§1. Designation of Act
This Act [sections 1 to 6, 7 to 39, and 41 to 44 of this Appendix]
shall be known as the “Trading with the enemy Act.”
§2. Definitions
The word “enemy,” as used herein, shall be deemed to mean, for the
purposes of such trading and of this Act [sections 1 to 6, 7 to 39,
and 41 to 44 of this Appendix]—
(a) Any individual, partnership, or other body of individuals, of
any nationality, resident within the territory (including that
occupied by the military and naval forces) of any nation with which
the United States is at war, or resident outside the United States
and doing business within such territory, and any corporation
incorporated within such territory of any nation with which the
United States is at war or incorporated within any country other
than the United States and doing business within such territory.
(b) The government of any nation with which the United States is at
war, or any political or municipal subdivision thereof, or any
officer, official, agent, or agency thereof.
(c) Such other individuals, or body or class of individuals, as may
be natives, citizens, or subjects of any nation with which the
United States is at war, other than citizens of the United States,
wherever resident or wherever doing business, as the President, if
he shall find the safety of the United States or the successful
prosecution of the war shall so require, may, by proclamation,
include within the term “enemy.”
The words “ally of enemy,” as used herein, shall be deemed to mean—
(a) Any individual, partnership, or other body of individuals, of
any nationality, resident within the territory (including that
occupied by the military and naval forces) of any nation which is an
ally of a nation with which the United States is at war, or resident
outside the United States and doing business within such territory,
and any corporation incorporated within such territory of such ally
nation, or incorporated within any country other than the United
States and doing business within such territory.
(b) The government of any nation which is an ally of a nation with
which the United States is at war, or any political or municipal
subdivision of such ally nation, or any officer, official, agent, or
agency thereof.
(c) Such other individuals, or body or class of individuals, as may
be natives, citizens, or subjects of any nation which is an ally of
a nation with which the United States is at war, other than citizens
of the United States, wherever resident or wherever doing business,
as the President, if he shall find the safety of the United States
or the successful prosecution of the war shall so require, may, by
proclamation, include within the term “ally of enemy.”
The word “person,” as used herein, shall be deemed to mean an
individual, partnership, association, company, or other
unincorporated body of individuals, or corporation or body politic.
The words “United States,” as used herein, shall be deemed to mean
all land and water, continental or insular, in any way within the
jurisdiction of the United States or occupied by the military or
naval forces thereof.
The words “the beginning of the war,” as used herein, shall be
deemed to mean midnight ending the day on which Congress has
declared or shall declare war or the existence of a state of war.
The words “end of the war,” as used herein, shall be deemed to mean
the date of proclamation of exchange of ratifications of the treaty
of peace, unless the President shall, by proclamation, declare a
prior date, in which case the date so proclaimed shall be deemed to
be the “end of the war” within the meaning of this Act [sections 1
to 6, 7 to 39, and 41 to 44 of this Appendix].
The words “bank or banks,” as used herein, shall be deemed to mean
and include national banks, State banks, trust companies, or other
banks or banking associations doing business under the laws of the
United States, or of any State of the United States.
The words “to trade,” as used herein, shall be deemed to mean—
(a) Pay, satisfy, compromise, or give security for the payment or
satisfaction of any debt or obligation.
(b) Draw, accept, pay, present for acceptance or payment, or indorse
any negotiable instrument or chose in action.
(c) Enter into, carry on, complete, or perform any contract,
agreement, or obligation.
(d) Buy or sell, loan or extend credit, trade in, deal with,
exchange, transmit, transfer, assign, or otherwise dispose of, or
receive any form of property.
(e) To have any form of business or commercial communication or
intercourse with.
§3. Acts prohibited
It shall be unlawful—
(a) For any person in the United States, except with the license of
the President, granted to such person, or to the enemy, or ally of
enemy, as provided in this Act [sections 1 to 6, 7 to 39, and 41 to
44 of this Appendix] to trade, or attempt to trade, either directly
or indirectly, with, to, or from, or for, or on account of, or on
behalf of, or for the benefit of, any other person, with knowledge
or reasonable cause to believe that such other person is an enemy or
ally of enemy, or is conducting or taking part in such trade,
directly or indirectly, for, or on account of, or on behalf of, or
for the benefit of, an enemy or ally of enemy.
(b) For any person, except with the license of the President, to
transport or attempt to transport into or from the United States, or
for any owner, master, or other person in charge of a vessel of
American registry to transport or attempt to transport from any
place to any other place, any subject or citizen of an enemy or ally
of enemy nation, with knowledge or reasonable cause to believe that
the person transported or attempted to be transported is such
subject or citizen.
(c) For any person (other than a person in the service of the United
States Government or of the Government of any nation, except that of
an enemy or ally of enemy nation, and other than such persons or
classes of persons as may be exempted hereunder by the President or
by such person as he may direct), to send, or take out of, or bring
into, or attempt to send, or take out of, or bring into the United
States, any letter or other writing or tangible form of
communication, except in the regular course of the mail; and it
shall be unlawful for any person to send, take, or transmit, or
attempt to send, take, or transmit out of the United States, any
letter or other writing, book, map, plan, or other paper, picture,
or any telegram, cablegram, or wireless message, or other form of
communication intended for or to be delivered, directly or
indirectly, to an enemy or ally of enemy: Provided, however,
That any person may send, take, or transmit out of the United States
anything herein forbidden if he shall first submit the same to the
President, or to such officer as the President may direct, and shall
obtain the license or consent of the President, under such rules and
regulations, and with such exemptions, as shall be prescribed by the
President.
(d) Whenever, during the present war, the President shall deem that
the public safety demands it, he may cause to be censored under such
rules and regulations as he may from time to time establish,
communications by mail, cable, radio, or other means of transmission
passing between the United States and any foreign country he may
from time to time specify, or which may be carried by any vessel or
other means of transportation touching at any port, place, or
territory of the United States and bound to or from any foreign
country. Any person who willfully evades or attempts to evade the
submission of any such communication to such censorship or willfully
uses or attempts to use any code or other device for the purpose of
concealing from such censorship the intended meaning of such
communication shall be punished as provided in section sixteen of
this Act [section 16 of this Appendix].
§4. Licenses to enemy or ally of enemy insurance or
reinsurance companies; change of name; doing business in United
States
(a) Every enemy or ally of enemy insurance or reinsurance company,
and every enemy or ally of enemy, doing business within the United
States through an agency or branch office, or otherwise, may within
thirty days after the passage of this Act [Oct. 6, 1917], apply to
the President for a license to continue to do business; and, within
thirty days after such application, the President may enter an order
either granting or refusing to grant such license. The license, if
granted, may be temporary or otherwise, and for such period of time,
and may contain such provisions and conditions regulating the
business, agencies, managers and trustees and the control and
disposition of the funds of the company, or of such enemy or ally of
enemy, as the President shall deem necessary for the safety of the
United States; and any license granted hereunder may be revoked or
regranted or renewed in such manner and at such times as the
President shall determine: Provided, however, That reasonable
notice of his intent to refuse to grant a license or to revoke a
license granted to any reinsurance company shall be given by him to
all insurance companies incorporated within the United States and
known to the President to be doing business with such reinsurance
company: Provided further, That no insurance company,
organized within the United States, shall be obligated to continue
any existing contract, entered into prior to the beginning of the
war, with any enemy or ally of enemy insurance or reinsurance
company, but any such company may abrogate and cancel any such
contract by serving thirty days’ notice in writing upon the
President of its election to abrogate such contract.
For a period of thirty days after the passage of this Act [Oct. 6,
1917], and further pending the entry of such order by the President,
after application made by any enemy or ally of enemy insurance or
reinsurance company, within such thirty days as above provided, the
provisions of the President's proclamation of April sixth, nineteen
hundred and seventeen, relative to agencies in the United States of
certain insurance companies, as modified by the provisions of the
President's proclamation of July thirteenth, nineteen hundred and
seventeen, relative to marine and war-risk insurance, shall remain
in full force and effect so far as it applies to such German
insurance companies, and the conditions of said proclamation of
April sixth, nineteen hundred and seventeen, as modified by said
proclamation of July thirteenth, nineteen hundred and seventeen,
shall also during said period of thirty days after the passage of
this Act [Oct. 6, 1917], and pending the order of the President as
herein provided, apply to any enemy or ally of enemy insurance or
reinsurance company, anything in this Act [sections 1 to 6, 7 to 39,
and 41 to 44 of this Appendix] to the contrary notwithstanding. It
shall be unlawful for any enemy or ally of enemy insurance or
reinsurance company, to whom license is granted, to transmit out of
the United States any funds belonging to or held for the benefit of
such company or to use any such funds as the basis for the
establishment directly or indirectly of any credit within or outside
of the United States to, or for the benefit of, or on behalf of, or
on account of, an enemy or ally of enemy.
For a period of thirty days after the passage of this Act [Oct. 6,
1917], and further pending the entry of such order by the President,
after application made within such thirty days by any enemy or ally
of enemy, other than an insurance or reinsurance company as above
provided, it shall be lawful for such enemy or ally of enemy to
continue to do business in this country and for any person to trade
with, to, from, for, on account of, on behalf of or for the benefit
of such enemy or ally of enemy, anything in this Act [said sections]
to the contrary notwithstanding: Provided, however, That the
provisions of sections three and sixteen hereof [sections 3 and 16
of this Appendix] shall apply to any act or attempted act of
transmission or transfer of money or other property out of the
United States and to the use or attempted use of such money or
property as the basis for the establishment of any credit within or
outside of the United States to, or for the benefit of, or on behalf
of, or on account of, an enemy or ally of enemy.
If no license is applied for within thirty days after the passage of
this Act [Oct. 6, 1917], or if a license shall be refused to any
enemy or ally of enemy, whether insurance or reinsurance company, or
other person, making application, or if any license granted shall be
revoked by the President, the provisions of sections three and
sixteen hereof [sections 3 and 16 of this Appendix] shall forthwith
apply to all trade or to any attempt to trade with, to, from, for,
buy, on account of, or on behalf of, or for the benefit of such
company or other person: Provided, however, That after such
refusal or revocation, anything in this Act [said sections] to the
contrary notwithstanding, it shall be lawful for a policyholder or
for an insurance company, not an enemy or ally of enemy, holding
insurance or having effected reinsurance in or with such enemy or
ally of enemy insurance or reinsurance company, to receive payment
of, and for such enemy or ally of enemy insurance or reinsurance
company to pay any premium, return premium, claim, money, security,
or other property due or which may become due on or in respect to
such insurance or reinsurance in force at the date of such refusal
or revocation of license; and nothing in this Act [said sections]
shall vitiate or nullify then existing policies or contracts of
insurance or reinsurance, or the conditions thereof; and any such
policyholder or insurance company, not an enemy or ally of enemy,
having any claim to or upon money or other property of the enemy or
ally of enemy insurance or reinsurance company in the custody or
control of the alien property custodian, hereinafter provided for,
or of the Treasurer of the United States, may make application for
the payment thereof and may institute suit as provided in section
nine hereof [section 9 of this Appendix].
(b) During the present war, no enemy, or ally of enemy, and no
partnership of which he is a member or was a member at the beginning
of the war, shall for any purpose assume or use any name other than
that by which such enemy or partnership was ordinarily known at the
beginning of the war, except under license from the President.
Whenever, during the present war, in the opinion of the President
the public safety or public interest requires, the President may
prohibit any or all foreign insurance companies from doing business
in the United States, or the President may license such company or
companies to do business upon such terms as he may deem proper.
§5. Suspension of provisions relating to ally of enemy;
regulation of transactions in foreign exchange of gold or silver,
property transfers, vested interests, enforcement and penalties
(a) The President, if he shall find it compatible with the safety of
the United States and with the successful prosecution of the war,
may, by proclamation, suspend the provisions of this Act [sections 1
to 6, 7 to 39, and 41 to 44 of this Appendix] so far as they apply
to an ally of enemy, and he may revoke or renew such suspension from
time to time; and the President may grant licenses, special or
general, temporary or otherwise, and for such period of time and
containing such provisions and conditions as he shall prescribe, to
any person or class of persons to do business as provided in
subsection (a) of section four hereof [section 4(a) of this
Appendix], and to perform any act made unlawful without such license
in section three hereof [section 3 of this Appendix], and to file
and prosecute applications under subsection (b) of section ten
hereof [section 10(b) of this Appendix]; and he may revoke or renew
such licenses from time to time, if he shall be of opinion that such
grant or revocation or renewal shall be compatible with the safety
of the United States and with the successful prosecution of the war;
and he may make such rules and regulations, not inconsistent with
law, as may be necessary and proper to carry out the provisions of
this Act [said sections]; and the President may exercise any power
or authority conferred by this Act [said sections] through such
officer or officers as he shall direct.
If the President shall have reasonable cause to believe that any act
is about to be performed in violation of section three hereof
[section 3 of this Appendix] he shall have authority to order the
postponement of the performance of such act for a period not
exceeding ninety days, pending investigation of the facts by him.
(b)(1) During the time of war, the President may, through any agency
that he may designate, and under such rules and regulations as he
may prescribe, by means of instructions, licenses, or otherwise—
(A) investigate, regulate, or prohibit, any transactions in foreign
exchange, transfers of credit or payments between, by, through, or
to any banking institution, and the importing, exporting, hoarding,
melting, or earmarking of gold or silver coin or bullion, currency
or securities, and
(B) investigate, regulate, direct and compel, nullify, void, prevent
or prohibit, any acquisition holding, withholding, use, transfer,
withdrawal, transportation, importation or exportation of, or
dealing in, or exercising any right, power, or privilege with
respect to, or transactions involving, any property in which any
foreign country or a national thereof has any interest,
by any person, or with respect to any property, subject to the
jurisdiction of the United States; and any property or interest of
any foreign country or national thereof shall vest, when, as, and
upon the terms, directed by the President, in such agency or person
as may be designated from time to time by the President, and upon
such terms and conditions as the President may prescribe such
interest or property shall be held, used, administered, liquidated,
sold, or otherwise dealt with in the interest of and for the benefit
of the United States, and such designated agency or person may
perform any and all acts incident to the accomplishment or
furtherance of these purposes; and the President shall, in the
manner hereinabove provided, require any person to keep a full
record of, and to furnish under oath, in the form of reports or
otherwise, complete information relative to any act or transaction
referred to in this subdivision either before, during, or after the
completion thereof, or relative to any interest in foreign property,
or relative to any property in which any foreign country or any
national thereof has or has had any interest, or as may be otherwise
necessary to enforce the provisions of this subdivision, and in any
case in which a report could be required, the President may, in the
manner hereinabove provided, require the production, or if necessary
to the national security or defense, the seizure, of any books of
account, records, contracts, letters, memoranda, or other papers, in
the custody or control of such person.
(2) Any payment, conveyance, transfer, assignment, or delivery of
property or interest therein, made to or for the account of the
United States, or as otherwise directed, pursuant to this
subdivision or any rule, regulation, instruction, or direction
issued hereunder shall to the extent thereof be a full acquittance
and discharge for all purposes of the obligation of the person
making the same; and no person shall be held liable in any court for
or in respect to anything done or omitted in good faith in
connection with the administration of, or in pursuance of and in
reliance on, this subdivision, or any rule, regulation, instruction,
or direction issued hereunder.
(3) As used in this subdivision the term “United States” means the
United States and any place subject to the jurisdiction thereof:
Provided, however, That the foregoing shall not be construed as
a limitation upon the power of the President, which is hereby
conferred, to prescribe from time to time, definitions, not
inconsistent with the purposes of this subdivision, for any or all
of the terms used in this subdivision. As used in this subdivision
the term “person” means an individual, partnership, association, or
corporation.
(4) The authority granted to the President by this section does not
include the authority to regulate or prohibit, directly or
indirectly, the importation from any country, or the exportation to
any country, whether commercial or otherwise, regardless of format
or medium of transmission, of any information or informational
materials, including but not limited to, publications, films,
posters, phonograph records, photographs, microfilms, microfiche,
tapes, compact disks, CD ROMs, artworks, and news wire feeds. The
exports exempted from regulation or prohibition by this paragraph do
not include those which are otherwise controlled for export under
section 5 of the Export Administration Act of 1979 [section 2404 of
this Appendix], or under section 6 of that Act [section 2405 of this
Appendix] to the extent that such controls promote the
nonproliferation or antiterrorism policies of the United States, or
with respect to which acts are prohibited by chapter 37 of title 18,
United States Code.
§6. Alien Property Custodian; general powers and duties
The President is authorized to appoint, prescribe the duties of, and
fix the salary of an official to be known as the alien property
custodian, who shall be empowered to receive all money and property
in the United States due or belonging to an enemy, or ally of enemy,
which may be paid, conveyed, transferred, assigned, or delivered to
said custodian under the provisions of this Act [sections 1 to 6, 7
to 39, and 41 to 44 of this Appendix]; and to hold, administer, and
account for the same under the general direction of the President
and as provided in this Act [said sections]. The President may
further employ in the District of Columbia and elsewhere and fix the
compensation of such clerks, attorneys, investigators, accountants,
and other employees as he may find necessary for the due
administration of the provisions of this Act [said sections];
Provided, That such clerks, investigators, accountants, and
other employees shall be appointed from lists of eligibles to be
supplied by the Civil Service Commission
1
and in accordance with the civil-service law.
§6a. Incurment of expenses by Office of Alien Property
Custodian
After June 30, 1945, the Office of Alien Property Custodian shall
not incur any obligations for the expenses of said Office except
pursuant to a further annual authorization by the Congress
specifically therefor.
