Page images
PDF
EPUB

of enemy, holding insurance or having effected reinsurance in or with such enemy or ally of enemy insurance or reinsurance company, to receive payment of, and for such enemy or ally of enemy insurance or reinsurance company to pay any premium, return premium, claim, money, security, or other property due or which may become due on or in respect to such insurance or reinsurance in force at the date of such refusal or revocation of license; and nothing in this Act shall vitiate or nullify then existing policies or contracts of insurance or reinsurance, or the conditions thereof; and any such policyholder or insurance company, not an enemy or ally of enemy, having any claim to or upon money or other property of the enemy or ally of enemy insurance or reinsurance company in the custody or control of the alien property custodian, hereinafter provided for, or of the Treasurer of the United States, may make application for the payment thereof and may institute suit as provided in section nine hereof. (b) That, during the present war, no enemy, or ally of enemy, and no partnership of which he is a member or was a member at the beginning of the war, shall for any purpose assume or use any name other than that by which such enemy or partnership was ordinarily known at the beginning of the war, except under license from the President.

Whenever, during the present war, in the opinion of the President the public safety or public interest requires, the President may prohibit any or all foreign insurance companies from doing business in the United States, or the President may license such company or companies to do business upon such terms as he may deem proper.

SEC. 5. (a) That the President, if he shall find it compatible with the safety of the United States and with the successful prosecution of the war, may, by proclamation, suspend the provisions of this Act so far as they apply to an ally of enemy, and he may revoke or renew such suspension from time to time; and the President may grant licenses, special or general, temporary or otherwise, and for such period of time and containing such provisions and conditions as he shall prescribe, to any person or class of persons to do business as provided in subsection (a) of section four hereof, and to perform any act made unlawful without such license in section three hereof, and to file and prosecute applications under subsection (b) of section ten hereof; and he may revoke or renew such licenses from time to time, if he shall be of opinion that such grant or revocation or renewal shall be compatible with the safety of the United States and with the successful prosecution of the war; and he may make such rules and regulations, not inconsistent with law, as may be necessary and proper to carry out the provisions of this Act; and the President may exercise any power or authority conferred by this Act through such officer or officers as he shall direct.

If the President shall have reasonable cause to believe that any act is about to be performed in violation of section three hereof he shall have authority to order the postponement of the performance of such act for a period not exceeding ninety days, pending investigation of the facts by him.

(b) That the President may investigate, regulate, or prohibit, under such rules and regulations as he may prescribe, by means of licenses or otherwise, any transactions in foreign exchange, export or ear-markings of gold or silver coin or bullion or currency, transfers of credit in any form (other than credits relating solely to transactions to be executed wholly within the United States), and transfers of evidences of indebtedness or of the ownership of property between the United States and any foreign country, whether enemy, ally of enemy or otherwise, or between residents of one or more foreign countries, by any person within the United States; and he may require any such person engaged in any such transaction to furnish, under oath, complete information relative thereto, including the production of any books of account, contracts, letters or other papers, in connection therewith in the custody or control of such person, either before or after such transaction is completed.

SEC. 6. That the President is authorized to appoint, prescribe the duties of, and fix the salary (not to exceed $5,000 per annum) of an official to be known as the alien property custodian, who shall be empowered to receive all money and property in the United States due or belonging to an enemy, or ally of enemy, which may be paid, conveyed, transferred, assigned, or delivered to said custodian under the provisions of this Act; and to hold, administer, and account for the same under the general direction of the President and as provided in this Act. The alien property custodian shall give such bond or bonds, and in such form and amount, and with such security as the President shall prescribe. The President may further employ in the District of Columbia and

elsewhere and fix the compensation of such clerks, attorneys, investigators, accountants, and other employees as he may find necessary for the due administration of the provisions of this Act: Provided, That such clerks, investigators, accountants, and other employees shall be appointed from lists of eligibles to be supplied by the Civil Service Commission and in accordance with the civil-service law: Provided further, That the President shall cause a detailed report to be made to Congress on the first day of January of each year of all proceedings had under this Act during the year preceding. Such report shall contain a list of all persons appointed or employed, with the salary or compensation paid to each, and a statement of the different kinds of property taken into custody and the disposition made thereof.

SEC. 7. (a) That every corporation incorporated within the United States, and every unincorporated association, or company, or trustee, or trustees within the United States, issuing shares or certificates representing beneficial interests, shall, under such rules and regulations as the President may prescribe and, within sixty days after the passage of this Act, and at such other times thereafter as the President may require, transmit to the alien property custodian a full list, duly sworn to, of every officer, director, or stockholder known to be, or whom the representative of such corporation, association, company, or trustee has reasonable cause to believe to be an enemy or ally of enemy resident within the territory, or a subject or citizen residing outside of the United States, of any nation with which the United States is at war, or resident within the territory, or a subject or citizen residing outside of the United States, of any ally of any nation with which the United States is at war, together with the amount of stock or shares owned by each such officer, director, or stockholder, or in which he has any interest.

