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Notwithstanding anything in the Government of Ireland Act, 1920, the Parliament of Northern Ireland shall have power to make laws in respect of matters exclusively relating to the portion of Ireland within their jurisdiction or any part thereof, for purposes similar to the purposes of sections one to four of this Act, and for purposes similar to the purposes of the provisions of section five of this Act relating to excise duties.

(1) This Act may be cited as the Liability for War Damage (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1939.

(2) In this Act the expressions "loss by war" and "damage by war" mean respectively loss (including destruction) and damage caused by, or in repelling, enemy action, or by measures taken to avoid the spreading of the consequences of damage caused by or in repelling enemy action, and the expressions "lost by war" and "damaged by war" shall be construed accordingly.

(3) The provisions of the last foregoing section, and the provisions of section five of this Act relating to duties of customs, shall extend to Northern Ireland, but save as aforesaid this Act shall not extend to Northern Ireland.

(4) This Act shall be deemed to have come into operation on the third day of September nineteen hundred and thirty-nine.

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By Lieutenancy Decrees published in the Official Gazette of Albania, restrictive measures have also been adopted in view of the present political situation in Europe, which are summarized as follows:

Foodstuffs. Only one dish of meat or fish may be served in restaurants, and the purchase of foodstuffs by the public is limited to the normal requirements of each family. Severe measures will be taken by the authorities against those hoarding foodstuffs.

Vessels. Freight and tourist vessels are prohibited to call at the ports of Durazzo and Valona, except such vessels as have obtained advance permission from the port authorities.

Iron and other metallic materials.

The use of iron, barbed wire, and other metallic materials for fencing, surrounding grounds, yards, gardens, and the like is prohibited.

Withdrawal of silver coins. As and from September 4, the silver coins of 1 and 2 Albanian francs actually in circulation will be withdrawn and substituted by silver coins of 5 and 10 leks bearing the effigy of the King of Italy on one side, and the Scanderberg eagle set in two lictor fasces on the other side.

According to the Office of the American Commercial Attaché, Rome, a decree restricting the operation of all private automotive vehicles, including three-wheel vehicles, has been enforced in Albania, based on the recent provisions adopted by Italy.

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Immediately following the issuance of an Executive Decree proclaiming the neutrality of Panama in the present European conflict, the Government took steps for maintaining a more effective control over the movements of foreigners resident in the Republic, according

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to the Office of the American Commercial Attaché, Panama. tuate the purpose of the policy, an Executive Decree was issued requiring all foreigners living in Panama to make a full report on their domicile within 30 days, to the Foreigners Bureau of the Police Department. Specifically, the law requires that the foreigners clearly state the district, city, town or village, street and number of the house and any other necessary data for clearly identifying the place of domicile. Similarly, any change of residence must be

reported.

The report referred to is described in the following articles: (a) If domiciled in Panama prior to the promulgation of this decree, within 30 days from this date; (b) If they are newly arrived immigrants entering the territory of the Republic after this date within 15 days after granting of permit for establishing permanent residence in the country; (c) If the foreigner has already reported to the Foreigners Bureau prior to the issuance of this decree and has taken up a new domicile, he must report the change within 15 days after the publication of this decree in the Official Gazette. Article 3. All foreigners changing their domicile after the date of publication of this decree, must report to the same Bureau on this removal within 5 days after it is effected.

Article 4.

The Government, through the Immigration Bureau, the Foreigners Bureau, and municipal alcaldes, will furnish free of charge to interested parties the necessary forms for making out the domicile reports as provided by this decree.

Article 5.

Violations of the provisions of this decree shall make the guilty parties liable to a fine of five balboas (B. 5.00) for the first offense and a fine of twenty-five balboas (B. 25.00) for each succeeding violation. These fines shall be imposed by the alcalde of the respective district, to whom the chiefs of the foreigners bureaus of the cities of Panama and Colon and the captains in charge of the police sections in the interior of the Republic shall submit the proper reports and informations.

PERU Business Regulation, Sugar Industry Laws Repealed

All Government measures dictated to assist the sugar industry have been repealed by a law, No. 8925 of July 20, 1939, published August 11, 1939, according to the Office of the American Commercial Attaché, Lima. The preamble of the law states that the motives which determined the enforcement of legal provisions to protect the sugar industry and the reasons which prompted the State to dictate measures that might counteract the depression of that industry have disappeared, and that the recovery of the industry, due to the steps taken by the Government, is noteworthy. It is also stated that by a Supreme Resolution of October 26, 1933, a Commission was appointed to determine the production cost of sugar in Peru and that the Commission, in a report of October 31, 1933, established that cost at 4 shillings 6 pence. Consequently, laws Nos. 4927, 5091, 7872, 7920, and Regional Law No. 68 have been revoked and article 2 of law No. 2727, governing the export tax on sugar, has been amended to read that the export tax on any class of sugar that may be exported from Peru shall be assessed beginning with the quotation of 4 shillings 6 pence per quintal of granulated sugar of 96 percent polarization f.o.b. vessel at Peruvian port of shipment and the rate will be 10 percent on any excess over that price.

