across the St. Lawrence River at or near Ogdensburg, N. Y., authorized by act approved June 14, 1933, to be built by the St. Lawrence Bridge Commission, its successors and assigns. The bill is without objection so far as this Department is concerned. Sincerely, HARRY L. BROWN, Acting Secretary. The Honorable CLARENCE F. LEA, DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Chairman, Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, Washington, D. C. MY DEAR MR. LEA: I have received your letter of June 15, 1937, with which you were good enough to enclose, and to request an opinion upon H. R. 7514, a bill to extend the times for commencing and completing the construction of a bridge across the St. Lawrence River at or near Ogdensburg, N. Y. When the first bill authorizing the construction of such a bridge was under consideration, this Department took the position that there was no objection to it insofar as our international relations are concerned, since the consent and approval of the Dominion of Canada was required. Since the present bill merely extends the times for commencing and completing the construction of the proposed bridge, this Department perceives no objection thereto. Sincerely yours, CORDELL HULL. OFFICES OF MINORITY LEADER, Mr. E. J. LAYTON, Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, House of Representatives. MY DEAR LAYTON: Your favor relative to the bill I introduced (H. R. 7514) to extend the time for commencing and completing the construction of a bridge across the St. Lawrence River at or near Ogdenburg, N. Y., at hand. As you know the arrangements were originally all made to build this bridge. It was approved by the President himself and the funds were allocated by the Public Works Administration to build it. A political situation in Canada developed whereby we could not get the consent of the Canadian Government and that has delayed the matter for the last 2 or 3 years. We think now that it is straightening out and at the next meeting of Parliament we will get the consent and agreement with Canada and as soon as that is done we probably can get our allocation again from the Public Works Administration for the funds to build the bridge, providing their funds are not all disposed of before we get things straightened out. As a matter of fact our people think they can float a bond issue to build the bridge. There is enough traffic there to take care of the expenses of handling and amortizing and everything in connection with the operation, etc., of the bridge. Ours is a municipal proposition, and I can see no reason why Congress should refuse to extend the time for beginning the construction of this bridge. Several commissions appointed by the New York State Legislature have looked over these bridge sites a great many times and each commission has reported favorably on Ogdensburg as being the best location for a bridge across the St. Lawrence River. Ogdensburg is the largest city in the northern part of the State above Watertown, and it is on a direct line of traffic from the northern part of the State to Ottawa, the capitol of Canada. I hope your committee will favorably report out the bill. Very truly yours, BERT H. SNELL. [PUBLIC NO. 52-73D CONGRESS] [H. R. 5329] AN ACT Creating the Saint Lawrence Bridge Commission and authorizing said Commission and its successors to construct, maintain, and operate a bridge across the Saint Lawrence River at or near Ogdensburg, N. Y. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That in order to facilitate international commerce, the Saint Lawrence Bridge Commission (hereinafter created, and hereinafter referred to as the "Commission") and its successors and assigns, be, and are hereby authorized to construct, maintain, and operate a bridge and approaches thereto across the Saint Lawrence River at or near the city of Ogdensburg, New York, at a point suitable to the interests of navigation, in accordance with the provisions of an Act entitled "An Act to regulate the construction of bridges over navigable waters", approved March 23, 1906, subject to the conditions and limitations contained in this Act, and subject to the approval of the proper authorities in the Dominion of Canada. For like purposes said Commission and its successors and assigns are hereby authorized to purchase, maintain, and operate all or any ferries across the Saint Lawrence River within five miles of the location which shall be selected for said bridge, subject to the conditions and limitations contained in this Act, and subject to the approval of the proper authorities in the Dominion of Canada. SEC. 2. There is hereby conferred upon the Commission and its successors and assigns all such rights and powers to enter upon lands and to acquire, condemn, occupy, possess, and use such real estate and other property in the State of New York as may be needed for the location, construction, operation, and maintenance of such bridge and its approaches as are possessed by railroad corporations for railroad purposes or by bridge corporations for bridge purposes in the State of New York, upon making just compensation therefor, to be ascertained and paid according to the laws of such State, and the proceedings therefor shall be the same as in the condemnation of private property for public purposes in such State; and the Commission and its successors