Volume 60 · 708
Public Law 79–686
To authorize the making of settlement on account of certain currency destroyed at Fort Mills, Philippine Islands, and for other purposes.
Approved July 27, 1946
Statutory text
JOINT RESOLUTION
To authorize the making of settlement on account of certain currency destroyed at Fort Mills, Philippine Islands, and for other purposes.
Whereas during the emergency in the Philippine Islands at the time
Destruction of certain currency in Philippine Islands.
of the Japanese invasion, agents of the United States High Commissioner, acting under a delegation of authority from the President of the United States and the specific instructions of the Secretary of the Treasury, accepted sums of United States paper currency from banks, individuals, and the Government of the Commonwealth of the Philippine Islands, and destroyed this currency by incineration to preclude its seizure by the enemy; and
Whereas the face value of the currency so destroyed was reported to be $2,563,981 and due to the difficult circumstances under which the program was undertaken, including lack of facilities, exposure to incessant enemy attack, and lack of personnel familiar with the technical details imposed by law with respect to the separate accounting for various kinds of currency, it was not possible to record in full detail the description of the currency which was burned; and
Whereas the United States Treasury is assured that the aggregate amount of currency destroyed is correct as reported by the High Commissioner and his staff with respect to the procedures followed in accepting deposits and in verifying the count in each such deposit and that the distribution by denomination and depositor is accurate; and
Whereas $603,158 of the total currency destroyed cannot be identified from the information available to the Treasury Department as to kind of currency and, in the case of Federal Reserve notes, as to bank of issue; and
Whereas the currency has been destroyed and it appears that no further information will become available: Therefore be it
Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
That, notwithstanding any
Authorization to record amounts.
provisions of law to the contrary, the Treasurer of the United States or the Comptroller of the Currency, as the case may be, is authorized and directed, on the basis of the receipt of evidence of destruction acceptable to the Secretary of the Treasury, to record the destruction of the United States currency and Federal Reserve notes delivered to the High Commissioner to the Philippine Islands at the time of the Japanese invasion to preclude its seizure by the enemy, in the aggregate amount of $603,158, as follows: Silver certificates, $202,502 of $1 denomination, $51,200 of $5 denomination, and $300 of $10 denomination, aggregating $254,002; United States notes, $8,796 of $2 denomination and $25,590 of $5 denomination, aggregating $34,386; and Federal Reserve notes, $1,170 of $5 denomination, $126,360 of $10 denomination, $185,840 of $20 denomination, $400 of $50 denomination, and $1,000 of $100 denomination, aggregating $314,770, which shall be apportioned as to denominations among the several Federal Reserve banks as determined by the Secretary of the Treasury within the limitations as provided in section 2 hereof, as to the aggregate amount to be apportioned to each Federal Reserve bank.
Sec. 2.
The Treasurer of the United States is authorized to pay to the Secretary of the Treasury for account of the owners of the United States currency referred to in this joint resolution as silver certificates and United States notes the value thereof from the appropriate Treasury funds and to pay to the Secretary of the Treasury for account of the owners of the currency described as Federal Reserve notes the amount thereof from the Federal Reserve note redemption
Reimbursement.
fund. The several Federal Reserve banks shall respectively reimburse the Federal Reserve redemption fund for the amounts paid by the Treasurer of the United States from said fund pursuant to this section, in the following amounts: Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, $205; Federal Reserve Bank of New York, $4,555; Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, $150; Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, $195; Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, $480; Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, $250; Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, $290; Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, $55; Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, $120; Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, $270; Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, $300; and Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, $307,900.
Approved July 27, 1946.