BRIDGE ACROSS MINNESOTA RIVER IN THE COUNTIES OF HENNEPIN AND SCOTT, MINN.

MARCH 3, 1931.-Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be printed

Mr. BURTNESS, from the Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, submitted the following

REPORT

[To accompany H. R. 17303]

The Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 17303) granting the consent of Congress to the Minneapolis, Northfield & Southern Railway to construct, maintain, and operate a railroad bridge across the Minnesota River, having considered and amended the same, report thereon with a recommendation that it pass.

Amend the bill as follows:

Line 3, strike out the words "That the consent of Congress is hereby granted" and insert the words "That the act approved January 21, 1927, granting the consent of Congress" in lieu thereof.

Page 2, line 2, after the word "Minnesota," strike out the remainder of the section and all of section 2, and insert the following in lieu thereof;

be, and the same is hereby, revived and reenacted: Provided, That this act shall be null and void unless the actual construction of the bridge herein referred to be commenced within one year and completed within three years of the date of approval hereof.

Line 15, strike out "SEC. 3" and insert "SEC. 2" in lieu thereof. Amend the title so as to read:

To revive and reenact the act entitled "An act granting the consent of Congress to the Minneapolis, Northfield & Southern Railway to construct, maintain, and operate a bridge across the Minnesota River," approved January 21, 1927.

The bill has the approval of the War Department, as will appear by the letter attached.

WAR DEPARTMENT, March 2, 1931. 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 of the accompanying bill, H. R. 17303, Seventy-first Congress, third session, granting the consent of Congress to the Minneapolis, Northfield & Southern Railway to construct a railroad bridge across the Minnesota River, if amended as indicated in red thereon.

BRIDGE ACROSS MISSISSIPPI RIVER AT OR NEAR HELENA, ARK.

MARCH 3, 1931.-Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be printed

Mr. PARKS, from the Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, submitted the following

REPORT

[To accompany H. R. 17337]

The Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 17337) to extend the times for commencing and completing the construction of a bridge across the Mississippi River at or near Helena, Ark., having considered and amended the same, report thereon with a recommendation that it pass. Amend the bill as follows:

Line 8, after the date "1928," insert the following: "heretofore extended by an act of Congress approved March 2, 1929, and further extended".

After line 10, insert the following as a new section:

SEC. 2. The right to alter, amend, or repeal this act is hereby expressly reserved. The acts of Congress referred to in this bill are as follows:

[PUBLIC No. 536–70тH CONGRESS]

[H. R. 13380]

AN ACT Authorizing D. T. Hargraves and John W. Dulaney, their heirs, legal representatives, and assigns, to construct, maintain, and operate a bridge across the Mississippi River at or near Helena, Arkansas

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That in order to facilitate interstate commerce, improve the postal service, and provide for military and other purposes, D. T. Hargraves and John W. Dulaney, their heirs, legal representatives, and assigns, be, and they are hereby, authorized to construct, maintain, and operate a bridge and approaches thereto across the Mississippi River, at a point suitable to the interests of navigation, at or near Helena, Phillips County, Arkansas, in accordance with the provisions of the act entitled "An act to regulate the construction of bridges over navigable waters," approved March 23, 1906, and subject to the conditions and limitations contained in this act.

SEC. 2. There is hereby conferred upon the said D. T. Hargraves and John W. Dulaney, their heirs, legal representatives, and assigns, all such rights and powers

HR-71-3-VOL 2-80

to enter upon lands and to acquire, condemn, occupy, possess, and use real estate and other property needed for the location, construction, operation, and main tenance of such bridge and its approaches as are possessed by railroad corporations for railroad purposes or by bridge corporations for bridge purposes in the State in which such real estate or other property is situated, upon making just compensation therefor, to be ascertained and paid according to the laws of such State, and the proceedings therefor shall be the same as in the condemnation or expropriation of property for public purposes in such State.

SEC. 3. The said D. T. Hargraves and John W. Dulaney, their heirs, legal representatives, and assigns, are hereby authorized to fix and charge tolls for transit over such bridge, and the rates of toll so fixed shall be the legal rates until changed by the Secretary of War under the authority contained in the act of March 23, 1906.

