[CHAPTER 162-2D SESSION] AN ACT To amend the Act making it a misdemeanor to stow away on vessels. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That section 1 of the Act entitled "An Act making it a misdemeanor to stow away on vessels and providing punishment therefor", approved June 11, 1940 (54 Stat. 306; U. S. C., title 18, sec. 469), be, and it hereby is, amended to read as follows: "That any person, without the consent of the owner, charterer, or master of any vessel and with intent to obtain, without paying therefor, transportation on such vessel to any place, within or without the United States, who shall board, enter, or secrete himself aboard such vessel, and shall be thereon at the time of departure of said vessel from a port, harbor, wharf, or other place within the jurisdiction of the United States, including the Canal Zone, or who, with such intent, having boarded, entered, or secreted himself aboard such vessel in any place within or without the jurisdiction of the United States, shall remain aboard any such vessel after such vessel has left such place and who shall be thereon at any place within the jurisdiction of the United States, including the Canal Zone, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be liable to a fine not exceeding $500 or imprisonment for a period not exceeding one year, or both, in the discretion of the court." Approved April 4, 1944. [CHAPTER 178-2D SESSION] [H. R. 3257] AN ACT To amend Subtitle-Insurance of Title II of the Merchant Marine Act, 1936, as amended, to authorize suspension of the statute of limitations in certain cases, 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 226 (a) of Subtitle Insurance of Title II of the Merchant Marine Act, 1936, as amended, is amended by inserting after the first sentence thereof a new sentence to read as follows: "If in the case of any vessel lost, damaged, or missing under circumstances which render it uncertain whether or not the loss of or damage to any person, vessel, cargo, or other property or interest under a policy of insurance or reinsurance issued or agreed to be issued under this subtitle or under an assumption of risk agreement equivalent thereto, is covered by such policy or agreement, the Commission has entered into or shall hereafter enter into any agreement, specific or general, with the assured under such policy or agreement or with other insurers of the same interest, or both, for payment to the assured on account of said loss or damage by the Commission or by such other insurers, or both, in accordance with the probabilities as to their respective liability, such agreement may include or be modified to include from its inception provisions suspending the operation of the statute of limitations with respect to suits against the United States arising out of the subject matter of such agreement, for a period ending not more than two years after the termination of the present war as determined under section 221 (a) hereof: Provided, That no such agreement or modification shall be entered into in any case where the right to sue the United States has expired at the time of making the agreement or modification unless made within sixty days after the enactment of this proviso." SEC. 2. Whenever the Administrator, War Shipping Administration, finds that a meritorious claim arising on or after December 7, 1941, against the United States, or any agent or employee thereof, for loss of or damage to cargo has lapsed by reason of failure to commence suit against the United States or any agent or employee thereof within the time provided by law, and that such failure to institute suit was based on lack of information not resulting from lack of due diligence, or other causes sufficient in the opinion of the Administrator to excuse such failure to institute suit, the Administrator may compromise, or settle any such claim on the same basis as though the time for suit had not expired: Provided, however, That nothing in this section shall be deemed to extend the time to commence suit. Approved April 24, 1944. 62555 O-60-35 [CHAPTER 199-2D SESSION] [H. R. 3261] AN ACT To amend the Act of April 29, 1943, to authorize the return to private ownership of Great Lakes vessels and vessels of one thousand gross tons or less, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Act entitled "An Act to authorize the return to private ownership of certain vessels formerly used or suitable for use in the fisheries or industries related thereto", approved April 29, 1943 (Public Law 44, Seventy-eighth Congress; 57 Stat. 69), is amended to read as follows: "That any vessel formerly used or suitable for use in the fisheries or industries related thereto, any vessel of one thousand gross tons (determined in accordance with the provisions of section 77 of title 46 of the United States Code) or less, and any vessel employed on the Great Lakes during the year preceding its acquisition by the United States, the title to which has been or may hereafter be acquired by the United States through purchase or requisition except any vessel seventeen years of age or older traded in under the provisions of section 510, Merchant Marine Act, 1936, as amended, or any other provision of law may be returned to private ownership in accordance with the provisions of this Act. "SEC. 2. Every such vessel shall, upon determination by the department or agency having possession thereof that the vessel is no longer needed or can be spared by such department or agency without detriment to its service, be made available to the Administrator of the War Shipping Administration (hereinafter referred to as the Administrator), who shall notify the owner from whom such vessel was purchased or requisitioned that the vessel may be returned to such owner upon repayment to the United States of the compensation paid therefor less such allowances as the Administrator may deem reasonable (1) to cover the cost of such reconditioning as the Administrator after consultation with the owner deems necessary to restore the vessel to condition and utility at least as good as when acquired by the United States (ordinary wear and tear excepted), and (2) to compensate such owner for the use of the vessel by the United States, and upon compliance with such other terms and conditions as the Administrator may prescribe. The determination of such allowances by the Administrator shall be final notwithstanding any other provision of law. "SEC. 3. If any such owner to whom compensation has been paid or a tender of compensation has been made shall fail, within a reasonable time after notice (which time shall be specified in the notice but may be extended by the Administrator) to make arrangements satisfactory to the Administrator for such return of the vessel or shall expressly waive the right thereto, the Administrator may advertise the vessel for sale upon competitive sealed bids subject to such terms and conditions as the Administrator may prescribe, including in the case of any vessel used in the commercial fisheries or industries related thereto immediately prior to the acquisition of such vessel by the United States, a requirement that the vessel will not be used for a period of two years from date of sale, other than in the commercial fisheries or industries related thereto: Provided, however, That the Administrator may reject any bid which does not equal the purchase price or compensation paid or payable by the United States for such vessel less a reasonable allowance to cover the cost of reconditioning as hereinabove defined. "SEO. 4. The Administrator may withhold from the funds received for the return or sale of any such vessel the expenses incurred by him in such return or sale, and shall pay over the balance of such receipts to the department or agency by which such vessel was made available.” Approved May 18, 1944. [CHAPTER 205-2D SESSION] [8. 1771] AN ACT Authorizing appropriations for the United States Navy for additional ordnance manufacturing and production facilities, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That there is hereby authorized to be appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, $65,000,000 for necessary tools, equipment, and facilities for the manufacture or production of ordnance material, munitions, and equipment at either private or public plants. SEC. 2. The authority herein granted shall include the authority to acquire lands at such locations as the Secretary of the Navy may deem best suited to the purpose, erect or extend buildings, acquire the necessary machinery and equipment, and in private establishments provide plant-protection installations, and shall be in addition to all authority heretofore granted for these purposes. SEC. 3. The Secretary of the Navy from time to time, but not less frequently than every sixty days, shall transmit to the Congress a full report of all acquisitions of land, by lease or otherwise, effected under the authority of this Act. Approved May 26, 1944. [PUBLIC LAW 322-78TH CONGRESS] AN ACT Authorizing the acquisition and conversion or construction of certain landing craft and district craft for the United States Navy, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Secretary of the Navy is hereby authorized to undertake the acquisition and conversion or construction of one million tons of landing craft and district craft, or such portion thereof, as may be directed by the President, such landing craft and district craft to be of such size, type, and design as he may consider best suited for the prosecution of the war, such craft to be in addition to those heretofore authorized. SEO. 2. There is hereby authorized to be appropriated out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated such sums as may be necessary to effectuate the purposes of this Act. Approved May 31, 1944. |