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report, periodical, bulletin, pamphlet, list, or other article or document (except official letter correspondence, including such enclosures as are reasonably related to the subject matter of the correspondence; informational releases in connection with the decennial census of the United States, mail concerning the sale of Government securities, and all forms and blanks and copies of statutes, rules, regulations, and instructions and administrative orders and interpretations necessary in the administration of such departments and establishments), unless a request therefor has been previously received by such department or independent establishment; or such transmission is required by law; or such document is transmitted to inform the recipient thereof of the adoption, amendment, or interpretation of a statute, rule, regulation, or order to which he is subject. For each quarter, beginning with the quarter commencing July 1, 1939, the head of each independent establishment and executive department (other than the Post Office Department) shall submit to the Postmaster General, within thirty days after the close of the quarter, a statement of the weight of the mail matter by classes of mail that the independent establishment or department has transmitted free of postage during such quarter, and he shall also certify to the Postmaster General at the end of each such quarter that nothing was transmitted through the mail free of postage by the independent establishment or department in violation of the provisions of this section: Provided, That nothing herein shall be construed to prohibit the mailing free of postage of lists of agricultural bulletins, lists of public documents which are offered for sale by the Superintendent of Documents, or of announcements of publications of maps, atlases, statistical, and other reports offered for sale by the Federal Power Commission as authorized by section 312 of the Federal Power Act: Provided further, That this prohibition shall not apply to the transmission of such books, reports, periodicals, bulletins, pamphlets, lists, articles, or documents to educational institutions or public libraries, or to Federal, State, or other public authorities. (May 6, 1939, sec. 6, 53 Stat. 683, as amended June 30. 1939, sec. 2, 53 Stat. 989; 39 U. S. C., sec. 321b.)

PUBLIC BUILDINGS, PROPERTY, AND WORKS

NATIONAL ARCHIVES

1817b-1. National Archives seal; admissibility of copies of documents in custody of Archivist when properly authenticated. The National Archives shall have an official seal, which shall be judicially noticed.

The Archivist of the United States may make or reproduce and furnish authenticated or unauthenticated copies of any of the documentary, photographic or other archives or records in his custody that are not exempt from the examination as confidential or protected by subsisting copyright, and may charge therefor a fee sufficient to cover the cost or expenses thereof. There shall be no charge for the making or authentication of such copies or reproductions furnished to any department or other agency of the Government for official use. When any such copy or reproduction furnished under the terms hereof is authenticated by the official seal of the National Archives and certified

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by the Archivist of the United States, or in his name attested by the head of any office or the chief of any division of The National Archives designated by the Archivist with such authority, it shall be admitted in evidence equally with the original from which it was made. (June 19, 1934, sec. 8, 48 Stat. 1123; June 22, 1936, 49 Stat. 1821; 40 U. S. C., sec. 238.)

1819. Title to land to be purchased by United States.-No public money shall be expended upon any site or land purchased by the United States for the purposes of erecting thereon any armory, arsenal, fort, fortification, navy yard, customhouse, lighthouse, or other public building of any kind whatever, until the written opinion of the Attorney General shall be had in favor of the validity of the title.

Notwithstanding the provisions of this or any other law, whenever the average value of any lands or interests in land to be acquired by or on behalf of the United States under a single option or contract of sale does not exceed $10 per acre (hereinafter referred to as "low-value lands"), the title may be accepted subject to such infirmities as, in the opinion of the Attorney General, may, without jeopardizing the interests of the United States, be left for removal by condemnation or other appropriate proceedings, if and when necessary: Provided, That the total value of any lands or interests to be acquired under a single option or contract of sale subject to an infirmity does not exceed $3,500. No public money shall hereafter be expended for the acquisition of such low-value lands or interests in land by or on behalf of the United States for any purpose until the written opinion of the Attorney General has been had approving the title subject, if expedient, to infirmities as herein provided. However, no money in excess of $2,500 shall be expended for the construction of buildings, works, or other improvements (except roads, trails, and fire-protection improvements) on any site, tract, or parcel of land the title to which is subject to infirmities, until the written opinion of the Attorney General in favor of the validity of the title has been had as in the case of other lands. For the purpose of this Act, values of lands and interests in land shall be determined by the consideration paid or to be paid.

The Attorney General is hereby authorized to approve the title to easements or rights-of-way to be acquired by or on behalf of the United States, subject to such infirmities as, in his opinion, will not jeopardize the interests of the United States.

