Issuance of duplicates of clecks of the United States: see sec. 3646, R. S., as amended. CASE NOTES Scope and operation of section. - "Where the Government issues a check to a named payee in payment of a valid and subsisting obligation of the United States, such obligation must be charged against the applicable appropriation at the time of the issuance of the check, and if such check for the time being cannot be delivered to the payee *** the Government must have the obligated funds at its disposal to meet payment of the check, if and when said check be later demanded by the proper parties and presented to the Treasurer of the United States for payment within the period prescribed by existing law. The period in which a check may be presented for payment by the Treasurer of the United States is now fixed by section 21 of the act of June 26, 1934, 48 Stat. 1235, as one fiscal year beyond the fiscal year in which the check is issued --with certain exceptions not here material." (15 Comp. Gen. 489, 491, Dec. 12, 1935.) "The effect of the quoted section 21 of the act of June 26, 1934, ch. 756, 48 Stat. 1235-1236,7 was to reduce the period of negotiability of checks drawn on the Treasurer of the United States from three fiscal years to one fiscal year following that in which such checks are drawn and the accounting procedure heretofore existing with respect to charging the account of the issuing officer with the proceeds of checks as of June 30 of the year following issuance and depositing the proceeds into the Treasury to the credit of the trust fund account 'Outstanding liabilities (fiscal year)' has not been modified. Cancellation of a check by a disbursing officer will not operate to transfer the proceeds out of 'Outstanding liabilities' to the credit of the appropriation against which drawn or to the depositary account of the disbursing officer. Claims based upon checks duly covered into outstand ing liabilities pursuant to the provisions of the statute referred to, would be for adjustment and settlement by this office under the provisions of sections 308, Revised Statutes, and 305 of the act of June 10, 1921, 42 Stat. 24." (15 Comp. Gen. 679, 80, Feb. 1, 1936.) "The period for negotiations of a Government check is thus fixed by the above-quoted statute act of June 26, 1934, ch. 756, sec. 21, 48 Stat. 1235-1235 to be 1 full fiscal year beyond the fiscal year in which the check is drawn. Where, therefore, a Government check becomes lost and a duplicate thereof will not issue because of the refusal of the payee to furnish an indemnity bond to secure the issuance of a duplicate check as required by law and regulation--section 3646, Revised Statutes --no action may be taken in respect of the disposition of the proceeds of such a lost check until the period of negotiability thereof, as fixed by the statute, supra, shall have expired, as appropriated funds must remain available to honor a check in the event of its presentation to the Treasurer of the United States by a bona-fide holder. After the period of negotiability has expired there then is for consideration section 308, Revised Statutes, providing that the payee or bona-fide holder of such check 'shall on presenting the same to the proper officer of the Treasury be entitled to have it paid' through the procedure of settlement of an account by the General Accounting Office and the issuing of a warrant." (16 Comp. Gen. 632, 633-634, Jan. 5, 1937.) 1934, June 26. Survey of inactive and permanent appropriations and funds./ Sec. 24. The Comptroller General of the United States shall cause a survey to be made of all inactive and permanent appropriations and/or funds on the books of the Government and also funds in the official custody of officers and employees of the United States, in which the Government is financially concerned, for which no accounting is rendered to the General Accounting Office; and he shall submit to the Congress annually, in a special report, his recommendations for such changes in existing law relating thereto as, in his judgment, may be in the public interest.--(48 Stat. 1236, ch. 756.) EDITORIAL NOTE This section, which is part of the Permanent Appropriation Repeal Act, 1934, is embodied in the U.S. Code as sec. 725w of title 31. CASE NOTE Scope and operation of section. - Ship's service funds and funds of officers' and chief petty officers' messes are not "funds in the official custody of officers and employees of the United States, in which the Government is financially concerned, " within the meaning of this section. (File L1-1/JF (340824), Sept. 11, 1934, C.M.O. 9-1934, p. 8.) 1935, Feb. 2. Restriction upon use of appropriations for expenses of conventions or other assemblages. That, unless specifically provided by law, no moneys from funds appropriated for any purpose shall be used for the purpose of lodging, feeding, conveying, or furnishing transportation to, any conventions or other form of assemblage or gathering to be held in the District of Columbia or elsewhere. This section shall not be construed to prohibit the payment of expenses of any officer or employee of the Government in the discharge of his official duties.