transaction of the current business of the agency by which they were reported to the Archivist and have no permanent value or historical interest to the Federal Government, then it shall be the duty of the head of said agency to dispose of said records by one of the following methods: (a) By sale, upon the best obtainable terms after due publication of notice inviting proposals therefor; (b) By causing them to be destroyed; (c) By transfer (without cost to the United States Government) to any State or dependency of the United States of America or to any appropriate educational institution, library, museum, historical, research, or patriotic organization therein, that has made application to him therefor, through the Archivist of the United States. All moneys derived from the sale of such records shall be paid into the Treasury of the United States by said agency. If said joint committee shall fail to make a report during any regular or special session of Congress on any list of records that has been submitted to Congress by the Archivist not less than ten days prior to the adjournment of such session, the Archivist may empower the agency by which such records were reported to him to dispose of them by any of the methods prescribed in this section. If it shall appear to the Archivist that any records reported to him in the manner prescribed by section 1 of this Act, while Congress is not in session, have no permanent value or historical interest and have the same form numbers or form letters or are of the same specific kind as other records of the same agency previously authorized for disposition by Congress, he may empower said agency to make disposition of said similar records by any of the methods prescribed in this section. The Archivist shall submit to Congress at the beginning of each session a descriptive list of all records authorized for disposition by him during the preceding recess of Congress. SEC. 6. When any records of the United States Government have been disposed of in accordance with the provisions of section 5 of this Act, the head of the agency making such disposition shall submit a written report thereon to the Archivist of the United States in which he shall describe the character and volume of such records and state when and by what method the disposition thereof was accomplished. If any of the records described in a particular report are shown thereby to have been sold, such report shall give the amount of the purchase price received therefor and the total cost of effecting such sales. Said report shall also give the names and post-office addresses of all institutions, associations, or other organizations to which any records therein described have been transferred. SEC. 7. The Archivist of the United States shall transmit to Congress, at the beginning of each regular session, a concise summarization of the data contained in the reports filed with him by heads of agencies of the Government during the preceding fiscal year in compliance with the provisions of section 6 of this Act. SEC. 8. Whenever the Archivist shall determine that any records. in his custody, or which have been reported to him by any agency under the terms of section 1 of this Act, are a continuing menace to human health or life or to property, he shall cause such records to be destroyed immediately at such place and by such method as he shall select: Provided, however, That if said records have been transferred to his custody, he shall report the disposition thereof to the Congress and to the agency from which they were transferred. SEC. 9. Whenever it shall appear to the Archivist that there are in his custody any records that are without permanent value or historical interest to the Federal Government he shall submit lists thereof to Congress in the manner provided by section 3 of this Act: Provided, however, That the Archivist shall not report to Congress, under the provisions of this section, records of any existing agency of the United States without the written consent of the said agency. SEC. 10. The procedures herein prescribed to be followed are exclusive, and no records of the United States Government may be alienated or destroyed except by authority sought and obtained under the provisions of this Act. SEC. 11. All Acts or parts of Acts inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed. Approved, August 5, 1939. EXTRACT FROM THE INDEPENDENT OFFICES APPROPRIATION ACT, 1941, APPROVED APRIL 18, 1940 [Public, No. 459, 76th Cong.] National Archives Salaries and expenses: For the Archivist and for all other necessary and authorized expenditures in carrying out the provisions of the Act of June 19, 1934 (48 Stat. 1122-1124; 40 U. S. C. ch. 2A), as amended; the Act of July 26, 1935 (49 Stat. 500-503; U. S. C., Supp. II, title 44, ch. 8A), as amended; the Act of July 18, 1939 (53) Stat. 1062-1066), and the Act of August 5, 1939 (53 Stat. 12191221); including personal services in the District of Columbia; supplies and equipment, including scientific, technical, first-aid, protective, and other apparatus and materials for the arrangement, titling, scoring, repair, processing, editing, duplication, reproduction, and authentication of photographic and other records (including motionpicture and other films and sound recordings) in the custody of the Archivist; purchase and exchange of books, including law books, books of reference, maps, and charts; contract stenographic reporting services; purchase of newspapers, periodicals, and press clippings; not to exceed $100 for payment in advance when authorized by the Archivist for library membership in societies whose publications are available to members only or to members at a price lower than to the general public; travel expenses, including not to exceed $1,000 for the expenses of attendance at meetings concerned with the furtherance of the purposes of the said Acts; exchange of scientific and technical apparatus and labor-saving devices; repairs to equipment; purchase, including exchange, of one passenger-carrying motor vehicle and maintenance, operation, and repair of motor vehicles, $906,200: Provided, That section 3709 of the Revised Statutes (41 U. S. C. 5) shall not be construed to apply to any purchase or service rendered when the aggregate cost involved does not exceed the sum of $50. Printing and binding: For all printing and binding, $14,000. EXTRACT FROM THE SECOND DEFICIENCY APPROPRIATION ACT, 1940, APPROVED JUNE 27, 1940 [Public, No. 668, 76th Cong.] National Archives There is hereby transferred from the appropriation, "Salaries and Expenses, Veterans' Administration, 1941", the sum of $13,560, to the appropriation, "Salaries and Expenses, National Archives, 1941". ACT CONCERNING THE DISPOSAL OF PHOTOGRAPHED RECORDS, APPROVED SEPTEMBER 24, 1940 [Public, No. 788, 76th Cong.] An Act to provide for the disposition of certain photographed records of the