1914. (Act July 3, 1926, ch. 777, 44 Stat. 890)

Sec. 1. [Lands in reclamation projects reserved for parks, etc.-Extension to certain described land.]-That the provisions of an act entitled "An act to authorize the reservation of public lands for country parks and community centers within reclamation projects, and for other purposes," approved October 5, 1914, be extended to the following described land:

All in lot 2, section 22, township 7 north, range 1 west, Boise meridian, beginning at the northwest corner of said lot 2, thence east along the northern boundary of said lot 2 nine hundred and ninety feet; thence south along a line parallel to the eastern boundary of said lot 2 to the intersection with the northerly meander line of the Payette River; thence westerly along the northerly meander line of the Payette River to the intersection with the western boundary of said lot 2; thence north along the western boundary of said lot 2 to the northwest corner of said lot 2, which is the point of beginning, comprising approximately twenty-five acres. (44 Stat. 890.)

EXAMINATION OF SWAMP AND OVERFLOW LANDS IN MISSISSIPPI

An act to provide for an examination and report on the condition and possible development and reclamation of the swamp lands on the Yazoo, Tallahatchie, and Coldwater Rivers in Mississippi. (Act July 3, 1926, ch. 796, 44 Stat. 901)

[Sec. 1. Investigation of swamp lands on Yazoo River and tributaries-Determination of cost of reclamation.]—That the Secretary of the Interior be, and he is hereby, authorized and directed to have an examination and investigation made of the swamp and overflow lands on the Yazoo, Tallahatchie, and Coldwater Rivers in the State of Mississippi, with a view to determining the area, location, and general character of the swamp and overflow lands in the valley of the Yazoo River and its said tributaries, which can be developed and reclaimed at a reasonable cost, and the character, extent, and cost of a reclamation and development system of the swamp and overflow lands along the Yazoo River and its said tributaries. (44 Stat. 901.)

Sec. 2. [Report to Congress with recommendation as to feasibility, etc.]-That the said Secretary shall report to Congress as soon as practicable the results of his examination and investigation, together with a recommendation as to the feasibility, necessity, and advisability of the undertaking, and of the participation by the United States in a plan of reclamation in connection with the development of the swamp and overflow lands in the valley of the said Yazoo River and its tributaries. (44 Stat. 901.)

Sec. 3. [Report to contain estimated cost of plan.]-That the said Secretary shall report in detail as to the character and estimated cost of the plan or plans on which he may report. (44 Stat. 902.)

Sec. 4. [Report as to extent to which United States should contribute to cost of plan proposed-Drainage districts' proportion of cost-Extent United States should control or supervise plan proposed.]-That the said Secretary shall also report as to the extent, if any, to which, in his opinion, the United States should contribute to the cost of carrying out the plan or plans which he may propose; the approximate proportion of the total cost which should be borne by the various drainage districts or other public agencies now organized or which may be organized; the manner in which their contribution should be made; to what extent and in what manner the United States should control, operate, or supervise the carrying out of the plan proposed, and what assurances he has been able to secure as to the approval of, participation in, and contribution to, the plan or plans proposed by the various contributing agencies. (44 Stat. 902.)

PAN-PACIFIC CONFERENCE AT HONOLULU, HAWAII

Joint resolution authorizing the call of a conference on education, rehabilitation, reclamation, and recreation at Honolulu, Hawaii. (Pub. Res. 45, S. J. Res. 104, July 3, 1926, ch. 806, 44 Stat. 915)

[Conference on education, reclamation, etc.-Invitations-Secretary of Interior to inaugurate and maintain conference-Authorization for expenses-Report to Congress of proceedings.]-That the President is hereby authorized and requested to call a conference on education, rehabilitation, reclamation, and recreation, to be held at Honolulu, Hawaii, in April or May of 1927; and to extend invitations to such Governments as in his judgment should be represented at the conference.

The Secretary of the Interior, subject to the approval of the President, is hereby given full authority for the inauguration and maintenance of such conference, the preparation of and sending necessary exhibits thereto, purchase of necessary supplies and equipment, for telephone, telegraph, or cable service, freight and express charges, for travel and subsistence of employees of the Interior Department or representatives thereof, and for other necessary expenses incident to the conference, including the employment of assistants in or outside of the District of Columbia, the sum of $20,000 is hereby authorized to be appropriated, from any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, to be immediately available and to continue available until December 31, 1927.

The Secretary of the Interior shall make a report of the proceedings of the conference and a detailed statement of expenditures to the Congress of the United States at the session next following the conference.

