CHAPTER I.

ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED STATES FUEL ADMIN

ISTRATION.

TITLE I.

PERTINENT ACTS OF CONGRESS.

Section 1.-Food and Fuel Control Act.

FOOD AND FUEL CONTROL ACT.

Public No. 41, 65th Congress.

(In effect, August 10, 1917.)

An Act To provide further for the National security and defense by encouraging the production, conserving the supply, and controlling the distribution of food products and fuel.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That by reason of the existence of a state of war, it is essential to the national security and defense, for the successful prosecution of the war, and for the support and maintenance of the Army and Navy, to assure an adequate supply and equitable distribution, and to facilitate the movement, of foods, feeds, fuel including fuel oil and natural gas, and fertilizer and fertilizer ingredients, tools, utensils, implements, machinery, and equipment required for the actual production of foods, feeds, and fuel, hereafter in this Act called necessaries; to prevent, locally or generally, scarcity, monopolization, hoarding, injurious speculation, manipulations, and private controls, affecting such supply, distribution, and movement; and to establish and maintain governmental control of such necessaries during the war. For such purposes the instrumentalities, means, methods, powers, authorities, duties, obligations, and prohibitions hereinafter set forth are created, established, conferred, and prescribed. The President is authorized to make such regulations and to issue such orders as are essential effectively to carry out the provisions of this Act.

SEC. 2. That in carrying out the purposes of this Act the President is authorized to enter into any voluntary arrangements or agreements, to create and use any agency or agencies, to accept the services of any person without compensation, to cooperate with any agency or person, to utilize any department or agency of the Government, and to coordinate their activities so as to avoid any preventable loss or duplication of effort or funds.

SEC. 3. That no person acting either as a voluntary or paid agent or employee of the United States in any capacity, including an advisory capacity, shall solicit, induce, or attempt to induce any person or officer authorized to execute or to direct the execution of contracts on behalf of the United States to make any contract or give any order for the furnishing to the United States of work, labor, or services, or of materials, supplies, or other property of any kind or character, if such agent or employee has any pecuniary interest in such contract or order, or if he or any firm of which he is a member, or corporation, joint-stock company, or association of which

he is an officer or stockholder, or in the pecuniary profits of which he is directly or indirectly interested, shall be a party thereto. Nor shall any agent or employee make, or permit any committee or other body of which he is a member to make, or participate in making, any recommendation concerning such contract or order to any council, board, or commission of the United States, or any member or subordinate thereof, without making to the best of his knowledge and belief a full and complete disclosure in writing to such council, board, commission, or subordinate of any and every pecuniary interest which he may have in such contract or order and of his interest in any firm, corporation, company, or association being a party thereto. Nor shall he participate in the awarding of such contract or giving such order. Any willful violation of any of the provisions of this section shall be punishable by a fine of not more than $10,000, or by imprisonment of not more than five years, or both: Provided, That the provisions of this section shall not change, alter or repeal section forty-one of chapter three hundred and twenty-one, Thirty-fifth Statutes at Large. SEC. 4. That it is hereby made unlawful for any person willfully to destroy any necessaries for the purpose of enhancing the price or restricting the supply thereof; knowingly to commit waste or willfully to permit preventable deterioration of any necessaries in or in connection with their production, manufacture, or distribution; to hoard, as defined in section six of this Act, any necessaries; to monopolize or attempt to monopolize, either locally or generally, any necessaries; to engage in any discriminatory and unfair, or any deceptive or wasteful practice or device, or to make any unjust or unreasonable rate or charge, in handling or dealing in or with any necessaries; to conspire, combine, agree, or arrange with any other person, (a) to limit the facilities for transporting, producing, harvesting, manufacturing, supplying, storing, or dealing in any necessaries; (b) to restrict the supply of any necessaries; (c) to restrict distribution of any necessaries; (d) to prevent, limit, or lessen the manufacture or production of any necessaries in order to enhance the price thereof, or (e) to exact excessive prices for any necessaries; or to aid or abet the doing of any act made unlawful by this section.

