[CHAPTER 276-1ST SESSION] [H. R. 4988] AN ACT To amend section 2 of the Act of August 27, 1935, as amended. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That section 2 of the Act of August 27, 1935, as amended by the Act of June 20, 1936 (U. S. C., 1934 edition, Supp. V, title 46, sec. 88a), is amended by changing the period at the end thereof to a colon and by the addition immediately thereafter of the following: "Provided, however, That during the national emergency proclaimed by the President on May 27, 1941, to exist, but not after June 30, 1943, load lines may be established or marked on any vessel (except a passenger vessel) while engaged on a coast wise voyage by sea from port to port in the continental United States, which load line gives a lesser free board and less buoyance than the load line established by the International Treaty on Load Lines of 1930, when, in the opinion of the Secretary of Commerce, such load line will not be above the actual line of safety." Approved, July 3, 1941. [CHAPTER 289—1ST SESSION] [H. R. 4258] AN ACT To supplement the navigation laws and facilitate the maintenance of discipline on board vessels of the United States. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That (a) whoever brings on board, or has in his possession or control on board, any vessel of the United States, while engaged on a foreign voyage, any narcotic drug not constituting a part of the cargo entered in the manifest or part of the ship stores, shall be fined not more than $5,000 or be imprisoned for not more than five years, or both. (b) As used in subsection (a) "narcotic drug" means any narcotic drug as now or hereafter defined by the Narcotic Drugs Import and Export Act, or any substance in respect of which a tax is imposed pursuant to chapter 23 of the Internal Revenue Code, as amended, or pursuant to any regulations thereunder. SEC. 2. This Act shall take effect thirty days after the date of its enactment. Approved, July 11, 1941. [CHAPTER 297-1ST SESSION] [H. R. 4700] AN ACT To provide for priorities in transportation by merchant vessels in the interests of national defense, and for other purposes Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That during the emergency declared by the President on May 27, 1941, to exist but not after June 30, 1943, the President may, notwithstanding any other provisions of law, whenever he deems it in the interest of national defense, including the maintenance of essential supplies and services, authorize the United States Maritime Commission to issue warrants as hereinafter provided with respect to any vessel documented under the laws of the United States or any vessel not so documented but owned by a citizen of the United States. Such warrants may also be issued to foreign-flag vessels not owned by citizens of the United States upon application therefor by the owner of said vessel or the charterer thereof on behalf of such owner. Such application shall be in such form as the United States Maritime Commission may prescribe. All warrants shall be issued and may be revoked pursuant to regulations issued by the United States Maritime Commission with the approval of the President. SEC. 2. The warrants to be issued pursuant to this Act shall be in such form as the Maritime Commission shall prescribe, and shall set forth the conditions to be complied with by the affected vessel as a condition to receiving the priorities and other advantages provided in this Act, by reference to an undertaking of the owner or charterer with respect to the trades in which such vessel shall be employed, the voyages which it shall undertake, the class or classes of cargo or passengers to be carried, the fair and reasonable maximum rate of charter-hire or equivalent, and such incidental and supplementary matters as appear to the United States Maritime Commission to be necessary or expedient for the purposes of the warrant. Nothing in this Act shall authorize the United States Maritime Commission to require the owner or charterer to relinquish the manning, storing, victualing, supplying, fueling, maintaining, or repairing of his vessel to any other person or persons. Nothing in this Act shall be deemed to alter, amend, or repeal any of the coastwise laws of the United States. SEC. 3. Vessels holding warrants issued pursuant to this Act shall be entitled to priority over merchant vessels not holding such warrants, with respect to the use of facilities for loading, discharging lighterage or storage of cargoes, the procurement of bunker fuel or coal, and the towing, overhauling, drydocking or repair of such vessels. Vessels holding warrants shall have such priority as among themselves, as the United States Maritime Commission shall deter mine to be necessary and advisable in the interests of national defense, or as may be specified in the warrants. Persons in the United States, including the Philippine Islands and the Canal Zone, furnishing any of the above-mentioned facilities shall be authorized, and under rules and regulations prescribed by the United States Maritime Commission with the approval of the President may be required, to grant such priorities, anything in any contract whether heretofore or hereafter made to the contrary notwithstanding. SEC. 4. In the administration of this Act it shall be the policy of the Commission to make fair and reasonable provision for priorities with respect to (1) the importation of substantial quantities of strategic and critical materials, (2) the transportation of substantial quantities of materials when such transportation is requested by any defense agency, and (3) the transportation in the foreign or domestic commerce of the United States of substantial quantities of materials deemed by the Commission to be essential to the defense of the United States: Provided, That there shall be no unjust discrimination between ports of the United States. Nothing in this Act shall authorize the exaction of any sum from the holder of a warrant solely for the privilege of carrying cargo on any route. Vessels that on January 1, 1941, were engaged primarily in the coastwise transportation of coal for national defense and domestic consumption shall be granted warrants only so long as they continue in the same service as of said date, except that in case any such vessel ceased, before June 15, 1941, to engage in such transportation of coal and before such date became principally engaged in the transportation of defense materials, the Commission may grant such vessel a warrant for such service as it deems suitable pursuant to section 2. SEC. 5. The term "citizen of the United States" as used in this Act includes corporations, partnerships, and associations existing, authorized, or organized under the laws of the United States or any State, district, Territory, or possession thereof. SEC. 6. Whoever willfully violates any rule, regulation, or order issued under the authority conferred herein shall be punished by a fine of not more than $5,000, or by imprisonment for not more than two years or both: Provided, That the District Court of the Canal Zone and the several courts of first instance of the Commonwealth of the Philippine Islands shall have jurisdiction over offenses committed against the provisions of this Act within the Canal Zone and the Philippine Islands, respectively. [CHAPTER 302-18T SESSION] (H. R. 4887] AN ACT To authorize the construction of Coast Guard cutters necessary in the interest of national defense and for performance of Coast Guard duties, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That, in the interest of national defense, and to provide necessary facilities for the Coast Guard for the performance of its prescribed duties, the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authorized to construct and equip thirteen Coast Guard cutters, three of which shall be especially designed for ice breaking in the Arctic regions. SEC. 2. The President is authorized and empowered, in the interest of the national defense, through the Commandant of the Coast Guard, to purchase, charter, requisition the use of, or the possession of, for the use of the Coast Guard in the training of Coast Guard cadets and merchant marine personnel, any foreign vessel designed as a merchant marine training ship, which is lying idle in waters within the jurisdiction of the United States: Provided, That the provisions of the Act of Congress approved June 6, 1941 (Public, Numbered 101, Seventy-seventh Congress), except the third and fourth provisos of section 1 thereof, applicable to foreign merchant vessels shall be applicable to any foreign vessel acquired under this section. SEC. 3. There is hereby authorized to be appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, such amount as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of this Act. Approved, July 15, 1941. |