124 RESOLUTION REGARDING THE PANAMA CANAL ACT. 



The White House, 

 Washington, D. C, November 22, IQ12. 



My Dear Sir: 



Your telegram of the 21st instant has been received, brought to the attention 

 of the President and, by his direction, referred to the Secretary of the Treasury. 

 Very truly yours, 



Charles D. HillEs, 

 Secretary to the President. 

 Mr. Stevenson Taylor, 

 29 West 39th Street, 

 New York, N. Y. 



As the final interpretation of the Act in question by the officials in Washington 

 was in accordance with the above report, no further action by the Society of Naval 

 Architects and Marine Engineers was deemed necessary. 



Extract from Panama Canal Act. 



"That all materials of foreign production which may be necessary for the 

 construction or repair of vessels built in the United States and all such materials 

 necessary for the building or repair of their machinery and all articles necessary 

 for their outfit and equipment may be imported into the United States free of duty 

 under such regulations as the Secretary of the Treasury may prescribe." 



Regulations are hereby prescribed as follows — Definitions: — 



1. "Vessels." — The word "vessels" as used in this Act is defined to include all 

 water craft of a character entitled to be documented under the laws of the United 

 States or vessels of a similar character not required by law to be documented, such 

 as revenue cutters, naval vessels, army transports, etc. 



2. "Materials." — The word "materials" is defined as including any imported 

 merchandise which is suitable for use in the construction or repair of a vessel or of 

 its machinery to be incorporated therein after having undergone a process of manu- 

 facture subsequent to importation, or in its condition as imported, provided it has 

 been purchased in the open market and was not constructed or fabricated upon a 

 special order or after a special design. This will include raw materials, such as pig 

 iron and lumber, to be worked up into the finished state in which they will enter 

 into the hull or machinery, rough forgings and castings but not finished ones, nuts, 

 screws, bolts, steel plates, ship's knees, flooring, and other things, which, though 

 completed articles, are useful as parts in the construction of something else. 



3. "Articles." — The word "articles" is defined as including only such things 

 as are suitable for use in their condition as imported in the outfit and equipment of 

 a vessel. However, articles will be considered as suitable for use in the condition 

 in which imported, although they are to be fitted, polished, painted, or otherwise 

 improved in condition or fixed in place subsequently. 