The President may also require a similar list to be transmitted of all stock or shares owned on February third, nineteen hundred and seventeen, by any person now defined as an enemy or ally of enemy, or in which any such person had any interest; and he may also require a list to be transmitted of all cases in which said corporation, association, company, or trustee has reasonable cause to believe that the stock or shares on February third, nineteen hundred and seventeen, were owned or are owned by such enemy or ally of enemy, though standing on the books in the name of another: Provided, however, That the name of any such officer, director, or stockholder shall be stricken permanently or temporarily from such list by the alien property custodian when he shall be satisfied that he is not such enemy or ally of enemy.

Any person in the United States who holds or has or shall hold or have custody or control of any property beneficial or otherwise, alone or jointly · with others, of, for, or on behalf of an enemy or ally of enemy, or of any person whom he may have reasonable cause to believe to be an enemy or ally of enemy and any person in the United States who is or shall be indebted in any way to an enemy or ally of enemy, or to any person whom he may have reasonable cause to believe to be an enemy or ally of enemy, shall, with such exceptions and under such rules and regulations as the President shall prescribe, and within thirty days after the passage of this Act, or within thirty days after such property shall come within his custody or control, or after such debt shall become due, report the fact to the alien-property custodian by written statement under oath containing such particulars as said custodian shall require. The President may also require a similar report of all property so held, of, for, or on behalf of, and of all debts so owed to, any person now defined as an enemy or ally of enemy, on February third, nineteen hundred and seventeen: Provided, That the name of any person shall be stricken from the said report by the alien-property custodian, either temporarily or permanently, when he shall be satisfied that such person is not an enemy or ally of enemy. The President may extend the time for filing the lists or reports required by this section for an additional period not exceeding ninety days.

(b) Nothing in this Act contained shall render valid or legal, or be construed to recognize as valid or legal, any act or transaction constituting trade with, to, from, for or on account of, or on behalf or for the benefit of an enemy performed or engaged in since the beginning of the war and prior to the passage of this Act, or any such act or transaction hereafter performed or engaged in except as authorized hereunder, which would otherwise have been or be void, illegal, or invalid at law. No conveyance, transfer, delivery, payment, or loan of money or other property, in violation of section three hereof, made after the passage of this Act, and not under license as herein provided shall confer or create any right or remedy in respect thereof; and no person shall by virtue

of any assignment, indorsement, or delivery to him of any debt, bill, note, or other obligation or chose in action by, from, or on behalf of, or on account of, or for the benefit of an enemy or ally of enemy have any right or remedy against the debtor, obligor, or other person liable to pay, fulfill, or perform the same unless said assignment, indorsement, or delivery was made prior to the beginning of the war or shall be made under license as herein provided, or unless, if made after the beginning of the war and prior to the date of passage of this Act, the person to whom the same was made shall prove lack of knowledge and of reasonable cause to believe on his part that the same was made by, from or on behalf of, or an account of, or for the benefit of an enemy or ally of enemy; and any person who knowingly pays, discharges, or satisfies any such debt, note, bill, or other obligation or chose in action shall, on conviction thereof, be deemed to violate section three hereof: Provided, That nothing in this Act contained shall prevent the carrying out, completion, or performance of any contract, agreement, or obligation originally made with or entered into by an enemy or ally of enemy where, prior to the beginning of the war and not in contemplation thereof, the interest of such enemy or ally of enemy devolved by assignment or otherwise upon a person not an enemy or ally of enemy, and no enemy or ally of enemy will be benefited by such carrying out, completion, or performance otherwise than by release from obligation thereunder.

Nothing in this Act shall be deemed to prevent payment of money belonging or owing to an enemy or ally of enemy to a person within the United States not an enemy or ally of enemy, for the benefit of such person or of any other person within the United States, not an enemy or ally of enemy, if the funds so paid shall have been received prior to the beginning of the war and such payments arise out of transactions entered into prior to the beginning of the war, and not in contemplation thereof: Provided, That such payment shall not be made without the license of the President, general or special, as provided in this Act. Nothing in this Act shall be deemed to authorize the prosecution of any suit or action at law or in equity in any court within the United States by an enemy or ally of enemy prior to the end of the war, except as provided in section ten hereof: Provided, however, That an enemy or ally of enemy licensed to do business under this Act may prosecute and maintain any such suit or action so far as the same arises solely out of the business transacted within the United States under such license and so long as such license remains in full force and effect: And provided further, That an enemy or ally of enemy may defend by counsel any suit in equity or action at law which may be brought against him.

