[CHAPTER 537-1ST SESSION]

[S. 2193]

AN ACT

To authorize the construction of certain auxiliary vessels for the Navy. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That for the purpose of furnishing or replacing auxiliary vessels urgently necessary for the proper maintenance and operation of the Navy, the Presídent of the United States is hereby authorized to undertake the construction of about thirty-six thousand and fifty tons (light displacement tonnage) of such auxiliary vessels as follows at a total cost for all vessels of not more than $50,000,000:

(a) One seaplane tender of about eight thousand three hundred tons;

(b) One destroyer tender of about nine thousand tons;

(c) One mine sweeper of about six hundred tons;

(d) One submarine tender of about nine thousand tons; (e) One fleet tug of about one thousand one hundred and fifty tons; and

(f) One oiler of about eight thousand tons.

SEC. 2. Not less than 50 per centum of the vessels herein authorized, allocated on an approximate tonnage basis, including such portions thereof as are customarily manufactured in Government plants, shall be constructed or manufactured in Government navy yards, naval stations, naval gun factories, naval ordnance plants, or arsenals of the United States: Provided, That the President may, however, should the public interests in his judgment so require, have the vessels built in Government or private yards notwithstanding the allocation otherwise imposed: Provided further, That the provisions of section 3 of the Act entitled "An Act to establish the composition of the United States Navy with respect to the categories of vessels limited by the treaties signed at Washington, February 6, 1922, and at London, April 22, 1930, at the limits prescribed by those treaties; to authorize the construction of certain naval vessels; and for other purposes", approved March 27, 1934 (48 Stat. 505; U. S. C., title 34, sec. 496), as amended, are hereby made applicable to contracts for the construction of the vessels or any portion thereof herein authorized.

SEC. 3. Any bid for the construction on the Pacific coast of any of the vessels authorized by this Act shall have a differential of 6 per centum in its favor which shall be considered by the Secretary of the Navy in awarding contracts for the construction of said vessels.

Approved, July 30, 1937.

[CHAPTER 620-1ST SESSION]

[H. R. 4543

AN ACT

To amend the Tariff Act of 1930 to exempt vessels arriving for the purpose of taking on ship's stores and certain sea stores from the requirement of formal entry.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That subsection (4) of section 441, as amended (exempting certain vessels from the requirement of formal entry), of the Tariff Act of 1930 (U. S. C., 1934 ed., title 19, sec. 1441 (4)) is amended by striking out "or necessary sea stores" wherever appearing in such subsection and inserting in lieu thereof "sea stores, or ship's stores".

SEC. 2. The amendment made by this Act shall take effect on the day following the date of its enactment.

Approved, August 14, 1937.

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[CHAPTER 665-1ST SESSION]

[H. R. 7402]

AN ACT

To provide more effectively for the marking of wrecked and sunken craft for the protection of navigation, to improve the efficiency of the Lighthouse Service, 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 4676 of the Revised Statutes, as amended, is hereby amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 4676. Whenever the owner of any sunken vessel, boat, watercraft, raft, or other similar obstruction existing on any river, lake, harbor, sound, bay, or canal or other navigable waters of the United States has failed to mark, or in the judgment of the Commissioner of Lighthouses has failed suitably to mark, the same in accordance with the provisions of section 15 of the Act of March 3, 1899 (ch. 425, 30 Stat. 1152), the Commissioner of Lighthouses is authorized to suitably mark the same for the protection of navigation. Until such time as abandonment of any such obstruction has been established in accordance with the provisions of section 19 of the Act of March 3, 1899 (ch. 425, 30 Stat. 1154), the owner thereof shall pay to the Commissioner of Lighthouses the cost of such marking. As soon as abandonment of any such obstruction has been so established, it shall be the duty of the Secretary of War to keep the same so marked pending removal thereof in accordance with the provisions of section 19 of the Act of March 3, 1899 (ch. 425, 30 Stat. 1154), but the Commissioner of Lighthouses may at the request of the Department of War continue the suitable marking of any such obstruction for and on behalf of that Department. The cost of continuing any such marking shall be borne by the Department of War. All moneys received by the Commissioner of Lighthouses from the owners of obstructions, in accordance with the provisions of this section, shall be covered into the Treasury of the United States as miscellaneous receipts. No provision of this section shall be construed so as to relieve the owner of any such obstruction from the duty and responsibility suitably to mark the same in accordance with the provisions of section 15 of the Act of March 3, 1899 (ch. 425, 30 Stat. 1152)."

