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AN ACT To confer on the President power to prescribe charter rates and freight rates and to requisition vessels, and for other purposes.

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SEC. 11. That the President shall have power to requisition for military purposes, or for any other national purpose connected with or arising out of the present war, the temporary possession of any vessel, or, without taking actual possession, to requisition the services of any vessel and to require the person entitled to the possession thereof to issue to the master such instructions as may be necessary to place the vessel at the service of the United States.

Upon requisitioning such possession or services, or as soon thereafter as the exigencies of the situation may permit, the President shall transmit to the person entitled to the possession of such vessel a charter setting forth the terms which, in his judgment, should govern the relations between the United States and such person and a statement of the rental or rate of hire which, in his judgment, will be just compensation for the use of such vessel and for the services required under the terms of such charter. If such person does not execute and deliver such charter and accept such rental or rate of hire, the President shall pay to such person a sum equal to seventy-five per centum of such rental or rate of hire as the same may from time to time be due under the terms of the charter, and such person shall be entitled to sue the United States to recover such further sum as added to such seventy-five per centum will make up such amount as will be just compensation for the use of the vessel and for the services required. In the event of loss of or damage to such vessel, due to the operation of a risk assumed by the United States under the terms of such charter (in the event that no valuation of such vessel or mode of compensation has been agreed to), the United States shall pay just compensation for such loss or damage, to be determined by the President; and if the amount so determined is not satisfactory to the person entitled to receive just compensation, the President shall pay to such person seventy-five per centum of the amount so determined, and such person shall be entitled to sue the United States to recover such further sum as

added to such seventy-five per centum will make up such amount as will be just compensation.

SEC. 12. That the President shall have power to prescribe the order of priority in which persons in possession of dry docks, wharves, lighterage systems, or loading or discharging terminal facilities in any port of the United States, or warehouses, equipment or terminal railways connected therewith, shall serve vessels and shippers, and to determine, prescribe, and enforce the rates, terms, and conditions charged or required for the furnishing of such services, including stevedoring and handling of cargo, and the handling, dispatching, and bunkering of vessels, and to make such rules and regulations with respect to the conduct of any such business as may be necessary and proper. It shall be unlawful to charge, collect, or claim any compensation, or to enforce or attempt to enforce any terms or conditions, or to make or receive any payment or do any act, with respect to any such service not in accordance with the rates, terms, and conditions so prescribed, any thing in any contract, whether heretofore or hereafter made, to the contrary notwithstanding.

SEC. 13. That the President shall have power to lease or requisition the use or temporary possession of, or to assume temporary control of, any dry docks, wharves, or loading or discharging terminal facilities, in any port of the United States, or warehouses, equipment, or terminal railways connected therewith.

Whenever the President requisitions or assumes control of any such property, the United States shall pay just compensation therefor, to be determined by the President. If the amount so determined is not satisfactory to the person entitled to receive just compensation, the President shall pay to such person seventy-five per centum of the amount so determined and such person shall be entitled to sue the United States to recover such further sum as added to such seventy-five per centum will make up such amount as will be just compensation.

SEC. 14. That whenever by this Act permission is given to sue the United States such suit shall be brought in the man

ner provided in section twenty-four, paragraph twenty, and section one hundred and forty-five of the Judicial Code.

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AN ACT To provide for the national security and defense by encouraging the production, conserving the supply, and controlling the distribution of those ores, metals and minerals which have formerly been largely imported, or of which there is or may be an inadequate supply.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That by reason of the existence of a state of war, it is essential to the national security and defense, and to the successful prosecution of the war, and for the support and maintenance of the Army and Navy, to provide for an adequate and increased supply, to facilitate the production, and to provide for an equitable, economical, and better distribution of the following named mineral substances and ores, minerals, intermediate metallurgical products, metals, alloys, and chemical compounds thereof, to wit:

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The aforesaid substances mentioned in any such determination are hereinafter referred to as necessaries.

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SEC. 3. That the President is authorized to requisition and take over any of said necessaries and to use, distribute, allocate, or sell the same; and also to requisition and take over any undeveloped or insufficiently developed or operated idle land, deposit, or mine, and any idle or partially operated smelter, or plant, or part thereof, producing or, in his judgment, capable of producing said necessaries, or either of them, and to develop and operate such mine or deposit or such smelter or plant, either through the agencies hereinafter mentioned, or under lease or royalty agreement, or in any other manner, and to store, use, distribute, allocate, or sell the products thereof: Provided, That no ores or metals, the principal money value of which consists in metals or

minerals other than those specifically enumerated in section one hereof, shall be subject to requisition under the provisions of this Act. Whenever the President shall determine that the further use or operation by the Government of any such land, deposit, mine, smelter, or plant, or part thereof, so acquired, is no longer essential for the objects aforesaid, the same shall be returned to the person, firm, or corporation entitled thereto. The United States shall make just compensation, determined by the President, for the taking over, use, occupation, or operation by the Government of any such necessaries, or any such land, deposit, mine, smelter, or plant, or part thereof. If the compensation so determined be unsatisfactory to the person, firm, or corporation entitled thereto, such person, firm, or corporation shall be paid seventy-five per centum of the amount so determined and shall be entitled to sue the United States to recover such further sum as added to said seventy-five per centum will make up such amount as will be just compensation, in the manner provided by section twenty-four, paragraph twenty, and section one hundred and forty-five, of the Judicial Code.

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AN ACT To enable the Secretary of Agriculture to carry out, during the fiscal year ending June thirtieth, nineteen hundred and nineteen, the purposes of this Act entitled "An Act to provide further.for the national security and defense by stimulating agriculture and facilitating the distribution of agricultural products," and for other purposes.

Provided, That the Secretary of Agriculture is authorized, for the official purposes of the Department of Agriculture, and within the limits of the appropriations for rent made by this or any other Act making appropriations for the Department of Agriculture, to requisition the use of, and take possession of, any building or any space in any building, and the appurtenances thereof which are now or heretofore have been used for such purposes, in the District of Colum

bia, other than a dwelling house occupied as such or a building occupied by any other branch of the United States Government; and he shall ascertain and pay just compensation for such use. If the amount of compensation so ascertained be not satisfactory to the person entitled to receive the same, such person shall be paid seventy-five per centum of such amount, and shall be entitled to sue the United States to recover such further sum as, added to said seventy-five per centum, will make up such amount as will be just compensation for such use in the manner provided by section twentyfour, paragraph twenty, and section one hundred and fortyfive of the Judicial Code.

Approved, November 21, 1918.

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