--(49 Stat. 19, ch. 4.) /1935, Apr. 25. Authority of officers of the Navy and Marine Corps beyond continental limits of the United States to administer oaths. That in places beyond the continental limits of the United States where the Navy or Marine Corps is serving, such officers of the Navy or Marine Corps as are authorized to administer oaths for the purposes of the administration of naval justice and for other purposes of naval administration shall have the general powers of a notary public or of a consul of the United States in the administration of oaths, the execution and acknowledgment of legal instruments, the attestation of documents, and the performance of all other notarial acts.--(49 Stat. 161, ch. 81.) 1935, Apr. 25. Wearing of facsimiles and ribbons in lieu of medals.7 That authority is hereby granted to personnel of the Navy and Marine Corps to wear in lieu of commemorative or special medals awarded to them a miniature facsimile of such medal and a ribbon symbolic of the award thereof under such regulations as the Secretary of the Navy may prescribe.--(49 Stat. 162, ch. 82.) EDITORIAL NOTES This act is embodied in the U. S. Code as sec. 358a of title 34. Regulations relating to the wearing of facsimiles and ribbons in lieu of medals are contained in U.S. Navy Uniform Regulations, 1941. /1935, Apr. 25. Authority of chief clerks, inspectors, etc., to administer oaths./ That chief clerks and inspectors attached to the office of inspectors of naval material, chief clerks attached to field services under the Naval Establishment and to navy yards, naval stations, and Marine Corps posts and stations, and such other clerks and employees attached to offices of inspectors of naval material, field services, naval stations, navy yards, and Marine Corps posts and stations, as may be designated by the Secretary of the Navy, are authorized to administer any oath required or authorized by any law of the United States, or regulation promulgated thereunder, relating to any claim against or application to the United States of officers and employees under the Naval Establishment; said persons so authorized to administer the aforesaid oaths are also authorized to administer oaths of office to officers and employees under the Naval Establishment, but no compensation or fee shall be demanded or accepted for administering any such oath or oaths.--(49 Stat. 162, ch. 83.) 1935, June 13. Credit, for pay purposes, of service rendered subsequent to June 30, 1932.7 That notwithstanding the suspension during the fiscal years 1933, 1934, and 1935 of the longevity increases provided for in the tenth paragraph of section 1 of the Pay Adjustment Act of 1922, the personnel (active or retired) so affected shall be credited with service rendered subsequently to June 30, 1932, in computing their active or retired pay accruing subsequently to June 30, 1935: Provided, That this section shall not be construed as authorizing the payment of back longevity pay for the fiscal years 1933, 1934, and 1935 which would have been paid during such years but for the suspension aforesaid.--(49 Stat. 339, ch. 224.) 1935, July 17. Retirement of acting assistant surgeons. The acting assistant surgeons of the United States Navy who, on the date of the passage of this Act, have reached the age of seventy years shall be placed on the retired list of the Navy with pay at the rate of three-fourths of their active-duty pay.--(49 Stat. 482, ch. 384.) EDITORIAL NOTE This act is embodied in the U.S. Code as sec. 396a of title 34. 1935, July 18. Limitations on expenditures for repairs or changes to naval vessels; reports to Congress./ That the total appropriation expenditures for repairs or changes to a vessel of the Navy undertaken in a navy yard shall not exceed $450,000 for any eighteen consecutive months: Provided, That if, during the overhaul of a vessel, the estimated cost for such overhaul having been approved as within the limits herein imposed, accomplishment of essential items will involve expenditures in excess of such limits, the Secretary of the Navy may, and he is hereby authorized, appropriation otherwise being available, to complete the work, and it shall thereupon be his duty to report to the Congress at the next regular session thereof the expenditures from each of the appropriations involving expenditures in excess of the authorized limit for such work: ***.