[S. 3388.]

An Act To amend the emergency shipping fund provisions of the urgent deficiency appropriation Act approved June fifteenth, nineteen hundred and seventeen, so as to empower the President and his designated agents to take over certain transportation systems for the transportation of shipyard and plant employees, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That section one of the emergency shipping fund provisions of the urgent deficiency appropriation Act of June fifteenth, nineteen hundred and seventeen, is hereby amended by adding a new provision reading as follows:

"(f) To take possession of, lease or assume control of, any street railroad, interurban railroad, or part thereof wherever operated, and all cars, appurtenances, and franchises or parts thereof commonly used in connection with the operation thereof necessary for the transfer and transportation of employees of shipyards or plants engaged or that may hereafter be engaged in the construction of ships or equipment therefor for the United States."

SEC. 2. That paragraph (b) of section one of said Act is hereby amended by adding, after the word "material," in the third line of said paragraph, the following words, "or take possession, lease or assume control of, any street railroad, interurban railroad, or part thereof, cars and other equipment necessary to operation."

SEC. 3. That upon taking possession of such property, or leasing or assuming control thereof, just compensation shall be made therefor, to be determined by the President, and if the amount thereof so determined by the President is unsatisfactory to the person entitled to receive the same, such person shall be paid seventy-five per centum of the amount so determined by the President and shall be entitled to sue the United States of America to recover such further sums as added to seventy-five per centum will make up such amount as will be just compensation therefor, in the manner provided for by section twenty-four, paragraph twenty, and section one hundred and forty-five of the Judicial Code.

The President may exercise the power and authority hereby vested in him through the several departments of the Government, and through such agency or agencies as he shall determine from time to time.

Approved, April 22, 1918.

[H. R. 9535)

An Act Authorizing suits against the United States in admiralty for damage caused by and salvage services rendered to public vessels belong ing to the United States, and for other purposes

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That a libel in personam in admiralty may be brought against the United States, or a petition impleading the United States, for damages caused by a public vessel of the United States, and for compensation for towage and salvage services, including contract salvage, rendered to a public vessel of the United States: Provided, That the cause of action arose after the 6th day of April, 1920.

SEC. 2. That such suit shall be brought in the district court of the United States for the district in which the vessel or cargo charged with creating the liability is found within the United States, or if such vessel or cargo be outside the territorial waters of the United States, then in the district court of the United States for the district in which the parties so suing, or any of them, reside or have an office for the transaction of business in the United States; or in case none of such parties reside or have an office for the transaction of business in the United States, and such vessel or cargo be outside the territorial waters of the United States, then in any district court of the United States. Such suits shall be subject to and proceed in accordance with the provisions of an Act entitled "An Act authorizing suits against the United States in admiralty, suits for salvage services, and providing for the release of merchant vessels belonging to the United States from arrest and attachment in foreign jurisdictions, and for other purposes,' approved March 9, 1920, or any amendment thereof, in so far as the same are not inconsistent herewith, except that no interest shall be allowed on any claim up to the time of the rendition of judgment unless upon a contract expressly stipulating for the payment of interest.

SEC. 3. That in the event of the United States filing a libel in rem or in personam in admiralty for damages caused by a privately owned vessel, the owner of such vessel, or his successors in interest, may file a cross libel in personam or claim a set-off or counterclaim against the United States in such suit for and on account of any damages arising out of the same subject matter or cause of action: Provided, That whenever a cross libel is filed for any cause of action for which the original libel is filed by authority of this Act, the respondent in the cross libel shall give security in the usual amount and form to respond to the claim set forth in said cross libel unless the court, for cause shown, shall otherwise direct; and all proceedings on the original libel shall be stayed until such security shall be given.

(83) ►

SEC. 4. That no officer or member of the crew of any public vessel of the United States may be subpoenaed in connection with any suit authorized under this Act without the consent of the secretary of the department or the head of any independent establishment of the Government having control of the vessel at the time the cause of action arose, or of the master or commanding officer of such vessel at the time of the issuance of such subpoena.