§6b. Omitted
§7. Lists of enemy or ally of enemy officers, directors or
stockholders of corporations in United States; acts constituting
trade with enemy prior to passage of Act; conveyance of property to
custodian; voluntary payment to custodian by holder; acts under
order, rule, or regulation
(a) Every corporation incorporated within the United States, and
every unincorporated association, or company, or trustee, or
trustees within the United States, issuing shares or certificates
representing beneficial interests, shall, under such rules and
regulations as the President may prescribe and, within sixty days
after the passage of this Act [Oct. 6, 1917] and at such other times
thereafter as the President may require, transmit to the alien
property custodian a full list, duly sworn to, of every officer,
director, or stockholder known to be, or whom the representative of
such corporation, association, company, or trustee has reasonable
cause to believe to be an enemy or ally of enemy resident within the
territory, or a subject or citizen residing outside of the United
States, of any nation with which the United States is at war, or
resident within the territory, or a subject or citizen residing
outside of the United States, of any ally of any nation with which
the United States is at war, together with the amount of stock or
shares owned by each such officer, director, or stockholder, or in
which he has any interest.
The President may also require a similar list to be transmitted of
all stock or shares owned on February third, nineteen hundred and
seventeen, by any person now defined as an enemy or ally of enemy,
or in which any such person had any interest; and he may also
require a list to be transmitted of all cases in which said
corporation, association, company, or trustee has reasonable cause
to believe that the stock or shares on February third, nineteen
hundred and seventeen, were owned or are owned by such enemy or ally
of enemy, though standing on the books in the name of another:
Provided, however, That the name of any such officer, director,
or stockholder, shall be stricken permanently or temporarily from
such list by the alien property custodian when he shall be satisfied
that he is not such enemy or ally of enemy.
Any person in the United States who holds or has or shall hold or
have custody or control of any property beneficial or otherwise,
alone or jointly with others, of, for, or on behalf of an enemy or
ally of enemy, or of any person whom he may have reasonable cause to
believe to be an enemy or ally of enemy and any person in the United
States who is or shall be indebted in any way to an enemy or ally of
enemy, or to any person whom he may have reasonable cause to believe
to be an enemy or ally of enemy, shall, with such exceptions and
under such rules and regulations as the President shall prescribe,
and within thirty days after the passage of this Act [Oct. 6, 1917],
or within thirty days after such property shall come within his
custody or control, or after such debt shall become due, report the
fact to the alien-property custodian by written statement under oath
containing such particulars as said custodian shall require. The
President may also require a similar report of all property so held,
of, for, or on behalf of, and of all debts so owed to, any person
now defined as an enemy or ally of enemy, on February third,
nineteen hundred and seventeen: Provided, That the name of
any person shall be stricken from the said report by the alien
property custodian, either temporarily or permanently, when he shall
be satisfied that such person is not an enemy or ally of enemy. The
President may extend the time for filing the lists or reports
required by this section for an additional period not exceeding
ninety days.
(b) Nothing in this Act [sections 1 to 6, 7 to 39, and 41 to 44 of
this Appendix] contained shall render valid or legal, or be
construed to recognize as valid or legal, any act or transaction
constituting trade with, to, from, for or on account of, or on
behalf or for the benefit of an enemy performed or engaged in since
the beginning of the war and prior to the passage of this Act [said
sections] or any such act or transaction hereafter performed or
engaged in except as authorized hereunder, which would otherwise
have been or be void, illegal, or invalid at law. No conveyance,
transfer, delivery, payment, or loan of money or other property, in
violation of section three hereof [section 3 of this Appendix], made
after the passage of this Act [Oct. 6, 1917] and not under license
as herein provided shall confer or create any right or remedy in
respect thereof; and no person shall by virtue of any assignment,
indorsement, or delivery to him of any debt, bill, note, or other
obligation or chose in action by, from, or on behalf of, or on
account of, or for the benefit of an enemy or ally of enemy have any
right or remedy against the debtor, obligor, or other person liable
to pay, fulfill, or perform the same unless said assignment,
indorsement, or delivery was made prior to the beginning of the war
or shall be made under license as herein provided, or unless, if
made after the beginning of the war and prior to the date of passage
of this Act [Oct. 6, 1917], the person to whom the same was made
shall prove lack of knowledge and of reasonable cause to believe on
his part that the same was made by, from or on behalf of, or on
account of, or for the benefit of an enemy or ally of enemy; and any
person who knowingly pays, discharges, or satisfies any such debt,
note, bill, or other obligation or chose in action shall, on
conviction thereof, be deemed to violate section three hereof
[section 3 of this Appendix]: Provided, That nothing in this
Act [said sections] contained shall prevent the carrying out,
completion, or performance of any contract, agreement, or obligation
originally made with or entered into by an enemy or ally of enemy
where, prior to the beginning of the war and not in contemplation
thereof, the interest of such enemy or ally of enemy devolved by
assignment or otherwise upon a person not an enemy or ally of enemy,
and no enemy or ally of enemy will be benefited by such carrying
out, completion, or performance otherwise than by release from
obligation thereunder.
Nothing in this Act [said sections] shall be deemed to prevent
payment of money belonging or owing to an enemy or ally of enemy to
a person within the United States not an enemy or ally of enemy, for
the benefit of such person or of any other person within the United
States, not an enemy or ally of enemy, if the funds so paid shall
have been received prior to the beginning of the war and such
payments arise out of transactions entered into prior to the
beginning of the war, and not in contemplation thereof: Provided,
That such payment shall not be made without the license of the
President, general or special, as provided in this Act [said
sections].
Nothing in this Act [said sections] shall be deemed to authorize the
prosecution of any suit or action at law or in equity in any court
within the United States by an enemy or ally of enemy prior to the
end of the war, except as provided in section ten hereof [section 10
of this Appendix]: Provided, however, That an enemy or ally
of enemy licensed to do business under this Act [said sections] may
prosecute and maintain any such suit or action so far as the same
arises solely out of the business transacted within the United
States under such license and so long as such license remains in
full force and effect: And provided further, That an enemy or
ally of enemy may defend by counsel any suit in equity or action at
law which may be brought against him.
Receipt of notice from the President to the effect that he has
reasonable ground to believe that any person is an enemy or ally of
enemy shall be prima facie defense to any one receiving the same, in
any suit or action at law or in equity brought or maintained, or to
any right or set-off or recoupment asserted by, such person and
based on failure to complete or perform since the beginning of the
war any contract or other obligation. In any prosecution under
section sixteen hereof [section 16 of this Appendix] proof of
receipt of notice from the President to the effect that he has
reasonable cause to believe that any person is an enemy or ally of
enemy shall be prima facie evidence that the person receiving such
notice has reasonable cause to believe such other person to be an
enemy or ally of enemy within the meaning of section three hereof
[section 3 of this Appendix].
(c) If the President shall so require any money or other property
including (but not thereby limiting the generality of the above)
patents, copyrights, applications therefor, and rights to apply for
the same, trade marks, choses in action, and rights and claims of
every character and description owing or belonging to or held for,
by, on account of, or on behalf of, or for the benefit of, an enemy
or ally of enemy not holding a license granted by the President
hereunder, which the President after investigation shall determine
is so owning or so belongs or is so held, shall be conveyed,
transferred, assigned, delivered, or paid over to the Alien Property
Custodian, or the same may be seized by the Alien Property
Custodian; and all property thus acquired shall be held,
administered and disposed of as elsewhere provided in this Act
[sections 1 to 6, 7 to 39, and 41 to 44 of this Appendix].
Any requirement made pursuant to this Act [said sections], or a duly
certified copy thereof, may be filed, registered, or recorded in any
office for the filing, registering, or recording of conveyances,
transfers, or assignments of any such property or rights as may be
covered by such requirement (including the proper office for filing,
registering, or recording conveyances, transfers, or assignments of
patents, copyrights, trade-marks, or any rights therein or any other
rights); and if so filed, registered, or recorded shall impart the
same notice and have the same force and effect as a duly executed
conveyance, transfer, or assignment to the Alien Property Custodian
so filed, registered, or recorded.
Whenever any such property shall consist of shares of stock or other
beneficial interest in any corporation, association, or company or
trust, it shall be the duty of the corporation, association, or
company or trustee or trustees issuing such shares or any
certificates or other instruments representing the same or any other
beneficial interest to cancel upon its, his, or their books all
shares of stock or other beneficial interest standing upon its, his,
or their books in the name of any person or persons, or held for, on
account of, or on behalf of, or for the benefit of any person or
persons who shall have been determined by the President, after
investigation, to be an enemy or ally of enemy, and which shall have
been required to be conveyed, transferred, assigned, or delivered to
the Alien Property Custodian or seized by him, and in lieu thereof
to issue certificates or other instruments for such shares or other
beneficial interest to the Alien Property Custodian or otherwise, as
the Alien Property Custodian shall require.
The sole relief and remedy of any person having any claim to any
money or other property heretofore or hereafter conveyed,
transferred, assigned, delivered, or paid over to the Alien Property
Custodian, or required so to be, or seized by him shall be that
provided by the terms of this Act [said sections], and in the event
of sale or other disposition of such property by the Alien Property
Custodian, shall be limited to and enforced against the net proceeds
received therefrom and held by the Alien Property Custodian or by
the Treasurer of the United States.
(d) If not required to pay, convey, transfer, assign, or deliver
under the provisions of subsection (c) of this section, any person
not an enemy or ally of enemy who owes to, or holds for, or on
account of, or on behalf of, or for the benefit of an enemy or of an
ally of enemy not holding a license granted by the President
hereunder, any money or other property, or to whom any obligation or
form of liability to such enemy or ally of enemy is presented for
payment, may, at his option, with the consent of the President, pay,
convey, transfer, assign, or deliver to the alien property custodian
said money or other property under such rules and regulations as the
President shall prescribe.
(e) No person shall be held liable in any court for or in respect to
anything done or omitted in pursuance of any order, rule, or
regulation made by the President under the authority of this Act
[sections 1 to 6, 7 to 39, and 41 to 44 of this Appendix].
Any payment, conveyance, transfer, assignment, or delivery of money
or property made to the alien property custodian hereunder shall be
a full acquittance and discharge for all purposes of the obligation
of the person making the same to the extent of same. The alien
property custodian and such other persons as the President may
appoint shall have power to execute, acknowledge, and deliver any
such instrument or instruments as may be necessary or proper to
evidence upon the record or otherwise such acquittance and
discharge, and shall, in case of payment to the alien property
custodian of any debt or obligation owed to an enemy or ally of
enemy, deliver up any notes, bonds, or other evidences of
indebtedness or obligation, or any security therefor in which such
enemy or ally of enemy had any right or interest that may have come
into the possession of the alien property custodian, with like
effect as if he or they, respectively, were duly appointed by the
enemy or ally of enemy, creditor, or obligee. The President shall
issue to every person so appointed a certificate of the appointment
and authority of such person, and such certificate shall be received
in evidence in all courts within the United States. Whenever any
such certificate of authority shall be offered to any registrar,
clerk, or other recording officer, Federal or otherwise, within the
United States, such officer shall record the same in like manner as
a power of attorney, and such record or a duly certified copy
thereof shall be received in evidence in all courts of the United
States or other courts within the United States.
§8. Contracts, mortgages, or pledges against or with enemy
or ally of enemy; abrogation of contracts; suspension of limitations
(a) Any person not an enemy or ally of enemy holding a lawful
mortgage, pledge, or lien, or other right in the nature of security
in property of an enemy or ally of enemy which, by law or by the
terms of the instrument creating such mortgage, pledge, or lien, or
right, may be disposed of on notice or presentation or demand, and
any person not an enemy or ally of enemy who is a party to any
lawful contract with an enemy or ally of enemy, the terms of which
provide for a termination thereof upon notice or for acceleration of
maturity on presentation or demand, may continue to hold said
property, and, after default, may dispose of the property in
accordance with law or may terminate or mature such contract by
notice or presentation or demand served or made on the alien
property custodian in accordance with the law and the terms of such
instrument or contract and under such rules and regulations as the
President shall prescribe; and such notice and such presentation and
demand shall have, in all respects, the same force and effect as if
duly served or made upon the enemy or ally of enemy personally:
Provided, That no such rule or regulation shall require that
notice or presentation or demand shall be served or made in any case
in which, by law or by the terms of said instrument or contract, no
notice, presentation, or demand was, prior to the passage of this
Act [Oct. 6, 1917], required; and that in case were, by law or by
the terms of such instrument or contract, notice is required, no
longer period of notice shall be required: Provided further,
That if, on any such disposition of property, a surplus shall remain
after the satisfaction of the mortgage, pledge, lien, or other right
in the nature of security, notice of that fact shall be given to the
President pursuant to such rules and regulations as he may
prescribe, and such surplus shall be held subject to his further
order.
(b) Any contract entered into prior to the beginning of the war
between any citizen of the United States or any corporation
organized within the United States, and an enemy or ally of an
enemy, the terms of which provide for the delivery, during or after
any war in which a present enemy or ally of enemy nation has been or
is now engaged, of anything produced, mined, or manufactured in the
United States, may be abrogated by such citizen or corporation by
serving thirty days’ notice in writing upon the alien property
custodian of his or its election to abrogate such contract.
(c) The running of any statute of limitations shall be suspended
with reference to the rights or remedies on any contract or
obligation entered into prior to the beginning of the war between
parties neither of whom is an enemy or ally of enemy, and containing
any promise to pay or liability for payment which is evidenced by
drafts or other commercial paper drawn against or secured by funds
or other property situated in an enemy or ally of enemy country, and
no suit shall be maintained on any such contract or obligation in
any court within the United States until after the end of the war,
or until the said funds or property shall be released for the
payment or satisfaction of such contract or obligation: Provided,
however, That nothing herein contained shall be construed to
prevent the suspension of the running of the statute of limitations
in all other cases where such suspension would occur under existing
law.
§9. Claims to property transferred to custodian; notice of
claim; filing; return of property; suits to recover; sale of claimed
property in time of war or during national emergency
(a) Any person not an enemy or ally of enemy claiming any interest,
right, or title in any money or other property which may have been
conveyed, transferred, assigned, delivered, or paid to the Alien
Property Custodian or seized by him hereunder and held by him or by
the Treasurer of the United States, or to whom any debt may be owing
from an enemy or ally of enemy whose property or any part thereof
shall have been conveyed, transferred, assigned, delivered, or paid
to the Alien Property Custodian or seized by him hereunder and held
by him or by the Treasurer of the United States may file with the
said custodian a notice of his claim under oath and in such form and
containing such particulars as the said custodian shall require; and
the President, if application is made therefor by the claimant, may
order the payment, conveyance, transfer, assignment, or delivery to
said claimant of the money or other property so held by the Alien
Property Custodian or by the Treasurer of the United States, or of
the interest therein to which the President shall determine said
claimant is entitled: Provided, That no such order by the
President shall bar any person from the prosecution of any suit at
law or in equity against the claimant to establish any right, title,
or interest which he may have in such money or other property. If
the President shall not so order within sixty days after the filing
of such application or if the claimant shall have filed the notice
as above required and shall have made no application to the
President, said claimant may institute a suit in equity in the
United States District Court for the District of Columbia or in the
district court of the United States for the district in which such
claimant resides, or, if a corporation, where it has its principal
place of business (to which suit the Alien Property Custodian or the
Treasurer of the United States, as the case may be, shall be made a
party defendant), to establish the interest, right, title, or debt
so claimed, and if so established the court shall order the payment,
conveyance, transfer, assignment, or delivery to said claimant of
the money or other property so held by the Alien Property Custodian
or by the Treasurer of the United States or the interest therein to
which the court shall determine said claimant is entitled. If suit
shall be so instituted, then such money or property shall be
retained in the custody of the Alien Property Custodian, or in the
Treasury of the United States, as provided in this Act [sections 1
to 6, 7 to 39, and 41 to 44 of this Appendix], and until any final
judgment or decree which shall be entered in favor of the claimant
shall be fully satisfied by payment or conveyance, transfer,
assignment, or delivery by the defendant, or by the Alien Property
Custodian, or Treasurer of the United States on order of the court,
or until final judgment or decree shall be entered against the
claimant or suit otherwise terminated: Provided further, That
upon a determination made by the President, in time of war or during
any national emergency declared by the President, that the interest
and welfare of the United States require the sale of any property or
interest or any part thereof claimed in any suit filed under this
subsection and pending on or after the date of enactment [Oct. 22,
1962] of this proviso the Alien Property Custodian or any successor
officer, or agency may sell such property or interest or part
thereof, in conformity with law applicable to sales of property by
him, at any time prior to the entry of final judgment in such suit.
No such sale shall be made until thirty days have passed after the
publication of notice in the Federal Register of the intention to
sell. The net proceeds of any such sale shall be deposited in a
special account established in the Treasury, and shall be held in
trust by the Secretary of the Treasury pending the entry of final
judgment in such suit. Any recovery of any claimant in any such suit
in respect of the property or interest or part thereof so sold shall
be satisfied from the net proceeds of such sale unless such
claimant, within sixty days after receipt of notice of the amount of
net proceeds of sale serves upon the Alien Property Custodian, or
any successor officer or agency, and files with the court an
election to waive all claims to the net proceeds, or any part
thereof, and to claim just compensation instead. If the court finds
that the claimant has established an interest, right, or title in
any property in respect of which such an election has been served
and filed, it shall proceed to determine the amount which will
constitute just compensation for such interest, right, or title, and
shall order payment to the claimant of the amount so determined. An
order for the payment of just compensation hereunder shall be a
judgment against the United States and shall be payable first from
the net proceeds of the sale in an amount not to exceed the amount
the claimant would have received had he elected to accept his
proportionate part of the net proceeds of the sale, and the balance,
if any, shall be payable in the same manner as are judgments in
cases arising under section 1346 of title 28, United States Code.
