than 41 per centum per annum. The board may prescribe rules for determining the amount of interest payable under the provisions of this paragraph.

"(e) No loan shall be for a greater sum than one-half the cost of the vessel or vessels to be constructed; or, than one-half the cost of the equipment hereinbefore authorized for a vessel already built: Provided, however, If security is furnished in addition to the mortgage on the vessel or vessels, the board may increase the amount loaned, but such additional amount shall not exceed one-half the market value of the additional security furnished, and in no case shall the total loan be for a greater sum than two-thirds of the cost of the vessel or vessels to be constructed; or, than two-thirds of the cost of the equipment, and its installation, for vessels already built.

"(f) The board shall require such security as it shall deem necessary to insure the completion of the construction or equipment of the vessel within a reasonable time and the repayment of the loan with interest; when the vessel is completed the security shall include a preferred mortgage on the vessel, complying with the provisions of section 30 of the Merchant Marine Act, 1920, which mortgage shall contain appropriate covenants and provisions to insure the proper physical maintenance of the vessel, and its protection against liens for taxes, penalties, claims, or liabilities of any kind whatever, which might impair the security for the debt. It shall also contain any other covenants and provisions the board may prescribe, including a provision for the summary maturing of the entire debt, for causes to be enumerated in the mortgage.

"(g) The board shall also require and the security furnished shall provide that the owner of the vessel shall keep the same insured against loss or damage by fire, and against marine risks and disasters, and against any and all other insurable risks the board specifies, with such insurance companies, associations or underwriters, and under such forms of policies, and to such an amount, as the board may prescribe or approve; such insurance shall be made payable to the board and/or to the parties, as interest may appear. The board is authorized to enter into any agreement that it deems wise in respect to the payment and for the guarantee of premiums of insurance.'

SEC. 2. That section 12 of the Merchant Marine Act, 1920, be, and the same is hereby, amended by adding at the end thereof a new paragraph to read as follows:

"The term 'reconditioned' as used in this section includes the substitution of the most modern, most efficient, and most economical types of internal-combustion engines as the main propulsive power of vessels. Should the board have any such engines built in the United States and installed, in private shipyards or navy yards of the United States, in one or more merchant vessels owned by the United States, and the cost to the board of such installation exceeds the amount of funds otherwise available to it for that use, the board may transfer to its funds from which expenditures under this section may be paid, from its construction loan fund authorized by section 11 of the Merchant Marine Act, 1920, so much as in its judgment may be necessary to meet obligations under contracts for such installation; and the Treasurer of the United States shall, at the

request of the board, make the transfer accordingly: Provided, That the total amount hereafter expended by the board for this purpose shall not in the aggregate exceed $25,000,000. Any such vessel hereafter so equipped by the board under the provisions of this section shall not be sold for a period of five years from the date the installation thereof is completed, unless it is sold for a price not less than the cost of the installation thereof and of any other work of reconditioning done at the same time plus an amount not less than $10 for each dead-weight ton of the vessel as computed before such reconditioning thereof is commenced. The date of the completion of such installation and the amount of the dead-weight tonnage of the vessel shall be fixed by the board: Provided further, That in fixing the minimum price at which the vessel may thus be sold the board may deduct from the aggregate amount above prescribed 5 per centum thereof per annum from the date of the installation to the date of sale as depreciation: And provided further, That no part of such fund shall be expended upon the reconditioning of any vessel unless the board shall have first made a binding contract for a satisfactory sale of such vessel in accordance with the provisions of this Act, or for the charter or lease of such vessels for a period of not less than five years by a capable, solvent operator; or unless the board is prepared and intends to directly put such vessel in operation immediately upon completion. Such vessel, in any of the enumerated instances, shall be documented under the laws of the United States and shall remain documented under such laws for a period of not less than five years from the date of the completion of the installation, and during such period it shall be operated only on voyages which are not exclusively coastwise."

Approved, June 6, 1924.

[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.

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.

SEO. 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.

Approved, March 3, 1925.