Hr Sa legislation into the code, which is especially desirable because of the project necessary to be pursued in the future for the authorization and printing of a second edition of the Canal Zone Code, the first edition being exhausted. To that end formal changes but no substantive changes whatsoever have been made. The changes include the addition of suitable headlines for the respective sections, and in the section 182, respecting violations, minor changes have placed it in a form which has been substantially standardized. The proposed measure would omit as effectuated and temporary sections 3 and 4 of the act-48 U. S. C., 1314d and 1314e-which repealed prior laws and provided an effective date. Section 3 of the bill would amend section 303 of title 2 of the Canal Zone Code. Section 303, originally derived from an act of February 27, 1909, deals with the leasing of public lands in the Canal Zone for agricultural purposes, that is, for settlement and cultivation. The Canal Zone was thrown open to agriculture in 1921; however, no leases were ever issued under that section because of the view then current that the section had been rendered inoperative by Executive Order No. 1656 of December 5, 1912, declaring all lands necessary for Canal purposes. Instead, revocable licenses to agricultural tracts were issued. These licenses included a provision that if at any time it should become necessary for the United States to use the lands, it should have the right to do so without further compensation to the licensee than the reasonable value of the improvements made by him upon such tract, said value to be determined in such manner as the Governor might direct. In 1934 there was inaugurated, in the interests of the sanitary protection of the Canal Zone, a policy of gradual depopulation of the agricultural areas. This is the present policy, and is confirmed and made mandatory by an exchange of notes with Panama on March 2, 1936, accessory to the treaty of that date. There are today approximately 500 of these licenses outstanding, containing the indemnity provision. This section would, by its proviso, ratify and confirm these existing licenses in accordance with the terms and conditions applicable to them, including provision for compensation for improvements. It would thus enable the Canal to fulfill its commitment to these licensees. This section would also eliminate confusion and the possibility of future litigation which have arisen out of the case of Hele v. United States (103 Court of Claims 474), which is referred to in the memorandum accompanying the letter of February 23, 1949, from the Secretary of the Army to the chairman of this committee. Mr. O'TOOLE. At this point we will insert in the record the letter from Kenneth C. Royall, the Secretary of the Army, to the chairman of the Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries, dated February 23, 1949. (The letter referred to is as follows:) Hon. SCHUYLER OTIS BLAND, DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY, Washington, D. C., February 23, 1949. Chairman, Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries, DEAR MR. BLAND: I submit herewith a draft of bill to amend the Canal Zone The bill was prepared under the general supervision of the Governor of the Panama Canal. The purposes of the various amendments proposed are explained in the attached memorandum of the Chief of Office, The Panama Canal. I concur in the views and recommendations of the Governor of the Panama Canal as stated in that memorandum. I am advised by the Director of the Bureau of the Budget that there is no objection to the submission of this letter and its accompanying memorandum and draft of bill to the Congress for its consideration. Sincerely yours, KENNETH C. ROYALL, Secretary of the Army. THE PANAMA CANAL, Washington, D. C., January 6, 1949. Memorandum for the Secretary of the Army: Enclosed for submission to the Congress is draft of a proposed bill to amend the Canal Zone Code and for other purposes. The bill is composed of several varied provisions which have been discovered by experience to be desirable and necessary as a part of the continuing effort to improve the Canal Zone Code. The provisions of the bill will not involve the expenditure of any additional funds. While section 84 of title 2 of the Canal Zone Code, as proposed to be added by section 1 of the bill, will require some administrative work, the amount will be negligible and, it is believed, will be more than offset by the diminution of the work of the Public Administrator for the Canal Zone effected in the improvement by subsequent sections of the bill of the procedures for the handling of small estates of decedents. The nine sections of the bill are hereinafter severally discussed. SECTION 1 Section 1 of the bill would add section 84 to title 2 of the Canal Zone Code, to provide for the order of precedence for lump-sum payments in commutation of leave upon the death of an employee of the Panama Canal or the Panama Railroad Company on the Isthmus of Panama. The new section would make substantially the same provision for employees of the Canal and Railroad on the Isthmus of Panama as that now provided for other employees of the Government by section 2 of the act of December 21, 1944 (5 U. S. C. 61c). The only change in existing practices effected by the section would be that payments in commutation of leave due a deceased employee would be made to a beneficiary designated by the employee instead of falling into the employee's estate for administration with his other property. SECTION 2 Section 2 of the bill, adding sections 181 and 182 of title 2 of the Canal Zone Code, would carry into the code existing provisions of law contained in the act of June 19, 1934, authorizing the President to make regulations governing the manufacture, sale, and importation or exportation of alcoholic beverages in the Canal Zone. At the time of the preparation of the Canal Zone Code, a chapter heading was included for the insertion of this legislation but, since the act was passed on the same day the code was adopted, its insertion into the code as originally adopted was impossible. SECTION 3 Section 3 of the bill would amend section 303 of title 2, authorizing the leasing of public lands in the Canal Zone, so as to authorize issuance of revocable licenses covering the use of lands situated outside of town sites in the Canal Zone and ratify licenses heretofore issued by the Governor. This amendment is necessary because of a holding of the Court of Claims in Hele v. United States (100 Ct. Cls. 289) to the effect that revocable licenses heretofore issued covering the use of land in the Canal Zone must be regarded as leases under section 303 of title 2 of the Canal Zone Code and that special provisions in such revocable licenses concerning the payment of compensation to licensees on termination of such licenses must give way to other provisions for