The Alien Property Custodian or any successor officer or agency
shall, immediately upon the entry of final judgment, notify the
Secretary of the Treasury of the determination by final judgment of
the claimant's interest and right to the proportionate part of the
net proceeds from the sale, and the final determination by judgment
of the amount of just compensation in the event the claimant has
elected to recover just compensation for the interest in the
property he claimed.
(b) In respect of all money or other property conveyed, transferred,
assigned, delivered, or paid to the Alien Property Custodian or
seized by him hereunder and held by him or by the Treasurer of the
United States, if the President shall determine that the owner
thereof at the time such money or other property was required to be
so conveyed, transferred, assigned, delivered, or paid to the Alien
Property Custodian or at the time when it was voluntarily delivered
to him or was seized by him was—
(1) A citizen or subject of any nation or State or free city other
than Germany or Austria or Hungary or Austria-Hungary, and is at the
time of the return of such money or other property hereunder a
citizen or subject of any such nation or State or free city; or
(2) A woman who, at the time of her marriage, was a subject or
citizen of a nation which has remained neutral in the war, or of a
nation which was associated with the United States in the
prosecution of said war, and who, prior to April 6, 1917,
intermarried with a subject or citizen of Germany or Austria-Hungary
and that the money or other property concerned was not acquired by
such woman, either directly or indirectly from any subject or
citizen of Germany or Austria-Hungary subsequent to January 1, 1917;
or
(3) A woman who at the time of her marriage was a citizen of the
United States, and who prior to April 6, 1917, intermarried with a
subject or citizen of Germany or Austria-Hungary, and that the money
or other property concerned, was not acquired by such woman, either
directly or indirectly, from any subject or citizen of Germany or
Austria-Hungary subsequent to January 1, 1917; or who was a daughter
of a resident citizen of the United States and herself a resident or
former resident thereof, or the minor daughter or daughters of such
woman, she being deceased; or
(3A) An individual who was at such time a citizen or subject of
Germany, Austria, Hungary, or Austria-Hungary, or not a citizen or
subject of any nation, state or free city, and that the money or
other property concerned was acquired by such individual while a
bona fide resident of the United States, and that such individual,
on January 1, 1926, and at the time of the return of the money or
other property, shall be a bona fide resident of the United States;
or
(3B) Any individual who at such time was not a subject or citizen of
Germany, Austria, Hungary, or Austria-Hungary, and who is now a
citizen or subject of a neutral or allied country: Provided,
however, That nothing contained herein shall be construed as
limiting or abrogating any existing rights of an individual under
the provisions of this Act [sections 1 to 6, 7 to 39, and 41 to 44
of this Appendix]; or
(4) A citizen or subject of Germany or Austria or Hungary or
Austria-Hungary and was at the time of the severance of diplomatic
relations between the United States and such nations, respectively,
accredited to the United States as a diplomatic or consular officer
of any such nation, or the wife or minor child of such officer, and
that the money or other property concerned was within the territory
of the United States by reason of the service of such officer in
such capacity; or
(5) A citizen or subject of Germany or Austria-Hungary, who by
virtue of the provisions of sections 4067, 4068, 4069, and 4070 of
the Revised Statutes [sections 21 to 24 of title 50] and of the
proclamations and regulations thereunder, was transferred, after
arrest, into the custody of the War Department of the United States
for detention during the war and is at the time of the return of his
money or other property hereunder living within the United States;
or
(6) A partnership, association, or other unincorporated body of
individuals outside the United States, or a corporation incorporated
within any country other than the United States, and was entirely
owned at such time by subjects or citizens of nations, States, or
free cities other than Germany or Austria or Hungary or
Austria-Hungary and is so owned at the time of the return of its
money or other property hereunder; or
(7) The Government of Bulgaria or Turkey, or any political or
municipal subdivision thereof; or
(8) The Government of Germany or Austria or Hungary or
Austria-Hungary, and that the money or other property concerned was
the diplomatic or consular property of such Government; or
(9) An individual who was at such time a citizen or subject of
Germany, Austria, Hungary, or Austria-Hungary, or who is not a
citizen or subject of any nation, State or free city, and that such
money or other property, or the proceeds thereof, if the same has
been converted, does not exceed in value the sum of $10,000, or
although exceeding in value the sum of $10,000 is nevertheless
susceptible of division, and the part thereof to be returned
hereunder does not exceed in value the sum of $10,000: Provided,
That an individual shall not be entitled, under this paragraph, to
the return of any money or other property owned by a partnership,
association, unincorporated body of individuals, or corporation at
the time it was conveyed, transferred, assigned, delivered, or paid
to the Alien Property Custodian, or seized by him hereunder; or
(10) A partnership, association, other unincorporated body of
individuals, or corporation, and that it is not otherwise entitled
to the return of its money or other property, or any part thereof,
under this section, and that such money or other property, or the
proceeds thereof, if the same has been converted, does not exceed in
value the sum of $10,000, or although exceeding in value the sum of
$10,000, is nevertheless susceptible of division, and the part
thereof to be returned hereunder does not exceed in value the sum of
$10,000; or
(11) A partnership, association, or other unincorporated body of
individuals, having its principal place of business within any
country other than Germany, Austria, Hungary, or Austria-Hungary, or
a corporation, organized or incorporated within any country other
than Germany, Austria, Hungary, or Austria-Hungary, and that the
control of, or more than 50 per centum of the interests or voting
power in, any such partnership, association, other unincorporated
body of individuals, or corporation, was at such time, and is at the
time of the return of any money or other property, vested in
citizens or subjects of nations, States, or free cities other than
Germany, Austria, Hungary, or Austria-Hungary: Provided, however,
That this subsection shall not affect any rights which any citizen
or subject may have under paragraph (1) of this subsection; or
(12) A partnership, association, or other unincorporated body of
individuals, or a corporation, and was entirely owned at such time
by subjects or citizens of nations, States, or free cities other
than Austria or Hungary, or Austria-Hungary and is so owned at the
time of the return of its money or other property, and has filed the
written consent provided for in subsection (m) of this section; or
(13) A partnership, association or other unincorporated body of
individuals, having its principal place of business at such time
within any country other than Austria, Hungary, or Austria-Hungary,
or a corporation organized or incorporated within any country other
than Austria, Hungary, or Austria-Hungary, and that the written
consent provided for in subsection (m) has been filed; or
(14) An individual who at such time was a citizen or subject of
Germany or who, at the time of the return of any money or other
property, is a citizen or subject of Germany or is not a citizen or
subject of any nation, State, or free city, and that the written
consent provided for in subsection (m) of this section has been
filed; or
(15) Repealed. Aug. 6, 1956, ch. 1016, §3, 70 Stat. 1073.
(16) An individual, partnership, association, or other
unincorporated body of individuals, or a corporation, and that the
written consent provided for in subsection (m) has been filed, and
that no suit or proceeding against the United States or any agency
thereof is pending in respect of such return, and that such
individual has filed a written waiver renouncing on behalf of
himself, his heirs, successors, and assigns any claim based upon the
fact that at the time of such return he was in fact entitled to such
return under any other provision of this Act [sections 1 to 6, 7 to
39, and 41 to 44 of this Appendix]; or
(17) A partnership, association, or other unincorporated body of
individuals, or a corporation, and was entirely owned at such time
by citizens of Austria and is so owned at the time of the return of
its money or other property; or
(18) A partnership, association, or other unincorporated body of
individuals, having its principal place of business at such time
within Austria, or a corporation organized or incorporated within
Austria; or
(19) An individual who at such time was a citizen of Austria or who,
at the time of the return of any money or other property, is a
citizen of Austria; or
(20) A partnership, association, or other unincorporated body of
individuals, or a corporation, and was entirely owned at such time
by citizens of Hungary and is so owned at the time of the return of
its money or other property; or
(21) A partnership, association, or other unincorporated body of
individuals, having its principal place of business at such time
within Hungary, or a corporation organized or incorporated within
Hungary; or
(22) An individual who at such time was a citizen of Hungary or who,
at the time of the return of any money or other property, is a
citizen of Hungary;
Then the President, without any application being made therefor, may
order the payment, conveyance, transfer, assignment, or delivery of
such money or other property held by the Alien Property Custodian or
by the Treasurer of the United States, or of the interest therein to
which the President shall determine such person entitled, either to
the said owner or to the person by whom said property was conveyed,
transferred, assigned, delivered, or paid over to the Alien Property
Custodian: Provided, That no person shall be deemed or held
to be a citizen or subject of Germany or Austria or Hungary or
Austria-Hungary for the purposes of this section, even though he was
such citizen or subject at the time first specified in this
subsection, if he has become or shall become, ipso facto or through
exercise of option, a citizen or subject of any nation or State or
free city other than Germany, Austria, or Hungary, (first) under the
terms of such treaties of peace as have been or may be concluded
subsequent to November 11, 1918, between Germany or Austria or
Hungary (of the one part) and the United States and/or three or more
of the following-named powers: The British Empire, France, Italy,
and Japan (of the other part), or (second) under the terms of such
treaties as have been or may be concluded in pursuance of the
treaties of peace aforesaid between any nation, State, or free city
(of the one part) whose territories, in whole or in part, on August
4, 1914, formed a portion of the territory of Germany or
Austria-Hungary and the United States and/or three or more of the
following-named powers: The British Empire, France, Italy, and Japan
(of the other part). For the purposes of this section any citizen or
subject of a State or free city which at the time of the proposed
return of money or other property of such citizen or subject
hereunder forms a part of the territory of any one of the following
nations: Germany, Austria, or Hungary, shall be deemed to be a
citizen or subject of such nation. And the receipt of the said owner
or of the person by whom said money or other property was conveyed,
transferred, assigned, delivered, or paid over to the Alien Property
Custodian shall be a full acquittance and discharge of the Alien
Property Custodian or the Treasurer of the United States, as the
case may be, and of the United States in respect to all claims of
all persons heretofore or hereafter claiming any right, title, or
interest in said money or other property, or compensation or damages
arising from the capture of such money or other property by the
President or the Alien Property Custodian: Provided further,
however, That except as herein provided no such action by the
President shall bar any person from the prosecution of any suit at
law or in equity to establish any right, title, or interest which he
may have therein.
(c) Any person whose money or other property the President is
authorized to return under the provisions of subsection (b) hereof
may file notice of claim for the return of such money or other
property, as provided in subsection (a) hereof, and thereafter may
make application to the President for allowance of such claim and/or
may institute suit in equity to recover such money or other
property, as provided in said subsection, and with like effect. The
President or the court, as the case may be, may make the same
determinations with respect to citizenship and other relevant facts
that the President is authorized to make under the provisions of
subsection (b) hereof.
(d) Whenever an individual, deceased, would have been entitled, if
living, to the return of any money or other property without filing
the written consent provided for in subsection (m), then his legal
representative may proceed for the return of such money or other
property in the same manner as such individual might proceed if
living, and such money or other property may be returned to such
legal representative without requiring the appointment of an
administrator, or an ancillary administrator, by a court in the
United States, or to any such ancillary administrator, for
distribution directly to the persons entitled thereto. Return in
accordance with the provisions of this subsection may be made in any
case where an application or court proceeding by any legal
representative, under the provisions of this subsection before its
amendment by the Settlement of War Claims Act of 1928 [Act Mar. 10,
1928, ch. 167, §12(a), 45 Stat. 271] is pending and undetermined at
the time of the enactment of such Act. All bonds or other security
given under the provisions of this subsection before such amendment
shall be canceled or released and all sureties thereon discharged.
(e) No money or other property shall be returned nor any debt
allowed under this section to any person who is a citizen or subject
of any nation which was associated with the United States in the
prosecution of the war, unless such nation in like case extends
reciprocal rights to citizens of the United States: Provided,
That any arrangement made by a foreign nation for the release of
money and other property of American citizens and certified by the
Secretary of State to the Attorney General as fair and the most
advantageous arrangement obtainable shall be regarded as meeting
this requirement; nor in any event shall a debt be allowed under
this section unless it was owing to and owned by the claimant prior
to October 6, 1917, and as to claimants other than citizens of the
United States unless it arose with reference to the money or other
property held by the Alien Property Custodian or Treasurer of the
United States hereunder; nor shall a debt be allowed under this
section unless notice of the claim has been filed, or application
therefor has been made, prior to the date of the enactment of the
Settlement of War Claims Act of 1928 [Act Mar. 10, 1928, ch. 167, 45
Stat. 254].
(f) Except as herein provided, the money or other property conveyed,
transferred, assigned, delivered, or paid to the Alien Property
Custodian, shall not be liable to lien, attachment, garnishment,
trustee process, or execution, or subject to any order or decree of
any court.
(g) Whenever an individual, deceased, would have been entitled, if
living, to the return of any money or other property upon filing the
written consent provided for in subsection (m), then his legal
representative may proceed for the return of such money or other
property in the same manner as such individual might proceed if
living, and such money or other property may be returned, upon
filing the written consent provided for in subsection (m), to such
legal representative without requiring the appointment of an
administrator, or an ancillary administrator, by a court in the
United States, or to any such ancillary administrator, for
distribution to the persons entitled thereto. This subsection shall
not be construed as extinguishing or diminishing any right which any
citizen of the United States may have had under this subsection
prior to its amendment by the Settlement of War Claims Act of 1928
[Act Mar. 10, 1928, ch. 167, §12(c), 45 Stat. 271] to receive in
full his interest in the property of any individual dying before
such amendment.
(h) The aggregate value of the money or other property returned
under paragraphs (9) and (10) of subsection (b) to any one person,
irrespective of the number of trusts involved, shall in no case
exceed $10,000.
(i) For the purposes of paragraphs (9) and (10) of subsection (b) of
this section accumulated net income, dividends, interest, annuities,
and other earnings, shall be considered as part of the principal.
(j) The Alien Property Custodian is authorized and directed to
return to the person entitled thereto, whether or not an enemy or
ally of enemy and regardless of the value, any patent, trademark,
print, label, copyright, or right therein or claim thereto, which
was conveyed, transferred, assigned, or delivered to the Alien
Property Custodian, or seized by him, and which has not been sold,
licensed, or otherwise disposed of under the provisions of this Act
[sections 1 to 6, 7 to 39, and 41 to 44 of this Appendix], and to
return any such patent, trademark, print, label, copyright, or right
therein or claim thereto, which has been licensed, except that any
patent, trade-mark, print, label, copyright, or right therein or
claim thereto, which is returned by the Alien Property Custodian and
which has been licensed, or in respect of which any contract has
been entered into, or which is subject to any lien or encumbrance,
shall be returned subject to the license, contract, lien, or
encumbrance.
(k) Except as provided in section 27 [section 27 of this Appendix],
paragraphs (12) to (22), both inclusive, of subsection (b) of this
section shall apply to the proceeds received from the sale, license,
or other disposition of any patent, trademark, print, label,
copyright, or right therein or claim thereto, conveyed, transferred,
assigned, or delivered to the Alien Property Custodian, or seized by
him.
(l)
This section shall apply to royalties paid to the Alien Property
Custodian, in accordance with a judgment or decree in a suit brought
under subsection (f) of section 10 [section 10(f) of this Appendix];
but shall not apply to any other money paid to the Alien Property
Custodian under section 10 [section 10 of this Appendix].
(m) No money or other property shall be returned under paragraph
(12), (13), (14), or (16) of subsection (b) or under subsection (g)
or (n) or (to the extent therein provided) under subsection (p),
unless the person entitled thereto files a written consent to a
postponement of the return of an amount equal to 20 per centum of
the aggregate value of such money or other property (at the time, as
nearly as may be, of the return), as determined by the Alien
Property Custodian, and the investment of such amount in accordance
with the provisions of section 25 [section 25 of this Appendix].
Such amount shall be deducted from the money to be returned to such
person, so far as possible, and the balance shall be deducted from
the proceeds of the sale of so much of the property as may be
necessary, unless such person pays the balance to the Alien Property
Custodian, except that no property shall be sold prior to the
expiration of six years from the date of the enactment of the
Settlement of War Claims Act of 1928 [Act Mar. 10, 1928, ch. 167, 45
Stat. 254] without the consent of the person entitled thereto. The
amounts so deducted shall be returned to the persons entitled
thereto as provided in subsection (f) of section 25 [section 25(f)
of this Appendix]. The sale of any such property shall be made in
accordance with the provisions of section 12 [section 12 of this
Appendix], except that the provisions of such section relating to
sales or resales to, or for the benefit of, citizens of the United
States shall not be applicable. If such aggregate value of the money
or other property to be returned under paragraph (12), (13), (14),
or (16) of subsection (b) or under subsection (g) is less than
$2,000, then the written consent shall not be required and the money
or other property shall be returned in full without the temporary
retention and investment of 20 per centum thereof.
(n) In the case of property consisting of stock or other interest in
any corporation, association, company, or trust, or of bonded or
other indebtedness thereof, evidenced by certificates of stock or by
bonds or by other certificates of interest therein or indebtedness
thereof, or consisting of dividends or interest or other accruals
thereon, where the right, title, and interest in the property (but
not the actual certificate or bond or other certificate of interest
or indebtedness) was conveyed, transferred, assigned, delivered, or
paid to the Alien Property Custodian, or seized by him, if the
President determines that the owner thereof or of any interest
therein has acquired such ownership by assignment, transfer, or sale
of such certificate or bond or other certificate of interest or
indebtedness, (it being the intent of this subsection that such
assignment, transfer, or sale shall not be deemed invalid hereunder
by reason of such conveyance, transfer, assignment, delivery, or
payment to the Alien Property Custodian or seizure by him) and that
the written consent provided for in subsection (m) of this section
has been filed, then the President may make in respect of such
property an order of the same character, upon the same conditions,
and with the same effect, as in cases provided for in subsection
(b), including the benefits of subsection (c).