SEC. 2. The Lighthouse Service is authorized, whenever an aid to navigation or other property belonging to that Service is damaged or destroyed by a private person, and such private person or his agent shall pay to the satisfaction of the proper official of the Lighthouse Service for the cost of repair or replacement of such property, to accept and deposit such payments, through proper officers of the Division of Disbursement, Treasury Department, in special deposit accounts in the Treasury, for payment therefrom to the person or persons repairing or replacing the damaged property and refund

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ment of amounts collected in excess of the cost of the repairs or replacements concerned.

SEC. 8. The Commissioner of Lighthouses, subject to the approval of the Secretary of Commerce, is authorized in his discretion hereafter to establish and maintain aids to navigation to mark rivers, waterways, or channels, connected by navigable waters with the sea or the Great Lakes, which have been improved for navigation by the United States under proper authority, and appropriations made for the support of the Lighthouse Service are made available for the expenses of establishing and maintaining such aids to navigation.

SEO. 4. Section 4 of the Act of Congress approved June 17, 1910 (ch. 801, 36 Stat. 537; U. S. C., title 33, secs. 711, 721), is hereby amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 4. There shall be in the Department of Commerce a Bureau of Lighthouses and a Commissioner of Lighthouses, who shall be the head of said Bureau, to be appointed by the President. There shall also be in the Bureau a Deputy Commissioner, to be appointed by the President, and a Chief Clerk, who shall perform the duties of Chief Clerk and such other duties as may be assigned to him by the Secretary of Commerce or by the Commissioner. There shall also be in the Bureau such inspectors, clerical assistants, and other employees as may from time to time be authorized by Congress. The Commissioner of Lighthouses shall make an annual report to the Secretary of Commerce, who shall transmit the same to Congress at the beginning of each regular session thereof. The Commissioner of Lighthouses, subject to the approval of the Secretary of Commerce, is authorized to consider, ascertain, adjust, and determine all claims for damages, where the amount of the claim does not exceed the sum of $500, occasioned by collisions, for which collisions vessels of the Lighthouse Service shall be found to be responsible, and report the amounts so ascertained and determined to be due to the claimants to Congress at each session thereof through the Treasury Department for payment as legal claims out of appropriations that may be made by Congress therefor."

SEO. 5. That so much of section 20 of the Act approved May 28, 1935 (Public, Numbered 81, Seventy-fourth Congress), entitled "An Act to authorize the Secretary of Commerce to dispose of certain lighthouse reservations, and for other purposes", as reads "to convey to the town of Southold, State of New York" is hereby amended to read "to convey to the Southold Park District in the town of Southold, State of New York".

SEC. 6. The Secretary of Commerce is authorized to convey to the State of Florida for public-roadway purposes an additional portion of the Crooked River Range Lighthouse Reservation, Florida, thirtyfour feet in width and approximately five hundred feet in length adjoining the strip of land conveyed pursuant to section 4 of the Act approved May 28, 1935 (Public, Numbered 81, Seventy-fourth Congress), to provide for a roadway one hundred feet in width across the reservation. The deed of conveyance shall describe by metes and bounds the portion of the reservation transferred and the conditions imposed by section 36 of the Act of May 28, 1935 (Public, Numbered 81, Seventy-fourth Congress).

[CHAPTER 752-1ST SESSION]

[H. R. 5417]

AN ACT

To provide for the measurement of vessels using the Panama Canal, 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 412 of title 2 of the Canal Zone Code, approved June 19, 1934, is hereby amended to read as follows:

"Tolls on merchant vessels, army and navy transports, colliers, hospital ships, supply ships, and yachts shall be based on net vesseltons of one hundred cubic feet each of actual earning capacity determined in accordance with the Rules for the Measurement of Vessels for the Panama Canal prescribed by the President and as may be modified by him from time to time by proclamation, and tolls on other floating craft shall be based on displacement tonnage: Provided, That the basic rules of measurement shall not be changed except after public hearing and six months' public notice of such change. The rate of tolls on laden vessels shall not exceed $1, nor be less than $0.75 per net vessel-ton as determined under the aforesaid rules, and on vessels in ballast without passengers or cargo the rate may be less than the rate of tolls for vessels with passengers or cargo. In addition to the tolls based on measurement or displacement tonnage, tolls may be levied on passengers at rates not to exceed $1.50 for each passenger. The levy of tolls is subject to the provisions of article XIX of the convention between the United States of America and the Republic of Panama, entered into November 18, 1903, and of article I of the treaty between the United States of America and the Republic of Colombia proclaimed March 30, 1922."

SEC. 2. This Act shall take effect and be enforced on and after March 1, 1938.

Approved, August 24, 1937.