Receipt of notice from the President to the effect that he has reasonable ground to believe that any person is an enemy or ally of enemy shall be prima facie defense to any one receiving the same, in any suit or action at law or in equity brought or maintained, or to any right or set-off or recoupment asserted by, such person and based on failure to complete or perform since the beginning of the war any contract or other obligation. In any prosecution under section sixteen hereof, proof of receipt of notice from the President to the effect that he has reasonable cause to believe that any person is an enemy or ally of enemy shall be prima facie evidence that the person receiving such notice has reasonable cause to believe such other person to be an enemy or ally of enemy within the meaning of section three hereof.

(c) If the President shall so require, any money or other property owing or belonging to or held for, by, on account of, or on behalf of, or for the benefit of an enemy or ally of enemy not holding a license granted by the President hereunder, which the President after investigation shall determine is so owing or so belongs or is so held, shall be conveyed, transferred, assigned, delivered, or paid over to the alien property custodian.

(d) If not required to pay, convey, transfer, assign, or deliver under the provisions of subsection (c) hereof, any person not an enemy or ally of enemy who owes to, or holds for, or on account of, or on behalf of, or for the benefit of an enemy or of an ally of enemy not holding a license granted by the President hereunder, any money or other property, or to whom any obligation or form of liability to such enemy or ally of enemy is presented for payment, may, at his option, with the consent of the President, pay, convey, transfer, assign, or deliver to the alien property custodian said money or other property under such rules and regulations as the President shall prescribe.

(e) No person shall be held liable in any court for or in respect to anything done or omitted in pursuance of any order, rule, or regulation made by the President under the authority of this Act.

Any payment, conveyance, transfer, assignment, or delivery of money or property made to the alien property custodian hereunder shall be a full acquittance and discharge for all purposes of the obligation of the person making the same to the extent of same. The alien property custodian and such other persons as the President may appoint shall have power to execute, acknowledge, and deliver any such instrument or instruments as may be necessary or proper to evidence upon the record or otherwise such acquittance and discharge, and shall, in case of payment to the alien property custodian of any debt or obligation owed to an enemy or ally of enemy, deliver up any notes, bonds, or other evidences of indebtedness or obligation, or any security therefor in which such enemy or ally of enemy had any right or interest that may have come into the possession of the alien property custodian, with like effect as if he or they, respectively, were duly appointed by the enemy or ally of enemy, creditor, or obligee. The President shall issue to every person so appointed a certificate of the appointment and authority of such person, and such certificate shall be received in evidence in all courts within the United States. Whenever any such certificate of authority shall be offered to any registrar, clerk, or other recording officer, Federal or otherwise, within the United States, such officer shall record the same in like manner as a power of attorney, and such record or a duly certified copy thereof shall be received in evidence in all courts of the United States or other courts within the United States.

SEC. 8. (a) That any person not an enemy or ally of enemy holding a lawful mortgage, pledge, or lien, or other right in the nature of security in property on an enemy or ally of enemy which, by law or by the terms of the instrument creating such mortgage, pledge, or lien, or right, may be disposed of on notice or presentation or demand, and any person not an enemy or ally of enemy who is a party to any lawful contract with an enemy or ally of enemy, the terms of which provide for a termination thereof upon notice or for acceleration of maturity on presentation or demand, may continue to hold said property, and, after default, may dispose of the property in accordance with law or may terminate or mature such contract by notice or presentation or demand served or made on the alien property custodian in accordance with the law and the terms of such instrument or contract and under such rules and regulations as the President shall prescribe; and such notice and such presentation and demand shall have, in all respects, the same force and effect as if duly served or made upon the enemy or ally of enemy personally: Provided, That no such rule or regulation shall require that notice or presentation or demand shall be served or made in any case in which, by law or by the terms of said instrument or contract, no notice, presentation, or demand was, prior to the passage of this Act, required; and that in case where, by law or by the terms of such instrument or contract, notice is required, no longer period of notice shall be required: Provided further, That if, on any such disposition of property, a surplus shall remain after the satisfaction of the mortgage, pledge, lien, or other right in the nature of security, notice of that fact shall be given to the President pursuant to such rules and regulations as he may prescribe. and such surplus shall be held subject to his further order.