(o)
The provisions of paragraph (12), (13), (14), (17), (18), (19),
(20), (21), or (22) of subsection (b), or of subsection (m) or (n)
of this section, and (except to the extent therein provided) the
provisions of paragraph (16) of subsection (b), shall not be
construed as diminishing or extinguishing any right under any other
provision of this Act [sections 1 to 6, 7 to 39, and 41 to 44 of
this Appendix] in force immediately prior to the enactment of the
Settlement of War Claims Act of 1928 [Act Mar. 10, 1928, ch. 167, 45
Stat. 254].
(p) The Alien Property Custodian shall transfer the money or other
property in the trust of any partnership, association, or other
unincorporated body of individuals, or corporation, the existence of
which has terminated, to trusts in the names of the persons
(including the German Government and members of the former ruling
family) who have succeeded to its claim or interest; and the
provisions of subsection (a) of this section relating to the
collection of a debt (by order of the President or of a court) out
of money or other property held by the Alien Property Custodian or
the Treasurer of the United States shall be applicable to the debts
of such successor and any such debt may be collected out of the
money or other property in any of such trusts if not returnable
under subsection (a) of this section. Subject to the above
provisions as to the collection of debts, each such successor
(except the German Government and members of the former ruling
family) may proceed for the return of the amount so transferred to
his trust, in the same manner as such partnership, association, or
other unincorporated body of individuals, or corporation might
proceed if still in existence. If such partnership, association, or
other unincorporated body of individuals, or corporation, would have
been entitled to the return of its money or other property only upon
filing the written consent provided for in subsection (m), then the
successor shall be entitled to the return under this subsection only
upon filing such written consent.
(q) The return of money or other property under paragraph (15),
(17), (18), (19), (20), (21), or (22) of subsection (b) (relating to
the return of Austrian and Hungarian nationals) shall be subject to
the limitations imposed by subsections (d) and (e) of section 7 of
the Settlement of War Claims Act of 1928 [Act Mar. 10, 1928, ch.
167, §7(d), (e), 45 Stat. 265, 266].
§10. Acts permitted; applications for patents, or
registration of trade-marks or copyrights; payment of tax in
relation thereto; licenses under enemy owned patent or copyright;
statements by licensees; term and cancellation; suits against
licensees; restraining infringements; powers of attorney; keeping
secret inventions
Nothing contained in this Act [sections 1 to 6, 7 to 39, and 41 to
44 of this Appendix] shall be held to make unlawful any of the
following acts:
(a) Repealed. Aug. 8, 1946, ch. 910, §13, 60 Stat. 944.
(b) Any citizen of the United States, or any corporation organized
within the United States, may, when duly authorized by the
President, pay to an enemy or ally of enemy any tax, annuity, or fee
which may be required by the laws of such enemy or ally of enemy
nation in relation to patents and trade-marks, prints, labels, and
copyrights; and any such citizen or corporation may file and
prosecute an application for letters patent or for registration of
trade-mark, print, label, or copyright in the country of an enemy,
or of an ally of enemy after first submitting such application to
the President and receiving license so to file and prosecute, and to
pay the fees required by law and customary agents’ fees, the maximum
amount of which in each case shall be subject to the control of the
President.
(c) Any citizen of the United States or any corporation organized
within the United States desiring to manufacture, or cause to be
manufactured, a machine, manufacture, composition of matter, or
design, or to carry on, or to use any trade-mark, print, label or
cause to be carried on, a process under any patent or copyrighted
matter owned or controlled by an enemy or ally of enemy at any time
during the existence of a state of war may apply to the President
for a license; and the President is authorized to grant such a
license, nonexclusive or exclusive as he shall deem best, provided
he shall be of the opinion that such grant is for the public
welfare, and that the applicant is able and intends in good faith to
manufacture, or cause to be manufactured, the machine, manufacture,
composition of matter, or design, or to carry on, or cause to be
carried on, the process or to use the trade-mark, print, label or
copyrighted matter. The President may prescribe the conditions of
this license, including the fixing of prices of articles and
products necessary to the health of the military and naval forces of
the United States or the successful prosecution of the war, and the
rules and regulations under which such license may be granted and
the fee which shall be charged therefor, not exceeding $100, and not
exceeding one per centum of the fund deposited as hereinafter
provided. Such license shall be a complete defense to any suit at
law or in equity instituted by the enemy or ally of enemy owners of
the letters patent, trade-mark, print, label or copyright, or
otherwise, against the licensee for infringement or for damages,
royalty, or other money award on account of anything done by the
licensee under such license, except as provided in subsection (f)
hereof.
(d) The licensee shall file with the President a full statement of
the extent of the use and enjoyment of the license, and of the
prices received in such form and at such stated periods (at least
annually) as the President may prescribe; and the licensee shall pay
at such times as may be required to the alien property custodian not
to exceed five per centum of the gross sums received by the licensee
from the sale of said inventions or use of the trade-mark, print,
label or copyrighted matter, or, if the President shall so order,
five per centum of the value of the use of such inventions,
trade-marks, prints, labels or copyrighted matter to the licensee as
established by the President; and sums so paid shall be deposited by
said alien property custodian forthwith in the Treasury of the
United States as a trust fund for the said licensee and for the
owner of the said patent, trade-mark, print, label or copyright
registration as hereinafter provided, to be paid from the Treasury
upon order of the court, as provided in subsection (f) of this
section, or upon the direction of the alien property custodian.
(e) Unless surrendered or terminated as provided in this Act
[sections 1 to 6, 7 to 39, and 41 to 44 of this Appendix], any
license granted hereunder shall continue during the term fixed in
the license or in the absence of any such limitation during the term
of the patent, trade-mark, print, label, or copyright registration
under which is it granted. Upon violation by the licensee of any of
the provisions of this Act [said sections], or of the conditions of
the license, the President may, after due notice and hearing, cancel
any license granted by him.
(f) The owner of any patent, trade-mark, print, label, or copyright
under which a license is granted hereunder may, after the end of the
war and until the expiration of one year thereafter, file a bill in
equity against the licensee in the district court of the United
States for the district in which the said licensee resides, or, if a
corporation, in which it has its principal place of business (to
which suit the Treasurer of the United States shall be made a
party), for recovery from the said licensee for all use and
enjoyment of the said patented invention, trade-mark, print, label,
or copyrighted matter: Provided, however, That whenever suit
is brought, as above, notice shall be filed with the alien property
custodian within thirty days after date of entry of suit:
Provided further, That the licensee may make any and all
defenses which would be available were no license granted. The court
on due proceedings had may adjudge and decree to the said owner
payment of a reasonable royalty. The amount of said judgment and
decree, when final, shall be paid on order of the court to the owner
of the patent from the fund deposited by the licensee, so far as
such deposit will satisfy said judgment and decree; and the said
payment shall be in full or partial satisfaction of said judgment
and decree, as the facts may appear; and if, after payment of all
such judgments and decrees, there shall remain any balance of said
deposit, such balance shall be repaid to the licensee on order of
the alien property custodian. If no suit is brought within one year
after the end of the war, or no notice is filed as above required,
then the licensee shall not be liable to make any further deposits,
and all funds deposited by him shall be repaid to him on order of
the alien property custodian. Upon entry of suit and notice filed as
above required, or upon repayment of funds as above provided, the
liability of the licensee to make further reports to the President
shall cease.
If suit is brought as above provided, the court may, at any time,
terminate the license, and may, in such event, issue an injunction
to restrain the licensee from infringement thereafter, or the court,
in case the licensee, prior to suit, shall have made investment of
capital based on possession of the license, may continue the license
for such period and upon such terms and with such royalties as it
shall find to be just and reasonable.
In the case of any such patent, trade-mark, print, label, or
copyright, conveyed, assigned, transferred, or delivered to the
Alien Property Custodian or seized by him, any suit brought under
this subsection, within the time limited therein, shall be
considered as having been brought by the owner within the meaning of
this subsection, in so far as such suit relates to royalties for the
period prior to the sale by the Alien Property Custodian of such
patent, trade-mark, print, label, or copyright, if brought either by
the Alien Property Custodian or by the person who was the owner
thereof immediately prior to the date such patent, trade-mark,
print, label, or copyright was seized or otherwise acquired by the
Alien Property Custodian.
(g) Any enemy, or ally of enemy, may institute and prosecute suits
in equity against any person other than a licensee under this Act
[sections 1 to 6, 7 to 39, and 41 to 44 of this Appendix] to enjoin
infringement of letters patent, trade-mark, print, label, and
copyrights in the United States owned or controlled by said enemy or
ally of enemy, in the same manner and to the extent that he would be
entitled so to do if the United States was not at war: Provided,
That no final judgment or decree shall be entered in favor of such
enemy or ally of enemy by any court except after thirty days’ notice
to the alien property custodian. Such notice shall be in writing and
shall be served in the same manner as civil process of Federal
courts.
(h) All powers of attorney heretofore or hereafter granted by an
enemy or ally of enemy to any person within the United States, in so
far as they may be requisite to the performance of acts authorized
in subsections (a) and (g) of this section, shall be valid.
(i) Whenever the publication of an invention by the granting of a
patent may, in the opinion of the President, be detrimental to the
public safety or defense, or may assist the enemy or endanger the
successful prosecution of the war, he may order that the invention
be kept secret and withhold the grant of a patent until the end of
the war: Provided, That the invention disclosed in the
application for said patent may be held abandoned upon it being
established before or by the Under Secretary of Commerce for
Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and
Trademark Office that, in violation of said order, said invention
has been published or that an application for a patent therefor has
been filed in any other country, by the inventor or his assigns or
legal representatives, without the consent or approval of the
commissioner or under a license of the President.
When an applicant whose patent is withheld as herein provided and
who faithfully obeys the order of the President above referred to
shall tender his invention to the Government of the United States
for its use, he shall, if he ultimately receives a patent, have the
right to sue for compensation in the United States Court of Federal
Claims, such right to compensation to begin from the date of the use
of the invention by the Government.
§11. Importations prohibited
Whenever during the present war the President shall find that the
public safety so requires and shall make proclamation thereof it
shall be unlawful to import into the United States from any country
named in such proclamation any article or articles mentioned in such
proclamation except at such time or times, and under such
regulations or orders, and subject to such limitations and
exceptions as the President shall prescribe, until otherwise ordered
by the President or by Congress: Provided, however, That no
preference shall be given to the ports of one State over those of
another.
§12. Property transferred to Alien Property Custodian
All moneys (including checks and drafts payable on demand) paid to
or received by the alien property custodian pursuant to this Act
[sections 1 to 6, 7 to 39, and 41 to 44 of this Appendix] shall be
deposited forthwith in the Treasury of the United States, and may be
invested and reinvested by the Secretary of the Treasury in United
States bonds or United States certificates of indebtedness, under
such rules and regulations as the President shall prescribe for such
deposit, investment, and sale of securities; and as soon after the
end of the war as the President shall deem practicable, such
securities shall be sold and the proceeds deposited in the Treasury.
All other property of an enemy, or ally of enemy, conveyed,
transferred, assigned, delivered, or paid to the alien property
custodian hereunder shall be safely held and administered by him
except as hereinafter provided; and the President is authorized to
designate as a depositary, or depositaries, of property of an enemy
or ally of enemy, any bank, or banks, or trust company, or trust
companies, or other suitable depositary or depositaries, located and
doing business in the United States. The alien property custodian
may deposit with such designated depositary or depositaries, or with
the Secretary of the Treasury, any stocks, bonds, notes, time
drafts, time bills of exchange, or other securities, or property
(except money or checks or drafts payable on demand which are
required to be deposited with the Secretary of the Treasury) and
such depositary or depositaries shall be authorized and empowered to
collect any dividends or interest or income that may become due and
any maturing obligations held for the account of such custodian. Any
moneys collected on said account shall be paid and deposited
forthwith by said depositary or by the alien property custodian into
the Treasury of the United States as hereinbefore provided.
The President shall require all such designated depositaries to
execute and file bonds sufficient in his judgment to protect
property on deposit, such bonds to be conditioned as he may direct.
The alien property custodian shall be vested with all of the powers
of a common-law trustee in respect of all property, other than
money, which has been or shall be, or which has been or shall be
required to be, conveyed, transferred, assigned, delivered, or paid
over to him in pursuance of the provisions of this Act [said
sections], and, in addition thereto, acting under the supervision
and direction of the President, and under such rules and regulations
as the President shall prescribe, shall have power to manage such
property and do any act or things in respect thereof or make any
disposition thereof or of any part thereof, by sale or otherwise,
and exercise any rights or powers which may be or become appurtenant
thereto or to the ownership thereof in like manner as though he were
the absolute owner thereof: Provided, That any property sold
under this Act [said sections] except when sold to the United
States, shall be sold only to American citizens, at public sale to
the highest bidder, after public advertisement of time and place of
sale which shall be where the property or a major portion thereof is
situated, unless the President stating the reasons therefor, in the
public interest shall otherwise determine: Provided further,
That when sold at public sale, the alien property custodian upon the
order of the President stating the reasons therefor, shall have the
right to reject all bids and resell such property at public sale or
otherwise as the President may direct. Any person purchasing
property from the alien property custodian for an undisclosed
principal, or for re-sale to a person not a citizen of the United
States, or for the benefit of a person not a citizen of the United
States, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction,
shall be subject to a fine of not more than $10,000, or imprisonment
for not more than ten years, or both, and the property shall be
forfeited to the United States. It shall be the duty of every
corporation incorporated within the United States and every
unincorporated association, or company, or trustee, or trustees
within the United States issuing shares or certificates representing
beneficial interests to transfer such shares or certificates upon
its, his, or their books into the name of the alien property
custodian upon demand, accompanied by the presentation of the
certificates which represent such shares or beneficial interests.
The alien property custodian shall forthwith deposit in the Treasury
of the United States, as hereinbefore provided, the proceeds of any
such property or rights so sold by him.
Any money or property required or authorized by the provisions of
this Act [said sections] to be paid, conveyed, transferred,
assigned, or delivered to the alien property custodian shall, if
said custodian shall so direct by written order, be paid, conveyed,
transferred, assigned, or delivered to the Treasurer of the United
States with the same effect as if to the alien property custodian.
After the end of the war any claim of any enemy or of an ally of
enemy to any money or other property received and held by the alien
property custodian or deposited in the United States Treasury, shall
be settled as Congress shall direct: Provided, however, That
on order of the President as set forth in section nine hereof
[section 9 of this Appendix], or of the court, as set forth in
sections nine and ten hereof [sections 9 and 10 of this Appendix],
the alien property custodian or the Treasurer of the United States,
as the case may be, shall forthwith convey, transfer, assign, and
pay to the person to whom the President shall so order, or in whose
behalf the court shall enter final judgment or decree, any property
of an enemy or ally of enemy held by said custodian or by said
Treasurer, so far as may be necessary to comply with said order of
the President or said final judgment or decree of the court: And
provided further, That the Treasurer of the United States, on
order of the alien property custodian shall, as provided in section
ten hereof [section 10 of this Appendix], repay to the licensee any
funds deposited by said licensee.
§13. Statements by masters of vessels and owners of cargoes
before granting clearances
During the present war, in addition to the facts required by section
60105 of title 46, and sections forty-one hundred and ninety-eight,1
and forty-two hundred
1
of the Revised Statutes, as amended by the Act of June fifteenth,
nineteen hundred and seventeen, to be set out in the master's and
shipper's manifests before clearance will be issued to vessels bound
to foreign ports, the master or person in charge of any vessel,
before departure of such vessel from port, shall deliver to the
collector of customs of the district wherein such vessel is located
a statement duly verified by oath that the cargo is not shipped or
to be delivered in violation of this Act [sections 1 to 6, 7 to 39,
and 41 to 44 of this Appendix], and the owners, shippers, or
consignors of the cargo of such vessels shall in like manner deliver
to the collector like statement under oath as to the cargo or the
parts thereof laden or shipped by them, respectively, which
statement shall contain also the names and addresses of the actual
consignees of the cargo, or if the shipment is made to a bank or
other broker, factor, or agent, the names and addresses of the
persons who are the actual consignees on whose account the shipment
is made. The master or person in control of the vessel shall, on
reaching port of destination of any of the cargo, deliver a copy of
the manifest and of the said master's, owner's shipper's, or
consignor's statement to the American consular officer of the
district in which the cargo is unladen.
§14. False manifest; refusal of clearance; reports of gold
or silver coin in cargoes for export
During the present war, whenever there is reasonable cause to
believe that the manifest or the additional statements under oath
required by the preceding section [section 13 of this Appendix] are
false or that any vessel, domestic or foreign, is about to carry out
of the United States any property to or for the account or benefit
of an enemy, or ally of enemy, or any property or person whose
export, taking out, or transport will be in violation of law, the
collector of customs for the district in which such vessel is
located is authorized and empowered subject to review by the
President to refuse clearance to any such vessel, domestic or
foreign, for which clearance is required by law, and by formal
notice served upon the owners, master, or person or persons in
command or charge of any domestic vessel for which clearance is not
required by law, to forbid the departure of such vessel from the
port, and it shall thereupon be unlawful for such vessel to depart.