SPECIAL PROVISIONS OF THE INTERIOR DEPARTMENT APPROPRIATION ACT FOR 1928

An act making appropriations for the Department of the Interior for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1928, and for other purposes. (Act January 12, 1927, Pub. No. 541, 69th Congress)

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CONTINGENT EXPENSES, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

* Bureau of Reclamation, $18,000, any unexpended portion of which shall revert and be credited to the reclamation fund * *

For the purchase or exchange of professional and scientific books, law and medical books, and books to complete broken sets, periodicals, directories, and other books of reference relating to the business of the department by the several offices and bureaus of the Interior Department herein named, there is hereby made available from any appropriations made for such bureau or office not to exceed the following respective sums: Bureau of Reclamation, $1,500.

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BUREAU OF RECLAMATION

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The following sums are appropriated out of the special fund in the Treasury of the United States created by the act of June 17, 1902, and therein designated "the reclamation fund," to be available immediately:

Commissioner of Reclamation, $10,000; and other personal services in the District of Columbia in accordance with "The Classification Act of 1923," $142,000; for office expenses in the District of Columbia, $23,000; in all, $175,000;

For expenses, except membership fees, of attendance upon meetings of technical and professional societies required in connection with official work of the bureau, $2,000;

For all expenditures authorized by the act of June 17, 1902 (Thirty-second Statutes, page 388), and acts amendatory thereof or supplementary thereto, known as the reclamation law, and all other acts under which expenditures from said fund are authorized, including not to exceed $160,000 for personal services and $25,000 for other expenses in the office of the Chief Engineer, $25,000 for telegraph, telephone, and other communication service, $8,000 for photographing and making photographic prints, $50,000 for personal services, and $10,000 for other expenses in the field legal offices; examination of estimates for appropriations in the field; refunds of overcollections and deposits for other purposes; not to exceed $20,000 for lithographing, engraving, printing, and binding; purchase of ice; purchase of rubber boots for official use by employees; maintenance and operation of horse-drawn and motor-propelled passenger

carrying vehicles; not to exceed $50,000 for purchase of horse-drawn and motor-propelled passenger-carrying vehicles; packing, crating, and transportation (including drayage) of personal effects of employees upon permanent change of station, under regulations to be prescribed by the Secretary of the Interior; payment of damages caused to the owners of lands or other private property of any kind by reason of the operations of the United States, its officers or employees, in the survey, construction, operation, or maintenance of irrigation works, and which may be compromised by agreement between the claimant and the Secretary of the Interior, or such officers as he may designate; payment for official telephone service in the field hereafter incurred in case of official telephones installed in private houses when authorized under regulations established by the Secretary of the Interior: Provided, That no part of said appropriations may be used for maintenance of headquarters for the Bureau of Reclamation outside the District of Columbia except for the office of the chief engineer: Provided further, That the Secretary of the Interior in his administration of the Bureau of Reclamation is authorized to contract for medical attention and service for employees and to make necessary pay roll deductions agreed to by the employees therefor: Provided further, That any moneys which may have been heretofore or may be hereafter advanced for operation and maintenance of any project or any division of a project shall be covered into the reclamation fund and shall be available for expenditure for the purposes for which advanced in like manner as if said funds had been specifically appropriated for said purposes: Provided further, That no part of any sum provided for in this act for operation and maintenance of any project or division of a project by the Bureau of Reclamation shall be used for the irrigation of any lands within the boundaries of an irrigation district which has contracted with the Bureau of Reclamation and which is in arrears for more than twelve months in the payment of any charges due the United States, and no part of any sum provided for in this act for such purpose shall be used for the irrigation of any lands which have contracted with the Bureau of Reclamation and which are in arrears for more than twelve months in the payment of any charges due from said lands to the United States;

Examination and inspection of projects: For examination of accounts and inspection of the works of various projects and divisions of projects operated and maintained by irrigation districts or waterusers' associations, $20,000;

Yuma project, Arizona-California: For operation and maintenance, $358,000; for continuation of construction of drainage, $35,000; in all, $393,000: Provided, That the unexpended balance of $35,000 of the appropriation of $200,000 for the Yuma auxiliary project, contained in the Second Deficiency Act, fiscal year 1925 (Forty-third Statutes at Large, page 1330), is hereby reappropriated and made available for the same purposes for the fiscal year 1928;

Orland project, California: For operation and maintenance, $35,000; continuation of construction of Stony Gorge Reservoir, $605,000; in all, $640,000;