Nothing in this Act shall be construed to limit the authority now or hereafter delegated to any officer in exercising the power of eminent domain for or on behalf of the United States, to take title to or possession of or to expend money for or upon any land or interest in land, or to expend money as security for an ultimate award in advance of final judgment in any proceedings to determine just compensation; nor shall this Act be construed to preclude any acquiring agency from expending money for the erection of any preliminary and temporary structure upon any land.

The head or other authorized officer of any department, independent establishment, or agency, shall procure any evidence of title which the Attorney General may deem necessary, and the expenses of procurement, except where otherwise authorized by law or provided by contract, may be paid out of the appropriations for the acquisition

of land or out of the appropriations made for the contingencies of the acquiring department, independent establishment, or agency.

The Attorney General may, in his discretion, base any opinion as to title required either by this Act or any other law upon either or both of the following: Certificates of title of title companies or such evidence of title as he may deem satisfactory.

The foregoing provisions of this section shall not be construed to affect in any manner any existing provisions of law which are applicable to the acquisition of lands or interests in land by the Tennessee Valley Authority; and nothing in this section shall be construed to affect in any manner any authority which the Secretary of War, the Chief of Engineers, or the Secretary of the Interior have under the provisions of law in force on the date this section as amended takes effect with respect to the approval by them of title to land or interests in land acquired by the War Department or the Department of the Interior, as the case may be. Nor shall the foregoing provisions of this section, or the provisions of any other law, be construed to require any opinion of the Attorney General in connection with the acquisition or improvement of easements and rights-of-way for military or naval purposes; or for the acquisition or improvement of easements and rights-of-way by the Department of Agriculture for forest and other conservation purposes where the cost of any such easement of right-of-way acquired under a single instrument of conveyance and the cost of any improvement thereon does not exceed $2,500; and the Attorney General may, in his discretion, waive the requirement for his opinion in connection with the acquisition or improvement of easements and rights-of-way for other purposes when, in his opinion, such waiver will not jeopardize the interests of the United States.

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the obtaining of exclusive jurisdiction in the United States over lands or interests therein which have been or shall hereafter be acquired by it shall not be required; but the head or other authorized officer of any department or independent establishment or agency of the Government may, in such cases and at such times as he may deem desirable, accept or secure from the State in which any lands or interests therein under his immediate jurisdiction, custody, or control are situated, consent to or cession of such jurisdiction, exclusive or partial, not theretofore obtained, over any such lands or interests as he may deem desirable and indicate acceptance of such jurisdiction on behalf of the United States by filing a notice of such acceptance with the Governor of such State or in such other manner as may be prescribed by the laws of the State where such lands are situated. Unless and until the United States has accepted jurisdiction over lands hereafter to be acquired as aforesaid, it shall be conclusively presumed that no such jurisdiction has been accepted. (R. S., sec. 355; June 28, 1930, 46 Štat. 828; Oct. 9, 1940, 54 Stat. 1083; 40 U. S. C., sec. 255.)

PUBLIC BUILDINGS AND WORKS, GENERALLY

1831. Construction, etc., by Treasury Department of buildings for other executive departments or establishments.-The Secretary of the Treasury may, in his discretion, upon the request of the head of any other

executive department, independent establishment, or other Federal agency, cause the Procurement Division, Treasury Department, to carry out the construction of any building or buildings for governmental purposes which any such executive department, establishment, or agency may be authorized to have constructed, including the preparation of plans, drawings, designs, specifications, and estimates, the acquisition of land necessary for sites, the execution of contracts, and supervision of construction: Provided, That funds appropriated to other executive departments, independent establishments, or other Federal agencies for the foregoing purposes shall be available for transfer to and expenditure by the Procurement Division, Treasury Department, in whole or in part, either in reimbursement of the proper appropriations of the Procurement Division, for the cost of such work, or as advances to special accounts for the purpose of providing for the prosecution of said work. (June 25, 1910, sec. 35, 36 Stat. 699; June 15, 1938, 52 Stat. 683; 40 U. S. C., sec. 265.)

1848-1. Compelling return of compensation for public work; kick back; penalty. That whoever shall induce any person employed in the construction, prosecution, or completion of any public building, public work, or building or work financed in whole or in part by loans or grants from the United States, or in the repair thereof to give up any part of the compensation to which he is entitled under his contract of employment, by force, intimidation, threat of procuring dismissal from such employment, or by any other manner whatsoever, shall be fined not more than $5,000, or imprisoned not more than five years, or both. (June 13, 1934, sec. 1, 48 Stat. 948; 40 U. S. C., sec. 276b.)