SEC. 5. That, from time to time, whenever the President shall find it essential to license the importation, manufacture, storage, mining, or distribution of any necessaries, in order to carry into effect any of the purposes of this Act, and shall publicly so announce, no person shall, after a date fixed in the announcement, engage in or carry on any such business specified in the announcement of importation, manufacture, storage, mining, or distribution of any necessaries as set forth in such announcement, unless he shall secure and hold a license issued pursuant to this section. The President is authorized to issue such licenses and to prescribe regulations for the issuance of licenses and requirements for systems of accounts and auditing of accounts to be kept by licensees, submission of reports by them, with or without oath or affirmation, and the entry and inspection by the President's duly authorized agents of the places of business of licensees. Whenever the President shall find that any storage charge, commission, profit, or practice, of any licensee is unjust, or unreasonable, or discriminatory and unfair, or wasteful, and shall order such licensee, within a reasonable time fixed in the order, to discontinue the same, unless such order, which shall recite the facts found, is revoked or suspended, such licensee shall, within the time prescribed in the order, discontinue such unjust, unreasonable, discriminatory and unfair storage charge, commission, profit, or practice. The President may, in lieu of any such unjust, unreasonable, discriminatory, and unfair storage charge, commission, profit, or practice, find what is a just, reasonable, nondiscriminatory and fair storage charge, commission, profit, or practice, and in any proceeding brought in any court such order of the President shall be prima facie evidence. Any person who, without a license issued pursuant to this section, or whose license shall have been revoked, knowingly engages in or carries on any business for which a license is required under this section, or willfully fails or refuses to discontinue any unjust, unreasonable, dis

criminatory and unfair storage charge, commission, profit, or practice, in accordance with the requirement of an order issued under this section, or any regulation prescribed under this section, shall, upon conviction thereof, be punished by a fine not exceeding $5,000, or by imprisonment for not more than two years, or both: Provided, That this section shall not apply to any farmer, gardener, cooperative association of farmers or gardeners, including live-stock farmers, or other persons with respect to the products of any farm, garden, or other land owned, leased, or cultivated by him, nor to any retailer with respect to the retail business actually conducted by him, nor to any common carrier, nor shall anything in this section be construed to authorize the fixing or imposition of a duty or tax upon any article imported into or exported from the United States or any State, Territory, or the District of Columbia: Provided further, That for the purposes of this Act a retailer shall be deemed to be a person, copartnership, firm, corporation, or association not engaging in the wholesale business whose gross sales do not exceed $100,000 per annum.

SEC. 6. That any person who willfully hoards any necessaries shall upon conviction thereof be fined not exceeding $5,000 or be imprisoned for not more than two years, or both. Necessaries shall be deemed to be hoarded within the meaning of this Act when either (a) held, contracted for, or arranged for by any person in a quantity in excess of his reasonable requirements for use or consumption by himself and dependents for a reasonable time; (b) held, contracted for, or arranged for by any manufacturer, wholesaler, retailer, or other dealer in a quantity in excess of the reasonable requirements of his business for use or sale by him for a reasonable time, or reasonably required to furnish necessaries produced in surplus quantities seasonally throughout the period of scant or no production; or (c) withheld, whether by possession or under any contract or arrangement, from the market by any person for the purpose of unreasonably increasing or diminishing the price: Provided, That this section shall not include or relate to transactions on any exchange, board of trade, or similar institution or place of business es described in section thirteen of this Act that may be permitted by the President under the authority conferred upon him by said section thirteen: Provided, however, That any accumulating or withholding by any farmer or gardener, cooperative association of farmers or gardeners, including live-stock farmers, or any other person, of the products of any farm, garden, or other land owned, leased, or cultivated by him shall not be deemed to be hoarding within the meaning of this Act.

