[H. R. 12360]

AN ACT

To authorize the Secretary of the Treasury to enter into a contract to purchase the parcel of land and the building known as the Grand Central Station Post Office and Office Building, numbered 452 Lexington Avenue, in the city, county, and State of New York, for post-office and other governmental purposes, and to pay the purchase price therefor on or prior to June 30, 1937.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authorized to enter into a contract to purchase on behalf of the United States the parcel of land with the building thereon located in the city, county, and State of New York, bounded by the westerly line of Lexington Avenue, the southerly line of Forty-fifth Street, a line parallel with and distant two hundred and seventy-five feet, more or less, westerly of the westerly line of Lexington Avenue and a line parallel with and distant two hundred and twenty feet nine and one-half inches, more or less, southerly of the southerly line of Forty-fifth Street, for a post-office building and/or for other governmental purposes, subject to the exception and reservation to the New York Central Railroad Company, its successors and assigns, of the perpetual rights of exclusive use for railroad station, terminal, and other purposes of the railroad company, its successors and assigns, of the subsurface of said parcel to be specifically defined in the instrument of conveyance, with the necessary ventilating shafts; and subject also to exceptions and reservations for purposes of light, air, and support in favor of said subsurface and the southerly and westerly adjoining premises, all as may be agreed upon in advance by the respective parties to the conveyance of title to the United States: Provided, however, That the total limit of cost to the United States of such parcel of land and building, including the cost of any necessary remodeling of said building, shall not exceed the sum of $14,500,000 and interest: Provided further, That the contract of purchase, if made, shall provide for the conveyance to the United States of title to said property on or prior to January 1, 1933, and for the payment of the agreed purchase price of said property on June 30, 1937, except that the Treasury Department, at its election, may pay any part of the agreed purchase price prior to said date, and except that commencing on the date of the conveyance of title to said property to the United States and continuing until January 1, 1934, there shall be paid each month to be applied on account of the agreed purchase price a sum not in excess of the aggregate monthly rental now paid by the Post Office Department for the spaces occupied by the Post Office Department in said building and in the adjacent buildings to the north and south, and except that commencing on January 1, 1934, and continuing to the date of the full payment of the agreed purchase price there shall be paid each month, to be applied on account of the

agreed purchase price as aforesaid, a sum not less than one-twelfth of the product arrived at by multiplying the aggregate square-foot area of the spaces now occupied by the Post Office Department in said building and in the adjacent buildings to the north and south, by a rate per square foot to be agreed upon by the owner and the Secretary of the Treasury, not in excess of $2.50 per square foot and not less than the average rental per square foot now payable by the Post Office Department under the present leases of the spaces occupied by the Post Office Department in the said building and in the adjacent buildings to the north and south: Provided further, That any appropriations made or hereafter made to the Post Office Department for the payment of rent under the leases How in effect and hereinbefore mentioned shall, upon the conveyance of title to the United States, be available to the Secretary of the Treasury for the aforesaid monthly payments on account of the purchase price: Provided further, That the Treasury Department at the date of its payment of the full purchase price shall pay interest upon the unpaid balances of said purchase price to be computed from the date of the conveyance of title to said property to the date of the payment of the full purchase price at a rate not in excess of 4 per centum per annum to be agreed upon by the owner and the Secretary of the Treasury: And provided further, That all other terms and conditions in connection with the purchase of said property shall be in the discretion of the Secretary of the Treasury. Approved, July 12, 1932.

[H. J. Res. 583]

JOINT RESOLUTION

To provide for a change of site of the Federal building to be constructed at Binghamton, New York.

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Secretary of the Treasury is authorized and directed to cause the new Federal building at Binghamton, New York (authorized by the Second Deficiency Act, fiscal year 1931, approved March 4, 1931 (46 Stat. 1587)), to be erected on the Government-owned site located on the north side of Henry Street and extending northwardly between Washington and State Streets, in lieu of on the site of the present post-office building. For such purpose, the Secretary is authorized and directed to (a) cancel the existing contract or contracts for the erection of such new building and make a settlement with the contractor for damages sustained by him as the result of such cancellation, or (b) effect a modification of such contract or contracts to provide for construction of the new building on the Henry Street site, and allow reasonable additional compensation for any damages or increased costs occasioned the contractor by the change to such new site.

SEC. 2. The Secretary of the Treasury is further authorized and directed to purchase additional land necessary to permit the construction of such new building on the Henry Street site.

SEC. 3. All obligations incurred and/or expenditures made in carrying out the provisions of this joint resolution shall be limited to the amount made available and fixed by existing law for the demolition of the old building and construction of such new building, and shall not be in excess of such amount.

SEC. 4. After occupancy of the new building constructed pursuant to this joint resolution, no rented postal station shall be maintained within 2,000 feet of such building.

SEC. 5. The Act entitled "An Act to authorize the sale of the Government property acquired for a post-office site in Binghamton, New York," approved May 13, 1930 (46 Stat. 273), is amended to read as follows:

"That the Secretary of the Treasury is authorized and directed to transfer by the usual quitclaim deed to the city of Binghamton, New York, the southerly triangular portion (measuring approximately fifty-nine and eighty-four one-hundredths feet on Washington Street and one hundred and fifty-nine and seventy-five one-hundredths_feet on Henry Street), or such portion thereof as the Secretary may deem practicable, for the purpose of straightening out said Henry Street, of the Government property acquired for a post-office site in such city, fronting on the north side of Henry Street and extending northwardly between Washington and State Streets,"

Approved, February 28, 1933.

[S. 88] AN ACT

To authorize the Postmaster General to investigate the conditions of the lease of the post-office garage in Boston, Massachusetts, and to readjust the terms thereof.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Postmaster General is hereby directed, because of the conditions encountered in the performance of the contract for the construction and lease of the post-office garage in Boston, Massachusetts, and the modifications made in said building from the original specifications, during the course of construction, to meet the aforesaid conditions, and to provide a larger and better building than was required under the original contract and specifications; to readjust the rental, and the purchase options in the existing lease by increasing the annual rental under the lease from March 23, 1931, but not in excess of $7,500, and by increasing the purchase options not in excess of $75,000.

Approved, March 1, 1933.

(51)

[H. R. 14321]

AN ACT

To authorize the Secretary of the Treasury in his discretion to acquire a new site in Huntsville, Alabama, and to construct a building thereon for the accommodation of the courts, post office, and other Government offices.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Secretary of the Treasury be, and he is hereby, authorized, in his discretion, to acquire a new site in Huntsville, Alabama, and to construct a building thereon for the accommodation of the courts, post office, and other Government offices, at a cost not to exceed the sum of $234,000, in lieu of the acquisition of additional land, demolition of building and construction of a new building within said limit of cost fixed under authority of the Act approved July 21, 1932, as modified by the Act approved June 30, 1932.

Approved, March 1, 1933.

(52)