Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 40 Part 1.djvu/1075

 be necessary to replace any medals, crosses, bars, emblems, or insignia as are herein or may heretofore have been provided for: Provided, That such replacement shall be made only in those cases where the medal of honor, distinguished-service medal, or Navy cross, or bar, emblem, or insignia presented under the provisions of this or any other Act shall have been lost, destroyed, or rendered unfit for use without fault or neglect on the part of the person to whom it was awarded, and shall be made without charge therefor.

. That, except as otherwise prescribed herein, no medal of honor, distinguished-service medal, Navy cross, or bar or other suitable emblem or insignia in lieu of either of said medals or of said cross, shall be issue to any person after more than five years from the date of the act or service justifying the award thereof, nor unless a specific statement or report distinctly setting forth the act or distinguished service and suggesting or recommending official recognition thereof shall have been made by his naval superior through official channels at the time of the act or service or within three years thereafter.

. That in case an individual who shall distinguish himself dies before the making of the award to which he may be entitled the award may nevertheless be made and the medal or cross or the bar or other emblem or insignia presented within five years from the date of the act or service justifying the award thereof to such representative of the deceased as the President may designate: Provided, That no medal or cross or no bar or other emblem or insignia shall be awarded or presented to any individual or to the representative of any individual whose entire service subsequent to the time he distinguished himself shall not have been honorable: Provided further, That in cases of persons now in the naval service for whom the award of the medal of honor has been recommended in full compliance with then existing regulations, but on account of services which, though insufficient fully to justify the award of the medal of honor, appears to have been such as to justify the award of the distinguished-service medal or Navy cross hereinbefore provided for, such cases may be considered and acted upon under the provisions of this Act authorizing the award of the distinguished-service medal and Navy cross notwithstanding that said services may have been rendered more than five years before said cases shall have been considered as authorized by this proviso, but all consideration or any action upon any of said cases shall be based exclusively upon official records now on file in the Navy Department.

. That the President be, and he hereby is, authorized to delegate, under such conditions, regulations, and limitations as he shall prescribe, to flag officers who are commanders in chief or commanding on important independent duty the power conferred upon him by this Act to award the Navy cross; and he is further authorized to make from time to time any and all rules, regulations, and orders which he shall deem necessary to carry into effect the provisions of this Act and to execute the full purpose and intention thereof.

, February 4, 1919.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled

TITLE I.—GENERAL DEFINITIONS

. That when used in this Act—

The term "person" includes partnerships and corporations, as well as individuals;