and assigns may exercise in the Dominion of Canada all rights, powers, and authority which shall be granted or permitted to the Commission by the proper authorities of the Dominion of Canada or of the Province of Ontario, including the entering upon lands and acquiring, condemning, occupying, possessing, and using such real estate and other property in the Dominion of Canada as may be needed for such location, construction, operation, and maintenance of such bridge. SEC. 3. The Commission and its successors and assigns are hereby authorized to fix and charge tolls for transit over such bridge and such ferry or ferries in accordance with the provisions of this Act. SEC. 4. The Commission and its successors and assigns are hereby authorized to provide for the payment of the cost of the bridge and its approaches and the ferry or ferries and the necessary lands, easements, and appurtenances thereto by an issue or issues of negotiable bonds of the Commission, bearing interest at not more than 6 per centum per annum, the principal and interest of which bonds and any premium to be paid for retirement thereof before maturity shall be payable solely from the sinking fund provided in accordance with this Act. Such bonds may be registerable as to principal alone or both principal and interest, shall be in such form not inconsistent with this Act, shall mature at such time or times not exceeding thirty years from their respective dates, shall be in such denominations, shall be executed in such manner and be payable in such medium and at such place or places as the Commission may determine. The Commission may repurchase and may reserve the right to redeem all or any of said bonds before maturity in such manner and at such price or prices, not exceeding one hundred and five and accrued interest, as may be fixed by the Commission prior to the issuance of the bonds. The Commission may enter into an agreement with any bank or trust company in the United States as trustee having the power to make such agreement, setting forth the duties of the Commission in respect of the construction, maintenance, operation, repair, and insurance of the bridge and/or the ferry or ferries, the conservation and application of all funds, the safeguarding of moneys on hand or on deposit, and the rights and remedies of said trustee and the holders of the bonds, restricting the individual right of action of H. Repts., 75-1, vol. 2-78 the bondholders as is customary in trust agreements respecting bonds of corporations. Such trust agreements may contain such provisions for protecting and enforcing the rights and remedies of the trustee and the bondholders as may be reasonable and proper and not inconsistent with the law and also provisions for approval by the original purchasers of the bonds of the employment of consulting engineers and of the security given by the bridge contractors and by any bank or trust company in which the proceeds of bonds or of bridge or ferry tolls or other moneys of the Commission shall be deposited, and may provide that no contract for construction shall be made without the approval of the consulting engineers. The bridge constructed under the authority of this Act shall be deemed to be an instrumentality for international commerce authorized by the Government of the United States, and said bridge and ferry or ferries and the bonds issued in connection therewith and the income derived therefrom shall be exempt from all Federal, State, municipal, and local taxation. Said bonds shall be sold in such manner and at such time or times and at such price as the Commission may determine, but no such sale shall be made at a price so low as to require the payment of more than 6 per centum interest on the money received therefor, computed with relation to the absolute maturity of the bonds in accordance with standard tables of bond values, and the face amount thereof shall be so calculated as to produce, at the price of their sale, the cost of the bridge and its approaches, and the land, easements, and appurtenances used in connection therewith and, in the event the ferry or ferries are to be acquired, also the cost of such ferry or ferries and the lands, easements, and appurtenances used in connection therewith. The cost of the bridge and ferry or ferries shall be deemed to include interest during construction of the bridge, and for twelve months thereafter, and all engineering, legal, architectural, traffic surveying, and other expenses incident to the construction of the bridge or the acquisition of the ferry or ferries, and the acquisition of the necessary property, and incident to the financing thereof, including the cost of acquiring existing franchises, rights, plans, and works of and relating to the bridge, now owned by any person, firm, or corporation, and the cost of purchasing all or any part of the shares of stock of any such corporate owner if, in the judgment of the Commission, such purchases should be found expedient. If the proceeds of the bonds issued shall exceed the cost as finally determined, the excess shall be placed in the sinking fund hereinafter provided. Prior to the preparation of definitive bonds the Commission may, under like restrictions, issue temporary bonds or interim certificates with or without coupons of any denomination whatsoever, exchangeable for definitive bonds when