suant to law with the Marine Corps, or signed by an officer designated by any of them, respectively, for the purpose, shall when produced be prima facie evidence as to any of the following facts stated in such certificate:

That a person named has not been, or is, or has been in military service; the time when and the place where such person entered military service, his residence at that time, and the rank, branch, and unit of such service that he entered, the dates within which he was in military service, the monthly pay received by such person at the date of issuing the certificate, the time when and place where such person died in or was discharged from such service.

It shall be the duty of the foregoing officers to furnish such certificate on application, and any such certificate when purporting to be signed by any one of such officers or by any person purporting upon the face of the certificate to have been so authorized shall be prima facie evidence of its contents and of the authority of the signer to issue the same.

(2) Where a person in military service has been reported missing he shall be presumed to continue in the service until accounted for. and no period herein limited which begins or ends with the death of such person shall begin or end until the death of such person is in fact reported to or found by the Department of War or Navy, or any court or board thereof, or until such death is found by a court of competent jurisdiction: Provided, That no period herein limited. which begins or ends with the death of such person shall be extended hereby beyond a period of six months after the termination of the war.

Sec. 602. That any interlocutory order made by any court under the provisions of this Act may, upon the court's own motion or otherwise, be revoked, modified, or extended by it upon such notice to the parties affected as it may require.

Sec. 603. That this Act shall remain in force until the termination of the war, and for six months thereafter: Provided, That wherever under any section or provision of this Act a proceeding, remedy, privilege, stay, limitation, accounting, or other transaction has been authorized or provided, the due exercise or enjoyment of which may extend beyond the period herein fixed for the termination of this Act. such section or provision shall be deemed to continue in full force and effect so long as may be necessary to the exercise or enjoyment of the proceeding, remedy, privilege, stay, limitation, accounting, or transaction aforesaid.

Sec. 604. That this Act may be cited as the Soldiers' and Sailors' Civil Relief Act.

Approved, March 8, 1918.

16. FURLOUGH ACT

[Public-No. 105-65th Congress. S. 3471.]

An Act to authorize the Secretary of War to grant furloughs without pay and allowances to enlisted men of the Army of the United States. [March 16, 1918.]

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That, whenever during the continuance of the present war in the opinion of the Secretary of War the interests of the service or the national security and defense render it necessary or desirable, the Secretary of War be, and he hereby is authorized to grant furloughs to enlisted men of the Army of the United States with or without pay and allowances or with partial pay and allowances, and, for such periods as he may designate, to permit said enlisted men to engage in civil occupations and pursuits: Provided, That such furloughs shall be granted only upon the voluntary application of such enlisted men under regulations to be prescribed by the Secretary of War.

.Approved, March 16, 1918.

17. FEDERAL CONTROL OF CARRIERS ACT

[Public-No. 107-65th Congress. S. 3752.]

An Act to provide for the operation of transportation systems while under Federal control, for the just compensation of their owners, and for other purposes. [March 21, 1918.]

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the President, having in time of war taken over the possession, use, control, and operation (called herein Federal control) of certain railroads and systems of transportation (called herein carriers), is hereby authorized to agree with and to guarantee to any such carrier making operating returns to the Interstate Commerce Commission, that during the period of such Federal control it shall receive as just compensation an annual sum, payable from time to time in reasonable installments, for each year and pro rata for any fractional year of such Federal control, not exceeding a sum equivalent as nearly as may be to its average annual railway operating income for the three years ended June thirtieth, nineteen hundred and seventeen.

That any railway operating income accruing during the period of Federal control in excess of such just compensation shall remain the property of the United States. In the computation of such income, debits and credits arising from the accounts called in the monthly reports to the Interstate Commerce Commission equipment rents and joint facility rents shall be included, but debits and credits arising from the operation of such street electric passenger railways, including railways commonly called interurbans, as are at the time of the agreement not under Federal control, shall be excluded. If any lines were acquired by, leased to, or consolidated with such railroad or system

between July first, nineteen hundred and fourteen, and December thirty-first, nineteen hundred and seventeen, both inclusive, and separate operating returns to the Interstate Commerce Commission were not made.for such lines after such acquisition, lease, or consolidation, there shall (before the average is computed) be added to the total railway operating income of such railroad or system for the three years ended June thirtieth, nineteen hundred and seventeen, the total railway operating income of the lines so acquired, leased, or consolidated, for the period beginning July first, nineteen hundred and fourteen, and ending on the date of such acquisition, lease, or consolidation, or on December thirty-first, nineteen hundred and seventeen, whichever is the earlier. The average annual railway operating income shall be ascertained by the Interstate Commerce Commission and certified by it to the President. Its certificate shall, for the purpose of such agreement, be taken as conclusive of the amount of such average annual railway operating income.

Every such agreement shall provide that any Federal taxes under the Act of October third, nineteen hundred and seventeen, or Acts in addition thereto or in amendment thereof, commonly called war taxes, assessed for the period of Federal control beginning January first, nineteen hundred and eighteen, or any part of such period, shall be paid by the carrier out of its own funds, or shall be charged against or deducted from the just compensation; that other taxes assessed under Federal or any other governmental authority for the period of Federal control or any part thereof, either on the property used under such Federal control or on the right to operate as a carrier, or on the revenues or any part thereof derived from operation (not including, however, assessments for public improvements or taxes assessed on property under construction, and chargeable under the classification of the Interstate Commerce Commission to investment in road and equipment), shall be paid out of revenues derived from railway operations while under Federal control; that all taxes assessed under Federal or any other governmental authority for the period prior to January first, nineteen hundred and eighteen, whenever levied or payable, shall be paid by the carrier out of its own funds, or shall be charged against or deducted from the just compensation.

