Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 50 Part 1.djvu/869

 844 7 5TS CONGRESS, 1sT SESSION-CHS. 831, 832-AUGUST 26, 1937 franchises, privileges, and concessions may be imposed for the pur- poses of the insular and municipal governments, respectively, as may be provided and defined by the Legislature of Puerto Rico ; and when nece ssary to antic ipate taxes a nd' revenues, bonds and oth er obligatio ns may be issu ed by Puerto Rico or any m unicipal gover n- ment ther ein as may be provided by l aw, and to pr otect the publ ic credit : Provided, however, That no public indebtedness of Puerto Rico and the municipalities of San Juan, Ponce, and Mayaguez shall be allowed in excess of 10 per centum of the aggregate tax valuation of its property, and no public indebtedness of any other subdivision or municipality of Puerto Rico shall hereafter be allowed in excess of 5 per centum of the aggregate tax valuation of the prop- erty in any such subdivision or municipality, and all bonds issued by the Government of Puerto Rico, or by its authority, shall be exempt from taxation by the Government of the United States, or by the Governmen t of Puerto Ri co or of any political or municipal subd i- vision thereof, or by any State, Territory, or possession, or by any county, municipality, or other municipal subdivision of any State, Territory, or possession of the United States, or by the District of Columbia. In computing the indebtedness of the people of Puerto Rico, municipal bonds for the payment of interest and principal of which the good faith of the people of Puerto Rico has heretofore been pledged and bonds issued by the people of Puerto Rico secured by bonds to an equivalent amount of bonds of municipal corpora- tions or school boards of Puerto Rico shall not be counted, but all bonds hereafter issued by any municipality or subdivision within the 5 per centum hereby authorized for which the good faith of the people of Puerto Rico is pledged shall be counted. And it is further provided, That the internal-revenue taxes levied by the Legislature of Puerto Rico in pursuance of the authority granted by this Act on articles, goods, wares, or merchandise may be levi ed a nd c olle cted as such leg isla ture may dir ect, on the arti cles subject to said tax, as soon as the same are manufactured, sold, used, or brought into the island : Provided, That no discrimination be made between the articles imported fro m the United S tates or for- eign countries and similar articles produced or manufactured in Pu ert o Ri co. The officials of the Customs a nd Postal Ser vices of the United States are hereby directed to assist the appropriate offi- cials of the Puerto Rican Government in the collection of these taxes ." Approved, August 26, 1937 . Bond, etc ., issues . Proviso. Limitation on in- debt edn ess . Bonds issued to be tax exempt. Computation of in- debtedness. Levy and collection of int ernal- revenu e taxes. Proviso. No disc rimina tion . [CHAPTER 832] August 26, 1937 AN ACT 	[H . R .70511	 Autho rizin g the cons truct ion, repai r, an d pre serva tion of ce rtain publ ic wo rks o n (Public, No . 392] riv ers a nd ha rbors, and for other purp oses . Be it enacted by the Senate and House o f Representatives o f the Rivers and harbors, United States o f America in Congress assembled, That the following improvements . hZed . works of improvement of rivers, harbors, and other waterways are hereby adopted and authorized, to be prosecuted under the direction of the Secretary of War and supervision of the Chief of Engineers, in accordance with the plans recommended in the respective reports hereinafter designated and subject to the conditions set forth in such Jurisdiction. documents ; and that hereafter Federal investigations and improve- ments of rivers, harbors, and other waterways shall be under the jurisdiction of and shall be prosecuted by the War Department under the direction of the Secretary of War and the supervision. of the Chief of Engineers, except as otherwise specifically provided