HEARINGS BEFORE THE 779 COMMITTEE ON INTERSTATE AND FOREIGN COMMERCE ON H. R. 15444 EXTENDING THE TIME FOR CON- WASHINGTON GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 1908 8884530 EXTENDING TIME FOR CONSTRUCTION OF A DAM ACROSS RAINY RIVER. [President's veto oî H. R. 15444.] COMMITTEE ON INTERSTATE AND FOREIGN COMMERCE, Wednesday, April 22, 1908. Subcommittee: Hon. Frederick C. Stevens (chairman), Hon. John J. Esch, Hon. E. H. Hubbard, Hon. Charles L. Bartlett, and Hon. William Richardson. STATEMENT OF HON. J. ADAM BEDE, A REPRESENTATIVE FROM THE STATE OF MINNESOTA. Mr. STEVENS. This hearing is before a subcommittee of the Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce to consider the bills authorizing construction of dams in waters in or about the State of Minnesota. The first bill to be considered is H. R. 15444, an act extending the time for the construction of a dam across the Rainy River, Minnesota, upon which the President has sent a veto message to Congress, dated April 13, 1908, as follows: [Senate Document No. 438, Sixtieth Congress, first session.] VETO MESSAGE OF THE PRESIDENT. To the House of Representatives: I return herewith, without my approval House bill 15444, to extend the time for the construction of a dam across Rainy River. This bill is returned for several reasons. some of which are general, others special. In this particular case permission to construct this dam was originally given, as being in Rainy Lake River, by the act of May 4 1898 (30 Stat. 398), which limited the time for commencing the work to one year and for completing it to three years from that date. Further extensions of time were granted as follows: For commencement, three years and for completion five years from May 4 1900, by the act of that date (31 Stat.. 167); for construction until May 4 1907, by the act of June 28, 1902 (32 Stat., 485); for completion until July 1, 1908 by the act of February 25, 1905 (33 Stat., 814). The act of 1905 substituted the Rainy River Improvement Company for the original permittee. All rights given by these acts will expire July 1, 1908, unless the dam is completed on or before that date. In other words, the permittees will then have enjoyed for more than ten years the exclusive privilege of constructing this work, and have apparently failed to take advantage of it, for this bill would extend the time for three years longer to some unnamed day in July, 1911. I do not believe that natural resources should be granted and held in an undeveloped condition either for speculative or other reasons. So far as I am aware, there are no assurances that the grantees are in any better condition promptly and properly to utilize this opportunity than they were at the time of the original act ten years ago. In all permits of this character the duty of declaring a forfeiture, after notice and hearing, for failure to begin or complete construction within the time limited by the 3 |