6172 CONGRESSIONAL REOORD-I-IOUSE }fAI~CII 24 path that I have endeavored to clleck out in my proposed I liOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES amendment to the Federal Constitution. Mr l\IcKELLAlt. l\Ir. President, will the Senator yield? .WEDNESDAY, March 24, 192(] ~h·: BH.UCJ<J. In one moment. I am almost through. liJvcry The llouse met at 12 o'clock noon. county and city in the Union would bo allowed to say whether The Chaplain, Rev. James Sllcra Montgomery, D. D., offered it ,,.o~ltl or would not llave prohibition within its limits, but the following prayer : l:'IO far as the different local communities of the United States did not <leclnrc in favor of prohibition, the manufacture, tlle Almighty God, our ble::;scd, blessed Father in hcn.ven, our sale, tlte di ·trihution, and tlle use of intoxicating beverages thoughts would utter life is divine when duty is a joy. In would be snbject to the strict suvcrdsion and control of the this way we would express the highest wisdom which cometh Fetlcral Government. from Tl1ee. To 1·ob Th('e of Thy authoritative place in life is Then, rest rictive or regulatory laws relating to liquor would to roiJ life itself of it~ grandeur. 0 God, lead us not to do so, have a true moral sanction bellind tllem. for the SJIUpathy and IJut may we gratefully realize that the moral light that we suJ1port of the people of the United States would rally to tllcir may 110. !-less and the good we may .do are gleams of Thy glory. aid. allCl we would no longer have the spectacle of a law not 0 ~reat is the Lord and greatly to be praised in the mount re~peC'tl:'d bccaul'5e it was not re. pectable. We would not have of 'l'hy holineFls. Thou art our God forever and forever, and tlle fH·esent outcroppin"' of daily abu~s and scan<lals; we would will be our guide C\'CU unto death. In the migllt of Thy wis­ not have tllo:c long files of IJootleggers pn.s_sing daily through <lom, in the teJldPrness of Thy mercy, in the serviee of Jesus the conrts ou their way to the jails and penitentiaries, from our Savior be with the stricken sections oi our country. Amen. wlH'nce they are only too likely to is~:me full-IJlown criminals. The ,Journal of the proceedings of yesterday was read and \Ye wonlrl not have the uemorn.li:wtion which hfl~ been worked approved. among the youth of the land by prohibition. We woulu n~t OURTIS llAY ORDNANCE DEPOT have a man like Bishop Nicholson, the president of the Anti­ 1\Ir. HILL of :Maryland. l\Ir. Speaker, I ask unn.nimous con­ Saloon Lengue nnd a Methodist bishop, admitting here in the Rent to address the· House on the subject of the Curtis Bay city of Washington. as be did sev('ral years ago, that one thin~ at ordna11ne depot. least mn ·t be admittl:'d IJy tlle prohibitionists and that was that The SPEAKER. The gentleman from 1\Iaryln.nd asks unani­ women ·were <lrinkin~ more freely thnn ever before. w·e would mous consent to address the House on the Curtis Bay ord­ not lla>e official corruption in the enforcement of law so com­ nance depot. Is there ob j ~ction? [After a pause.] The Chn.ir mon ns to e..'\:dte only a fugitive emotion of surprise. hears none. Thnt is all thnt I have to say at this time. Later, when the 1\Ir. HILL of l\Iaryland. Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Mary­ hen dng before the Senate Jn<liciary Committee takes place, I ln.nd delegation received a communicn.tion from the mayor ot hope to be nhl~ wlth some success to explain the purpo~es that Baltimore in reference to the Curtis Bay ordnance depot. I lie bnck of my :vropo~ed constitutional proposition and to ob­ at once took up the mat1er with the 'Var Department, and tain at least some measure of approval from the meruiJers of received the following letter from the office of the Chief of that committee. nut it makes very little difference to me, much Ordnance. as I de~ire to oiJtain their full approval, whether it is given l\lr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to revise and extend or not, bE'canKe hefore long we shall have an approval in com­ my remarks by printing a letter from the War Department in pari:-;on with wllich the approval of any committee of the Sen­ reference to this matter, an editorial from the Sun, and this ate i~ hut ns tlle whisperings of a zephyr in comparison with letter of the mayor. the voiee of the wimls ~nd waves in an ocean storm. The SPFJAKER. Is there oiJjection. The CJUP tion