Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 69.djvu/585

 69 S T A T. ]

PUBLIC LAW 261-AUG. 9, 1955

543

of 3I/2 per centum per annum; with right of prepayment from time to time of any or all of the sales price remaining unpaid. The obligation of the purchaser with respect to payment of such unpaid balance, with interest, shall be secured by a first preferred mortgage on the vessel sold, which mortgage may provide that the sole recourse against the purchaser under such mortgage, and any of the notes secured thereby, shall be limited to repossession of the vessel by the United States and the assignment of insurance claims, if the purchaser shall have complied with all provisions of the mortgage other than those relating to the payment of principal and interest when due, and the obligation of the purchaser shall be satisfied and discharged by the surrender of the vessel, and all right, title, and interest therein to the United States. Such vessel upon surrender shall be (1) free and clear of all liens and encumbrances whatsoever, except the lien of the above-mentioned preferred mortgage and any other mortgage held by the Secretary of Commerce pursuant to an assignment under title X I of the Merchant 4 6^u^sc^^i^2 71Marine Act, 1936, as amended, (2) in class, and (3) equipped and in as 1279. good order and condition, ordinary wear and tear excepted, as when reconditioned as a passenger vessel by the purchaser except that any deficiencies with respect to freedom from encumbrances, condition, and class, may, to the extent covered by valid policies of insurance, be satisfied by the assignment to the United States of claims of the purchaser under such policies of insurance. (b) Any contract of sale executed under authority of this joint resolution shall provide that in the event the United States shall, through purchase or requisition, acquire ownership of such vessel, the owner shall be paid therefor the value thereof, but in no event shall such payment exceed the actual depreciated sales price under such contract (together with the actual depreciated cost of capital improvements thereon), or the fair and reasonable scrap value of such vessel, as determined by the Maritime Administrator, whichever is the greater; that such determination shall be final; that in computing the depreciated acquisition cost of such vessel, the depreciation shall be computed on the vessel on the schedule adopted or accepted by the Secretary of the Treasury for Federal income tax purposes as applicable to such vessel; that such vessel shall remain documented under the laws of the United States for a period of at least ten years after completion as a passenger ve^el or as long as there remains due the United States any principal or interest on account of the sales price, whichever is the longer period; and that the foregoing provisions respecting the requisition or the acquisition of ownership by the United States and documentation shall run with the title to such vessel and be binding on all owners thereof. Approved August 9, 1955. Public Law 261

CHAPTER 621 AN ACT

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August 9, 1955

To provide for the conveyance to the State of North Dakota, for use as a State historic site, of the land where Chief Sitting Bull was originally buried.

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Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Secre- sutSg^B^rburtary of the Interior is authorized and directed to convey to the State ^^^ sUe. of North Dakota for use as a State historic site all right, title, and interest, except as provided in section 2, of the United States and the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe of Indians to that parcel of land within the Standing Rock Reservation, North Dakota, which is the site wdiere Chief Sitting Bull was originally buried and is more

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