The collector of customs shall, during the present war, in each case
report to the President the amount of gold or silver coin or bullion
or other moneys of the United States contained in any cargo intended
for export. Such report shall include the names and addresses of the
consignors and consignees, together with any facts known to the
collector with reference to such shipment and particularly those
which may indicate that such gold or silver coin or bullion or
moneys of the United States may be intended for delivery or may be
delivered, directly or indirectly, to an enemy or an ally of enemy.
§15. Omitted
§16. Offenses; punishment; forfeitures of property
(a) Whoever shall willfully violate any of the provisions of this
Act [sections 1 to 6, 7 to 39, and 41 to 44 of this Appendix] or of
any license, rule, or regulation issued thereunder, and whoever
shall willfully violate, neglect, or refuse to comply with any order
of the President issued in compliance with the provisions of the Act
[said sections] shall, upon conviction, be fined not more than
$1,000,000, or if a natural person, be imprisoned for not more than
20 years, or both.
(b)(1) A civil penalty of not to exceed $50,000 may be imposed by
the Secretary of the Treasury on any person who violates any
license, order, rule, or regulation issued in compliance with the
provisions of this Act [sections 1 to 6, 7 to 39, and 41 to 44 of
this Appendix].
(2) Any property, funds, securities, papers, or other articles or
documents, or any vessel, together with its tackle, apparel,
furniture, and equipment, that is the subject of a violation under
paragraph (1) shall, at the direction of the Secretary of the
Treasury, be forfeited to the United States Government.
(3) The penalties provided under this subsection may be imposed only
on the record after opportunity for an agency hearing in accordance
with sections 554 through 557 of title 5, United States Code, with
the right to prehearing discovery.
(4) Judicial review of any penalty imposed under this subsection may
be had to the extent provided in section 702 of title 5, United
States Code.
(c) Upon conviction, any property, funds, securities, papers, or
other articles or documents, or any vessel, together with tackle,
apparel, furniture, and equipment, concerned in any violation of
subsection (a) may be forfeited to the United States.
§17. Rules by district courts; appeals
The district courts of the United States are given jurisdiction to
make and enter all such rules as to notice and otherwise, and all
such orders and decrees, and to issue such process as may be
necessary and proper in the premises to enforce the provisions of
this Act [sections 1 to 6, 7 to 39, and 41 to 44 of this Appendix],
with a right of appeal from the final order or decree of such court
as provided in sections one hundred and twenty-eight and two hundred
and thirty-eight of the Act of March third, nineteen hundred and
eleven, entitled “An Act to codify, revise, and amend the laws
relating to the judiciary.”
§18. Jurisdiction of courts of Philippines and Canal Zone of
offenses
The several courts of first instance in the Philippine Islands and
the district court of the Canal Zone shall have jurisdiction of
offenses under this Act [sections 1 to 6, 7 to 39, and 41 to 44 of
this Appendix] committed within their respective districts, and
concurrent jurisdiction with the district courts of the United
States of offenses under this Act [said sections] committed upon the
high seas and of conspiracies to commit such offenses as defined by
section thirty-seven of the Act entitled “An Act to codify, revise,
and amend the penal laws of the United States,” approved March
fourth, nineteen hundred and nine, and the provisions of such
section for the purpose of this Act [said sections] are extended to
the Philippine Islands and to the Canal Zone.
§19. Print, newspaper or publication in foreign languages
Ten days after the approval of this act [Oct. 6, 1917] and until the
end of the war, it shall be unlawful for any person, firm,
corporation, or association, to print, publish, or circulate, or
cause to be printed, published, or circulated in any foreign
language, any news item, editorial or other printed matter,
respecting the Government of the United States, or of any nation
engaged in the present war, its policies, international relations,
the state or conduct of the war, or any matter relating thereto:
Provided, That this section shall not apply to any print,
newspaper, or publication where the publisher or distributor
thereof, on or before offering the same for mailing, or in any
manner distributing it to the public, has filed with the postmaster
at the place of publication, in the form of an affidavit, a true and
complete translation of the entire article containing such matter
proposed to be published in such print, newspaper, or publication,
and has caused to be printed, in plain type in the English language,
at the head of each such item, editorial, or other matter, on each
copy of such print, newspaper, or publication, the words “True
translation filed with the postmaster at ________ on ________
(naming the post office where the translation was filed, and the
date of filing thereof), as required by the Act of ________ (here
giving the date of this Act [Oct. 6, 1917]).”
Any print, newspaper, or publication in any foreign language which
does not conform to the provisions of this section is declared to be
nonmailable, and it shall be unlawful for any person, firm,
corporation, or association, to transport, carry, or otherwise
publish or distribute the same, or to transport, carry or otherwise
publish or distribute any matter which is made nonmailable by the
provisions of the Act relating to espionage, approved June
fifteenth, nineteen hundred and seventeen: Provided, further,
That upon evidence satisfactory to him that any print, newspaper, or
publication, printed in a foreign language may be printed,
published, and distributed free from the foregoing restrictions and
conditions without detriment to the United States in the conduct of
the present war, the President may cause to be issued to the
printers or publishers of such print, newspaper, or publication, a
permit to print, publish, and circulate the issue or issues of their
print, newspaper, or publication, free from such restrictions and
requirements, such permits to be subject to revocation at his
discretion. And the Postmaster General
1
shall cause copies of all such permits and revocations of permits to
be furnished to the postmaster of the post office serving the place
from which the print, newspaper, or publication, granted the permit
is to emanate. All matter printed, published and distributed under
permits shall bear at the head thereof in plain type in the English
language, the words, “Published and distributed under permit
authorized by the Act of ________ (here giving date of this Act
[Oct. 6, 1917]), on file at the post office of ________ (giving name
of office).”
Any person who shall make an affidavit containing any false
statement in connection with the translation provided for in this
section shall be guilty of the crime of perjury and subject to the
punishment provided therefor by section one hundred and twenty-five
of the Act of March fourth, nineteen hundred and nine, entitled “An
Act to codify, revise, and amend the penal laws of the United
States,” and any person, firm, corporation, or association,
violating any other requirement of this section shall, on conviction
thereof, be punished by a fine of not more than $500, or by
imprisonment of not more than one year, or, in the discretion of the
court, may be both fined and imprisoned.
§20. Fees of agents, attorneys, or representatives
No property or interest or proceeds shall be returned under this Act
[sections 1 to 6, 7 to 39, and 41 to 44 of this Appendix], nor shall
any payment be made or judgment awarded in respect of any property
or interest vested in or transferred to any officer or agency of the
United States under this Act [said sections] unless satisfactory
evidence is furnished to the President or such officer or agency as
he may designate, or the court, as the case may be, that the
aggregate of the fees to be paid to all agents, attorneys at law or
in fact, or representatives, for services rendered in connection
with such return or payment or judgment does not exceed 10 per
centum of the value of such property or interest or proceeds or of
such payment. Any agent, attorney at law or in fact, or
representative, believing that the aggregate of the fees should be
in excess of such 10 per centum may in the case of any return of, or
the making of any payment in respect of, such property or interest
or proceeds by the President or such officer or agency as he may
designate, petition the district court of the United States for the
district in which he resides for an order authorizing fees in excess
of 10 per centum and shall name such officer or agency as
respondent. The court hearing such petition, or a court awarding any
judgment in respect of any such property or interest or proceeds, as
the case may be, shall approve an aggregate of fees in excess of 10
per centum of the value of such property or interest or proceeds
only upon a finding that there exist special circumstances of
unusual hardship which require the payment of such excess. Any
person accepting any fee in excess of an amount approved hereunder,
or retaining for more than thirty days any portion of a fee,
accepted prior to approval hereunder, in excess of the fee as
approved, shall be guilty of a violation of this Act [said
sections].
§21. Claims of naturalized citizens as affected by
expatriation
The claim of any naturalized American citizen under the provisions
of this Act [sections 1 to 6, 7 to 39, and 41 to 44 of this
Appendix] shall not be denied on the ground of any presumption of
expatriation which has arisen against him, under the second sentence
of section 2 of the Act entitled “An Act in reference to the
expatriation of citizens and their protection abroad,” approved
March 2, 1907, if he shall give satisfactory evidence to the
President, or the court, as the case may be, of his uninterrupted
loyalty to the United States during his absence, and that he has
returned to the United States, or that he, although desiring to
return, has been prevented from so returning by circumstances beyond
his control.
§22. Fugitives from justice barred from recovery
No person shall be entitled to the return of any property or money
under any provision of this Act [sections 1 to 6, 7 to 39, and 41 to
44 of this Appendix], or any amendment of this Act [said sections],
who is a fugitive from justice of the United States or any State or
Territory thereof, or the District of Columbia.
§23. Payment of income, etc., by Alien Property Custodian
The Alien Property Custodian is directed to pay to the person
entitled thereto, from and after March 4, 1923, the net income
(including dividends, interest, annuities, and other earnings),
accruing and collected thereafter, in respect of any money or
property held in trust for such person by the Alien Property
Custodian or by the Treasurer of the United States for the account
of the Alien Property Custodian, under such rules and regulations as
the President may prescribe.
§24. Payment of taxes and expenses by Alien Property
Custodian
(a) The Alien Property Custodian is authorized to pay all taxes
(including special assessments), heretofore or hereafter lawfully
assessed by any body politic against any money or other property
held by him or by the Treasurer of the United States under this Act
[sections 1 to 6, 7 to 39, and 41 to 44 of this Appendix], and to
pay the necessary expenses incurred by him or by any depositary for
him in securing the possession, collection, or control of any such
money or other property, or in protecting or administering the same.
Such taxes and expenses shall be paid out of the money or other
property against which such taxes are assessed or in respect of
which such expenses are incurred, or (if such money or other
property is insufficient) out of any other money or property held
for the same person, notwithstanding the fact that a claim may have
been filed or suit instituted under this Act [said sections]. No
claim shall be filed with the Alien Property Custodian or allowed by
him or by the President of the United States, nor shall any suit be
instituted or maintained against the Alien Property Custodian or the
Treasurer of the United States, or the United States, under any
provisions of law, by any person who was an enemy or ally of enemy
as defined in the Trading with the Enemy Act, as amended [said
sections], and no allowance of any such claim now pending shall be
made, nor judgment entered in any such suit heretofore or hereafter
instituted, for the recovery of any deduction or deductions,
heretofore or hereafter made by the Alien Property Custodian from
money or properties, or income therefrom, held by him or by the
Treasurer of the United States hereunder, for the general or
administrative expenses of the office of the Alien Property
Custodian, which deduction or deductions on the collection of any
income do not exceed the sum of two per centum of such income or
which on the return of any moneys or properties or income therefrom,
do not exceed the sum of two per centum of the aggregate value
thereof at the time or times as nearly as may be, of such deduction
or deductions, or, for the recovery of any deduction or deductions
heretofore or hereafter made by the Alien Property Custodian from
money or properties or income therefrom held by him or by the
Treasurer of the United States hereunder, for any and all necessary
expenses incurred and actually disbursed by the Alien Property
Custodian or by any depositary for him in securing the possession,
collection or control of any such money or properties or income
therefrom, or in protecting or administering the same, as said
general or administrative and other expenses and said aggregate
value of returned money or properties or income therefrom have been
heretofore or shall be hereafter determined by said Alien Property
Custodian.
(b) In the case of income, war-profits, excess-profits, or estate
taxes imposed by any Act of Congress, the amount thereof shall,
under regulations prescribed by the Commissioner of Internal Revenue
with the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury, be computed in
the same manner (except as hereinafter in this section provided) as
though the money or other property had not been seized by or paid to
the Alien Property Custodian, and shall be paid as far as
practicable, in accordance with subsection (a) of this section.
Pending final determination of the tax liability the Alien Property
Custodian is authorized to return, in accordance with the provisions
of this Act [sections 1 to 6, 7 to 39, and 41 to 44 of this
Appendix], money or other property in any trust in such amounts as
may be determined, under regulations prescribed by the Commissioner
of Internal Revenue with the approval of the Secretary of the
Treasury, to be consistent with the prompt payment of the full
amount of the internal-revenue taxes. Notwithstanding the expiration
of any period of limitation provided by law, credit or refund of any
income, war-profits, or excess-profits tax erroneously or illegally
assessed or collected may be made or allowed if claim therefor was
filed with the Commissioner of Internal Revenue by the Alien
Property Custodian on or before February 15, 1933.
(c) So much of the net income of a taxpayer for the taxable year
1917, or any succeeding taxable year, as represents the gain derived
from the sale or exchange by the Alien Property Custodian of any
property conveyed, transferred, assigned, delivered, or paid to him,
or seized by him, may at the option of the taxpayer be segregated
from the net income and separately taxed at the rate of 30 per
centum. This subsection shall be applied and the amount of net
income to be so segregated shall be determined, under regulations
prescribed by the Commissioner of Internal Revenue with the approval
of the Secretary of the Treasury, as nearly as may be in the same
manner as provided in section 208 of the Revenue Act of 1926
(relating to capital net gains), but without regard to the period
for which the property was held by the Alien Property Custodian
before its sale or exchange, and whether or not the taxpayer is an
individual.
(d) Any property sold or exchanged by the Alien Property Custodian
(whether before or after the date of the enactment of the Settlement
of War Claims Act of 1928 [Mar. 10, 1928]) shall be considered as
having been compulsorily or involuntarily converted, within the
meaning of the income, excess-profits, and war-profits tax laws and
regulations; and the provisions of such laws and regulations
relating to such a conversion shall (under regulations prescribed by
the Commissioner of Internal Revenue with the approval of the
Secretary of the Treasury) apply in the case of the proceeds of such
sale or exchange. For the purpose of determining whether the
proceeds of such conversion have been expended within such time as
will entitle the taxpayer to the benefits of such laws and
regulations relating to such a conversion, the date of the return of
the proceeds to the person entitled thereto shall be considered as
the date of the conversion.
(e) In case of any internal-revenue tax imposed in respect of
property conveyed, transferred, assigned, delivered, or paid to the
Alien Property Custodian, or seized by him, and imposed in respect
of any period (in the taxable year 1917 or any succeeding taxable
year) during which such property was held by him or by the Treasurer
of the United States, no interest or civil penalty shall be assessed
upon, collected from, or paid by or on behalf of, the taxpayer; nor
shall any interest be credited or paid to the taxpayer in respect of
any credit or refund allowed or made in respect of such tax.
(f) The benefits of subsections (c), (d), and (e) shall be extended
to the taxpayer if claim therefor is filed before the expiration of
the period of limitations properly applicable thereto, or before the
expiration of six months after the date of the enactment of the
Settlement of War Claims Act of 1928 [Mar. 10, 1928], whichever date
is the later. The benefits of subsection (d) shall also be extended
to the taxpayer if claim therefor is filed before the expiration of
six months after the return of the proceeds.
§25. Investments by Custodian in participating certificates
issued by Secretary of the Treasury; transfers to and payments from
German, Austrian or Hungarian special deposit accounts; allocation
of payments
(a)(1) The Alien Property Custodian is authorized and directed to
invest, from time to time upon the request of the Secretary of the
Treasury, out of the funds held by the Alien Property Custodian or
by the Treasurer of the United States for the Alien Property
Custodian, an amount not to exceed $40,000,000 in the aggregate, in
one or more participating certificates issued by the Secretary of
the Treasury in accordance with the provisions of this section.
(2) When in the case of any trust written consent under subsection
(m) of section 9 [section 9(m) of this Appendix] has been filed, an
amount equal to the portion of such trust the return of which is
temporarily postponed under such subsection shall be credited
against the investment made under paragraph (1) of this subsection.
If the total amount so credited is in excess of the amount invested
under paragraph (1) of this subsection, the excess shall be invested
by the Alien Property Custodian in accordance with the provisions of
this subsection, without regard to the $40,000,000 limitation in
paragraph (1). If the amount invested under paragraph (1) of this
subsection is in excess of the total amount so credited, such excess
shall, from time to time on request of the Alien Property Custodian,
be paid to him out of the funds in the German special deposit
account created by section 4 of the Settlement of War Claims Act of
1928, and such payments shall have priority over any payments
therefrom other than the payments under paragraph (1) of subsection
(c) of such section (relating to expenses of administration).
(b) The Alien Property Custodian is authorized and directed to
invest, in one or more participating certificates issued by the
Secretary of the Treasury, out of the unallocated interest fund, as
defined in section 28 [section 28 of this Appendix]—
(1) The sum of $25,000,000. If, after the allocation under section
26 [section 26 of this Appendix] has been made, the amount of the
unallocated interest fund allocated to the trust described in
subsection (c) of such section is found to be in excess of
$25,000,000, such excess shall be invested by the Alien Property
Custodian in accordance with the provisions of this subsection. If
the amount so allocated is found to be less than $25,000,000 any
participating certificate or certificates that have been issued
shall be corrected accordingly; and
(2) The balance of such unallocated interest fund remaining after
the investment provided for in paragraph (1) and the payment of
allocated earnings in accordance with the provisions of subsection
(b) of section 26 [section 26(b) of this Appendix] have been made.
(c) If the amount of such unallocated interest fund, remaining after
the investment required by paragraph (1) of subsection (b) of this
section has been made, is insufficient to pay the allocated earnings
in accordance with subsection (b) of section 26 [section 26(b) of
this Appendix], then the amount necessary to make up the deficiency
shall be paid out of the funds in the German special deposit account
created by section 4 of the Settlement of War Claims Act of 1928,
and such payment shall have priority over any payments therefrom
other than the payments under paragraph (1) of subsection (c) of
such section (relating to expenses of administration) and the
payments under paragraph (2) of subsection (a) of this section.