--(49 Stat. 482, ch. 386.) EDITORIAL NOTES This act, except the second proviso thereof (which is omitted), is embodied in the U. S. Code as sec. 486 of title 34. Exceptions to the general rule prescribed by this act have been made by the following enactments: act of June 15, 1938, ch. 391, 52 Stat. 688, relating to modernization of the aircraft carriers Lexington and Saratoga; act of Apr. 20, 1939, ch. 74, 53 Stat. 582, as amended by act of July 15, 1939, ch. 290, 53 Stat. 1045, relating to modernization of the submarines Argonaut, Narwhal, and Nautilus; act of July 25, 1939, ch. 348, 53 Stat. 1079, relating to modernization of the battleships Tennessee, California, Colorado, Maryland and West Virginia; act of Feb. 12, 1940, ch. 27, sec. 203, 54 Stat. 33, relating to "repairs and alterations to vessels commissioned or converted to meet the existing emergency"; act of June 14, 1940, ch. 364, sec. 9, 54 Stat. 395, relating to modernization of the battleships New York, Texas and Arkansas; First Supplemental National Defense 'Appropriation Act, 1941, approved June 26, 1940, ch. 430, sec. 301, 54 Stat. 610, relating to repair and alteration work during the fiscal year 1941; act of Sept. 9, 1940, ch. 717, 54 Stat. 872, 882, relating to conversion of naval auxiliaries; act of Jan. 29, 1941, ch. 1, 55 Stat. 3, relating to improvement of antiaircraft defenses of combatant and auxiliary vessels; act of May 6, 1941, ch. 86, sec. 4, 55 Stat. 175, relating to repair and alteration work during the fiscal year 1942; act of Feb. 7, 1942, ch. 46, sec. 110, 56 Stat. 78, relating to repair and alteration work during the fiscal year 1943; act of June 26, 1943, ch. 147, sec. 109, 57 Stat. 216, relating to repair and alteration work during the fiscal year 1944; Naval Appropriation Act, 1945, approved June 22, 1944, ch. 269, sec. 109, 58 Stat. 320, relating to repair and alteration work during the fiscal year 1945. 1935, July 22. Transfer of officers from line to staff corps of the Navy. Sec. 6. That the President of the United States is hereby authorized, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to transfer and appoint officers of the line of the Navy, not above the grade of lieutenant commander, to the corresponding grade in the Construction Corps, Civil Engineer Corps, or Supply Corps, without regard to the age of the officers so transferred and appointed.--(49 Stat. 490, ch. 402.) EDITORIAL NOTES This section was amended by the first section of an act of June 25, 1940, ch. 420, 54 Stat. 527, which abolished the Construction Corps. CROSS REFERENCE Precedence of officers transferred from line to staff corps: see act of May 11, 1928, ch. 524, 45 Stat. 498-499. This section, as amended, is embodied in the U.S. Code as sec. 13 of title 34. 1935, July 22. Transfer of officers from staff corps to the line of the Navy; status of transferred officers. Sec. 7. That the President of the United States is hereby authorized, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to transfer and appoint officers of the Staff Corps of the Navy not above the rank of lieutenant commander to the corresponding rank and grade in the line of the Navy and the officers so transferred and appointed shall have the lineal position and precedence in the line which they would have held had they remained in the line or had their original appointments been in the line. Any officer so transferred and appointed shall be carried as an additional number in the grade in which he is serving and to which he may hereafter be promoted.--(49 Stat. 490, ch. 402.) /1935, July 22. Number of tactical and gunnery observers to be detailed to duty in aircraft. Sec. 8. That exclusive of student aviators and qualified aircraft pilots of the Navy and Marine Corps, the number of tactical and gunnery observers of the Navy and Marine Corps detailed to duty in aircraft and involving actual flying shall hereafter be in accordance with the requirements of naval aviation as determined by the Secretary of the Navy. ** *.--(49 Stat. 490, ch. 402.) EDITORIAL NOTES The second sentence of this section, which is omitted, provided as follows: "So much of section 20 of the Act approved June 10, 1922 (42 Stat. 632), as amended by section 6 of the Act approved July 2, 1926 (44 Stat. 782; U.S. C., Supp. VII, title 37, sec. 29), which is in 1935, July 26. Federal Register. consistent with or in conflict with the provision of this section, insofar as it relates to the Navy and Marine Corps, is hereby repealed." The first sentence of this section is embodied in the U.S. Code as sec. 732a of title 34. Custody and printing of Federal documents; Division of the Federal Register.7 That the Archivist of the United States, acting through a division established by him in the National Archives Establishment, hereinafter referred to as the "Division", is charged with the custody and, together with the Public Printer, with the prompt and uniform printing and distribution of the documents required or authorized to be published under section 5. There shall be at the head of the Division a director, appointed by the President, who shall act under the general direction of the Archivist of the United States in carrying out the provisions of this Act and the regulations prescribed hereunder, who shall receive a salary, to be fixed by the President, not to exceed $5,000 a year.