Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 49 Part 1.djvu/1856

 74,rH CONGRESS. SESS. II. CH. 699. JUNE 22, 1936. 18 11 approval ; and if not acted upon within such time, it shall become a law the same as if it had been specifically approved. All laws Pow er of Congress to enacted by the Municipal Council of Saint Croix, by the Municipal annul legislation. Council o f Saint T homas an d Saint J ohn, or by the le gislative assembly, shall be reported by the Governor to the Secretary of the Interior, and by him to the Congress, which hereby reserves the power and the authority to annul the same. The laws not annulled of Annual publication shall be published annually as a public document. If at the terms- conti nuanc e of cer. nation of any fiscal year the appropriation necessary for the support tain appropr iations. of the municipal government for the ensuing fiscal year shall not have been made, then the several suns apropriated in the last appro- priation bills for the objects and purposes therein specified, so far as the same may be applicable, shall be deemed to be reappropriated, it em b y i te m ; and until the municipal council of the munici pality having jurisdiction shall act in such behalf, t he Governor may make the payments and collections necessary for the purpose aforesaid. SEC . 17. Beginning on January 1, 1938, or on such earlier date t.I anchise; qualifica. subsequent to January 1, 1937, as may be fixed by local law or ordi- nance for either municipality, and thereafter, the franchise shall be vested in residents of the Virgin Islands who are citizens of the United States, twenty-one years of age or over, and able to read and write the English language. Additional qualifications may be prescribed by the legislative assembly : Provided, however, That no Provi so. No property or in- property or income qualification shall ever be imposed upon or come qualification. required of any voter, nor shall any discrimination in qualification No racial, sex, or re- be made or based upon difference in race, color, sex, or religious lig ious disqualification. belief. SEC. 18 . The laws of the United States applicable to the Virgin United licab5litty of Islands on the date of enactment of this Act, and all local laws and ordinances in force on such date in the Virgin Islands, not inconsist- ent with this Act, shall continue in force and effect : Provided, That Proviso. the Municipal Council of Saint Croix and the Municipal Council of ae d et c, councils to wer of Saint Thomas and Saint John, and the legislative assembly, shall have power, when not inconsistent with this Act and within their respective jurisdictions, to amend, alter, modify, or repeal any law of the United States of local application only, or any ordinance, public or private, civil or criminal, continued in force and effect by this Act, except as herein otherwise provided, and to enact new laws and ordinances not inconsistent with this Act and not inconsistent with the laws of the United States hereafter made applicable to the Virgin Islands or any part thereof, subject to the power of the Co ngres s to annul the same. The laws of the United States relating a d copyrit gr b aala marl, to pate nts, trade mark s, an d cop yrigh ts, a nd to the enfor cemen t of rights arising thereunder, shall have the same force and effect in the Virgin Islands as in the continental United States, and the District Court of the Virgin Islands shall have the same jurisdiction in causes arising under such laws as is exercised by United States dis- trict courts. SEC. 19. The legislative power of the Virgin Islands shall extend scopeislative power ; to all subjects of local application not inconsistent with this Act or the laws of the United States made applicable to said islands, but no law shall be enacted which would impair rights existing or arising by virtue of any treaty entered into by the United States, nor shall the lands or other property of nonresidents be taxed higher than the lands or other property of residents. 'So in original.