determine to be necessary for the purposes of this Act as hereinafter provided."

SEC. 505. The Rural Electrification Administration is authorized to purchase such financial and credit reports as may be necessary to carry out its authorized work: Provided, That purchases under this authority shall not be made unless provision is made therefor in the applicable appropriation and the cost thereof is not in excess of limitations prescribed therein.

TITLE VI

SEC. 601. (a) The Farm Credit Administration shall, prior to the first day of each fiscal year commencing after June 30, 1944, estimate for the ensuing fiscal year the cost of examinations of the joint-stock land banks, Federal land banks, national farm-loan associations, banks for cooperatives, Central Bank for Cooperatives, Federal intermediate credit banks. production credit corporations, and production credit associations; shall apportion the amount so determined among the joint-stock land banks, Federal land banks, banks for cooperatives, Central Bank for Cooperatives, Federal intermediate credit banks, production credit corporations, and production credit associations on such equitable basis as said Administration shall determine; and shall assess against and collect in advance the amount so apportioned from the banks, corporations, and other organizations among which the apportionment is made.

(b) The Farm Credit Administration shall, prior to the first day of each fiscal year commencing after June 30, 1944. estimate the cost to it for the ensuing fiscal year of the administrative supervision of the Federal land bank system, the banks for cooperatives, the Central Bank for Cooperatives, the Federal intermediate credit banks, and the production credit system; shall apportion the amount so determined among the Federal land banks, the banks for cooperatives, the Central Bank for Cooperatives, the Federal intermediate credit banks, and the production credit corporations on such equitable basis as said Administration shall determine: and shall assess against and collect in advance from such banks and corporations the amount so apportioned.

(c) The amounts collected pursuant to subsections (a) and (b)` hereof shall be covered into the Treasury, and credited to a special fund, which fund is hereby authorized to be appropriated to said Administration for expenditure during each fiscal year for salaries and expenses applicable to examination and administrative supervision as set forth in the annual appropriation made for the same fiscal year for salaries and expenses of said Administration. As soon as practicable after the end of each such fiscal year, said Administration shall determine on a fair and reasonable basis (1) the cost of the examination services rendered during the fiscal year to each said bank, corporation, or other organization; and (2) the amount which fairly and equitably should be allocated to each bank and corporation as the cost during the fiscal year of such administrative supervision, and if the sum of these two items in any case is greater than the total amount collected from the bank, corporation, or other organization, the difference shall be collected from such bank, corpo

ration, or other organization, and, if less, shall be refunded from said special fund to the bank, corporation, or other organization entitled thereto.

(d) The eighth paragraph of section 3 of the Federal Farm Loan Act, as amended (12 U. S. C. 657), and the Act of June 26, 1930 (ch. 613, 46 Stat. 815), are hereby repealed, effective July 1, 1944.

SEC. 602. The Farm Credit Administration is authorized to purchase manuscripts, data, and special reports by personal service without regard to the provisions of any other Act, and to employ persons, firms, and others for the performance of special services, including legal services: Provided, That expenditures under this authority shall not be made unless provision is made therefor in the applicable appropriation and the cost thereof is not in excess of limitations prescribed therein.

SEC. 603. All expenditures which under the accounting system prescribed for the Federal Farm Mortgage Corporation by the General Accounting Office are to be treated as capital investments, increasing the book value of acquired fixed property (real estate and chattel), shall be considered as nonadministrative expenses for the purposes of section 7 of the Act of June 22, 1936 (15 U. Š. C. 712a).

TITLE VII

SEC. 701. (a) The Secretary of Agriculture is authorized to expend funds, available for agricultural conservation, adjustment, and landuse programs, for the share of the United States as a member of the International Wheat Advisory Committee, the International Sugar Council, or like events or bodies concerned with the objectives of said programs, together with traveling and other necessary expenses relating thereto: Provided, That expenditures under this authority shall not be made unless provision is made there for in the applicable appropriation and the cost thereof is not in excess of limitations prescribed therein.

(b) Section 415 of the Federal Seed Act (7 U. S. C. 1605) is amended by adding at the end thereof the following new paragraph: "Appropriations made under this authorization, within the limit prescribed in such appropriations, may be expended for the share of the United States in the expense of the International Seed Testing Congress in carrying out plans for correlating the work of the various adhering governments on problems relating to seed analyses or other subjects which the Congress may determine to be necessary in the interest of international seed trade."

SEC. 702. (a) The head of any department or independent establishment of the Government requiring inspections, analyses, and tests of food and other products, within the scope of the functions of the Department of Agriculture and which that Department is unable to perform within the limits of its appropriations, may, with the approval of the Secretary, transfer to the Department for direct expenditure such sums as may be necessary for the performance of such work.

(b) Not to exceed 7 per centum of the amounts appropriated for any fiscal year for the miscellaneous expenses of the work of any bureau, division, or office of the Department of Agriculture shall

be available interchangeably for expenditures on the objects included within the general expenses of such bureau, division, or office, but no more than 7 per centum shall be added to any one item of appropriation except in cases of extraordinary emergency.

SEC. 703. The Department of Agriculture is authorized to erect, alter, and repair such buildings and other public improvements as may be necessary to carry out its authorized work: Provided, That no building or improvement shall be erected or altered under this authority unless provision is made therefor in the applicable appropriation and the cost thereof is not in excess of limitations prescribed therein. SEC. 704. The Department of Agriculture is authorized to subscribe for such newspapers as may be necessary to carry out its authorized work: Provided, That purchases under this authority shall not be made unless provision is made therefor in the applicable appropriation and the cost thereof is not in excess of limitations prescribed therein.