1848-2. Lease of buildings to Government; maximum rental. Hereafter no appropriation shall be obligated or expended for the rent of any building or part of a building to be occupied for Government purposes at a rental in excess of the per annum rate of 15 per centum of the fair market value of the rented premises at date of the lease under which the premises are to be occupied by the Government nor for alterations, improvements, and repairs of the rented premises in excess of 25 per centum of the amount of the rent for the first year of the rental term, or for the rental term if less than one year: Provided, That the provisions of this section shall not apply to leases heretofore made, except when renewals thereof are made hereafter, nor to leases of premises in foreign countries for the foreign services of the United States: Provided further, That the provisions of this section as applicable to rentals, shall apply only where the rental to be paid shall exceed $2,000 per annum. (June 30, 1932, sec. 322, 47 Stat. 412; Mar. 3, 1933, Title II, sec. 15, 47 Stat. 1517; 40 U. S. C., sec. 278a.)

1848-3. State Workmen's Compensation Laws extended to United States property within State. That whatsoever constituted authority of each of the several States is charged with the enforcement of and requiring compliances with the State workmen's compensation laws of said States and with the enforcement of and requiring compliance with the orders, decisions, and awards of said constituted authority of said States hereafter shall have the power and authority to apply such laws to all lands and premises owned or held by the United States of America by deed or act of cession, by purchase or otherwise, which is within the exterior boundaries of any State, and to all projects,

buildings, constructions, improvements, and property belonging to the United States of America, which is within the exterior boundaries of any State, in the same way and to the same extent as if said premises were under the exclusive jurisdiction of the State within whose exterior boundaries such place may be. (June 25, 1936, sec. 1, 49 Stat. 1938; 40 U. S. C., sec. 290.)

1848-4. Rights vested in States; limitations.-For the purposes set out in section 1 of this Act, the United States of America hereby vests in the several States within whose exterior boundaries such place may be, insofar as the enforcement of State workmen's compensation laws are affected, the right, power, and authority aforesaid: Provided, however, That by the passage of this Act the United States of America in nowise relinquishes its jurisdiction for any purpose over the property named, with the exception of extending to the several States within whose exterior boundaries such place may be only the powers above enumerated relating to the enforcement of their State workmen's compensation laws as herein designated: Provided further, That nothing in this Act shall be construed to modify or amend the United States Employees' Compensation Act as amended from time to time (Act of September 7, 1916, 39 Stat. 742, U. S. C., title 5 and supplement, sec. 751, et seq.). (June 25, 1936, sec. 2, 49 Stat. 1939; 40 U. S. C., sec. 290.)

THE PUBLIC PROPERTY

1851-1. Horses and mules unfit for service to be pastured or destroyed.That notwithstanding the first proviso in the fourth paragraph under the heading "Division of Supply" in title I of the Act entitled "An Act making appropriations for the Treasury and Post Office Departments for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1930, and for other purposes", approved December 20, 1928 (45 Stat. 1030), horses and mules belonging to the United States which have become unfit for service may be destroyed or put out to pasture, either on the pastures belonging to the United States Government or those belonging to financially sound and reputable humane organizations whose facilities permit them to care for them during the remainder of their natural life, at no cost to the Government. (June 15, 1938, 52 Stat. 693; as amended June 3, 1939, 53 Stat. 808; 40 U. S. C., sec. 311b.)

DISPOSITION OF REAL PROPERTY THROUGH COMMISSIONER OF PUBLIC BUILDINGS

1860. Disposition, control, and use of real property outside District of Columbia by Federal agencies; assignment of space by Commissioner of Public Buildings; sale authorized. That notwithstanding any other provisions of law, whenever any real property located outside of the District of Columbia, exclusive of military or naval reservations, heretofore or hereafter acquired by any Federal agency, by judicial process or otherwise in the collection of debts, purchase, donation, condemnation, devise, forfeiture, lease, or in any other manner, is, in whole or in part, declared to be in excess of its needs by the Federal agency having control thereof, or by the President on recommendation of the Federal Works Administrator, the Commissioner of Public Buildings, with the approval of the Federal Works Administrator,

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