(EXTRACT FROM) [PUBLIC LAW 425-78TH CONGRESS] [H. R. 4278] AN ACT To provide for the control and eradication of certain animal and plant pests and diseases, to facilitate cooperation with the States in fire control, to provide for the more efficient protection and management of the national forests, to facilitate the carrying out of agricultural conservation and related agricultural programs, to facilitate the operation of the Farm Credit Administration and the Rural Electrification Administration, to aid in the orderly marketing of agricultural commodities, and for other purposes. TITLE VI SEC. 601. (a) The Farm Credit Administration shall, prior to the first day of each fiscal year commencing after June 30, 1944, estimate for the ensuing fiscal year the cost of examinations of the joint-stock land banks, Federal land banks, national farm-loan_associations, banks for cooperatives, Central Bank for Cooperatives, Federal intermediate credit banks, production credit corporations, and production credit associations; shall apportion the amount so determined among the joint-stock land banks, Federal land banks, banks for cooperatives, Central Bank for Cooperatives, Federal intermediate credit banks, production credit corporations, and production credit associations on such equitable basis as said Administration shall determine; and shall assess against and collect in advance the amount so apportioned from the banks, corporations, and other organizations among which the apportionment is made. (b) The Farm Credit Administration shall, prior to the first day of each fiscal year commencing after June 30, 1944, estimate the cost to it for the ensuing fiscal year of the administrative supervision of the Federal land bank system, the banks for cooperatives, the Central Bank for Cooperatives, the Federal intermediate credit banks, and the production credit system; shall apportion the amount so determined among the Federal land banks, the banks for cooperatives, the Central Bank for Cooperatives, the Federal intermediate credit banks, and the production credit corporations on such equitable basis as said Administration shall determine; and shall assess against and collect in advance from such banks and corporations the amount so apportioned. c) The amounts collected pursuant to subsections (a) and (b) hereof shall be covered into the Treasury, and credited to a special fund, which fund is hereby authorized to be appropriated to said Administration for expenditure during each fiscal year for salaries and expenses applicable to examination and administrative supervision as set forth in the annual appropriation made for the same fiscal year for salaries and expenses of said Administration. As soon as practicable after the end of each such fiscal year, said Administration shall determine on a fair and reasonable basis (1) the cost of the examination services rendered during the fiscal year to each said bank, corporation, or other organization; and (2) the amount which fairly and equitably should be allocated to each bank and corporation as the cost during the fiscal year of such administrative supervision, and if the sum of these two items in any case is greater than the total amount collected from the bank, corporation, or other organization, the difference shall be collected from such bank, corporation, or other organization, and, if less, shall be refunded from said special fund to the bank, corporation, or other organization entitled thereto. (d) The eighth paragraph of section 3 of the Federal Farm Loan Act, as amended (12 U. S. C. 657), and the Act of June 26, 1930 (ch. 613, 46 Stat. 815), are hereby repealed, effective July 1, 1944. SEC. 602. The Farm Credit Administration is authorized to purchase manuscripts, data, and special reports by personal service without regard to the provisions of any other Act, and to employ persons, firms, and others for the performance of special services, including legal services: Provided, That expenditures under this authority shall not be made unless provision is made therefor in the applicable appropriation and the cost thereof is not in excess of limitations prescribed therein. SEC. 603. All expenditures which under the accounting system prescribed for the Federal Farm Mortgage Corporation by the General Accounting Office are to be treated as capital investments, increasing the book value of acquired fixed property (real estate and chattel), shall be considered as nonadministrative expenses for the purposes of section 7 of the Act of June 22, 1936 (15 U. S. C. 712a). Approved, September 21, 1944. [PUBLIC LAW 518-78TH CONGRESS] [CHAPTER 623-2D SESSION] [S. 1688] AN ACT To authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to compromise, adjust, or cancel certain indebtedness, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Secretary of Agriculture, hereinafter referred to as the Secretary, is hereby authorized and directed to compromise, adjust, or cancel indebtedness arising from loans and payments made or credit extended to farmers under the provisions of the several Acts of Congress or programs enumerated in section 2: Provided, That the Secretary finds, after such investigation as he deems sufficient to establish the facts, that (1) said indebtedness has been due and payable for five years or more; (2) the debtor is unable to pay said indebtedness in full and has no reasonable prospect of being able to do so; (3) the debtor has acted in good faith in an effort to meet his obligation; and (4) the principal amount of said indebtedness is not in excess of $1,000. The Secretary is hereby further authorized at his discretion to cancel and discharge indebtedness arising under said Acts of