--(49 Stat. 500, ch. 417.) Sec. 2. Filing documents with Division of the Federal Register. The original and two duplicate originals or certified copies of any document required or authorized to be published under section 5 shall be filed with the Division, which shall be open for that purpose during all hours of the working days when the Archives Building shall be open for official business. The Director of the Division shall cause to be noted on the original and duplicate originals or certified copies of each document the day and hour of filing thereof: Provided, That when the original is issued, prescribed, or promulgated outside of the District of Columbia and certified copies are filed before the filing of the original, the notation shall be of the day and hour of filing of the certified copies. Upon such filing, at least one copy shall be immediately available for public inspection in the office of the Director of the Division. The original shall be retained in the archives of the National Archives Establishment and shall be available for inspection under regulations to be prescribed by the Archivist. The Division shall transmit immediately to the Government Printing Office for printing, as provided in this Act, one duplicate original or certified copy of each document required or authorized to be published under section 5. Every Federal agency shall cause to be transmitted for filing as herein required the original and the duplicate originals or certified copies of all such documents issued, prescribed, or promulgated by the agency.--(49 Stat. 500, ch. 417.) Sec. 3. Printing, distribution, etc., of Federal Register. All documents required or authorized to be published under section 5 shall be printed and distributed forthwith by the Government Printing Office in a serial publication designated the "Federal Register." It shall be the duty of the Public Printer to make available the facilities of the Government Printing Office for the prompt printing and distribution of the Federal Register in the manner and at the times required in accordance with the provisions of this Act and the regulations prescribed hereunder. The contents of the daily issues shall be indexed and shall comprise all documents, required or authorized to be published, filed with the Division up to such time of the day immediately preceding the day of distribution as shall be fixed by regulations hereunder. There shall be printed with each document a copy of the notation, required to be made under section 2, of the day and hour when, upon filing with the Division, such document was made available for public inspection. Distribution shall be made by delivery or by deposit at a post office at such time in the morning of the day of distribution as shall be fixed by such regulations prescribed hereunder. The prices to be charged for the Federai Register may be fixed by the administrative committee established by section 6 without reference to the restrictions placed upon and fixed for the sale of Government publications by section 1 of the Act of May 11, 1922, and section 307 of the Act of June 30, 1932 (U. S. C., title 44, secs. 72 and 72a), and any amendments thereto.-(49 Stat. 500-501, ch. 417.) Sec. 4. Document", "Federal agency", "agency", and "person" defined. As used in this Act, unless the context otherwise requires, the term "document" means any Presidential proclamation or Executive orde: and any order, regulation, rule, certificate, code of fair competition, license, notice, or similar instrument issued, prescribed, or promulgated by a Federal agency; the terms "Federal agency" or "agency" mean the President of the United States, or any executive department, independent board, establishment, bureau, agency, institution, commission, or separate office of the administrative branch of the Government of the United States but not the legislative or judicial branches of the Government; and the term "person" means any individual, partnership, association, or corporation.--(49 Stat. 501, ch. 417.) Sec. 5. Documents to be published in Federal Register. (a) There shall be published in the Federal Register (1) all Presidential proclamations and Executive orders, except such as have no general applicability and legal effect or are effective only against Federal agencies or persons in their capacity as officers, agents, or employees thereof; (2) such documents or classes of documents as the President shall determine from time to time have general applicability and legal effect; and (3) such documents or classes of documents as may be required so to be published by Act of the Congress: Provided, That for the purposes of this Act every document or order which shall prescribe a penalty shall be deemed to have general applicability and legal effect. (b) In addition to the foregoing there shall also be published in the Federal Register such other documents or classes of documents as may be authorized to be published pursuant hereto by regulations prescribed hereunder with the approval of the President, but in no case shall comments or news items of any character whatsover be authorized to be published in the Federal Register.