current market value of such agricultural commodity, the board is authorized to enter into an agreement, upon such terms and conditions as it may prescribe, for the insurance of such cooperative association against price decline as hereinafter provided. Such insurance agreement may be entered into by the board only with respect to any such agricultural commodity which, in the judgment of the board, is regularly traded in upon an exchange in sufficient volume to establish a recognized basic price for the market grades of such commodity, and then only when such exchange has accurate price records for the commodity covering a period of years of sufficient length, in the judgment of the board, to serve as a basis upon which to calculate the risks of the insurance.

(b) Any such agreement for insurance against price decline shall provide for the insurance of the cooperative association for any twelve months' period commencing with the delivery season for the commodity against loss to such association or its members due to decline in the average market price for the commodity during the time of sale by the association from the average market price for the commodity during the time of delivery to the association. The measure of such decline, where a decline occurs, shall be the difference between the average market price weighted for the days and volume of delivery to the association by its members, and the average market price weighted for the days and volume of sales by the association. In computing such average market prices the board shall use the daily average cash prices paid for the basic grade of such commodity in the exchange designated in the agreement. Any such agreement shall cover only so much of the commodity delivered to the association as is produced by the members of the association and as is reported by the association for coverage under the agreement.

(c) Whenever in the judgment of the board the use of such insurance agreements in respect of any commodity will stabilize the market substantially in the interest of the producers of the commodity whether or not members of a cooperative association dealing in the commodity, then the board, during the continuance of any marketing period for the commodity as provided in section 8, may enter into nonpremium, or if the board deems it advisable, premium insurance agreements with cooperative associations dealing in the commodity. Whenever in the judgment of the board the use of such insurance agreements will not so stabilize the market, then the board may enter into premium insurance agreements only with the cooperative associations.

(d) Payments required under nonpremium insurance agreements in respect of any commodity shall be made out of the stabilization fund for the commodity. Payments under premium insurance agreements in respect of any commodity shall be made out of the premium insurance fund for the commodity to be established by the board under such regulations as it may prescribe.

(e) For insurance under a premium insurance agreement the cooperative association shall pay a premium, to be determined by the board prior to the making of the insurance agreement, upon each unit of the commodity reported by the association for coverage under the insurance agreement. Such premium shall be calculated with due regard to the past price records in established markets for the commodity. The premiums applicable to the commodity in the successive twelve months' periods shall be adjusted with due regard to the experience of the board under preceding insurance agreements. There shall be deposited in the premium insurance fund for any commodity the premiums paid by cooperative associations under premium insurance agreements in respect of the commodity, and advances from the revolving fund in such amounts as the board deems necessary for the operation of the fund. There shall be disbursed from the premium insurance fund for any commodity (1) the payments required by any premium insurance agreement in respect of the commodity, and (2) repayments into the revolving fund of advances made from the revolving fund to such premium insurance fund, together with interest on such advances at the rate of 4 per centum per annum.

REVOLVING FUND

SEC. 12. (a) There is hereby authorized to be appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, the sum of $400,000,000: Provided, That at least $200,000,000 of such sum shall be made available by the board solely for use in making advances to the stabilization funds for agricultural commodities in respect of which marketing periods are commenced; and in the allocation of such amount among the stabilization funds of the several commodities, the board shall take into consideration the values of the respective commodities.

(b) All moneys appropriated in pursuance of the authorization made by this section shall be administered by the board and used as a revolving fund in accordance with the provisions of this Act. The Secretary of the Treasury shall deposit in the revolving fund such portions of the amounts appropriated therefor as the board from time to time deems necessary.

EXAMINATIONS OF BOOKS AND ACCOUNTS OF BOARDS

SEC. 13. Expenditures by the board from the stabilization or premium insurance funds shall be made by the authorized officers or agents of the board upon receipt of itemized vouchers therefor, approved by such officers as the board may designate. All other expenditures by the board, including expenditures for loans and advances from the revolving fund, shall be allowed and paid upon the presentation of itemized vouchers therefor, approved by the chairman of the board. Vouchers so made for expenditures from the revolving fund or from any stabilization or premium insurance fund shall be final and conclusive upon all officers of the Government; except that all financial transactions of the board (including the payments required by any marketing or insurance agreement) shall, subject to the above limitations, be examined by the General Accounting Office, at such times and in such manner as the Comptroller General of the United States may by regulation prescribe. Such examination in respect of expenditures from the revolving fund or from any stabilization or premium insurance fund shall be for the sole purpose of making a report to the Congress and to the board of expenditures and agreements in violation of law, together with such recommendations as the Comptroller General deems advisable concerning the receipts, disbursements, and application of the funds administered by the board.