(b) That any contract entered into prior to the beginning of the war between any citizen of the United States or any corporation organized within the United States, and an enemy or ally of an enemy, the terms of which provide for the delivery, during or after any war in which a present enemy or ally of enemy nation has been or is now engaged, of anything produced, mined, or manufactured in the United States, may be abrogated by such citizen or corporation by serving thirty days' notice in writing upon the alien property custodian of his or its election to abrogate such contract.

(c) The running of any statute of limitations shall be suspended with reference to the rights or remedies on any contract or obligation entered into prior to the beginning of the war between parties neither of whom is an enemy or ally of enemy, and containing any promise to pay or liability for payment which is evidenced by drafts or other commercial paper drawn against or secured by funds or other property situated in an enemy or ally of enemy country, and no suit shall be maintained on any such contract or obligation in any court within the United States until after the end of the war, or until the said funds or property shall be released for the payment or satisfaction of such contract or obligation: Provided, however, That nothing herein contained shall be construed to prevent the suspension of the running of the statute of limitations in all other cases where such suspension would occur under existing law.

SEC. 9. That any person, not an enemy, or ally of enemy, claiming any interest, right, or title in any money or other property which may have been conveyed, transferred, assigned, delivered, or paid to the alien property custodian hereunder, and held by him or by the Treasurer of the United States, or to whom any debt may be owing from an enemy, or ally of enemy, whose property or any part thereof shall have been conveyed, transferred, assigned, delivered, or paid to the alien property custodian hereunder, and held by him or by the Treasurer of the United States, may file with the said custodian a notice of his claim under oath and in such form and containing such particulars as the said custodian shall require; and the President, if application is made therefor by the claimant, may, with the assent of the owner of said property and of all persons claiming any right, title, or interest therein, order the payment, conveyance, transfer, assignment or delivery to said claimant of the money or other property so held by the alien property custodian or by the Treasurer of the United States or of the interest therein to which the President shall determine said claimant is entitled: Provided, That no such order by the President shall bar any person from the prosecution of any suit at law or in equity against the claimant to establish any right, title or interest which he may have in such money or other property. If the President shall not so order within sixty days after the filing of such application, or if the claimant shall have filed the notice as above required and shall have made no application to the President, said claimant may, at any time before the expiration of six months after the end of the war, institute a suit in equity in the district court of the United States for the district in which such claimant resides, or, if a corporation, where it has its principal place of business (to which suit the alien property custodian or the Treasurer of the United States, as the case may be, shall be made a party defendant), to establish the interest, right, title, or debt so claimed, and if suit shall be so instituted then the money or other property of the enemy, or ally of enemy, against whom such interest, right, or title is asserted, or debt claimed, shall be retained in the custody of the alien property custodian, or in the Treasury of the United States, as provided in this Act, and until any final judgment or decree which shall be entered in favor of the claimant shall be fully satisfied by payment or conveyance, transfer, assignment, or delivery by the defendant or by the alien property custodian or Treasurer of the United States on order of the court, or until final judgment or decree shall be entered against the claimant, or suit otherwise terminated.

Except as herein provided, the money or other property conveyed, transferred, assigned, delivered, or paid to the alien property custodian shall not be liable to lien, attachment, garnishment, trustee process, or execution, or subject to any order or decree of any court.

This section shall not apply, however, to money paid to the alien property custodian under section ten hereof.

SEC. 10. That nothing contained in this Act shall be held to make unlawful any of the following Acts:

(a) An enemy, or ally of enemy, may file and prosecute in the United States an application for letters patent, or for registration of trade-mark, print, label, or copyright, and may pay any fees therefor in accordance with and as required by the provisions of existing law and fees for attorneys or agents for filing and prosecuting such applications. Any such enemy, or ally of enemy, who is unable during war, or within six months thereafter, on account of conditions arising out of war, to file any such application, or to pay any official fee, or to take any action required by law within the period prescribed by law, may be granted an extension of nine months beyond the expiration of said period, provided the nation of which the said applicant is a citizen, subject, or corporation shall extend substantially similar privileges to citizens and corporations of the United States.

(b) Any citizen of the United States, or any corporation organized within the United States, may, when duly authorized by the President, pay to an enemy or ally of enemy any tax, annuity, or fee which may be required by the laws of such enemy or ally of enemy nation in relation to patents and trade-marks, prints, labels, and copyrights; and any such citizen or corporation may file and prosecute an application for letters patent or for registration of trade-mark, print, label, or copyright in the country of an enemy, or of an ally of enemy after first submitting such application to the President and receiving license so to file and prosecute, and to pay the fees required by law and customary agents' fees, the maximum amount of which in each case shall be subject to the control of the President,

« PreviousContinue »