SEC. 7. That whenever any necessaries shall be hoarded as defined in section six they shall be liable to be proceeded against in any district court of the United States within the district where the same are found and seized by a process of libel for condemnation, and if such necessaries shall be adjudged to be hoarded they shall be disposed of by sale in such manner as to provide the most equitable distribution thereof as the court may direct, and the proceeds thereof, less the legal costs and charges, shall be paid to the party entitled thereto. The proceedings of such libel cases shall conform as near as may be to the proceedings in admiralty, except that either party may demand trial by jury of any issue of fact joined in any such case, and all such proceedings shall be at the suit of and in the name of the United States. It shall be the duty of the United States attorney for the proper district to institute and prosecute any such action upon presentation to him of satisfactory evidence to sustain the s me.

SEC. 8. That any person who willfully destroys any necessaries for the purpose of enhancing the price or restricting the supply thereof shall, upon conviction thereof, be fined not exceeding $5,000 or imprisoned for not more than two years, or both. SEC. 9. That any person who conspires, combines, agrees, or arranges with any other person (a) to limit the facilities for transporting, producing, manufacturing, supplying, storing, or dealing in any necessaries; (b) to restrict the supply of any necessaries; (c) to restrict the distribution of any necessaries; (d) to prevent, limit, or lessen the manufacture or production of any necessaries in order to enhance the price thereof

shall, upon conviction thereof, be fined not exceeding $10,000 or be imprisoned for not more than two years, or both.

SEC. 10. That the President is authorized, from time to time, to requisition foods, feeds, fuels, and other supplies necessary to the support of the Army or the maintenance of the Navy, or any other public use connected with the common defense, and to requisition, or otherwise provide, storage facilities for such supplies; and he shall ascertain and pay a just compensation therefor. If the compensation so determined be not satisfactory 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 to recover such further sum as, added to said seventy-five per centum as will make up such amount as will be just compensation for such necessaries or storage space, and jurisdiction is hereby conferred on the United States District Courts to hear and determine all such controversies: Provided, That nothing in this section or in the section that follows, shall be construed to require any natural person to furnish to the Government any necessaries held by him and reasonably required for consumption or use by himself and dependents, nor shall any person, firm, corporation, or association be required to furnish to the Government any seed necessary for the seeding of land owned, leased, or cultivated by them.

SEC. 11. That the President is authorized from time to time to purchase, to store, to provide storage facilities for, and to sell for cash at reasonable prices, wheat, flour, meal, beans, and potatoes: Provided, That if any minimum price shall have been theretofore fixed, pursuant to the provisions of section fourteen of this Act, then the price paid for any such articles so purchased shall not be less than such minimum price. Any moneys received by the United States from or in connection with the disposal by the United States of necessaries under this section may, in the discretion of the President, be used as a revolving fund for further carrying out the purposes of this section. Any balance of such moneys not used as part of such revolving fund shall be covered into the Treasury as miscellaneous receipts.

SEC 12. That whenever the President shall find it necessary to secure an adequate supply of necessaries for the support of the Army or the maintenance of the Navy, or for any other public use connected with the common defense, he is authorized to requisition and take over, for use or operation by the Government, any factory, packing house, oil pipe line, mine, or other plant, or any part thereof, in or through which any necessaries are or may be manufactured, produced, prepared, or mined, and to operate the same. Whenever the President shall determine that the further use or operation by the Government of any such factory, mine, or plant, or part thereof, is not essential for the national security or defense, the same shall be restored to the person entitled to the possession thereof. The United States shall make just compensation, to be determined by the President, for the taking over, use, occupation, and operation by the Government of any such factory, mine, or plant, or part thereof. If the compensation so determined be 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 to recover such further sum as, added to said seventy-five per centum, will make up such amount as will be just compensation, in the manner provided by section twenty-four, paragraph twenty, and section one hundred and forty-five of the Judicial Code. The President is authorized to prescribe such regulations as he may deem essential for carrying out the purposes of this section, including the operation of any such factory, mine, or plant, or part thereof, the purchase, sale, or other disposition of articles used, manufactured, produced, prepared, or mined therein, and the employment, control, and compensation of employees. Any moneys received by the United States from or in connection with the use or operation of any such factory, mine, or plant, or part thereof, may, in the discretion of the President, be used as a revolving fund for the purpose of the continued use or operation of any such factory, mine, or plant, or part