(d) The Alien Property Custodian is authorized and directed (after
the payment of debts under section 9 [section 9 of this Appendix])
to transfer to the Secretary of the Treasury, for deposit in such
special deposit account, all money and the proceeds of all property,
including all income, dividends, interest, annuities, and earnings
accumulated in respect thereof, owned by the German Government or
any member of the former ruling family. All money and other property
shall be held to be owned by the German Government (1) if no claim
thereto has been filed with the Alien Property Custodian prior to
the expiration of three years from the date of the enactment of the
Settlement of War Claims Act of 1928 [Mar. 10, 1928], or (2) if any
claim has been filed before the expiration of such period (whether
before or after the enactment of such Act), then if the ownership
thereof under any such claim is not established by a decision of the
Alien Property Custodian or by suit in court instituted, under
section 9 [section 9 of this Appendix], within one year after the
decision of the Alien Property Custodian, or after the date of the
enactment of the Settlement of War Claims Act of 1928, whichever
date is later. The amounts so transferred under this subsection
shall be credited upon the final payment due the United States from
the German Government on account of the awards of the Mixed Claims
Commission.
(e) The Secretary of the Treasury is authorized and directed to
issue to the Alien Property Custodian, upon such terms and
conditions and under such regulations as the Secretary of the
Treasury may prescribe, one or more participating certificates,
bearing interest payable annually (as nearly as may be) at the rate
of 5 per centum per annum, as evidence of the investment by the
Alien Property Custodian under subsection (a), and one or more
non-interest bearing participating certificates, as evidence of the
investment by the Alien Property Custodian under subsection (b). All
such certificates shall evidence a participating interest, in
accordance with, and subject to the priorities of, the provisions of
section 4 of the Settlement of War Claims Act of 1928, in the funds
in the German special deposit account created by such section,
except that—
(1) The United States shall assume no liability, directly or
indirectly, for the payment of any such certificates, or of the
interest thereon, except out of funds in such special deposit
account available therefor, and all such certificates shall so state
on their face; and
(2) Such certificates shall not be transferable, except that the
Alien Property Custodian may transfer any such participating
certificate evidencing the interest of a substantial number of the
owners of the money invested, to a trustee duly appointed by such
owners.
(f) Any amount of principal or interest paid to the Alien Property
Custodian in accordance with the provisions of subsection (c) of
section 4 of the Settlement of War Claims Act of 1928 shall be
allocated pro rata among the persons filing written consents under
subsection (m) of section 9 of this Act [section 9(m) of this
Appendix], and the amounts so allocated shall be paid to such
persons. If any person to whom any amount is payable under this
subsection has died (or if, in the case of a partnership,
association, or other unincorporated body of individuals, or a
corporation, its existence has terminated), payment shall be made to
the persons determined by the Alien Property Custodian to be
entitled thereto.
(g) The Alien Property Custodian is authorized and directed (after
the payment of debts under section 9 [section 9 of this Appendix])
to transfer to the Secretary of the Treasury, for deposit in the
special deposit account (Austrian or Hungarian, as the case may be),
created by section 7 of the Settlement of War Claims Act of 1928,
all money and the proceeds of all property, including all income,
dividends, interest, annuities, and earnings accumulated in respect
thereof, owned by the Austrian Government or any corporation all the
stock of which was owned by or on behalf of the Austrian Government
(including the property of the Imperial Royal Tobacco Monopoly, also
known under the name of K. K. Oesterreichische Tabak Regie), or
owned by the Hungarian Government or by any corporation all the
stock of which was owned by or on behalf of the Hungarian
Government.
§26. Allocation of “unallocated interest fund”
(a) The Alien Property Custodian shall allocate among the various
trusts the funds in the “unallocated interest fund” (as defined in
section 28 [section 28 of this Appendix]). Such allocation shall be
based upon the earnings (determined by the Secretary of the
Treasury) on the total amounts deposited under section 12 [section
12 of this Appendix].
(b) The Alien Property Custodian, when the allocation has been made,
is authorized and directed to pay to each person entitled, in
accordance with a final decision of a court of the United States or
of the District of Columbia, or of an opinion of the Attorney
General, to the distribution of any portion of such unallocated
interest fund, the amount allocated to his trust, except as provided
in subsection (c) of this section.
(c) In the case of persons entitled, under paragraph (12), (13),
(14), or (16) of subsection (b) of section 9 [section 9(b)(12),
(13), (14), or (16) of this Appendix], to such return, and in the
case of persons who would be entitled to such return thereunder if
all such money or property had not been returned under paragraph (9)
or (10) of such subsection [section 9(b)(9) or (10) of this
Appendix], and in the case of persons entitled to such return under
subsection (n) of section 9 [section 9(n) of this Appendix], an
amount equal to the aggregate amount allocated to their trusts shall
be credited against the sum of $25,000,000 invested in participating
certificates under paragraph (1) of subsection (b) of section 25
[section 25(b)(1) of this Appendix]. If the aggregate amount so
allocated is in excess of $25,000,000, an amount equal to the excess
shall be invested in the same manner. Upon the repayment of any of
the amounts so invested, under the provisions of section 4 of the
Settlement of War Claims Act of 1928, the amount so repaid shall be
distributed pro rata among such persons, notwithstanding any
receipts or releases given by them.
(d) The unallocated interest fund shall be available for carrying
out the provisions of this section, including the expenses of making
the allocation.
§27. Return by Custodian, to United States, of payments
under licenses, assignments or sales of patents
The Alien Property Custodian is authorized and directed to return to
the United States any consideration paid to him by the United States
under any license, assignment, or sale by the Alien Property
Custodian to the United States of any patent (or any right therein
or claim thereto, and including an application therefor and any
patent issued pursuant to any such application).
§28. “Unallocated interest fund” defined
As used in this Act [sections 1 to 6, 7 to 39, and 41 to 44 of this
Appendix], the term “unallocated interest fund” means the sum of (1)
the earnings and profits accumulated prior to March 4, 1923, and
attributable to investments and reinvestments under section 12
[section 12 of this Appendix] by the Secretary of the Treasury, plus
(2) the earnings and profits accumulated on or after March 4, 1923,
in respect of the earnings and profits referred to in clause (1) of
this section.
§29. Waiver by Custodian of demand for property; acceptance
of less amount; approval of Attorney General
(a) Where the Alien Property Custodian has made demand or
requirement for the conveyance, transfer, assignment, delivery, or
payment to him of any money or other property of any enemy or ally
of enemy (whether or not suit or proceeding for the enforcement
thereof has been begun and whether or not any judgment or decree in
respect thereof has been made or entered) and where the whole or any
part of such money or other property would, if conveyed,
transferred, assigned, delivered, or paid to him, be returnable
under any provision of this Act [sections 1 to 6, 7 to 39, and 41 to
44 of this Appendix], the Alien Property Custodian may, in his
discretion, and on such terms and conditions as he may prescribe,
waive such demand or requirement, or accept in full satisfaction of
such demand, requirement, judgment, or decree, a less amount than
that demanded or required by him.
(b) The Alien Property Custodian shall not make any such waiver or
compromise except with the approval of the Attorney General; nor (if
any part of such money or property would be returnable only upon the
filing of the written consent required by subsection (m) of section
9 [section 9(m) of this Appendix]) unless, after compliance with the
terms and conditions of such waiver or compromise, the Alien
Property Custodian or the Treasurer of the United States will hold
(in respect of such enemy or ally of enemy) for investment as
provided in section 25 [section 25 of this Appendix], an amount
equal to 20 per centum of the sum of (1) the value of the money or
other property held by the Alien Property Custodian or the Treasurer
of the United States at the time of such waiver or compromise, plus
(2) the value of the money or other property to which the Alien
Property Custodian would be entitled under such demand or
requirement if the waiver or compromise had not been made.
(c) Where the Alien Property Custodian has made demand or
requirement for the conveyance, transfer, assignment, delivery, or
payment to him of any money or other property of any enemy or ally
of enemy (whether or not suit or proceeding for the enforcement
thereof has been begun and whether or not any judgment or decree in
respect thereof has been made or entered) and where the interest or
right of such enemy or ally of enemy in such money or property has
not, prior to the enactment of the Settlement of War Claims Act of
1928 [Mar. 10, 1928], vested in enjoyment, the Alien Property
Custodian may, in his discretion, and on such terms and conditions
as he may prescribe, waive such demand and requirement, without
compliance with the requirements of subsection (b) of this section,
but only with the approval of the Attorney General.
(d) Nothing in this section shall be construed as requiring the
Alien Property Custodian to make any waiver or compromise authorized
by this section, and the Alien Property Custodian may proceed in
respect of any demand or requirement referred to in subsection (a)
or (c) as if this section had not been enacted.
(e) All money or other property received by the Alien Property
Custodian as a result of any action or proceeding (whether begun
before or after the enactment of the Settlement of War Claims Act of
1928 [Mar. 10, 1928], and whether or not for the enforcement of a
demand or requirement as above specified) shall for the purposes of
this Act [sections 1 to 6, 7 to 39, and 41 to 44 of this Appendix]
be considered as forming a part of the trust in respect of which
such action or proceeding was brought, and shall be subject to
return in the same manner and upon the same conditions as any other
money or property in such trust, except as otherwise provided in
subsection (b) of this section.
§30. Attachment or garnishment of funds or property held by
Custodian
Any money or other property returnable under subsection (b) or (n)
of section 9 [section 9(b) or (n) of this Appendix] shall, at any
time prior to such return, be subject to attachment in accordance
with the provisions of the code of law for the District of Columbia,
as amended, relating to attachments in suits at law and to
attachments for the enforcement of judgments at law and decrees in
equity, but any writ of attachment or garnishment issuing in any
such suit, or for the enforcement of any judgment or decree, shall
be served only upon the Alien Property Custodian, who shall for the
purposes of this section be considered as holding credits in favor
of the person entitled to such return to the extent of the value of
the money or other property so returnable. Nothing in this section
shall be construed as authorizing the taking of actual possession,
by any officer of any court, of any money or other property held by
the Alien Property Custodian or by the Treasurer of the United
States.
§31. “Member of the former ruling family” defined
As used in this Act [sections 1 to 6, 7 to 39, and 41 to 44 of this
Appendix], the term “member of the former ruling family” means (1)
any person who was at any time between April 6, 1917, and July 2,
1921, the German Emperor or the ruler of any constituent kingdom of
the German Empire, or (2) the wife or any child of such person.
§32. Return of property
(a) Conditions precedent
The President, or such officer or agency as he may designate, may
return any property or interest vested in or transferred to the
Alien Property Custodian (other than any property or interest
acquired by the United States prior to December 18, 1941), or the
net proceeds thereof, whenever the President or such officer or
agency shall determine—
(1) that the person who has filed a notice of claim for return, in
such form as the President or such officer or agency may prescribe,
was the owner of such property or interest immediately prior to its
vesting in or transfer to the Alien Property Custodian, or is the
legal representative (whether or not appointed by a court in the
United States), or successor in interest by inheritance, devise,
bequest, or operation of law, of such owner; and
(2) that such owner, and legal representative or successor in
interest, if any, are not—
(A) the Government of Germany, Japan, Bulgaria, Hungary, or Rumania;
or
(B) a corporation or association organized under the laws of such
nation: Provided, That any property or interest or proceeds
which, but for the provisions of this subdivision (B), might be
returned under this section to any such corporation or association,
may be returned to the owner or owners of all the stock of such
corporation or of all the proprietary and beneficial interest in
such association, if their ownership of such stock or proprietary
and beneficial interest existed immediately prior to vesting in or
transfer to the Alien Property Custodian and continuously thereafter
to the date of such return (without regard to purported divestments
or limitations of such ownership by any government referred to in
subdivision (A) hereof) and if such ownership was by one or more
citizens of the United States or by one or more corporations
organized under the laws of the United States or any State,
Territory, or possession thereof, or the District of Columbia:
Provided further, That such owner or owners shall succeed to
those obligations limited in aggregate amount to the value of such
property or interest or proceeds, which are lawfully assertible
against the corporation or association by persons not ineligible to
receive a return under this section; or
(C) an individual voluntarily resident at any time since December 7,
1941, within the territory of such nation, other than a citizen of
the United States or a diplomatic or consular officer of Italy or of
any nation with which the United States has not at any time since
December 7, 1941, been at war: Provided, That an individual
who, while in the territory of a nation with which the United States
has at any time since December 7, 1941, been at war, was deprived of
life or substantially deprived of liberty pursuant to any law,
decree, or regulation of such nation discriminating against
political, racial, or religious groups, shall not be deemed to have
voluntarily resided in such territory; or
(D) an individual who was at any time after December 7, 1941, a
citizen or subject of Germany, Japan, Bulgaria, Hungary, or Rumania,
and who on or after December 7, 1941, and prior to the date of the
enactment of this section [Mar. 8, 1946], was present (other than in
the service of the United States) in the territory of such nation or
in any territory occupied by the military or naval forces thereof or
engaged in any business in any such territory: Provided, That
notwithstanding the provisions of this subdivision (D) return may be
made to an individual who, as a consequence of any law, decree, or
regulation of the nation of which he was then a citizen or subject,
discriminating against political, racial, or religious groups, has
at no time between December 7, 1941, and the time when such law,
decree, or regulation was abrogated, enjoyed full rights of
citizenship under the law of such nation: And provided further,
That, notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision (C) hereof and
of this subdivision (D), return may be made to an individual who at
all times since December 7, 1941, was a citizen of the United
States, or to an individual who, having lost United States
citizenship solely by reason of marriage to a citizen or subject of
a foreign country, reacquired such citizenship prior to September
29, 1950, if such individual would have been a citizen of the United
States at all times since December 7, 1941, but for such marriage:
And provided further, That the aggregate book value of
returns made pursuant to the foregoing proviso shall not exceed
$9,000,000; and any return under such proviso may be made if the
book value of any such return, taken together with the aggregate
book value of returns already made under such proviso does not
exceed $9,000,000; and for the purposes of this proviso the term
“book value” means the value, as of the time of vesting, entered on
the books of the Alien Property Custodian for the purpose of
accounting for the property or interest involved; or
(E) a foreign corporation or association which at any time after
December 7, 1941, was controlled or 50 per centum or more of the
stock of which was owned by any person or persons ineligible to
receive a return under subdivisions (A), (B), (C), or (D) hereof:
Provided, That notwithstanding the provisions of this
subdivision (E) return may be made to a corporation or association
so controlled or owned, if such corporation or association was
organized under the laws of a nation any of whose territory was
occupied by the military or naval forces of any nation with which
the United Stats has at any time since December 7, 1941, been at
war, and if such control or ownership arose after March 1, 1938, as
an incident to such occupation and was terminated prior to the
enactment of this section [Mar. 8, 1946];
and
(3) that the property or interest claimed, or the net proceeds of
which are claimed, was not at any time after September 1, 1939, held
or used, by or with the assent of the person who was the owner
thereof immediately prior to vesting in or transfer to the Alien
Property Custodian, pursuant to any arrangement to conceal any
property or interest within the United States of any person
ineligible to receive a return under subsection (a)(2) hereof;
(4) that the Alien Property Custodian has no actual or potential
liability under the Renegotiation Act [section 1191 of this
Appendix] or the Act of October 31, 1942 (56 Stat. 1013; 35 U.S.C.
§§89 to 96), in respect of the property or interest or proceeds to
be returned and that the claimant and his predecessor in interest,
if any, have no actual or potential liability of any kind under the
Renegotiation Act or the said Act of October 31, 1942; or in the
alternative that the claimant has provided security or undertakings
adequate to assure satisfaction of all such liabilities or that
property or interest or proceeds to be retained by the Alien
Property Custodian are adequate therefor; and
(5) that such return is in the interest of the United States.
(b) Extension of filing time limitation for redetermination of
excessive profits
Notwithstanding the limitation prescribed in the Renegotiation Act
[section 1191 of this Appendix] upon the time within which petitions
may be filed in The Tax Court of the United States,1
any person to whom any property or interest or proceeds are returned
hereunder shall, for a period of ninety days (not counting Sunday or
a legal holiday in the District of Columbia as the last day)
following return, have the right to file such a petition for a
redetermination in respect of any final order of the Renegotiation
Board
2
determining excessive profits, made against the Alien Property
Custodian, or of any determination, not embodied in an agreement, of
excessive profits, so made by or on behalf of a Secretary.
(c) Inventions
Any person to whom any invention, whether patented or unpatented, or
any right or interest therein is returned hereunder shall be bound
by any notice or order issued or agreement made pursuant to the Act
of October 31, 1942 (56 Stat. 1013; 35 U.S.C. §§89 to 96), in
respect of such invention or right or interest, and such person to
whom a licensor's interest is returned shall have all rights
assertible by a licensor pursuant to section 2 of the said Act.
(d) Rights and duties
Except as otherwise provided herein, and except to the extent that
the President or such officer or agency as he may designate may
otherwise determine, any person to whom return is made hereunder
shall have all rights, privileges, and obligations in respect to the
property or interest returned or the proceeds of which are returned
which would have existed if the property or interest had not vested
in the Alien Property Custodian, but no cause of action shall accrue
to such person in respect of any deduction or retention of any part
of the property or interest or proceeds by the Alien Property
Custodian for the purpose of paying taxes, costs, or expenses in
connection with such property or interest or proceeds: Provided,
That except as provided in subsections (b) and (c) hereof, no person
to whom a return is made pursuant to this section, nor the successor
in interest of such person, shall acquire or have any claim or right
of action against the United States or any department, establishment
or agency thereof, or corporation owned thereby, or against any
person authorized or licensed by the United States, founded upon the
retention, sale, or other disposition, or use, during the period it
was vested in the Alien Property Custodian, of the returned
property, interest, or proceeds. Any notice to the Alien Property
Custodian in respect of any property or interest or proceeds shall
constitute notice to the person to whom such property or interest or
proceeds is returned and such person shall succeed to all burdens
and obligations in respect of such property or interest or proceeds
which accrued during the time of retention by the Alien Property
Custodian, but the period during which the property or interest or
proceeds returned were vested in the Alien Property Custodian shall
not be included for the purpose of determining the application of
any statute of limitations to the assertion of any rights by such
person in respect of such property or interest or proceeds.
