banks, and (1) hold until maturity any such debentures or similar obligations or (2) retire before maturity any such debentures or similar obligations issued by it or for its benefit and account."

SEO. 30. Section 206 (b) of the Federal Farm Loan Act, as amended (U. S. C., 1934 edition, title 12, sec. 1072) is further amended to read as follows:

"(b) Subject only to review and approval by the Farm Credit Administration, each Federal intermediate credit bank, at the end of its fiscal year, after all its necessary expenses and costs of operation for such fiscal year have been paid or provided for, shall apply its net earnings then remaining, first, to making up any losses in excess of its reserves against unforeseen losses and assets of doubtful value; second, to the elimination of any impairment of its paid-in capital and paid-in surplus; third, to the creation and maintenance of reserves against unforeseen losses and assets of doubtful value in such amount as its board of directors may prescribe; fourth, to the payment of 25 per centum of the amount then remaining to the United States as a franchise tax; and, fifth, to the payment of the remaining net earnings into its surplus account. The amounts paid as franchise taxes to the United States by Federal intermediate credit banks shall, in the discretion of the Secretary of the Treasury, be used to supplement the gold reserve held against outstanding United States notes, or shall be applied to the reduction of the outstanding bonded indebtedness of the United States under regulations to be prescribed by the Secretary of the Treasury. Should a Federal intermediate credit bank be dissolved or go into liquidation, after the payment of all debts and other obligations as hereinbefore provided, any surplus remaining shall be paid to and become the property of the United States and shall be similarly applied."

SEC. 31. Section 208 (e) of the Federal Farm Loan Act, as amended (U. S. C., 1934 edition, Supp. II, title 12, sec. 1095), is amended to read as follows:

"(e) The executive departments, boards, commissions, and independent establishments of the Government, the Reconstruction Finance Corporation, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Comptroller of the Currency, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, and the Federal Reserve banks are severally authorized under such conditions as they may prescribe, upon the request of the Farm Credit Administration to make available to the Farm Credit Administration or any district bank or district corporation operating under its supervision, in confidence, all reports, records or other information they may have relating to the condition of any institution to which the Administration, such district bank, or corporation has made or contemplates making loans or for which it has discounted or contemplates discounting paper, or which it is using or contemplates using as a custodian of securities or other credit instruments, or as a depositary."

SEC. 32. Each regional agricultural credit corporation, created under the authority of section 201 (e) of the Emergency Relief and Construction Act of 1932 (U. S. C., 1984 edition, title 12, sec. 1148), in addition to the powers heretofore granted, shall have and, upon order or approval of the Farm Credit Administration, shall exercise the following rights, powers, and authority:

(a) To conduct, transact, and operate its business in any State in the continental United States, in the District of Columbia, and in Puerto Rico.

(b) To borrow money (other than by way of discount) from any other regional agricultural credit corporation, the Reconstruction Finance Corporation, or any Federal intermediate credit bank, and to give security therefor.

(c) To lend any of its available funds to any other regional agricultural credit corporation at such rates of interest and upon such terms and conditions as may be approved by the Farm Credit Administration.

(d) To sell to or purchase from any other regional agricultural credit corporation or any corporation formed by consolidation or merger as provided in section 33 of this Act, any part of or all the assets of any such corporation, upon such terms and conditions as may be approved by the Farm Credit Administration, including the assumption of the liabilities of any such corporation, in whole or in part.

SEC. 33. (a) The Farm Credit Administration shall have the power and authority to order and effect the consolidation or merger of two or more regional agricultural credit corporations, on such terms and conditions as it shall direct.

(b) The Farm Credit Administration is authorized to grant charters to, prescribe bylaws for, and fix the capital of, regional agricultural credit corporations which may be formed by the consolidation of two or more regional agricultural credit corporations, and to approve or prescribe such amendments to the charter and bylaws of any regional agricultural credit corporation as it may from time to time deem necessary. Corporations formed by the consolidation of two or more regional agricultural credit corporations, as herein provided, shall have all the rights, powers, authority, and exemptions; shall be subject to the same supervision and control; and shall have their expenses paid in the same manner as provided by law in respect to regional agricultural credit corporations organized under section 201 (e) of the Emergency Relief and Construction Act of 1932.

SEC. 34. Nothing contained in sections 32 and 33 of this Act shall be construed as limiting the rights, powers, and authority heretofore granted to the regional agricultural credit corporations, the Farm Credit Administration, or the Governor thereof by any Acts of Congress or Executive orders.

SEO. 35. Section 34 of the Farm Credit Act of 1933, as amended (U. S. C., 1934 edition, Supp. II, title 12, sec. 1134j), is further amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 34. Subject to such terms and conditions as may be prescribed by the chairman of its board of directors, the Central Bank is authorized: (a) to make loans to cooperative associations as defined in the Agricultural Marketing Act, as amended, for any of the purposes and subject to the conditions and limitations set forth in such Act, as amended; (b) to make loans (by way of discount or otherwise) to banks for cooperatives organized under section 2 of this Act; (c) to buy from, and sell to, any such bank or any Federal intermediate credit bank any note, draft, bill of exchange, debenture, or other obligation, or any interest therein; and (d) to borrow from,

and discount or rediscount paper with, any and all such banks and commercial banks."

SEC. 86. Section 41 of the Farm Credit Act of 1933, as amended (U. S. C., 1934 edition, Supp. II, title 12, sec. 1134c), is further amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 41. Subject to such terms and conditions as may be prescribed by the Farm Credit Administration, the banks for cooperatives are authorized (a) to make loans to cooperative associations as defined in the Agricultural Marketing Act, as amended, for any of the purposes and subject to the conditions and limitations set forth in such Act, as amended; (b) to make loans (by way of discount or otherwise) to any bank organized under this Act; (c) to buy from, and sell to, any such bank or any Federal intermediate credit bank any note, draft, bill of exchange, debenture, or other obligation, or any interest therein; and (d) to borrow from, and discount or rediscount paper with, any and all such banks and commercial banks."