such bonds have been executed and are available for delivery. SEC. 5. In fixing the rates of toll to be charged for the use of such bridge the same shall be so adjusted as to provide a fund sufficient to pay for the reasonable cost of depreciating, maintaining, repairing, and operating the bridge and its approaches under economical management, and to provide a sinking fund sufficient to pay the principal and interest of such bonds as the same shall fall due and the redemption or repurchase price of all or any thereof redeemed or repurchased before maturity as herein provided. All tolls and other revenues from said bridge are hereby pledged to such uses and to the application thereof hereinafter in this section required. After payment or provision for payment therefrom of all such cost of maintaining, repairing, and operating and the reservation of an amount of money estimated to be sufficient for the same purpose during an ensuing period of not more than six months, the remainder of tolls collected shall be placed in the sinking fund, at intervals to be determined by the Commission prior to the issuance of the bonds. An accurate record of the cost of the bridge and its approaches, the expenditures for maintaining, repairing, and operating the same, and of the daily tolls collected, shall be kept and shall be available for the information of all persons interested. The Commission shall classify in a reasonable way all traffic over the bridge, so that the tolls shall be so fixed and adjusted by it as to be uniform in the application thereof to all traffic falling within any such reasonable class, regardless of the status or character of any person, firm, or corporation participating in such traffic, and shall prevent all use of such bridge for traffic except upon payment of the tolls so fixed and adjusted. No toll shall be charged officials or employees of the Commission or of the Governments of the United States or Canada while in the discharge of their duties. SEC. 6. Nothing herein contained shall require the Commission or its successors to maintain or operate any ferry or ferries purchased hereunder, but in the discretion of the Commission or its successors any ferry or ferries so purchased, with the appurtenances and property thereto connected and belonging, may be sold or otherwise disposed of or may be abandoned and/or dismantled whenever in the judgment of the Commission or its successors it may seem expedient so to do. The Commission and its successors may fix such rates of toll for the use of such ferry or ferries as it may deem proper, subject to the same conditions as are hereinabove required as to tolls for traffic over the bridge. All tolls collected for the use of the ferry or ferries and the proceeds of any sale or disposition of any ferry or ferries shall be used, so far as may be necessary, to pay the cost of maintaining, repairing, and operating the same, and any residue thereof shall be paid into the sinking fund hereinabove provided for bonds. An accurate record of the cost of purchasing the ferry or ferries, the expenditures for maintaining, repairing, and operating the same, and of the daily tolls collected shall be kept and shall be available for the information of all persons interested. SEC. 7. After payment of the bonds and interest, or after a sinking fund sufficient for such payment shall have been provided and shall be held for that purpose, the Commission shall deliver deeds or other suitable instruments of conveyance of the interest of the Commission in and to the bridge, that part within the United States to the State of New York or any municipality or agency thereof as may be authorized by or pursuant to law to accept the same (hereinafter referred to as the "United States interests") and that part within Canada to the Dominion of Canada or to such Province, municipality, or agency thereof as may be authorized by or pursuant to law to accept the same (hereinafter referred to as the "Canadian interests"), under the condition that the bridge shall thereafter be free of tolls and be properly maintained, operated, and repaired by the United States interests and the Canadian interests, as may be agreed upon; but if either the United States interests or the Canadian interests shall not be authorized to accept or shall not accept the same under such conditions, then the bridge shall continue to be owned, maintained, operated, and repaired by the Commission, and the rates of tolls shall be so adjusted as to provide a fund of not to exceed the amount necessary for the proper maintenance, repair, and operation of the bridge and its approaches under economical management, until such time as both the United States interests and the Canadian interests shall be authorized to accept and shall accept such conveyance under such conditions. If at the time of such conveyance the Commission or its successors shall not have disposed of such ferry or ferries, the same shall be disposed of by sale as soon as practicable, at such price and upon such terms as the Commission or its successors may determine, but in making any such sale preference shall be given to the Canadian interests and thereafter to the United States interests before any sale except to such respective interests. SEC. 8. For the purpose of carrying into effect the objects stated in this Act there is hereby created