KF27 Statement of Bernard F. Burdick, Chief of Office, the Panama Canal____ Mitchell, Harry B., President, United States Civil Service Commis- sion, to chairman, March 18, 1949 Royall, Kenneth C., Secretary of the Army, to chairman, April 5, Burdick, Bernard F., Chief of Office, the Panama Canal. Fisher, Lewis H., representing the National Association of Retired Mitchell, Harry B., President, United States Civil Service Commis- 43 Statement of Bernard F. Burdick, Chief of Office, the Panama Canal, accompanied by R. E. Ramsey, Assistant Chief of Office, and W. M. Letter from Kenneth C. Royall, Secretary of the Army, to chairman, Burdick, Bernard F., Chief of Office, the Panama Canal_ Krebs, Alfred U., counsel, National Federation of American Ship- III MISCELLANEOUS BILLS-PANAMA CANAL TUESDAY, MARCH 29, 1949 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SUBCOMMITTEE ON THE PANAMA CANAL, COMMITTEE ON MERCHANT MARINE AND FISHERIES, Washington, D. C. The subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 10 a. m., in Room 219, Old House Office Building, Hon. Donald L. O'Toole (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding. Present: Representatives O'Toole (chairman of the subcommittee), Thompson, Wickersham, Barrett, Fugate, Weichel, Miller, and Lichtenwalter. Also present: Hon. Schuyler Otis Bland (chairman of the full committee). H. R. 3158 Mr. O'TOOLE. The committee will come to order. I believe we will consider H. R. 3158 first. (The bill referred to is as follows:) [H. R. 3158, 81st Cong., 1st sess.] A BILL To revise and codify laws of the Canal Zone regarding the administration of estates, and for other purposes Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That title 2 of the Canal Zone Code, approved June 19, 1934 (48 Stat. 1122), is amended by adding in article 1 of chapter 6 thereof a new section numbered 84, reading as follows: "84. PAYMENT FOR ACCUMULATED OR ACCRUED LEAVE UPON DEATH.-Upon the death of any officer or employee of the Panama Canal or the Panama Railroad Company on the Isthmus of Panama, any compensation which may be payable on account of his accumulated and current accrued leave, under the conditions of employment prescribed by authority of section 81 of this title, as amended, shall be paid, upon the establishment of a valid claim therefor, in the following order of precedence: "First, to the beneficiary or beneficiaries, if any, lawfully designated by the employee under the retirement Act applicable to his service; and "Second, if there be no such designated beneficiary, to the estate of such deceased employee: Provided, That any such payment shall be subject to the deduction, as provided in section 83 of this title, of all amounts due from the employee for supplies and services to the extent only, however, that other compensation due to the employee is insufficient for such purpose." SEC. 2. Title 2 of the Canal Zone Code is amended by adding in chapter 9 thereof two new sections numbered 181 and 182, respectively, and reading as follows: "181. PEGULATIONS RELA IVE TO ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES.-The President is granted continuing authority to make regulations in respect to the sale and manufacture of alcoholic beverages within, and the importation thereof into and exportation thereof from, the Canal Zone, including the authority to prescribe licenses and fees for the sale and manufacture of such beverages. 1 "182. VIOLATION OF REGULATIONS; PUNISHMENT.-Any person who shall violate any provision of such regulations shall be punishable by a fine of not more than $500, or by imprisonment in jail for not more than six months, or by both, and in addition the license of such person may be revoked or suspended as the President may by such regulations prescribe." SEC. 3. Section 303 of title 2 of the Canal Zone Code is amended to read as follows: "303. REVOCABLE LICENSES COVERING LANDS OUTSIDE OF TOWN SITES.-Whenever the Governor of the Panama Canal deems such action to be necessary to, or in the interests of, the Government of the United States and of the efficient operation, maintenance, sanitation, government, and protection of the Panama Canal and Canal Zone, the Governor is authorized, either in person or through such officer as he may designate, to issue revocable licenses covering the use of tracts of land situated outside of town sites in the Canal Zone. The terms and conditions of licenses issued under authority of this section shall be as prescribed by the Governor, except that the said licenses shall be revocable at the pleasure of the Governor and that, upon revocation of a license hereunder, the licensee shall, immediately or upon such reasonable notice as the Governor may prescribe, vacate the licensed area, remove therefrom all improvements which he may have placed upon the licensed area, and restore the licensed area to a condition satisfactory to the Governor, and shall not be entitled to indemnification for the value of such improvements: Provided, however, That the licenses heretofore issued by authority of the Governor, and still in force, covering the use of tracts of land for agricultural purposes are ratified and confirmed in accordance with the terms and conditions applicable to them, respectively, and that upon the revocation of any of such licenses the terms and conditions applicable to which are such as to provide for compensation to the licensee in the reasonable value of the improvements made by him on said tract, to be determined in such manner as the Governor may direct, the compensation is authorized so to be determined and to be paid out of any moneys heretofore or hereafter appropriated for such purpose, except that no compensation shall be paid in the case of any license which is revoked on account of a material breach by the licensee of the terms and conditions applicable to his license, or where the licensee shall have abandoned the license, or in case of the death of the licensee." SEC. 4. Section 225 of title 3 of the Canal Zone Code is amended to read as follows: "225. CONTINUANCE AFTER ORIGINAL LICENSE PERIOD.-The right to continue to do business for the calendar year, and the successive calendar years, after the calendar year during which the original license was issued, shall be contingent upon compliance with such provisions of this chapter as are applicable to corporations licensed under this chapter, upon the payment of a license fee of $10, payable in advance, on January 1 of each year, and upon the designation of a new process agent before March 1 if the process agent theretofore designated has ceased during a preceding calendar year to reside within the Canal Zone." SEC. 5. Title 4 of the Canal Zone Code is amended by inserting therein a new chapter numbered 27A, embracing sections 1470a to 1470f, and reading as follows: "Sec. "CHAPTER 27A-DISPOSITION OF ESTATES WITHOUT ADMINISTRATION 1470a. Setting aside estates not exceeding $1,000 in value; inclusion of application in petition for probate or letters. 1470b. Same: separate petition prior to hearing of petition for probate or letters. 1470c. Same; petition after filing of inventory. 1470d. Same; notice of hearing. 1470e. Same; decree setting aside. 1470f. Same; denying petition and instead acting on petition for probate or letters. SEC. 1470a. SETTING ASIDE ESTATES NOT EXCEEDING $1.000 IN VALUE; INCLUSION OF APPLICATION IN PETITION FOR PROBATE OR LETTERS.-If the decedent leaves a surviving spouse or minor child or minor children, and the net value of the whole estate, over and above all liens and encumbrances of record at the date of death and not including the property excepted from administration under section 649 of title 3, does not exceed the sum of $1,000, the person petitioning for the probate of the will or for letters of administration may add an allegation to that effect to the other allegations of the petition, with a specific description |