determining the amount of com pensation payable on termination of a lease under section 303 when the lease is canceled prior to the expiration of the term. Revocable licenses, containing special provisions in regard to the payment of compensation to the licensee on termination of the license, have been issued over a long period of years and to disregard such provisions on the theory that the licenses must be treated as leases under the terms of section 303 would be inequitable both to the Government and to the licensees. SECTION 4 Section 4 of the bill would amend section 225 of title 3 of the Canal Zone Code so as to require foreign corporations licensed to do business in the Canal Zone to keep current the designation of a process agent and to maintain continuing compliance with other provisions of the code applicable to foreign corporations, in order to continue to do business in the Canal Zone. Under existing provisions of law there is no requirement for the designation of a new process agent in the event a process agent originally designated has died or removed from the Canal Zone, and after the original qualification of the corporation, there is no requirement of any further act on the part of the corporation, other than the payment of an annual license fee, as a condition to the continued doing of business in the Canal Zone. SECTION 5 Section 5 of the bill would amend title 4 of the Canal Zone Code by inserting a new chapter embracing sections 1470a to 1470f, the chapter being entitled "Disposition of Estates Without Administration." The new chapter is a substitute for sections 1467 and 1468 of title 4, which sections would be repealed by section 9 of the bill. Sections 1467 and 1468, relating to the administration of small estates, were originally derived from sections 1469 and 1470 of the California Code of Civil Procedure. In California these two sections have been superseded by sections 640 to 646 of the California Probate Code, and the new sections proposed by section 5 of the bill are derived from the present California law. The proposed sections would authorize an application to set aside for the family of a decedent an estate of $1,000 or less concurrently with the original petition for probate or for letters of administration. Under the present law, proceedings for setting aside small estates may be commenced only after a return of inventory of the estate, following the hearing on the original petition for probate or administration, thus requiring two petitions, two notices, and two hearings before a small estate may be set aside. The proposed legislation would also permit the setting aside of a small estate in all cases where a decedent leaves a surviving spouse or minor child without being limited, as at the present time to cases of the death of a husband leaving a wife or a minor child or the death of a widow leaving a minor child. SECTION 6 Section 6 of the bill would amend section 1703 of title of the Canal Zone Code so as to authorize the Public Administrator to pay over to the person entitled thereto without regular administration the assets of an estate less than $250 in value. The present law authorizes such procedure in cases where the estate is less than $150 in value. This section would also prescribe the order of distribution of the estate so as to accord with the plan provided by sections 1470a to 1470f of title 4, which would be added by section 5 of the bill. SECTION 7 Section 7 of the bill would add section 573 of title 5 of the Canal Zone Code, authorizing the Governor of the Panama Canal to make regulations for prevention of and protection against fires in the Canal Zone and would make it a misdemeanor to violate any such regulations. Heretofore, regulations for the prevention of and protection against fires issued by the Governor have not had the force and effect of law and practically have been unenforceable in any satisfactory manner. SECTION 8 Section 8 of the bill would add a new section 812 in title 5 of the Canal Zone Code, making it a misdemeanor to commit any of the enumerated acts involving injury to or tampering with a motor vehicle, motorboat, launches, or aircraft. Experience has shown the necessity for such a statute, supplementing other provisions covering actual larceny and malicious mischief. The proposed section in substance is based on section 504 of the Vehicle Code of California. SECTION 9 Section 9 of the bill would repeal the provisions of law superseded by the amendments proposed in the other sections of the bill, and in addition would repeal sections 331 to 333 of title 2 of the Canal Zone Code, governing the operation of street railways, and the act of May 3, 1932, which authorizes the modification of the boundary line between the Canal Zone and the Republic of Panama. The sections of the Canal Zone Code, relating to the operation of street railways, are wholly obsolete, in view of the elimination several years ago of street railways in the Canal Zone. The act of May 3, 1932, authorized the Secretary of State to effect a modification of the boundary line between the Canal Zone and the Republic of Panama with respect to the parcel of land in the Canal Zone which had been tentatively selected as a desirable site for the then contemplated American Legation Building. Subsequently, the American Embassy was constructed in another place in the Republic of Panama so that the necessity for the 1932 act has disappeared. The State Department has advised that there is no objection to the repeal of the 1932 act. The headquarters of the United States Army in the Canal Zone has reviewed and concurred in the proposed legislation. By direction of the Governor. A BILL To amend the Canal Zone Code, 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. REGULATIONS RELATIVE 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. "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 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 licenses heretofore issued by the 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 the 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 of 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 e cepted 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 of all of the decedent's property, a list of all the liens and encumbrances of record at the date of death, and an estimate of the value of the property, and may include, in the prayer, an alternative prayer that if the court finds that 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 $1,000, the same be set aside to the surviving spouse, if there be one, and if there be none, then to the minor child or minor children of the decedent. When such allegation is included in the petition, the petition shall be verified, and the notice of hearing shall include a statement that a prayer for setting aside the estate to the surviving spouse or minor child or minor children, as the case may be, is included in the petition. |