[CHAPTER 141-2D SESSION] [S. 1428] AN ACT To amend the provision of the Act authorizing payment of six months' death gratuity to widow, child, or dependent relative of officers, enlisted men, or nurses of the Navy or Marine Corps, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the provision contained in the Act approved June 4, 1920 (41 Stat. 824), as amended (45 Stat. 710; 56 Stat. 146; 34 U. S. C., Supp. 943), is hereby further amended to read as follows: "Immediately upon official notification of the death from wounds or disease, not the result of his or her own misconduct, of any officer, enlisted man, or nurse on the active list of the Regular Navy or Regular Marine Corps, or on the retired list when on active duty, the Paymaster General of the Navy shall cause to be paid to the widow, and if there be no widow, to the child or children, and if there be no widow or child, to any other dependent relative of such officer, enlisted man, or nurse previously designated by him or her, an amount equal to six months' pay at the rate received by such officer, enlisted man, or nurse at the date of his or her death. The Secretary of the Navy shall establish regulations requiring each officer and enlisted man or nurse having no wife or child to designate the proper dependent relative to whom this amount shall be paid in case of his or her death. Said amount shall be paid from funds appropriated for the pay of the Navy and pay of the Marine Corps, respectively: Provided, That if there be no widow, child, or previously designated dependent relative, the Secretary of the Navy shall cause the amount herein provided to be paid to any grandchild, parent, brother or sister, or grandparent shown to have been dependent upon such officer, enlisted man, or nurse prior to his or her death, and the determination of such fact by the Secretary of the Navy shall be final and conclusive upon the accounting officers of the Government: Provided further, That nothing in this section or in other existing legislation shall be construed as making the provisions of this section applicable to officers, enlisted men, or nurses of any forces of the Navy of the United States other than those of the Regular Navy and Marine Corps, and nothing in this section shall be construed to apply in commissioned grades to any officers except those holding permanent or probationary appointments in the Regular Navy or Marine Corps: Provided further, That the provisions of this section shall apply to the officers and enlisted men of the Coast Guard, and the Secretary of the Treasury will cause payment to be made accordingly: And provided further, That in the event of the death of any beneficiary before payment to and collection by such beneficiary of the amount authorized herein, such amount shall be paid to the next living beneficiary in the order of succession above stated." SEC. 2. Nothing contained in section 1 of this Act shall be construed to invalidate or in any manner affect any payments of the six months' death gratuity made prior to the date of approval of this Act, but no payment of such gratuity shall hereafter be made to the representative of the estate of a beneficiary who died prior to such approval. SEC. 3. The Act approved March 17, 1941, entitled "An Act extending the provisions of the Act approved August 27, 1940, entitled 'An Act increasing the number of naval aviators in the line of the Regular Navy and Marine Corps, and for other purposes'" (55 Stat. 43; 34 U. S. C., Supp. 855c-2), is hereby amended by inserting before the period at the end of section 1 thereof the following words: "or as hereafter amended". SEC. 4. The Act approved January 19, 1942, entitled "An Act to regulate the distribution and promotion of commissioned officers of the Coast and Geodetic Survey, and for other purposes" (56 Stat. 6; 33 U. S. C., Supp. 870), is hereby amended by inserting after the words "Marine Corps" in the sixth line of section 9 thereof, the words "or as hereafter amended". Approved March 29, 1944. [CHAPTER 147-2D SESSION] [S. 1640] AN ACT To authorize the Secretary of the Navy to accept gifts and bequests for the United States Naval Academy, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Secretary of the Navy is hereby authorized in his discretion to accept, receive, hold, administer, and expend gifts and bequests of personal property, from individuals or others, for the benefit of, or for use in connection with, the United States Naval Academy. SEC. 2. Gifts or bequests of money or the proceeds from sales of other property received as gifts shall be deposited in the Treasury of the United States under the title "United States Naval Academy general gift fund", and any funds so deposited shall be subject to disbursement by the Secretary of the Navy for the benefit or use of the United States Naval Academy subject to the terms and conditions of the acceptance of any particular gift or bequest. SEC. 3. For the purpose of Federal income, estate and gift taxes, gifts and bequests accepted by the Secretary of the Navy under authority of this Act shall be deemed to be a gift or bequest to or for the use of the United States. SEC. 4. The Secretary of the Treasury is authorized, upon request of the Secretary of the Navy, to invest, reinvest, or retain investments of the money or securities composing the United States Naval Academy general gift fund, or any part thereof, deposited in the Treasury pursuant to section 2 of this Act, in securities of the United States Government or in securities guaranteed as to principal and interest by the United States Government. The interest and profits accruing from such securities may be deposited to the credit of the United States Naval Academy general gift fund, and will be available for disbursement as provided in section 2 of this Act. Approved March 31, 1944. [CHAPTER 148-2D SESSION] [S. 1647] AN ACT To amend the Act approved March 2, 1895, as amended. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That section 5 of the Act of Congress approved March 2, 1895 (28 Stat. 807), as amended by an Act approved March 8, 1928 (45 Stat. 247), is further amended by inserting in the third line of the proviso as it appears on page 247 of volume 45 of the United States Statutes at Large, after the word "employees" the following: "officers and employees of other civilian agencies of the United States and bonded officers and enlisted men of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard." Approved March 31, 1944. (48) [CHAPTER 150-2D SESSION] [S. 1285] AN ACT To facilitate voting, in time of war, by members of the land and naval forces, members of the merchant marine, and others, absent from the place of their residence, and to amend the Act of September 16, 1942, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That Public Law 712, Seventy-seventh Congress, be amended by inserting after the enacting clause the words "TITLE I" and by striking out sections 3 to 15, inclusive, and inserting in lieu thereof the following: "SEC. 3. Nothing in this Act shall be deemed to restrict the right of any member of the armed forces of the United States or of any other person to vote in accordance with the law of the State of his residence. "TITLE II "USE OF STATE BALLOTS "SEC. 201. The Congress hereby expresses itself as favoring, and recommends to the several States the immediate enactment of, appropriate legislation to enable each person absent from the place of his residence and serving in the armed forces of the United States or in the merchant marine of the United States, or serving in the American Red Cross, the Society of Friends, the Women's Auxiliary Service Pilots or the United Service Organizations and attached to and serving with the armed forces of the United States, who is eligible to vote in any election district or precinct, to vote by absentee ballot in any primary, special, or general election held in his election district or precinct in time of war; and in order to afford ample opportunity for such persons to vote for Federal, State, and local officials and to utilize the absentee balloting procedures of the various States to the greatest extent possible, the following provisions are enacted. "SEC. 202. It is recommended that the several States, when possible, waive the application for a ballot and authorize the proper election officials to send an official ballot to every voter serving in the armed forces of the United States or in the merchant marine of the United States, or serving in the American Red Cross, the Society of Friends, the Women's Auxiliary Service Pilots or the United Service Organizations and attached to and serving with the armed forces of the United States. If an application is necessary then is recommended that the several States, in order to avoid- expense, duplication of effort, and loss of time, shall accept, as applications for absentee ballots under such States' absentee balloting laws and as applications for registration under such States' election laws, |