Every such agreement shall also contain adequate and appropriate provisions for the maintenance, repair, renewals, and depreciation of the property, for the creation of any reserves or reserve funds found necessary in connection therewith, and for such accounting and adjustments of charges and payments, both during and at the end of Federal control as may be requisite in order that the property of each carrier may be returned to it in substantially as good repair and in substantially as complete equipment as it was in at the beginning of Federal control, and also that the United States may, by deductions from the just compensations or by other proper means and charges, be reimbursed for the cost of any additions, repairs, renewals, and betterments to such property not justly chargeable to the United States; in making such accounting and adjustments, due consideration shall be given to the amounts expended or reserved by each carrier for maintenance, repairs, renewals, and depreciation during the three years ended

June thirtieth, nineteen hundred and seventeen, to the condition of the property at the beginning and at the end of Federal control and to any other pertinent facts and circumstances.

The President is further authorized in such agreement to make all other reasonable provisions, not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act or of the Act entitled "An Act making appropriations for the support of the Army for the fiscal year ending June thirtieth, nineteen hundred and seventeen, and for other purposes," approved August twenty-ninth, nineteen hundred and sixteen, that he may deem necessary or proper for such Federal control or for the determination of the mutual rights and obligations of the parties to the agreement arising from or out of such Federal control.

If the President shall find that the condition of any carrier was during all or a substantial portion of the period of three years ended June thirtieth, nineteen hundred and seventeen, because of nonoperation, receivership, or where recent expenditures for additions or improvements or equipment were not fully reflected in the operating railway income of said three years or a substantial portion thereof, or because of any undeveloped or abnormal conditions, so exceptional as to make the basis of earnings hereinabove provided for plainly inequitable as a fair measure of just compensation, then the President may make with the carrier such agreement for such amount as just compensation as under the circumstances of the particular case he shall find just.

That every railroad not owned, controlled, or operated by another carrier company, and which has heretofore competed for traffic with a railroad or railroads of which the President has taken the possession, use, and control, or which connects with such railroads and is engaged as a common carrier in general transportation, shall be held and considered as within "Federal control," as herein defined, and necessary for the prosecution of the war, and shall be entitled to the benefit of all the provisions of this Act: Provided, however, That nothing in this paragraph shall be construed as including any street or interurban electric railway which has as its principal source of operating revenue urban, suburban, or interurban passenger traffic, or sale of power, heat and light, or both.

The agreement shall also provide that the carrier shall accept all the terms and conditions of this Act and any regulation or order made by or through the President under authority of this Act or of that portion of the Act entitled "An Act making appropriations for the support of the Army for the fiscal year ending June thirtieth, nineteen hundred and seventeen, and for other purposes," approved August twentyninth, nineteen hundred and sixteen, which authorizes the President in time of war to take possession, assume control, and utilize systems of transportation.

Sec. 2. That if no such agreement is made, or pending the execution of an agreement, the President may nevertheless pay to any carrier while under Federal control an annual amount, payable in reasonable installments, not exceeding ninety per centum of the estimated annual amount of just compensation, remitting such carrier, in case where no

MIL.L.-37

agreement is made, to its legal rights for any balance claimed to the remedies provided in section three hereof. Any amount thereafter found due such carrier above the amount paid shall bear interest at the rate of six per centum per annum. The acceptance of any benefits under this section shall constitute an acceptance by the carrier of all the provisions of this Act and shall obligate the carrier to pay to the United States, with interest at the rate of six per centum per annum from a date or dates fixed in proceedings under section three, the amount by which the sums received under this section exceed the sum found due in such proceedings.

Sec. 3. That all claims for just compensation not adjusted (as provided in section one) shall, on the application of the President or of any carrier, be submitted to boards, each consisting of three referees to be appointed by the Interstate Commerce Commission, members of which and the official force thereof being eligible for service on such boards without additional compensation. Such boards of referees are hereby authorized to summon witnesses, require the production of records, books, correspondence, documents, memoranda, and other papers, view properties, administer oaths, and may hold hearings in Washington and elsewhere, as their duties and the convenience of the parties may require. In case of disobedience to a subpoena the board may invoke the aid of any district court of the United States in requiring the attendance and testimony of witnesses and the production of documentary evidence, and such court within the jurisdiction of which such inquiry is carried on may, in case of contumacy or refusal to obey a subpoena issued to any person, corporation, partnership, or association, issue an order requiring appearance before the board, or the production of documentary evidence if so ordered, or the giving of evidence touching the matter in question; and any failure to obey such order of the court may be punished by such court as a contempt thereof. Such cases may be heard separately or together or by classes, by such boards as the Interstate Commerce Commission in the first instance, or any board of referees to which any such cases shall be referred may determine. Said boards shall give full hearings to such carriers and to the United States; shall consider all the facts and circumstances, and shall report as soon as practicable in each case to the President the just compensation, calculated on an annual basis and otherwise in such form as to be convenient and available for the making of such agreement as is authorized in section one. The President is authorized to enter into an agreement with such carrier for just compensation upon a basis not in excess of that reported by such board, and may include therein provisions similar to those authorized under section one. Failing such agreement, either the United States or such carrier may file a petition in the Court of Claims for the purpose of determining the amount of such just compensation, and in the proceedings in said court the report of said referees shall be prima facie evidence of the amount of just compensation and of the facts therein stated. Proceedings in the Court of Claims under this section shall be given. precedence and expedited in every practicable way.

Sec. 4. That the just compensation that may be determined as