In December of 1937 (law No. 8603) the real-estate property tax on sugar farms was reinstated, and in March of 1939 (law No. 8805) the price of guano used by sugar farmers was raised. The enactment of law No. 8925 now reported has derogated the remaining measures which protected sugar producers.

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The main function of this Division is the dissemination of economic and statistical information on foreign countries. Particular attention is devoted to broad international economic studies such as the international cartel movement, American branch factories abroad, the trends in international trade, and special studies when warranted by conditions abroad. The publications of the Division include the following: FOREIGN COMMERCE YEARBOOK (annual-statistical); ECONOMIC REVIEW OF FOREIGN COUNTRIES (annual - largely non-statistical); subscription services covering economic and trade conditions in France, Canada, China, Japan, Southeastern Asia, the Philippines, and the Russian Economic Notes; and printed and processed publications issued from time to time on individual countries, covering such subjects as living and office operating costs, foreign trade, budget proposals, commercial and industrial conditions, et cetera.

The present war in Europe has intensified the interest of American businessmen and the press in keeping abreast of economic changes abroad, and in order to meet this demand with concise, up-to-date information, the Division has been issuing press releases whenever economic changes and dislocations abroad occur, in the form of economic and trade analyses of the country or area involved.

Detailed analyses of the trade of foreign countries, by commodities and destination, have also been initiated in the Division, due to the changing character of international trade and the possible diversion of trade to the United States. Thirteen such studies have been released to date, and our present plans include further analyses along the same lines.

INSURANCE LAW AND STATISTICS OF AUSTRALIA'

Amount of Life Insurance in Force. The number of institutions transacting life assurance business in Australia in 1937 was twentyseven, including four overseas companies. Of the overseas institutions, only two accept new business in Australia (one English and one New Zealand), although another English and an American society still carry policies contracted in earlier years. Of the twenty-three Australian institutions, six are purely mutual, and sixteen are public companies. One office is a State government institution.

The business transacted by these companies may be classified broadly in three categories: (1) Whole life assurance payable at death only, (2) endowment assurance payable at the end of a specified period or at death prior to the expiration of the period, and (3) pure endowment payable only in case of survival for a specified period.

In accordance with the above classifications, the amount of life assurance in force on lives of residents in Australia, including that covered by both foreign and domestic insurance companies, for the year 1937 was as follows:

Class

Whole life policies...

Endowment assurance policies.
Other assurance policies..
Endowments,

Total

Amount for which assured

£210,050,309

238, 112, 650 18,019,996 13,496,691

£479,679,646

The amount of life assurance in force in companies of Australia, including both foreign and domestic business, at latest valuation was as follows:

Assurances,

Endowments,

£652, 291,074 £21,004,555

The gross amount of new life insurance written on lives of residents in Australia, including that covered by both foreign and domestic insurance companies, during 1937 is shown hereunder:

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There are no statistics published showing the amount of new life insurance in companies of Australia, including both foreign and domestic business, during each year.

NON-LIFE INSURANCE

About 55 to 60 percent of the aggregate Australian business in fire, marine, and general insurance is transacted by insurance companies

From the Office of the American Trade Commissioner, Sydney.

having their head offices either in Australia, New Zealand, or Fiji. However, the only detailed statistics available are in respect of the operations of all Companies doing business in Australia.

The following table shows the premium income, less reinsurances and return, and claims paid, less reinsurances for the principal classes of risks, during the year 1936-37:

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The foregoing figures represent the aggregate domestic business transacted by both domestic and foreign companies.

The premium income, less reinsurances, and losses of insurance companies having their head offices in Australia, New Zealand and Fiji, with regard to their Australian business, during 1935-36 was as follows:

Premiums, less reinsurances,
Losses..

6,970,718 3,767,682

The foregoing are the only figures available regarding non-life insurance in Australia.

LAWS AND TRENDS

There are no official supervising insurance companies for the whole of Australia. Supervision in each of the States is discussed in the following sections:

Queensland. There is only one life insurance company in Australia which is a State institution and that is the Queensland Government Office. The Insurance Commissioner of this office supervises insurance business in Queensland, and the law requires companies conducting general insurance business to make a return to him each year..

The State Government Insurance Office of Queensland has a monopoly of the workers' compensation insurance business in that State.

New South Wales. There is no supervision of insurance by a special department in New South Wales, although insurance companies are subject to the Companies Act of that State.

New South Wales maintains a Government Insurance Office which is empowered to transact workers' compensation insurance without limitation in respect of both private and public employers. Power to operate in other branches of general insurance business, such as fire, marine, motor, etc., is, however, limited to insurance effected with Government departments and instrumentalities, Government contractors, public servants, and in respect of other matters in which the Government is interested. These powers were exercised

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