SEC. 4. After the completion of such bridge, as determined by the Secretary of War, either the State of Arkansas, the State of Mississippi, any public agency or political subdivision of either of such States, within or adjoining which any part of such bridge is located, or any two or more of them jointly, may at any time acquire and take over all right, title, and interest in such bridge and its approaches, and any interest in real property necessary therefor, by purchase or by condemnation or expropriation, in accordance with the laws of either of such States governing the acquisition of private property for public purposes by condemnation or expropriation. If at any time after the expiration of twenty years after the completion of such bridge the same is acquired by condemnation or expropriation, the amount of damages or compensation to be allowed shall not include good will, going value, or prospective revenues or profits, but shall be limited to the sum of (1) the actual cost of constructing such bridge and its approaches, less a reasonable deduction for actual depreciation in value; (2) the actual cost of acquiring such interests in real property; (3) actual financing and promotion cost, not to exceed 10 per centum of the sum of the cost of constructing the bridge and its approaches and acquiring such interest in real property; and (4) actual expenditures for necessary improvements.

SEC. 5. If such bridge shall at any time be taken over or acquired by the States or public agencies or political subdivisions thereof, or by either of them as provided in section 4 of this act, and if tolls are thereafter charged for the use thereof, the rates of toll shall be so adjusted as to provide a fund sufficient to pay for the reasonable cost of maintaining, repairing, and operating the bridge and its approaches under economical management, and to provide a sinking fund sufficient to amortize the amount paid therefor, including reasonable interest and financing cost, as soon as possible under reasonable charges, but within a period of not to exceed twenty years from the date of acquiring the same. After a sinking fund sufficient for such amortization shall have been so provided, such bridge shall thereafter be maintained and operated free of tolls, or the rates of toll shall thereafter be so adjusted as to provide a fund of not to exceed the amount necessary for the proper maintenance, repair, and operation of the bridge and its approaches under economical management. An accurate record of the amount paid for acquiring the bridge and its approaches, the actual expenditures for maintaining, repairing, and operating the same, and of the daily tolls collected, shall be kept and shall be available for the information of all persons interested. SEC. 6. D. T. Hargraves and John W. Dulaney, their heirs, legal representatives, and assigns, shall, within ninety days after the completion of such bridge, file with the Secretary of War and with the Highway Departments of the States of Arkansas and Mississippi, a sworn itemized statement showing the actual original cost of constructing such bridge and its approaches, the actual cost of acquiring any interest in real property necessary therefor, and the actual financing and promotion costs. The Secretary of War may, and upon request of the highway department of either of such States shall, at any time within three years after the completion of such bridge, investigate such costs and determine the accuracy and the reasonableness of the costs alleged in the statement of costs so filed, and shall make a finding of the actual and reasonable costs of constructing, financing, and promoting such bridge; for the purpose of such investigation D. T. Hargraves and John W. Dulaney, their heirs, legal representatives, and assigns, shall make available all of their records in connection with the construction, financing, and promotion thereof. The findings of the Secretary of War as to the reasonable costs of the construction, financing, and promotion of the bridge shall be conclusive for the purposes mentioned in section 4 of this act, subject only to review in a court of equity for fraud or gross mistake.

SEC. 7. The right to sell, assign, transfer, and mortgage all the rights, powers, and privileges conferred by this act is hereby granted to D. T. Hargraves and John W. Dulaney, their heirs, legal representatives, and assigns; and any corporation to which or any person to whom such rights, powers, and privileges may be sold, assigned, or transferred, or who shall acquire the same by mortgage foreclosure or otherwise, is hereby authorized and empowered to exercise the same as fully as though conferred herein directly upon such corporation or person. SEC. 8. The right to alter, amend, or repeal this act is hereby expressly reserved. Approved, May 26, 1928.

[PUBLIC NO. 991-70TH CONGRESS]

[H. R. 16645)

AN ACT To extend the times for commencing and completing the construction of a bridge across the Mississippi River at or near Helena, Arkansas

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the times for commencing and completing the construction of a bridge across the Mississippi River, at or near Helena, Arkansas, authorized to be built by D. T. Hargraves and John W. Dulaney, their heirs, legal representatives, and assigns, by an act of Congress approved May 26, 1928, are hereby extended one and three years, respectively, from May 26, 1929.

SEC. 2. The right to alter, amend, or repeal this act is hereby expressly reserved. Approved, March 2, 1929.