SEC. 37. Section 4 of the Agricultural Marketing Act, as amended (U. S. C., 1934 edition, title 12, sec. 1141b), is further amended by adding at the end thereof the following new subsection:

"(7) may sell at public or private sale to the highest responsible bidder, upon such terms and after such public advertisement as the Farm Credit Administration may deem in the public interest, any property, real or personal, or any interest therein, acquired by the United States on account of or as a result of any loans made from the revolving fund authorized by section 6 of this Act, as amended; may lease any such property, pending its sale, on such terms and for such period, not in excess of five years, as the Farm Credit Administration may deem in the public interest; and may incur and pay, from the said revolving fund, obligations and expenses for the operation, upkeep, maintenance, repair, disposition, insurance, and protection of any such property: Provided, That section 3709 of the Revised Statutes shall not be construed to apply to any purchase or service on account of such property."

SEC. 38. Section 6 of the Agricultural Marketing Act, as amended (U. S. C., 1934 edition, title 12, sec. 1141d), is further amended by adding at the end thereof the following: "Any and all funds derived from the sale, lease, operation, or other disposition of any property, real or personal, acquired by the United States on account of or as a result of any loan made pursuant to the provisions of this Act, shall be covered into and become a part of said revolving fund." SEC. 39. The terms "debenture" and "debentures", when used in any Act of Congress, whenever enacted, except the Federal Farm Loan Act, relating to the purchase, sale, or use as security, of debentures issued by or for the benefit and account of any Federal intermediate credit bank or banks, shall be deemed to mean debentures issued by any such bank individually and consolidated debentures issued by such banks acting together.

SEC. 40. (a) If any provision of this Act, or the application thereof to any person or circumstances, is held invalid, the remainder of the Act, and the application of such provisions to other persons or circumstances, shall not be affected thereby.

(b) The right to alter, amend, or repeal this Act is hereby expressly reserved.

Approved, August 19, 1937.

(EXTRACT FROM)

[PUBLIC RESOLUTION-No. 78-75TH CONGRESS]

[CHAPTER 14-3D SESSION]

[H. J. Res. 571]

JOINT RESOLUTION

Making appropriations available for administration of the Sugar Act of 1937 and for crop production and harvesting loans.

FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION

Crop production and harvesting loans: That the appropriation for crop loans made under the heading "Farm Credit Administration" by the First Deficiency Appropriation Act, fiscal year 1937, together with all collections heretofore or hereafter made under the Act of January 29, 1937, of the character specified in section 7 (b) of such Act, shall be available until June 30, 1939, for making and collecting crop production and harvesting loans under such Act of January 29, 1937, regardless of any limitation to the calendar year 1937 or the fiscal year 1938 in such appropriation or such Act: Provided, That loans under the foregoing appropriation shall only be made to borrowers, who, in the opinion of the Governor of the Farm Credit Administration, will undertake in good faith to repay such loans in accordance with their terms, and no such loan shall be made in any State unless the Governor of the Farm Credit Administration has reasonable assurance that State and local authority will take no action which will encourage the borrower residing therein to evade payment of such obligation.

Approved, February 4, 1938.

(224)

[CHAPTER 41-3D SESSION]

[S. 2215]

AN ACT

To amend an Act entitled “An Act to establish a uniform system of bankruptcy throughout the United States", approved July 1. 1898, and Acts amendatory thereof and supplementary thereto.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That subsections (b) and (c) of section 75 of an Act entitled "An Act to establish a uniform system of bankruptcy throughout the United States", approved July 1, 1898, as amended, are amended to read as follows:

(b) Upon filing of any petition by a farmer under this section there shall be paid a fee of $10, to be transmitted to the clerk of the court and covered into the Treasury. The conciliation commissioner shall receive as compensation for his services a fee of $25 for each case submitted to him when a composition or extension proposal has been effected and confirmed, or $10 in each case submitted to him in which there is no confirmation, to be paid out of the Treasury upon final disposition of each case. A supervising conciliation cominissioner shall receive, as compensation for his services, a per diem allowance to be fixed by the court in an amount not in excess of $5 per day, together with subsistence and travel expenses in accordance with the law applicable to officers of the Department of Justice. Such compensation and expenses shall be paid out of the Treasury. If the creditors at any time desire supervision over the farming operations of a farmer, the cost of such supervision shall be borne by such creditors or by the farmer, as may be agreed upon by them, but in no instance shall the farmer be required to pay more than one-half of the cost of such supervision. Nothing contained in this section shall prevent a conciliation commissioner who supervises such farming operations from receiving such compensation therefor as may be so agreed upon. No fees, costs, or other charges shall be charged or taxed to any farmer or to his creditors by any conciliation commissioner or with respect to any proceeding under this section, except as hereinbefore in this section provided. The conciliation commissioner may accept and avail himself of office space, equipment, and assistance furnished him by other Federal officials, or by any State, county, or other public officials. The Supreme Court is authorized to make such general orders as it may find necessary properly to govern the administration of the office of conciliation commissioner and proceedings under this section; but any district court of the United States may, for good cause shown and in the interests of justice, permit any such general order to be waived.

"(c) At any time prior to March 4, 1940, a petition may be filed by any farmer, stating that the farmer is insolvent or unable to meet his debts as they mature, and that it is desirable to effect a composi