1902, 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION. 



2ig 



tion; which was agreed to by the House 

 Committee. 



April 18. 



In the Senate, Mr. Nelson presented 

 a petition of the board of directors of 

 the Chamber of Commerce of St. Paul, 

 Minn., prating for the enactment of 

 legislation providing for the reclama- 

 tion and settlement of the arid public 

 lands of the West. 



Mr. Burton, from the Committee on 

 Forest Reservations and Protection of 

 Game, to whom was referred the bill 

 (S. 522S) for the purchase of a national 

 forest reserve in the Southern Appala- 

 chian Mountains, to be known as the 

 " National Appalachian Forest Re- 

 serve," reported it, with amendments, 

 and submitted a report thereon. 



April 19. 



Mr. Tongue, of Oregon, asked unan- 

 imous consent for the consideration of 

 the bill (H. R. 4393) reserving from 

 the public lands in the State of Oregon, 

 as a public park for the benefit of the 

 people of the United States, a tract of 

 land having an area of 249 square miles, 

 to be known as Crater L,ake National 

 Park. 



April 22. 



The Committee on Public I^ands (Sen- 

 ate) reported back the bill (S. 4363) 

 granting the Central x\rizona Railway 

 Company a right of way for railroad 

 purposes through the San Francisco 

 Mountains Forest Resen^e. This is the 

 Senate bill which passed both Houses, 

 and while it was in the hands of the 

 President was recalled by a concurrent 

 resolution of the two Houses. On the 

 return of the bill to the Senate it was 

 referred to the Committee on Public 

 I^ands. That committee, after con- 

 sidering it, decided to report it back in 

 the form in which it reached the com- 

 mittee, and requested that it be re- 

 turned to the President for his action. 



April 30 CENTRAL ARIZONA RAILWAY. 

 VETO MESSAGE. 



Mr. Burton, from the Committee on 

 Public Lands (Senate), reported back 

 the message of the President of the 

 United States, returning, with his ob- 



jections, the bill (S. 4363) granting the 

 Central Arizona Railway Company a 

 right of way for railroad purposes 

 through the San Francisco Mountains 

 Forest Reserve, with the recommenda- 

 tion that the bill do pass, the veto of 

 the President to the contrary notwith- 

 standing. 



The President's message was as fol- 

 lows : 



To the Senate of the United States: 



I return without approval Senate bill 

 No. 4363, entitled "An act granting the 

 Central Arizona Railway Company a 

 right of way for railroad purposes 

 through the San Francisco Mountains 

 Forest Reserve." 



The Secretary of tlie Interior writes 

 me as follows concerning the attached 

 bill : 



" I enclo-se a copy of the report on 

 the bill by the Commissioner of the 

 General Land Office, dated the 5th in- 

 stant, for your full information. 



' ' He states therein that it is ques- 

 tionable whether or not this company 

 could be required to supply a bond to 

 protect the government from damage 

 l3y reason of the occupancy of the right 

 of way provided for by this bill, should 

 it become a law. 



' ' He also states that this company 

 could acquire the right of way under 

 existing laws, as other companies have 

 done, by complying with the usual re- 

 quirements, one of which is the filing 

 of a bond for the purpose mentioned, 

 and that he knows of no reason why 

 this company should be exempted from 

 such requirements." 



In addition thereto, I have had the 

 Commissioner of the Land Office before 

 me. He informs me that in its present 

 form it w^ould be impossible to exact 

 the guaranty from the railroad that 

 would insure its making good damages 

 resulting from fire or any carelessness 

 on the part of the railroad company in 

 the forest reserve through which this 

 railroad is to pass. He further informs 

 me that there is at present a law which 

 will permit the railroad, if it chooses to 

 take advantage of it, to go across forest 

 reservations under proper safeguards, 

 and that there is no reason why this 