United States Government, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That whenever any agency of the United States Government shall have photographed or microphotographed all or any part of the records kept by or in the agency in a manner and on film that complies with the minimum standards of quality approved for permanent photographic records by the National Bureau of Standards, and whenever such photographs or microphotographs shall be placed in conveniently accessible files and provision made for preserving, examining, and using the same, the head of such agency may, with the approval of the Archivist of the United States, cause the original records from which the photographs or microphotographs have been made or any part thereof to be disposed of according to methods prescribed by law, provided records of the same specific kind in the particular agency have been previously authorized for disposition by Congress. SEC. 2. Photographs or microphotographs of any record photographed or microphotographed as herein provided shall have the same force and effect as the originals thereof would have had, and shall be treated as originals for the purpose of their admissibility in evidence. Duly certified or authenticated copies of such photographs or microphotographs shall be admitted in evidence equally with the original photographs or microphotographs. Approved, September 24, 1940. APPENDIX II REGULATIONS FOR THE USE OF RECORDS IN THE CUSTODY OF THE ARCHIVIST OF THE UNITED STATES, PROMULGATED BY THE ARCHIVIST, NOVEMBER 22, 1940 1 Admission to Search Rooms 1 1. Records in the custody of the Archivist of the United States (including maps, still and motion pictures, and sound recordings) may be consulted, except as provided in sections 19 and 20 of these regulations, only in the search rooms in the National Archives Building, which include the central search rooms, the divisional search rooms, and the auditorium. Admission to the search rooms may be obtained only by making application to the Archivist on a form provided for that purpose at the office of the Chief of the Division of Reference and stating clearly thereon the purpose for which records are to be consulted. An applicant may be required to submit an acceptable letter of introduction or otherwise identify himself. 2. If the application is approved, a card of admission will be issued. This card is not transferable and must be produced when required. It is valid for the period indicated on the face thereof, which shall not exceed one year; but it may be renewed upon application. 3. Applications for admission for the purpose of viewing motion pictures or hearing sound recordings should be made sufficiently in advance of the time each service is desired to permit the completion of necessary arrangements. A group of persons must be represented by an authorized spokesman who, in making application for admission, must give the identity of the group he represents. On receipt and approval of the application, a time will be fixed for the rendering of the service and the applicant will be notified thereof. 4. Searchers, except officials of Government agencies authorized by the Archivist to make requests for service directly to custodial divisions, may, as a rule, consult records, other than motion pictures and sound recordings, only in the central search rooms; but in exceptional cases the Chief of the Division of Reference may, with the approval of the chief of the custodial division concerned, give written authorization to searchers to go from the central search rooms to custodial divisions for specific purposes. 5. The possession of a card of admission to the search rooms does not entitle a searcher to examine any document the use of which is restricted by law or by direction of the Archivist. 6. The privilege of admission to the search rooms may be withdrawn by the Archivist for any violation of these regulations, for disregarding the authority of the supervisor in charge, or for offensive conduct. 'Published in the Federal Register, 5: 4639 (Nov. 26, 1940). Opening and Closing Hours 7. The central search rooms are open from 9:00 a. m. to 7:00 p. m. on Mondays through Fridays and from 9:00 a. m. to 5:00 p. m. on Saturdays, legal holidays excepted, and at such other times as the Archivist may direct. The divisional search rooms are open from 9:00 a. m. to 4:30 p. m. on Mondays through Fridays and from 9:00 a. m. to 1:00 p. m. on Saturdays, legal holidays excepted. The auditorium is opened only by special appointment. Records and library books will be available for consultation after 4: 30 p. m. (1:00 p. m. on Saturdays) only when requests for them are filed with the supervisor in charge of the central search rooms before 3:00 p. m. (11:00 a. m. on Saturdays) of the day on which they are to be used. Application for and Use of Records 8. Requests for records should be made to the supervisor in charge of the search room. 9. When a searcher has completed his use of records or leaves the search room, he must notify the supervisor. A searcher is responsible for all records delivered to him until they have been returned by him to the supervisor. 10. The use of ink in the search rooms is forbidden. 11. Records may not be leaned upon, written upon, folded, traced, or handled in any way likely to cause damage to them. 12. The use of paper clips and rubber bands on records is forbidden. 13. The searcher must keep unbound papers in the order in which they are delivered to him. If documents are found to be misfiled, the searcher must not attempt to refile them, but should call the attention of the supervisor to their condition. 14. The use of records of exceptional value or in fragile condition is subject to such special regulations as the Archivist may deem necessary for their protection. 15. No larger quantity of records shall be delivered to a searcher at any one time than, in the opinion of the supervisor in charge of the search room, the searcher can use conveniently and without danger of damaging the documents or of introducing disorder in the files. 16. No records, books, or other property of The National Archives shall be taken from the search rooms except by members of the staff of The National Archives acting in their official capacities. Copying of Documents 17. Requests for the reproduction of documents by The National Archives and for certificates of authentication should be made to the Chief of the Division of Reference. 18. Documents may be copied by searchers with their own photographic equipment only by permission of the Chief of the Division of Reference. Applications for such permission must include a list of the equipment to be used and must state the make, model number, and serial number of the camera. Lending of Records 19. Records in the legal custody of the Archivist may be withdrawn from the National Archives Building temporarily, for official |