COOPERATION WITH EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS

SEC. 14. (a) It shall be the duty of any governmental establishment in the executive branch of the Government, upon request by the board, or upon Executive order, to cooperate with and render assistance to the board in carrying out any of the provisions of this Act and the regulations of the board. The board shall, in cooperation with any such governmental establishment, avail itself of the services and facilities of such governmental establishment in order to avoid preventable expense or duplication of effort.

(b) Upon request by the board the President, by Executive order, (1) may transfer any officer or employee from any department or independent establishment in the executive branch of the Government, irrespective of his length of service in such department or independent establishment, to the service of the board, and (2) may direct any governmental establishment to furnish the board with such information and data pertaining to the functions of the board as may be contained in the records of the governmental establishment; except that the President shall not direct that the board be furnished with any information or data supplied by any person in confidence to any governmental establishment, in pursuance of any provision of law or of any agreement with the governmental establishment.

(c) The board may cooperate with any State or Territory, or department, agency, or political subdivision thereof, or with any person.

GENERAL DEFINITIONS

SEC. 15. (a) As used in this Act

(1) The term "person" means individual, partnership, corporation, or association. (2) The term "United States," when used in a geographical sense, means continental United States, and the Territory of Hawaii.

(3) The term "cooperative association" means an association of persons engaged in the production of agricultural products, as farmers, planters, ranchers, dairymen, or nut or fruit growers, organized to carry out any purpose specified in section 1 of the Act entitled "An Act to authorize association of producers of agricultural products," approved February 18, 1922, if such association is qualified under such Act.

(b) The provisions of sections 8, 9, and 10 shall not apply to perishable fruits and vegetables.

(c) Whenever any agricultural commodity has regional or market classification or types which in the judgment of the board are so different from each other in

use or marketing methods as to require their treatment as separate commodities under this Act, the board may determine upon and designate one or more such classifications or types for such treatment.

ADMINISTRATIVE APPROPRIATION

SEC. 16. For expenses in the administration of the functions vested in the board by this Act, there is hereby authorized to be appropriated out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, the sum of $500,000, to be available to the board for such expenses (including salaries and expenses of the members, officers, and employees of the board and the per diem compensation and expenses of members of the commodity advisory councils) incurred prior to July 1, 1929.

SEPARABILITY OF PROVISIONS

SEC. 17. If any provision of this Act is declared unconstitutional or the applicability thereof to any person, circumstance, commodity, or class of transactions in respect of any commodity, is held invalid, the validity of the remainder of the Act and the applicability of such provision to other persons, circumstances, commodities, and classes of transactions shall not be affected thereby.

COOPERATIVE ASSOCIATIONS ACT

SEC. 18. (a) Nothing in this Act is intended or shall be construed to repeal or modify any provision of the Act entitled "An Act to authorize associations of producers of agricultural products," approved February 18, 1922.

PENALTIES

SEC. 19. (a) The provisions of sections 123 and 124 of the Penal Code, approved March 4, 1909, as amended, shall apply to any member, officer, or employee of the board; and, in addition, it shall be held a violation of section 123 of such code if any member, officer, or employee of the board at any time speculates, directly or indirectly, in any agricultural commodity.

(b) It shall be unlawful (1) for any cooperative association, or corporation created and controlled by one or more cooperative associations, or other agency if such agency is acting for or on behalf of the board under any marketing agreement, or (2) for any director, officer, or employee of any such association, corporation, or agency, to which information has been imparted in confidence by the board, to disclose such information in violation of any regulation of the board. Any such association, corporation, or agency, or director, officer, or employee thereof, violating any provision of this subdivision, shall be fined not 1aore than $10,000 or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both.

SHORT TITLE

SEC. 20. This Act may be cited as the "Surplus Control Act."

NICHOLAS LONGWORTH,

Speaker of the House of Representatives.

CHARLES G. DAWES,

Vice President of the United States and President of the Senate.