thereof, and the accounts of each such factory, mine, plant, or part thereof, shall be kept separate and distinct. Any balance of such moneys not used as part of such revolving fund shall be paid into the Treasury as miscellaneous receipts.

SEC. 13. That whenever the President finds it essential in order to prevent undue enhancement, depression, or fluctuation of prices of, or in order to prevent injurious speculation in, or in order to prevent unjust market manipulation or unfair and misleading market quotations of the prices of necessaries, hereafter in this section called evil practices, he is authorized to prescribe such regulations governing, or may either wholly or partly prohibit, operations, practices, and transactions at, on, in, or under the rules of any exchange, board of trade, or similar institution or place of business as he may find essential in order to prevent, correct, or remove such evil practices. Such regulations may require all persons coming within their provisions to keep such records and statements of account, and may require such persons to make such returns, verified under oath or otherwise, as will fully and correctly disclose all transactions at, in, or on, or under the rules of any such exchange, board of trade, or similar institution or place of business, including the making, execution, settlement, and fulfillment thereof. He may also require all persons acting in the capacity of a clearing house, clearing association, or similar institution, for the purpose of clearing, settling, or adjusting transactions at, in, or on, or under the rules of any such exchange, board of trade, or similar institution or place of business, to keep such records and to make such returns as will fully and correctly disclose all facts in their possession relating to such transactions, and he may appoint agents to conduct the investigations necessary to enforce the provisions of this section and all rules and regulations made by him in pursuance thereof, and may fix and pay the compensation of such agents. Any person who willfully violates any regulation made pursuant to this section, or who knowingly engages in any operation, practice, or transaction prohibited pursuant to this section, or who willfully aids or abets any such violation or any such prohibited operation, practice, or transaction, shall, upon conviction thereof, be punished by a fine not exceeding $10,000 or by imprisonment for not more than four years, or both, SEC. 14. That whenever the President shall find that an emergency exists requiring stimulation of the production of wheat and that it is essential that the producers of wheat, produced within the United States, shall have the benefits of the guaranty provided for in this section, he is authorized, from time to time, seasonably and as far in advance of seeding time as practicable, to determine and fix and to give public notice of what, under specified conditions, is a reasonable guaranteed price for wheat, in order to assure such producers a reasonable profit. The President shall thereupon fix such guaranteed price for each of the official grain standards for wheat as established under the United States grain standards Act, approved August eleventh, nineteen hundred and sixteen. The President shall from time to time establish and promulgate such regulations as he shall deem wise in connection with such guaranteed prices, and in particular governing conditions of delivery and payment, and differences in price for the several standard grades in the principal primary markets of the United States, adopting number one northern spring or its equivalent at the principal interior primary markets as the basis. Thereupon, the Government of the United States hereby guarantees every producer of wheat produced within the United States, that, upon compliance by him with the regulations prescribed, he shall receive for any wheat produced in reliance upon this guarantee within the period, not exceeding eighteen months, prescribed in the notice, a price not less than the guaranteed price therefor as fixed pursuant to this section. In such regulations the President shall prescribe the terms and conditions upon which any such producer shall be entitled to the benefits of such guaranty. The guaranteed prices for the several standard grades of wheat for the crop of nineteen hundred and eighteen, shall be based upon number one northern spring or its equivalent at not less than $2 per bushel at the principal interior primary markets. This guaranty shall not be dependent upon the