Congress or programs when the amount of said indebtedness is less than $10, or the debtor is deceased and there is no reasonable prospect of recovering from his estate, or his whereabouts has remained unknown for two years and there is no reasonable prospect of obtaining collection, or he has been discharged of the indebtedness in any proceeding under the Act entitled "An Act to establish a uniform system of bankruptcy throughout the United States". The compromises, adjustments, or cancelations authorized by this section shall be effected through such agencies, upon such terms and conditions, and subject to such regulations, as the Secretary may prescribe, and the Secretary may delegate the exercise of any such powers and functions to such officers or employees of the Department of Agriculture as he may designate. SEC. 2. The provisions of this Act shall apply to any indebtedness of farmers arising from loans or payments made or credit extended to them under any of the following Acts or programs: (a) July 1, 1918 (40 Stat. 635); March 3, 1921 (41 Stat. 1347); March 20, 1922 (42 Stat. 467); April 26, 1924 (43 Stat. 110); February 25, 1927 (44 Stat. 1245); February 28, 1927 (44 Stat., part II, 1251); February 25, 1929 (45 Stat. 1306), as amended May 17, 1929 (46 Stat. 3); March 3, 1930 (46 Stat. 78-79), as amended April 24, 1930 (46 Stat. 254); December 20, 1930 (46 Stat. 1032), as amended February 14, 1931 (46 Stat. 1160); February 23, 1931 (46 Stat. 1276); January 22, 1932 (47 Stat. 5); March 3, 1932 (47 Stat. 60); February 4, 1933 (47 Stat. 795); February 23, 1934 (48 Stat. 354); June 19, 1934 (48 Stat. 1056); February 20, 1935 (49 Stat. 28); March 21, 1935 (49 Stat. 50); April 8, 1935 (49 Stat. 115); (Executive Order Numbered 7305); January 29, 1937 (50 Stat. 5); and February 4, 1938 (52 Stat. 27); (b) Agricultural Adjustment Act (of 1933); Bankhead Cotton Act of April 21, 1934, on account of the several cotton tax-exemption certificate pools; Jones-Connally Cattle Act of April 7, 1934; Emergency Appropriation Act, fiscal year 1935, approved June 19, 1934; Kerr Tobacco Act of June 28, 1934, and Public Resolution Numbered 76, approved March 14, 1936; section 32 of the Act of August 24, 1935, and related legislation; Supplemental Appropriation Act, fiscal year 1936; sections 7 to 17 of the Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act; Sugar Act of 1937; sections 303 and 381 (a) of the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938 and related or subsequent legislation authorizing parity or price adjustment payments; title IV and title V of the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938 and related legislation; any amendment to any of the foregoing Acts heretofore and any other Act of Congress heretofore enacted authorizing payments to farmers under programs administered through the Agricultural Adjustment Agency; (c) Loans made by or through the Resettlement Administration or the Farm Security Administration out of funds appropriated or made available by or pursuant to the following Acts: April 8, 1935 (49 Stat. 115); June 22, 1936 (49 Stat. 1608); February 9, 1937 (50 Stat. 8); June 29, 1937 (50 Stat. 352); The Bankhead-Jones Farm Tenant Act, July 22, 1937 (50 Stat. 522 et seq.); the Water Facilities Act of August 28, 1937 (50 Stat. 869 et seq.); March 2, 1938 (52 Stat. 83, Public Resolution Numbered 80); June 21, 1938 (52 Stat. 809); June 30, 1939 (53 Stat. 927); June 26, 1940 (Public Resolution Numbered 88); flood-restoration loans, Second Deficiency Appropriation Act, 1943 (57 Stat. 537, 542); and subsequent legislation appropriating or making available funds for such loans; commodity loan, purchase, sale, and other programs of the Commodity Credit Corporation; and crop-insurance programs formulated pursuant to title V of the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938 (the Federal Crop Insurance Act), and any amendment or supplement thereto heretofore or hereafter enacted. This Act shall also apply to any indebtedness of farmers evidenced by notes or accounts receivable, title to which has been acquired in the liquidation of loans to cooperative associations made under the provisions of the Act of June 15, 1929 (46 Stat. 11). SEC. 3. There is hereby authorized to be appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, such amount as may be necessary to enable the Secretary to carry out the provisions of this Act, and the current and subsequent appropriations to enable the Secretary to administer the respective Acts of Congress or programs to which the aforesaid payments or loans or extensions of credit relate shall also be available for the administrative expenses of carrying out this Act. SEC. 4. (a) Whoever makes any material representation, knowing it to be false, for the purpose of influencing in any way the action of the Secretary, or of any person acting under his authority, in connection with any compromise, adjustment, or cancelation of indebtedness provided for herein, shall, upon conviction thereof, be punished by a fine of not more than $1,000 or by imprisonment for not more than one year, or both. (b) No officer or employee of the United States, and no person to whom the Secretary may delegate any power or function under this Act, shall accept any fee, commission, gift, or other consideration, directly or indirectly, for or in connection with any transaction or business related to the compromise, adjustment, or cancelation of indebtedness hereunder. Any person violating the foregoing provision shall, upon conviction thereof, be punished by a fine of not more than $1,000 or by imprisonment for not more than one year, or both. Approved December 20, 1944. |