(e) Legal proceeding unaffected
No return hereunder shall bar the prosecution of any suit at law or
in equity against a person to whom return has been made, to
establish any right, title, or interest, which may exist or which
may have existed at the time of vesting, in or to the property or
interest returned, but no such suit may be prosecuted by any person
ineligible to receive a return under subsection (a)(2) hereof. With
respect to any such suit, the period during which the property or
interest or proceeds returned were vested in the Alien Property
Custodian shall not be included for the purpose of determining the
application of any statute of limitations.
(f) Notice of intention
At least thirty days before making any return to any person other
than a resident of the United States or a corporation organized
under the laws of the United States, or any State, Territory, or
possession thereof, or the District of Columbia, the President or
such officer or agency as he may designate shall publish in the
Federal Register a notice of intention to make such return,
specifying therein the person to whom return is to be made and the
place where the property or interest or proceeds to be returned are
located. Publication of a notice of intention to return shall confer
no right of action upon any person to compel the return of any such
property or interest or proceeds, and such notice of intention to
return may be revoked by appropriate notice in the Federal Register.
After publication of such notice of intention and prior to
revocation thereof, the property or interest or proceeds specified
shall be subject to attachment at the suit of any citizen or
resident of the United States or any corporation organized under the
laws of the United States, or any State, Territory, or possession
thereof, or the District of Columbia, in the same manner as property
of the person to whom return is to be made: Provided, That
notice of any writ of attachment which may issue prior to return
shall be served upon the Alien Property Custodian. Any such
attachment proceeding shall be subject to the provisions of law
relating to limitation of actions applicable to actions at law in
the jurisdiction in which such proceeding is brought, but the period
during which the property or interest or proceeds were vested in the
Alien Property Custodian shall not be included for the purpose of
determining the period of limitation. No officer of any court shall
take actual possession, without the consent of the Alien Property
Custodian, of any property or interest or proceeds so attached, and
publication of a notice of revocation of intention to return shall
invalidate any attachment with respect to the specified property or
interest or proceeds, but if there is no such revocation, the
President or such officer or agency as he may designate shall accord
full effect to any such attachment in returning any such property or
interest or proceeds.
(g) Payment of expenses of Custodian
Without limitation by or upon any other existing provision of law
with respect to the payment of expenses by the Alien Property
Custodian, the Custodian may retain or recover from any property or
interest or proceeds returned pursuant to this section or section
9(a) of this Act [section 9(a) of this Appendix] an amount not
exceeding that expended or incurred by him for the conservation,
preservation, or maintenance of such property or interest or
proceeds, or other property or interest or proceeds returned to the
same person.
(h) Designation of successor organizations to receive heirless
property; time for application; payment of funds: time, allocation,
claims barred by acceptance and conditions
The President may designate one or more organizations as successors
in interest to deceased persons who, if alive, would be eligible to
receive returns under the provisos of subdivision (C) or (D) of
subsection (a)(2) thereof. In the case of any organization not so
designated before the date of enactment of this amendment, such
organization may be so designated only if it applies for such
designation within three months after such date of enactment.
The President, or such officer as he may designate, shall, before
the expiration of the one-year period which begins on the date of
enactment of this amendment, pay out of the War Claims Fund to
organizations designated before or after the date of enactment of
this amendment pursuant to this subsection the sum of $500,000. If
there is more than one such designated organization, such sum shall
be allocated among such organizations in the proportions in which
the proceeds of heirless property were distributed, pursuant to
agreements to which the United States was a party, by the
Intergovernmental Committee for Refugees and successor organizations
thereto. Acceptance of payment pursuant to this subsection by any
such organization shall constitute a full and complete discharge of
all claims filed by such organization pursuant to this section, as
it existed before the date of enactment of this amendment.
No payment may be made to any organization designated under this
section unless it has given firm and responsible assurances approved
by the President that (1) the payment will be used on the basis of
need in the rehabilitation and settlement of persons in the United
States who suffered substantial deprivation of liberty or failed to
enjoy the full rights of citizenship within the meaning of
subdivisions (C) and (D) of subsection (a)(2) of this section; (2)
it will make to the President, with a copy to be furnished to the
Congress, such reports (including a detailed annual report on the
use of the payment made to it) and permit such examination of its
books as the President, or such officer or agency as he may
designate, may from time to time require; and (3) it will not use
any part of such payment for legal fees, salaries, or other
administrative expenses connected with the filing of claims for such
payment or for the recovery of any property or interest under this
section.
As used in this subsection, “organization” means only a nonprofit
charitable corporation incorporated on or before January 1, 1950,
under the laws of any State of the United States or of the District
of Columbia with the power to sue and be sued.
§33. Notice of claim; institution of suits; computation of
time
No return may be made pursuant to section 9 or 32 [section 9 or 32
of this Appendix] unless notice of claim has been filed: (a) in the
case of any property or interest acquired by the United States prior
to December 18, 1941, by August 9, 1948; or (b) in the case of any
property or interest acquired by the United States on or after
December 18, 1941, not later than one year from February 9, 1954, or
two years from the vesting of the property or interest in respect of
which the claim is made, whichever is later. No suit pursuant to
section 9 [section 9 of this Appendix] may be instituted after April
30, 1949, or after the expiration of two years from the date of the
seizure by or vesting in the Alien Property Custodian, as the case
may be, of the property or interest in respect of which relief is
sought, whichever is later, but in computing such two years there
shall be excluded any period during which there was pending a suit
or claim for return pursuant to section 9 or 32(a) hereof [section 9
or 32(a) of this Appendix].
§34. Payment of debts
(a) Claims allowable; defenses
Any property or interest vested in or transferred to the Alien
Property Custodian (other than any property or interest acquired by
the United States prior to December 18, 1941), or the net proceeds
thereof, shall be equitably applied by the Custodian in accordance
with the provisions of this section to the payment of debts owed by
the person who owned such property or interest immediately prior to
its vesting in or transfer to the Alien Property Custodian. No debt
claim shall be allowed under this section if it was not due and
owing at the time of such vesting or transfer, or if it arose from
any action or transactions prohibited by or pursuant to this Act
[sections 1 to 6, 7 to 39, and 41 to 44 of this Appendix] and not
licensed or otherwise authorized pursuant thereto, or (except in the
case of debt claims acquired by the Custodian) if it was at the time
of such vesting or transfer due and owing to any person who has
since the beginning of the war been convicted of violation of this
Act, as amended [said sections], sections 1 to 6 of the Criminal
Code, title I of the Act of June 15, 1917 (ch. 30, 40 Stat. 217), as
amended; the Act of April 20, 1918 (ch. 59, 40 Stat. 534), as
amended; the Act of June 8, 1934
1
(ch. 327, 52 Stat. 631), as amended; the Act of January 12, 1938
(ch. 2, 52 Stat. 3); title I, Alien Registration Act, 1940 (ch. 439,
54 Stat. 670); the Act of October 17, 1940 (ch. 897, 54 Stat. 1201);
or the Act of June 25, 1942 (ch. 447, 56 Stat. 390). Any defense to
the payment of such claims which would have been available to the
debtor shall be available to the Custodian, except that the period
from and after the beginning of the war shall not be included for
the purpose of determining the application of any statute of
limitations. Debt claims allowable hereunder shall include only
those of citizens of the United States or of the Philippine Islands;
those of corporations organized under the laws of the United States
or any State, Territory, or possession thereof, or the District of
Columbia or the Philippine Islands; those of other natural persons
who are and have been since the beginning of the war residents of
the United States and who have not during the war been interned or
paroled pursuant to the Alien Enemy Act; and those acquired by the
Custodian. Legal representatives (whether or not appointed by a
court in the United States) or successors in interest by
inheritance, devise, bequest, or operation of law or debt claimants,
other than persons who would themselves be disqualified hereunder
from allowance of a debt claim, shall be eligible for payment to the
same extent as their principals or predecessors would have been.
(b) Time limit for filing claims; extension; notice
The Custodian shall fix a date or dates after which the filing of
debt claims in respect of any or all debtors shall be barred, and
may extend the time so fixed, and shall give at least sixty days’
notice thereof by publication in the Federal Register. In no event
shall the time extend beyond the expiration of two years from the
date of the last vesting in or transfer to the Custodian of any
property or interest of a debtor in respect of whose debts the date
is fixed, or from the date of enactment of this section [Aug. 8,
1946], whichever is later. No debt shall be paid prior to the
expiration of one hundred and twenty days after publication of the
first such notice in respect of the debtor, nor in any event shall
any payment of a debt claim be made out of any property or interest
or proceeds in respect of which a suit or proceeding pursuant to
this Act [sections 1 to 6, 7 to 39, and 41 to 44 of this Appendix]
for return is pending and was instituted prior to the expiration of
such one hundred and twenty days.
(c) Examination of claims
The Custodian shall examine the claims, and such evidence in respect
thereof as may be presented to him or as he may introduce into the
record, and shall make a determination, with respect to each claim,
of allowance or disallowance, in whole or in part.
(d) Funds for debt payments
Payment of debt claims shall be made only out of such money included
in, or received as net proceeds from the sale, use, or other
disposition of, any property or interest owned by the debtor
immediately prior to its vesting in or transfer to the Alien
Property Custodian, as shall remain after deduction of (1) the
amount of the expenses of the Office of Alien Property Custodian
(including both expenses in connection with such property or
interest or proceeds thereof, and such portion as the Custodian
shall fix of the other expenses of the Office of Alien Property
Custodian), and of taxes, as defined in section 36 hereof [section
36 of this Appendix], paid by the Custodian in respect of such
property or interest or proceeds, and (2) such amount, if any, as
the Custodian may establish as a cash reserve for the future payment
of such expenses and taxes. If the money available hereunder for the
payment of debt claims against the debtor is insufficient for the
satisfaction of all claims allowed by the Custodian, ratable
payments shall be made in accordance with subsection (g) hereof to
the extent permitted by the money available and additional payments
shall be made whenever the Custodian shall determine that
substantial further money has become available, through liquidation
of any such property or interest or otherwise. The Custodian shall
not be required through any judgment of any court, levy of
execution, or otherwise to sell or liquidate any property or
interest vested in or transferred to him, for the purpose of paying
or satisfying any debt claim.
(e) Amount payable; disallowance; notice; review; additional
evidence; judgment
If the aggregate of debt claims filed as prescribed does not exceed
the money from which, in accordance with subsection (d) of this
section, payment may be made, the Custodian shall pay each claim to
the extent allowed, and shall serve by registered mail, on each
claimant whose claim is disallowed in whole or in part, a notice of
such disallowance. Within sixty days after the date of mailing of
the Custodian's determination, any debt claimant whose claim has
been disallowed in whole or in part may file in the United States
District Court for the District of Columbia a complaint for review
of such disallowance naming the Custodian as defendant. Such
complaint shall be served on the Custodian. The Custodian, within
forty-five days after service on him, shall certify and file in said
court a transcript of the record of proceedings in the Office of
Alien Property Custodian with respect to the claim in question. Upon
good cause shown such time may be extended by the court. Such record
shall include the claim as filed, such evidence with respect thereto
as may have been presented to the Custodian or introduced into the
record by him, and the determination of the Custodian with respect
thereto, including any findings made by him. The court may, in its
discretion, take additional evidence, upon a showing that such
evidence was offered to and excluded by the Custodian, or could not
reasonably have been adduced before him or was not available to him.
The court shall enter judgment affirming, modifying, or reversing
the Custodian's determination, and directing payment in the amount,
if any, which it finds due.
(f) Pro rata payments; notice; review; additional evidence;
intervention; judgment
If the aggregate of debt claims filed as prescribed exceeds the
money from which, in accordance with subsection (d) hereof, payment
may be made, the Custodian shall prepare and serve by registered
mail on all claimants a schedule of all debt claims allowed and the
proposed payment to each claimant. In preparing such schedule, the
Custodian shall assign priorities in accordance with the provisions
of subsection (g) hereof. Within sixty days after the date of
mailing of such schedule, any claimant considering himself aggrieved
may file in the United States District Court for the District of
Columbia a complaint for review of such schedule, naming the
Custodian as defendant. A copy of such complaint shall be served
upon the Custodian and on each claimant named in the schedule. The
Custodian, within forty-five days after service on him, shall
certify and file in said court a transcript of the record of
proceedings in the Office of Alien Property Custodian with respect
to such schedule. Upon good cause shown such time may be extended by
the court. Such record shall include the claims in question as
filed, such evidence with respect thereto as may have been presented
to the Custodian or introduced into the record by him, any findings
or other determinations made by the Custodian with respect thereto,
and the schedule prepared by the Custodian. The court may, in its
discretion, take additional evidence, upon a showing that such
evidence was offered to and excluded by the Custodian or could not
reasonably have been adduced before him or was not available to him.
Any interested debt claimant who has filed a claim with the
Custodian pursuant to this section, upon timely application to the
court, shall be permitted to intervene in such review proceedings.
The court shall enter judgment affirming or modifying the schedule
as prepared by the Custodian and directing payment, if any be found
due, pursuant to the schedule as affirmed or modified and to the
extent of the money from which, in accordance with subsection (d)
hereof, payment may be made. Pending the decision of the court on
such complaint for review, and pending final determination of any
appeal from such decision, payment may be made only to an extent, if
any, consistent with the contentions of all claimants for review.
(g) Priority of claims
Debt claims shall be paid in the following order of priority: (1)
Wage and salary claims, not to exceed $600; (2) claims entitled to
priority under sections 191 and 193 of title 31
2
of the United States Code [31 U.S.C. 3713(a) and 9309], except as
provided in subsection (h) hereof, (3) all other claims for services
rendered, for expenses incurred in connection with such services,
for rent, for goods and materials delivered to the debtor, and for
payments made to the debtor for goods or services not received by
the claimant; (4) all other debt claims. No payment shall be made to
claimants within a subordinate class unless the money from which, in
accordance with subsection (d) hereof, payment may be made permits
payment in full of all allowed claims in every prior class.
(h) Priority as debt due United States
No debt of any kind shall be entitled to priority under any law of
the United States or any State, Territory, or possession thereof, or
the District of Columbia, solely by reason of becoming a debt due or
owing to the United States as a result of its acquisition by the
Alien Property Custodian.
(i) Exclusiveness of relief
The sole relief and remedy available to any person seeking
satisfaction of a debt claim out of any property or interest which
shall have been vested in or transferred to the Alien Property
Custodian (other than any property or interest acquired by the
United States prior to December 18, 1941), or the proceeds thereof,
shall be the relief and remedy provided in this section, and suits
for the satisfaction of debt claims shall not be instituted,
prosecuted, or further maintained except in conformity with this
section: Provided, That no person asserting any interest,
right, or title in any property or interest or proceeds acquired by
the Alien Property Custodian, shall be barred from proceeding
pursuant to this Act [sections 1 to 6, and 7 to 39, and 41 to 44 of
this Appendix] for the return thereof, by reason of any proceeding
which he may have brought pursuant to this section; nor shall any
security interest asserted by the creditor in any such property or
interest or proceeds be deemed to have been waived solely by reason
of such proceeding. The Alien Property Custodian shall treat all
debt claims now filed with him as claims filed pursuant to this
section. Nothing contained in this section shall bar any person from
the prosecution of any suit at law or in equity against the original
debtor or against any other person who may be liable for the payment
of any debt for which a claim might have been filed hereunder. No
purchaser, lessee, licensee, or other transferee of any property or
interest from the Alien Property Custodian shall, solely by reason
of such purchase, lease, license, or transfer, become liable for the
payment of any debt owed by the person who owned such property or
interest prior to its vesting in or transfer to the Alien Property
Custodian. Payment by the Alien Property Custodian to any debt
claimant shall constitute, to the extent of payment, a discharge of
the indebtedness represented by the claim.
§35. Hearings on claims; rules and regulations; delegation
of powers
The officer or agency empowered to entertain claims under sections
9(a), 32, and 34 hereof [sections 9(a), 32, and 34 of this Appendix]
shall have power to hold such hearings as may be deemed necessary;
to prescribe rules and regulations governing the form and contents
of claims, the proof thereof, and all other matters related to
proceedings on such claims; and in connection with such proceedings
to issue subpenas, administer oaths, and examine witnesses. Such
powers, and any other powers conferred upon such officer or agency
by sections 9(a), 32, and 34 hereof [said sections] may be exercised
through subordinate officers designated by such officer or agency.
§36. Taxes
(a) Liability; exemptions
The vesting in or transfer to the Alien Property Custodian of any
property or interest (other than any property or interest acquired
by the United States prior to December 18, 1941), or the receipt by
him of any earnings, increment, or proceeds thereof shall not render
inapplicable any Federal, State, Territorial, or local tax for any
period prior or subsequent to the date of such vesting or transfer,
nor render applicable the exemptions provided in title II of the
Social Security Act [42 U.S.C. 401 et seq.] with respect to service
performed in the employ of the United States Government or of any
instrumentality of the United States.