O

DISPOSITION OF MUSCLE SHOALS

Mr. McNARY submitted the following

CONFERENCE REPORT ON THE JOINT RESOLUTION (S. J. RES. 46) PROVIDING FOR THE COMPLETION OF DAM NO. 2 AND THE STEAM PLANT AT NITRATE PLANT NO. 2 IN THE VICINITY OF MUSCLE SHOALS FOR THE MANUFACTURE AND DISTRIBUTION OF FERTILIZER, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

MAY 3 (calendar day, MAY 23), 1928.-Ordered to lie on the table and to be printed

The committee of conference on the disagreeing votes of the two Houses on the amendments of the House to the joint resolution (S. J. Res. 46) providing for the completion of Dam No. 2 and the steam plant at nitrate plant No. 2 in the vicinity of Muscle Shoals for the manufacture and distribution of fertilizer, and for other purposes, having met, after full and free conference, have agreed to recommend and do recommend to their respective Houses as follows: That the Senate recede from its disagreement to the amendment of the House to the title of the joint resolution and agree to the same. That the Senate recede from its disagreement to the amendment of the House to the text of the joint resolution and agree to the same with an amendment as follows:

In lieu of the language put in by the House, insert the following: That for the purpose of maintaining and operating the properties now owned by the United States in the vicinity of Muscle Shoals, Alabama, in the interest of the national defense and for agricultural and industrial development, and to aid navigation and the control of destructive flood waters in the Tennessee River and Mississippi River Basins, there is hereby created a body corporate by the name of the "Muscle Shoals Corporation of the United States" (hereinafter referred to as the corporation). The board of directors first appointed shall be deemed the incorporators and the incorporation shall be held to have been effected from the date of the first meeting of the board. This act may be cited as the "Muscle Shoals act of 1928."

Sec. 2. (a) The board of directors of the corporation (hereinafter referred to as the board) shall be composed of three members, not more than two of whom shall be members of the same political party, to be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the

Senate. The board shall organize by electing a chairman, vice chairman, and other officers, agents, and employees, and shall proceed to carry out the provisions of this act.

(b) The terms of office of the members first taking office after the approval of this act shall expire as designated by the President at the time of nomination, one at the end of the second year, one at the end of the fourth year, and one at the end of the sixth year, after the date of approval of this act. A successor to a member of the board shall be appointed in the same manner as the original members and shall have a term of office expiring six years from the date of the expiration of the term for which his predecessor was appointed.

(c) Any member appointed to fill a vacancy in the board occurring prior to the expiration of the term for which his predecessor was appointed shall be appointed for the remainder of such term.

(d) Vacancies in the board so long as there shall be two members in office shall not impair the powers of the board to execute the functions of the corporation, and two of the members in office shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of the business of the board.

(e) Each of the members of the board shall be a citizen of the United States and shall receive compensation at the rate of $50 per day for each day that he shall be actually engaged in the performance of the duties vested in the board, to be paid by the corporation as current expenses, not to exceed, however, one hundred and fifty days for the first year after the date of the approval of this act, and not to exceed one hundred days in any year thereafter. Members of the board shall be reimbursed by the corporation for actual expenses (including traveling and subsistence expenses) incurred by them while in the performance of the duties vested in the board by this act.

(f) No director shall have any financial interest in any public-utility corporation engaged in the business of distributing and selling power to the public nor in any corporation engaged in the manufacture, selling, or distribution of fixed nitrogen, or any ingredients thereof, nor shall any member have any interest in any business that may be adversely affected by the success of the Muscle Shoals project as a producer of concentrated fertilizers.

(g) The board shall direct the exercise of all the powers of the corporation.

(h) All members of the board shall be persons that profess a belief in the feasibility and wisdom, having in view the national defense and the encouragement of interstate commerce, of producing fixed nitrogen under this act of such kinds and at such prices as to induce the reasonable expectation that the farmers will buy said products, and that by reason thereof the corporation may be a self-sustaining and continuing

success.

Sec. 3. (a) The chief exectuive officer of the corporation shall be a general manager, who shall be responsible to the board for the efficient conduct of the business of the corporation. The board shall appoint the general manager, and shall select a man for such appointment who has demonstrated his capacity as a business executive. The general manager shall be appointed to hold office for ten years, but he may be removed by the board for cause, and his term of office shall end upon repeal of this act, or by amendment thereof expressly providing for the termination of his office. Should the office of general manager become vacant for any reason, the board shall appoint his successor as herein provided.