--(49 Stat. 501, ch. 417.) Sec. 6. Administrative Committee of the Federal Register. There is established a permanent Administrative Committee of three members consisting of the Archivist or Acting Archivist, who shall be chairman, an officer of the Department of Justice designated by the Attorney General, and the Public Printer or Acting Public Printer. The Director of the Division shall act as secretary of the committee. The committee shall prescribe, with the approval of the President, regulations for carrying out the provisions of this Act. Such regulations shall provide, among other things: (a) The manner of certification of copies required to be certified under section 2, which certification may be permitted to be based upon confirmed communications from outside of the District of Columbia; (b) the documents which shall be authorized pursuant to section 5 (b) to be published in the Federal Register; (c) the manner and form in which the Federal Register shall be printed, reprinted, compiled, indexed, bound, and distributed; (d) the number of copies of the Federal Register, which shall be printed, reprinted, and compiled, the number which shall be distributed without charge to Members of Congress, officers and employees of the United States, or any Federal agency for their official use, and the number which shall be available for distribution to the public; and (e) the prices to be charged for individual copies of, and subscriptions to, the Federal Register and reprints and bound volumes thereof.--(49 Stat. 501-502, ch. 417.) Sec. 7. Legal effects of filing and publication of documents. No document required under section 5 (a) to be published in the Federal Register shall be valid as against any person who has not had actual knowledge thereof until the duplicate originals or certified copies of the document shall have been filed with the Division and a copy made available for public inspection as provided in section 2; and, unless otherwise specifically provided by statute, such filing of any document, required or authorized to be published under section 5, shall, except in cases where notice by publication is insufficient in law, be sufficient to give notice of the contents of such document to any person subject thereto or affected thereby. The publication in the Federal Register of any document shall create a rebuttable presumption (a) that it was duly issued, prescribed, or promulgated; (b) that it was duly filed with the Division and made available for public inspection at the day and hour stated in the printed notation; (c) that the copy contained in the Federal Register is a true copy of the original; and, (d) that all requirements of this Act and the regulations prescribed hereunder relative to such document have been complied with. The contents of the Federal Register shall be judicially noticed and, without prejudice to any other mode of citation, may be cited by volume and page number.--(49 Stat. 502, ch. 417.) Sec. 8. Publication in Federal Register as notice of hearing. Whenever notice of hearing or of opportunity to be heard is required or authorized to be given by or under an Act of the Congress, or may otherwise properly be given, the notice shall be deemed to have been duly given to all persons residing within the continental United States (not including Alaska), except in cases where notice by publication is insufficient in law, if said notice shall be published in the Federal Register at such time that the period between the publication and the date fixed in such notice for the hearing or for the termination of the opportunity to be heard shall be (a) not less than the time specifically prescribed for the publication of the notice by the appropriate Act of the Congress; or (b) not less than fifteen days when no time for publication is specifically prescribed by the Act, without prejudice, however, to the effectiveness of any notice of less than fifteen days where such shorter period is reasonable.--(49 Stat. 502, ch. 417.) Sec. 9. Availability of appropriations for publication of Federal Register. Every payment made for the Federal Register shall be covered into the Treasury as a miscellaneous receipt. The cost of printing, reprinting, wrapping, binding, and distributing the Federal Register and any other expenses incurred by the Government Printing Office in carrying out the duties placed upon it by this Act shall be borne by the appropriations to the Government Printing Office and such appropriations are hereby made available, and are authorized to be increased by such additional sums as are necessary for such purposes, such increases to be based upon estimates submitted by the Public Printer. The purposes for which appropriations are available and are authorized to be made under section 10 of the Act entitled "An Act to establish a National Archives |