(b) Payment by Custodian; liability of former owner; enforcement of
tax liability; transfer of property
The Alien Property Custodian shall, notwithstanding the filing of
any claim or the institution of any suit under this Act [sections 1
to 6, 7 to 39, and 41 to 44 of this Appendix], pay any tax incident
to any such property or interest, or the earnings, increment, or
proceeds thereof, at the earliest time appearing to him to be not
contrary to the interest of the United States. The former owner
shall not be liable for any such tax accruing while such property,
interest, earnings, increment, or proceeds are held by the Alien
Property Custodian, unless they are returned pursuant to this Act
[said sections] without payment of such tax by the Alien Property
Custodian. Every such tax shall be paid by the Alien Property
Custodian to the same extent, as nearly as may be deemed
practicable, as though the property or interest had not been vested
in or transferred to the Alien Property Custodian, and shall be paid
only out of the property or interest, or earnings, increment, or
proceeds thereof, to which they are incident or out of other
property or interests acquired from the same former owner, or
earnings, increment, or proceeds thereof. No tax liability may be
enforced from any property or interest or the earnings, increment or
proceeds thereof while held by the Alien Property Custodian except
with his consent. Where any property or interest is transferred,
otherwise than pursuant to section 9(a) or 32 hereof [section 9(a)
or 32(a) of this Appendix], the Alien Property Custodian may
transfer the property or interest free and clear of any tax, except
to the extent of any lien for a tax existing and perfected at the
date of vesting, and the proceeds of such transfer shall, for tax
purposes, replace the property or interest in the hands of the Alien
Property Custodian.
(c) Computation; suspension of limitations, etc.
Subject to the provisions of subsection (b) of this section, the
manner of computing any Federal taxes, including without limitation
by reason of this enumeration, the applicability in such computation
of credits, deductions, and exemptions to which the former owner is
or would be entitled, and the time and manner of any payment of such
taxes and the extent of any compliance by the Custodian with
provisions of Federal law and regulations applicable with respect to
Federal taxes, shall be in accordance with regulations prescribed by
the Commissioner of Internal Revenue with the approval of the
Secretary of the Treasury to effectuate this section. Statutes of
limitations on assessment, collection, refund, or credit of Federal
taxes shall be suspended, with respect to any vested property or
interest, or the earnings, increment or proceeds thereof, while
vested and for six months thereafter; but no interest shall be paid
upon any refund with respect to any period during which the statute
of limitations is so suspended.
(d) “Tax” defined
The word “tax” as used in this section shall include, without
limitation by reason of this enumeration, any property, income,
excess-profits, war-profits, excise, estate and employment tax,
import duty, and special assessment; and also any interest, penalty,
additional amount, or addition thereto not arising from any act,
omission, neglect, failure, or delay on the part of the Custodian.
(e) Exemptions
Any tax exemption accorded to the Alien Property Custodian by
specific provision of existing law shall not be affected by this
section.
§37. Insurance of property
The Alien Property Custodian may procure insurance in such amounts,
and from such insurers, as he believes will adequately protect him
against loss in connection with property or interest or proceeds
held by him.
§38. Shipment of relief supplies; definitions
(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act [sections 1 to
6, 7 to 39, and 41 to 44 of this Appendix], it shall be lawful, at
any time after the date of cessation of hostilities with any country
with which the United States is at war, for any person in the United
States to donate, or otherwise dispose of to, and to transport or
deliver to, any person in such country any article or articles
(including food, clothing, and medicine) intended to be used solely
to relieve human suffering.
(b) As used in this section—
(1) the term “person” means any individual, partnership,
association, company, or other unincorporated body of individuals,
or corporation or body politic;
(2) with respect to any country with which the United States was at
war on January 1, 1946, the term “date of cessation of hostilities”
shall mean the date of enactment of this Act [May 16, 1946];
(3) with respect to any other war the term “date of cessation of
hostilities” shall mean the date specified by proclamation of the
President or by a concurrent resolution of the two Houses of
Congress whichever is the earlier.
§39. Retention of properties or interests of Germany and
Japan and their nationals; proceeds covered into Treasury; ex gratia
payment to Switzerland
(a) No property or interest therein of Germany, Japan, or any
national of either such country vested in or transferred to any
officer or agency of the Government at any time after December 17,
1941, pursuant to the provisions of this Act [sections 1 to 6, 7 to
39, and 41 to 44 of this Appendix], shall be returned to former
owners thereof or their successors in interest, and the United
States shall not pay compensation for any such property or interest
therein. The net proceeds remaining upon the completion of
administration, liquidation, and disposition pursuant to the
provisions of this Act [said sections] of any such property or
interest therein shall be covered into the Treasury at the earliest
practicable date. Nothing in this section shall be construed to
repeal or otherwise affect the operation of the provisions of
section 32, 40, 41, 42 or 43 of this Act [section 32, 40, 41, 42 or
43 of this Appendix] or of the Philippine Property Act of 1946 [22
U.S.C. 1381 et seq.].
(b) The Attorney General shall cover into the Treasury, to the
credit of miscellaneous receipts, all sums from property vested in
or transferred to the Attorney General under this Act [sections 1 to
6, 7 to 39, and 41 to 44 of this Appendix]—
(1) which the Attorney General receives after the date of the
enactment of the Export Enhancement Act of 1988 [August 23, 1988],
or
(2) which the Attorney General received before that date and which,
as of that date, the Attorney General had not covered into the
Treasury for deposit in the War Claims Fund, other than any such
sums which the Attorney General determines in his or her discretion
are the subject matter of any judicial action or proceeding.
(c) Notwithstanding any of the provisions of subsections (a) and (b)
of this section, the Attorney General is authorized to pay from
property vested in or transferred to the Attorney General under this
Act [sections 1 to 6, 7 to 39, and 41 to 44 of this Appendix], the
sum of $20,000 as an ex gratia payment to the Government of
Switzerland in accordance with the terms of the agreement entered
into by that Government and the Government of the United States on
March 12, 1980.
§40. Intercustodial conflicts involving enemy property;
authority of President to conclude; delegation of authority
The President, or such officer or agency as he may designate, is
authorized to conclude and give effect to agreements to further the
amicable and expeditious settlement of intercustodial conflicts
involving enemy property, subject to the following:
(1) The authority granted in this section shall extend only to
agreements with governments with which the United States was not at
war in World War II.
(2) Such agreements shall be in accordance with the policy of
protecting and making available for utilization the American and
nonenemy interests in such property and further the elimination of
enemy interests in such property and the efficient administration
and liquidation of enemy property in the United States.
(3) For the purposes of this section, the United States as to any
intergovernmental agreements hereafter negotiated shall seek
treatment equal to that accorded United States nationals for persons
who, although citizens or residents of any enemy country before or
during World War II, were deprived of full rights of citizenship or
substantially deprived of liberty by laws, decrees, or regulations
of such enemy country discriminating against racial, religious, or
political groups: Provided, That on September 28, 1950, such
persons were (1) permanent residents of the United States and (2)
had declared their intention to become citizens of the United States
in conformity with the provisions of the Nationality Act of 1940, as
amended; and that such persons shall have acquired citizenship of
the United States prior to the effective date of any
intergovernmental agreement hereafter negotiated.
(4) Reimbursement to the United States by other governments pursuant
to such agreements shall be administered as vested property:
Provided, That nothing contained in this section shall hinder,
restrict or limit the payment of claims from the War Claims Fund
established by section 13 of the War Claims Act of 1948 (Public Law
896, 80th Congress, July 3, 1948; 62 Stat. 1240; 50 U.S.C. app.
2001–2013), as amended [section 2012 of this Appendix].
§41. Divestment of estates, trusts, insurance policies,
annuities, remainders, pensions, workmen's compensation and
veterans’ benefits; exceptions; notice of divestment
(a) Subject to the provisions of subsection (b) hereof [of this
section], all rights and interests of individuals in estates,
trusts, insurance policies, annuities, remainders, pensions,
workmen's compensation and veterans’ benefits vested under this Act
[sections 1 to 6, 7 to 39, and 41 to 44 of this Appendix] after
December 17, 1941, which have not become payable or deliverable to
or have not vested in possession in the Attorney General prior to
December 31, 1961, are divested: Provided, That the
provisions of this section shall not affect the right of the
Attorney General to retain all such property rights and interests
and to collect all income which is payable to or vested in
possession in him prior to December 31, 1961.
(b) Nothing contained in this section shall divest or require the
divestment of any portion of any such interest the beneficial owner
of which is a natural person who has been convicted personally and
by name by a court of competent jurisdiction of murder, ill
treatment, or deportation for slave labor of prisoners of war,
political opponents, hostages, or civilian population in occupied
territories, or of murder or ill treatment of military or naval
persons, or of plunder or wanton destruction without justified
military necessity.
(c) At the earliest practicable time after the effective date of
this Act, the Attorney General shall transmit to the lawful owner or
custodian of any interest divested by this section written notice of
such divestment.
§42. Claims for proceeds from sale of certain certificates:
jurisdiction, limitations; divestment of copyrights: “copyrights”
defined, rights of licensees and assignees, reproduction rights of
United States, transfer of interests, payment of royalties to
Attorney General, suits for infringement
(a) Notwithstanding any statute of limitation, lapse of time, any
prior decision by any court of the United States, or any compromise,
release or assignment to the Alien Property Custodian, jurisdiction
is hereby conferred upon the United States Court of Federal Claims
to hear, determine, and render judgment upon the claims against the
United States for the proceeds received by the United States from
the sale of the property vested under the provisions of the Trading
With the Enemy Act [sections 1 to 6, 7 to 39, and 41 to 44 of this
Appendix] by vesting order numbered 33 relating to certificate
numbers 104 to 121, inclusive, 125, 126, 128 to 134, inclusive, and
137 to 139, inclusive. Proceedings with respect to such claims may
be instituted hereunder not later than two years after the date of
the enactment of this section [Oct. 22, 1962].
(b) As used in this section the word “copyrights” includes
copyrights, claims of copyrights, rights to copyrights, and rights
to copyright renewals.
(c) All copyrights vested in the Alien Property Custodian or the
Attorney General under the provisions of this Act [sections 1 to 6,
7 to 39, and 41 to 44 of this Appendix] subsequent to December 17,
1941, which have not been returned or otherwise disposed of under
this Act [said sections], except copyrights vested by vesting orders
128 (7 F.R. 7578), 13111 (14 F.R. 1730), 14349 (15 F.R. 1575), 17366
(16 F.R. 2483), and 17952 (16 F.R. 6162) and copyrights vested with
respect to the motion picture listed last in exhibit A of vesting
order 11803, as amended (13 F.R. 5167, 15 F.R. 1626), are hereby
divested as a matter of grace, effective the ninety-first day after
the date of enactment of this section [Oct. 22, 1962], and the
persons entitled thereto shall on that day succeed to the rights,
privileges, and obligations arising out of such copyrights, subject,
however, to—
(1) the rights of licensees under licenses issued by the Alien
Property Custodian or the Attorney General in respect of such
copyrights;
(2) the rights of assignees under assignments by the Alien Property
Custodian or the Attorney General of interests in such licenses; and
(3) the right retained by the United States to reproduce, for its
own use, or exhibit any divested copyrighted motion picture films.
The rights and interests remaining in the Attorney General under
licenses issued by him or by the Alien Property Custodian in respect
to copyrights divested hereunder are hereby transferred, effective
the day of divestment, to the persons entitled to such copyrights:
Provided, That all unpaid royalties or other income accrued
in favor of the Attorney General under such licenses prior to the
day of divestment shall be paid by the licensees to the Attorney
General.
(d) All rights or interests vested in the Alien Property Custodian
or the Attorney General under the provisions of this Act [sections 1
to 6, 7 to 39, and 41 to 44 of this Appendix] subsequent to December
17, 1941, arising out of prevesting contracts entered into with
respect to copyrights, except—
(1) royalties or other income received by or accrued in favor of the
Alien Property Custodian or the Attorney General under such
contracts;
(2) rights or interests which have been returned or otherwise
disposed of under this Act [sections 1 to 6, 7 to 39, and 41 to 44
of this Appendix]; and
(3) rights or interests vested by vesting orders 128 (7 F.R. 7578),
13111 (14 F.R. 1730), 14349 (15 F.R. 1575), and 17366 (16 F.R.
2483),
are hereby divested as a matter of grace, effective the ninety-first
day after the date of enactment of this section [Oct. 22, 1962], and
the persons entitled to such rights or interests shall succeed
thereto, subject to the right of the Attorney General to collect and
receive all unpaid royalties or other income accrued in his favor
under such prevesting contracts prior to the day of divestment.
(e) Nothing in this section shall be construed to transfer to a
person entitled to a copyright divested hereunder the right of the
Attorney General to sue for the infringement of such copyright
during the period between (1) the vesting thereof or the vesting of
rights and interests in a contract entered into with respect
thereto, and (2) the day of divestment. The right to sue for
infringement shall remain in the Attorney General.
§43. Divestment of trademarks
(a) “Trademarks” defined
As used in this section, the word “trademarks” includes trademarks,
trade names, and the goodwill of the business to which a trademark
or trade name is appurtenant.
(b) Effective date of divestment; rights of licensees; transfer of
interests; payment of royalties to Attorney General
Trademarks vested in the Alien Property Custodian or the Attorney
General under the provisions of this Act [sections 1 to 6, 7 to 39,
and 41 to 44 of this Appendix] subsequent to December 17, 1941,
which have not been returned or otherwise disposed of under this Act
[said sections], except trademarks vested by vesting orders 284, as
amended (7 Fed. Reg. 9754, 9 Fed. Reg. 1038), 2354 (8 Fed. Reg.
14635), 5592 (11 Fed. Reg. 1675), and 18805 (17 Fed. Reg. 4364), are
hereby divested as a matter of grace, effective the ninety-first day
after the day of enactment of this section [Oct. 23, 1962], and the
persons entitled to such trademarks shall on that day succeed to the
rights, privileges, and obligations arising therefrom, subject,
however, to the rights of licensees under licenses issued by the
Alien Property Custodian or the Attorney General in respect to such
trademarks. The rights and interests remaining in the Attorney
General under licenses issued by him or by the Alien Property
Custodian in respect to trademarks divested hereunder are
transferred, effective the day of divestment, to the persons
entitled to such trademarks: Provided, That all unpaid
royalties or other income accrued in favor of the Attorney General
under such licenses prior to the day of divestment shall be paid by
the licensees to the Attorney General.
(c) Prevesting contracts; exceptions; payment of royalties to
Attorney General
All rights or interests vested in the Alien Property Custodian or
the Attorney General under the provisions of this Act [sections 1 to
6, 7 to 39, and 41 to 44 of this Appendix] subsequent to December
17, 1941, arising out of prevesting contracts entered into with
respect to trademarks, except—
(1) royalties or other income received by or accrued in favor of the
Alien Property Custodian or the Attorney General under such
contracts;
(2) rights or interests which have been returned or otherwise
disposed of under this Act [said sections];
(3) rights or interests vested by vesting orders 284, as amended (7
Fed. Reg. 9754; 9 Fed. Reg. 1038), 2354 (8 Fed. Reg. 14635), 5592
(11 Fed. Reg. 1675), and 18805 (17 Fed. Reg. 4364),
are hereby divested as a matter of grace, effective the ninety-first
day after the date of enactment of this section [Oct. 23, 1962], and
the persons entitled to such rights or interests shall succeed
thereto, subject to the right of the Attorney General to collect and
receive all unpaid royalties or other income accrued in his favor
under such prevesting contracts prior to the day of divestment.
(d) Publication of ownership list in Federal Register; effective
date of divestment; succession to ownership of equivalent trademarks
The Attorney General shall within forty-five days after the date of
enactment of this section [Oct. 23, 1962] publish in the Federal
Register a list of trademarks which at the date of vesting in the
Alien Property Custodian or Attorney General were owned by persons
who were resident in or had their sole or primary seat in the area
of Germany now in the Soviet Zone of Occupation or in the Soviet
sector of Berlin or in German territory under provisional Soviet or
Polish administration. Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection
(b) of this section, the effective date of divestment of the
trademarks so listed and published in the Federal Register shall be
the date of publication in the Federal Register by the Secretary of
State of a certification identifying the cases in which an
equivalent trademark has been registered in the Federal Republic of
Germany for a person residing or having its sole or primary seat in
the Federal Republic of Germany or in the western sectors of Berlin.
In those cases of an equivalent trademark certified by the Secretary
of State, the person registered by the Federal Republic of Germany
as owner of such equivalent trademark shall succeed to the ownership
of the divested trademark in the United States.
§44. Motion picture prints, transfer of title
(a) Prints in custody of Library of Congress; exception
The Attorney General is authorized and directed to transfer to the
Library of Congress the title to all prints of motion pictures now
in the custody of the Library, which prints were vested in or
transferred to the Alien Property Custodian or the Attorney General
pursuant to this Act [sections 1 to 6, 7 to 39, and 41 to 44 of this
Appendix] after December 17, 1941, except prints of motion pictures
which are the subject of suits or claims under section 9(a) or
section 32 of this Act [section 9(a) or section 32 of this
Appendix].
(b) Prints in custody of Attorney General; exception; right of
selection by Library of Congress; disposal of unselected prints by
Attorney General
Subject to the right of selection by the Library of Congress, the
authorization, direction, and exception contained in subsection (a)
hereof shall apply with respect to such prints now in the custody of
the Attorney General. Prints not selected by the Library of Congress
may be disposed of by the Attorney General in any manner he deems
appropriate.
(c) Retention, reproduction, and disposal of prints by Library of
Congress
With respect to all prints concerning which title is transferred to
the Library of Congress pursuant to subsections (a) and (b) hereof,
the Library shall have complete discretion to retain such prints and
to reproduce copies thereof, or to dispose of them in any manner it
deems appropriate.