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Mr. CURTIS. Of course, the Senator realizes that that committee wants to meet in order to carry out practically the instructions of the Congress.

Mr. HARRISON. I have only entered the motion to reconsider. It may be that I will withdraw it before 12 o'clock, but I do not know.

The VICE PRESIDENT. The motion to reconsider will be entered.

Mr. WADSWORTH. Mr. President, a parliamentary inquiry.

The VICE PRESIDENT. The Senator will state it.

Mr. WADSWORTH. I inquire of the Chair if it is not true that the pending question is the motion of the Senator from Mississippi to reconsider the vote by which the House joint resolution was passed.

The VICE PRESIDENT. The Senator from Mississippi has merely entered his motion..

Mr. WADSWORTH. Has he the privilege of entering a motion and not having it the pending question?

The VICE PRESIDENT. He has that privilege for two days.

The authority sought by the above resolution was similar to that granted to the committee in connection with the Revenue Act of 1926 (Public Law No. 631, Sixty-eighth Congress), as well as at other times when Congress, in order to speed up the public business, has constituted the Committee on Ways and Means of one Congress a select committee for the purpose of preparing legislation to be introduced in the next Congress.

In view of the precedents and the fact that the intent of Congress was clear, even though the authorization failed through a technicality, the chairman, upon consultation with the members of the committee, and upon the advice that the committee could function informally through the cooperation of the Clerk of the House, the Committee on Accounts, the Joint Committee on Printing, and the committee stenographers, gave notice in July, through the newspapers, that the committee would meet in October to consider revenue revision.

Accordingly, a schedule of hearings was arranged, interested parties notified, and public notice given through the newspapers on September 19, 1927, that hearings would be held beginning October 31, 1927. The notice was as follows:

In contemplation of a revision of the revenue act of 1926, the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives announces to all concerned that it will hold hearings at Washington, D. C., beginning Monday, October 31, 1927, at 2 o'clock p. m., and continuing for a period of 10 days. A tentative schedule of hearings has been arranged, as follows:

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Hearings will be conducted in the hearing room of the committee, room 321, House Office Building, Washington, D. C. Sessions' will begin at 10 a. m. and 2 p. m., unless otherwise ordered by the committee.

Persons desiring to be heard should apply to the clerk of the committee at least one day prior to the date of the hearing in order to be assigned time on the calendar for that day. In making such application, the following information should be given: Name; business address; temporary address in Washington; business or occupation; and the person, firm, corporation, or association represented; subject concerning which testimony will be given; number of the section of the revenue act of 1926 to which it relates; and the amount of time desired.

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In order to avoid duplication of arguments or suggestions, it is requested that persons having the same problems to present will agree upon one representative to present their views. So far as practicable, the committee will seek to recognize witnesses who are qualified to give first-hand information. Briefs may be submitted in lieu of, or to augment, oral testimony; but if such papers are printed on both sides of the sheet, two copies must be filed with the clerk for printing in the record.

In accordance with the foregoing notice and by subsequent action of the committee the hearings were held continuously from October 31 to November 10, 1927. Stenographic minutes of each day's proceedings were printed in unrevised committee prints for the immediate use of the committee. As far as it was possible so to do, these prints were distributed daily to those requesting same. Copies were sent to each witness, with the request that the witness make any necessary corrections for clearness in his statement and return the copy to the clerk. Such corrections have been observed in preparing this revised edition of the hearings.

In this revision of these daily hearings the chronological order of the statements has been disregarded and the testimony and papers submitted have been grouped according to the order of the provisions of the Revenue Act of 1926. The frequency with which witnesses digressed from the general subject of their appearance to discuss interrelated or different phases of revenue legislation has made it almost impossible to divide the testimony without destroying the text. The complete testimony of each witness, therefore, has been included under the heading to which the witness first addressed himself and the subject matter has been carefully indexed for ready reference.

CLAYTON F. MOORE, Clerk.

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