SEC. 5. That no suit may be brought under this Act by a national of any foreign government unless it shall appear to the satisfaction of the court in which suit is brought that said government, under similar circumstances, allows nationals of the United States to sue in its courts.

SEC. 6. That the Attorney General of the United States is hereby authorized to arbitrate, compromise, or settle any claim on which a libel or cross libel would lie under the provisions of this Act, and for which a libel or cross libel has actually been filed.

SEC. 7. That any final judgment rendered on any libel or cross libel herein authorized, and any settlement had and agreed to under the provisions of section 6 of this Act, shall, upon presentation of a duly authenticated copy thereof, be paid by the proper accounting officer of the United States out of any moneys in the Treasury of the United States appropriated therefor by Congress.

SEC. 8. Nothing contained in this Act shall be construed to recognize the existence of or as creating a lien against any public vessel of the United States.

SEC. 9. The United States shall be entitled to the benefits of all exemptions and of all limitations of liability accorded by law to the owners, charterers, operators or agents of vessels.

SEO. 10. That the Attorney General of the United States shall report to the Congress at each session thereof all suits in which final judgment shall have been rendered and all claims which shall have been settled under this Act.

[PUBLIC-No. 562-70TH CONGRESS]

[H. R. 1]

An Act To reduce and equalize taxation, provide revenue,

and for other purposes.

SEC. 707. INCOME TAX ON SALE OF VESSELS BUILT BEFORE 1914.

The second paragraph of section 23 of the Merchant Marine Act, 1920, is amended, to take effect as of June 5, 1920, to read as follows: "During the period of ten years from June 5, 1920, any person, a citizen of the United States, may sell a vessel documented under the laws of the United States and built prior to January 1, 1914, shall be exempt from all income taxes that would be payable upon any of the proceeds of such sale under the Revenue Act of 1918, or under any subsequent Revenue Act in force during such ten-year period, if the entire proceeds thereof shall be invested in the building of new ships in American shipyards, such ships to be documented under the laws of the United States and to be of a type approved by the board. The basis of any such new ship shall be reduced by the amount of the gain from such sale exempt from taxation under this paragraph."

Approved, May 29, 1928.

(S. 744)

An Act To further develop an American merchant marine, to assure its permanence in the transportation of the foreign trade of the United States, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

TITLE I-DECLARATION OF POLICY

SEC. 1. The policy and the primary purpose declared in section 1 of the Merchant Marine Act, 1920 [U. S. C., Title 46, § 861], are hereby confirmed.

TITLE II-SHIPPING BOARD VESSELS

SALES BY BOARD

SEC. 201. The United States Shipping Board shall not sell any vessel or any line of vessels except when in its judgment the building up and maintenance of an adequate merchant marine can be best served thereby, and then only upon the affirmative vote of five members of the board duly recorded.

REMODELING AND IMPROVING

SEC. 202. In addition to its power to recondition and repair vessels under section 12 of the Merchant Marine Act, 1920, as amended [U. S. C., Title 46, § 871], the board may remodel and improve vessels owned by the United States and in its possession or under its control, so as to equip them adequately for competition in the foreign trade of the United States. Any vessel so remodeled or improved shall be documented under the laws of the United States and shall remain documented under such laws for not less than five years from the date of the completion of the remodeling or improving and so long as there remains due the United States any money or interest on account of such vessel, and during such period it shall be operated only on voyages which are not exclusively coast wise.

REPLACEMENTS

SEC. 203. The necessity for the replacement of vessels owned by the United States and in the possession or under the control of the board and the construction for the board of additional up-to-date cargo, combination cargo and passenger, and passenger ships, to give the United States an adequate merchant marine, is hereby recognized, and the board is authorized and directed to present to Congress from time to time, recommendations setting forth what new vessels are required for permanent operation under the United States flag in foreign trade, and the estimated cost thereof, to the end that