of prohibition will he drawn into the next con­ Mr. BLACK of Texas. Mr. Speaker, reserving the right gre~~ionnl election. )Jnke no mi!:ltake about that; and we are to object, what is it about? fari11g that fact with the utmost confluence. But whether it Mr. IIUJL of :Maryland. It is about the Curtis nay ord­ is drawn into the next congressional election or not, it will nance depot in Baltimore Hnr!Jor. as!'nrNlly be drawn into the next pref':idential election. I do l\lr. BLACK of Texas. It is a Federal project? not know what the Republfcn.n !'arty will do then. hut I believe Mr. HILL of Maryland. No; the mayor of Baltimore is that as certainly as I stand here that at the head of the Dem­ beeoming disturbed over the fact there are to"(]ay high expl<r ocmtk hol'b; will he some mnn like Gov. Alfred E. Smith, of slves stored there, and thls is a cn.lming letter from the War New York, or Albert C. Ritchie, of Maryland, or some other DepnrtmPn t. Democrat who sltnll have pledged himself, if elected, to do all Mr. BLACK of Texas. Storage of explosives by the Gov- in his pow0t to IJring about the restorn.tion of law observance, erument? sodnl decency, and official fidelity in the United States. l\lr. HILL of Maryland. Yes. EXECUTIVE SESSfON l\fr. BLACK of Texas. I have no objection. The SPEAKER. ls there objection? [After a pn.use.] Mr. WATSON. I move that the Senate proceed to the con- The Chair henr~ none. sideratiou of executive business. • l\lr. HILL of Mn.ryln.nd. The communication is as follows: 'l'he motion was ag-rcGu to, and the Senate proceeded to the consideration of exeeutive lmsiness. After 15 minutes spent Man.cn 23, HI2G. lion. Jon:-< Pnrr.rp HrLr,, in execntiv<"' session, the doors were reopened, and the Senato llouse of RP.presentatives, "Washington, D. 0. (at G o'clock and 5 minutes p. m.) adjourned until to-morrow, Tlmrstlay, l\larch 25, 1026, at 12 o'clock meridian. MY DEAR Mn. HILL: Your letter r eferring to the letter received by you from the mayor of Baltimore concernin;:: conditions at the Curtis Ba.y ordnance <lepot has been received. CONFIRMATIONS The .Chief of Ordnance deslres me to inform you concerning this de11ot us follows : Execuf.it'e nominations oonfirmed by the Sena,te March 24 (legts­ The Curtis Ray ordnance depot, located near Eultimorc, is one or lative day of March 20) , 192G Sf'Veral Army depots in which are stored tlle war reserves of ammu­ POSTMASTERS nition and components thereof. There arc stored at the Curtis Day depot a considcruule quantity of smokeless powder, both in bull< and ILLINOIS macle into propelling charges. There is likewise a consldemble quan­ Charles Koenig, Brookfield. tity or black ignition powder, which is packed in 50 or 100 pound Pred W. Diefenbach, Herscher. kegs ancl stot·ed in standard magazines dcsl:;ned for this character John W. Rheury, New Holland. of material. Is!l!lc D. Gum, Pocnhontas. '.fhcre are large quantities of loaded shell from 37 millimeters in Artllur L. Johnson, Rockford. caliber on up. Tb('re is a relative small amount (of less than Frank B. Courtri~ht, Sheridan. lGO,OOO pounds) of high explosive stored at Cm·tls Bay. John R. Fornof, Strcalor. These materials ore segregated and stored separately in standard fireproof magazines built during the war. These magazines are sepa­ PENNSYLVANIA rated several hundred feet apart and aronn1l each there is a cleared Irn. n. Rums, Bellwood. space approximately GO feet In width in which all vegetation is de­ Anna ~1. Hess, Duncansville. stroyed. The Ordnance Department considers Curtis Bay to be one of its VIRGINIA best organized, best laid out, and safest ammunition depots. Tho S. Leon Lewis~ Zuni. organization has constantly in minu the necessity or fit·e protection and 1:926 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD- Ho-uSE 6173 . otllor• precautionary nreuenres, conccl'nln~- the stornge of the' am• cal· action and agl! to expTbde withnut otlicr aid, but these facts will munition. _be submitted from time to time as the op]Jortunity offers . Sin o~ tile war there have oucu.rra<:l vnrlous fires ancl exiJlbsions in Our plan is to ask Congress through the va rious agencies in the city the ordnance depots, unt in no case bas tlte fire or· explosion com· interes ted ln mutters or 1hi!l kind to rid us of this danger, an(] to that munioated. from one m~tga~ine to another. I'n other words; we. have end may we ask yom· immediate nil! and cooperation.