SEC. 705. (a) The Secretary of Agriculture is authorized to delegate to such officers as he shall designate the authority to expend such contingent funds as may be appropriated to the Department.

(b) The Department of Agriculture is authorized to contract for stenographic reporting services.

(c) Employees of the Department of Agriculture stationed abroad may, with the approval of the Secretary of Agriculture, enter into leases for official quarters, for periods not exceeding one year, and may pay rent, telephone, subscriptions to publications, and other charges incident to the conduct of their offices and the discharge of their duties, in advance, in any foreign country where custom or practice requires payment in advance.

SEC. 706. (a) The War Food Administrator is authorized to employ personnel in accordance with the provisions of law applicable to the appointment and compensation of persons employed by the Agricultural Adjustment Agency. The Department of Agriculture may employ persons or organizations, on a temporary basis, by contract or otherwise, without regard to the Classification Act of 1923, as amended: Provided, That no expenditures for such temporary employment shall be made unless provision is made therefor in the applicable appropriation and the cost thereof is not in excess of limitations prescribed therein.

(b) The Department of Agriculture is authorized to pay actual transportation and other necessary expenses and not to exceed $10 per diem in lieu of subsistence of persons serving, while away from their homes, without other compensation from the United States, in an advisory capacity to the Department of Agriculture: Provided, That such expenditures shall not be made unless provision is made therefor in the applicable appropriation and the cost thereof is not in excess of limitations prescribed therein.

SEC. 707. The Act of April 24, 1939 (7 U. S. C. 343c-1), is amended by striking out the figure "$300.000" and inserting in lieu thereof "$555,000", and by adding immediately before the period at the end thereof the following: ": Provided, That the appropriations made pursuant to this authorization shall be apportioned to the States in accordance with the apportionment of the like sum in the fiscal year 1944".

SEC. 708. The Secretary of Agriculture is authorized to make copies of bibliographies prepared by the Department library, microfilm and other photographic reproductions of books and other library materials in the Department and sell such bibliographies and reproductions at such prices (not less than estimated total cost of furnishing same) as he may determine, the money received from such sales to be deposited in the Treasury to the credit of the applicable appropriation current at the time the materials are furnished or payment therefor is received.

SEC. 709. The Secretary of Agriculture may delegate to such officers as he shall designate the authority to employ personnel in the departmental service wherever located.

SEC. 710. The Secretary of Agriculture may delegate to such officers as he shall designate the function of authorizing payment of expenses of the transfer of household goods of employees on change of official stations.

SEC. 711. Unless otherwise provided herein or by other statute, the measure and character of cooperation authorized herein on the part of the Federal Government and on the part of the cooperator shall be such as may be prescribed by the Secretary, unless otherwise provided for in the applicable appropriation.

SEC. 712. This Act may be cited as the "Department of Agriculture Organic Act of 1944".

Approved September 21, 1944.

55-000 O-71-26

[CHAPTER 623-2D SESSION]

[S. 1688]

AN ACT

To authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to compromise, adjust, or cancel certain indebtedness, 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 Agriculture, hereinafter referred to as the Secretary, is hereby authorized and directed to compromise, adjust, or cancel indebtedness arising from loans and payments made or credit extended to farmers under the provisions of the several Acts of Congress or programs enumerated in section 2: Provided, That the Secretary finds, after such investigation as he deems sufficient to establish the facts, that (1) said indebtedness has been due and payable for five years or more; (2) the debtor is unable to pay said indebtedness in full and has no reasonable prospect of being able to do so; (3) the debtor has acted in good faith in an effort to meet his obligation; and (4) the principal amount of said indebtedness is not in excess of $1,000. The Secretary is hereby further authorized at his discretion to cancel and discharge indebtedness arising under said Acts of Congress or programs when the amount of said indebtedness is less than $10, or the debtor is deceased and there is no reasonable prospect of recovering from his estate, or his whereabouts has remained unknown for two years and there is no reasonable prospect of obtaining collection, or he has been discharged of the indebtedness in any proceeding under the Act entitled "An Act to establish a uniform system of bankruptcy throughout the United States". The compromises, adjustments, or cancelations authorized by this section. shall be effected through such agencies, upon such terms and conditions, and subject to such regulations, as the Secretary may prescribe, and the Secretary may delegate the exercise of any such powers and functions to such officers or employees of the Department of Agriculture as he may designate.

SEC. 2. The provisions of this Act shall'apply to any indebtedness of farmers arising from loans or payments made or credit extended to them under any of the following Acts or programs: (a) July 1, 1918 (40 Stat. 635); March 3, 1921 (41 Stat. 1347); March 20. 1922 (42 Stat. 467): April 26, 1924 (43 Stat. 110); February 25, 1927 (44 Stat. 1245); February 28, 1927 (44 Stat., part II, 1251); February 25, 1929 (45 Stat. 1306), as amended May 17, 1929 (46 Stat. 3): March 3, 1930 (46 Stat. 78-79), as amended April 24, 1930 (46 Stat. 254): December 20, 1930 (46 Stat. 1032), as amended February 14, 1931 (46 Stat. 1160); February 23, 1931 (46 Stat. 1276); January 22, 1932 (47 Stat. 5); March 3, 1932 (47 Stat. 60); February 4, 1933 (47 Stat. 795); February 23, 1934 (48 Stat. 354): June 19, 1934 (48 Stat. 1056); February 20, 1935 (49 Stat. 28): March 21. 1935 (49 Stat. 50); April 8, 1935 (49 Stat. 115); (Executive Order Numbered 7305); January