the Saint Lawrence Bridge Commission, and by that name, style, and title said body shall have perpetual succession; may contract and be contracted with, sue and be sued, implead and be impleaded, complain and defend in all courts of law and equity; may make and have a common seal; may purchase or otherwise acquire and hold or dispose of real estate and other property; may accept and receive donations or gifts of money or other property and apply same to the purposes of this Act; and shall have and possess all powers necessary, convenient, or proper for carrying into effect the objects stated in this Act. The Commission shall consist of eleven persons appointed by the Governor of New York. Such Commission shall be a body corporate and politic constituting a public-benefit corporation. Any vacancy occurring in said commission shall be filled by the Governor. Each member of the Commission and their respective successors shall qualify by giving such bond as may be fixed by the Chief of the Bureau of Public Roads of the Department of Agriculture, conditioned for the faithful performance of all duties required by this Act. The Commission shall elect a chairman and a vice chairman from its members, and may establish rules and regulations for the government of its own business. Five members shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. SEC. 9. The Commission shall have no capital stock or shares of interest or participation, and all revenues and receipts thereof shall be applied to the purposes specified in this Act. The members of the Commission shall be entitled to a per diem compensation for their services of $10 for each day actually spent in the business of the Commission, but the maximum compensation of the chairman in any year shall not exceed $2,500 and of each other member shall not exceed $500. The members of the Commission shall also be entitled to receive traveling expense allowance of 10 cents a mile for each mile actually traveled on the business of the Commission. The Commission may employ a secretary, treasurer, engineers, attorneys, and such other experts, assistants, and employees as they may deem necessary, who shall be entitled to receive such compensation as the Commission may determine. All salaries and expenses shall be paid solely from the funds provided under the authority of this Act. After all bonds and interest thereon shall have been paid and all other obligations of the Commission paid or discharged, or provision for all such payment shall have been made as hereinbefore provided, and after the bridge shall have been conveyed to the United States interests and the Canadian interests as herein provided, and any ferry or ferries shall have been sold, the Commission shall be dissolved and shall cease to have further existence by an order of the Chief of the Bureau of Public Roads made upon his own initiative or upon application of the Commission or any member or members thereof, but only after a public hearing in the city of Ogdensburg, notice of the time and place of which hearing and the purpose thereof shall have been published once, at least thirty days before the date thereof, in a newspaper published in the city of Ogdensburg, New York, and a newspaper published in Prescott, Ontario. At the time of such dissolution all moneys in the hands of or to the credit of the Commission shall be divided into two equal parts, one of which shall be paid to said United States interests and the other to said Canadian interests. SEC. 10. Nothing herein contained shall be construed to authorize or permit the Commission or any member thereof to create any obligation or incur any liability other than such obligations and liabilities as are dischargeable solely from funds provided by this Act. No obligation created or liability incurred pursuant to this Act shall be an obligation or liability of any member of members of the Commission, but shall be chargeable solely to the funds herein provided, nor shall any indebtedness created pursuant to this Act be an indebtedness of the United States. SEC. 11. All provisions of this Act may be enforced, or the violation thereof prevented by mandamus, injunction, or other appropriate remedy brought by the attorney general for the State of New York, the United States district attorney for the district in which the bridge may be located in part, or by the solicitor general of the Dominion of Canada in any court having competent jurisdiction of the subject matter and of the parties. SEC. 12. The right to alter, amend, or repeal this Act is hereby expressly reserved. Approved, June 14, 1933. [PUBLIC NO. 513-74TH CONGRESS] [8. 3971] AN ACT To extend the times for commencing and completing the construction of a bridge across the Saint Lawrence River at or near Ogdensburg, N. Y. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the times for commencing and completing the construction of a bridge across the Saint Lawrence River at or near Ogdensburg, New York, authorized to be built by the Saint Lawrence Bridge Commission by an Act of Congress approved June 14, 1933, heretofore extended by Acts of Congress approved June 8, 1934, and May 28, 1935, are hereby further extended one and three years, respectively, from June 14, 1936. SEC. 2. The right to alter, amend, or repeal this Act is hereby expressly reserved. Approved, April 11, 1936. O |