until June 30, 1937 74th Congress). *" (Public Resolution No. 11 "SEC. 5. In carrying out the provisions of this joint resolution the President is authorized (within the limits of the appropriation made in section 1) to acquire, by purchase or by the power of eminent domain, any real property or any interest therein, and improve, develop, grant, sell, lease (with or without the privilege of purchasing), or otherwise dispose of any such property or interest therein." Whether or not the last quoted Section (5) of the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act of 1935 is applicable, and whether the dedication of land for parks, play grounds and streets would come within its language," or otherwise dispose of any such property or interest therein ", I find unnecessary to determine. In my opinion to you of September 10, 1934, I considered a proposed dedication of land for roads, streets, walks, parks and parkways in connection with subsistence homesteads projects, provided for in another Section (208) of Title II of the National Industrial Recovery Act and stated the following conclusions: "This question is answered affirmatively. I do not regard such dedication as necessarily representing a gratuity. It more nearly approximates the transfer of a liability, properly assumable by the local authorities. Roads and streets, at least, are indispensable and it is hardly to be supposed that they are to be owned and maintained indefinitely by the United States in a community of private citizens who, as pointed out in the opinion of July 18, 1934, will have the political status of residents of the states and of the subdivisions thereof in which they live, with the right to have their needs for roads, schools, etc., considered by the local authorities in like manner as other citizens" (38 Op. 57, 63). The same reasoning is applicable here; and I therefore answer both questions affirmatively, with the qualification, however, that the function of any lands dedicated for use as parks or playgrounds must be incidental to the contemplated low-cost housing or slum-clearance projects and reasonably necessary in order to provide therefor proper light, air, approaches, etc., as distinguished from monumental, landscaping, scenic or similar functions. Respectfully, STANLEY REED, Acting Attorney General. To the ADMINISTRATOR of PUBLIC WORKS. QUESTIONS RELATING TO THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE FEDERAL REGISTER ACT 1. The publication of the Federal Register is not required by the Federal Register Act to be commenced until the appropriations to the Government Printing Office have been increased as provided for in section 9 of the Act, but such publication should commence on the date such increased appropriations are made available. 2. The provisions of section 2 of the Act requiring the filing of documents with the Director of the Federal Register Division in the National Archives Establishment and the making of copies of such documents available for public inspection do not become effective until the appropriations for the Government Printing Office have been increased as above stated, but such provisions will become effective on the date such appropriations are made available. 3. The provisions of section 11 of the Act requiring the agencies of the Government to prepare and file with the Committee the compilation of all documents referred to in that section became effective on July 26, 1935, the date the Act was approved, and each agency is required to prepare and file such compilation within 6 months after that date. 4. Funds heretofore appropriated for the National Archives are available for payment of the salary of the Director of the Division of the Federal Register. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, SIR: Pursuant to your request as set forth in the letter of your Assistant Secretary, Mr. Marvin H. McIntyre, dated September 3, 1935, I have considered the questions raised by the Archivist of the United States in his letter to you, dated August 31, 1935, relative to the administration of the Federal Register Act, approved July 26, 1935 (Public No. 220, 74th Congress; 49 Stat. 500). These questions are: 1. Whether, in view of the failure of the special appropriations called for in section 9 of the said Act, publication of the Federal Register must be commenced 63 days after the approval of the Act, and if not, at what time must such publication begin? 2. Whether, in view of the failure of the said appropriations, the provisions of section 2 of the Act which require the filing of documents in the Federal Register division become effective 60 days after the approval of the Act, and if not, when do these provisions become effective? 3. Whether, in view of the failure of said appropriations, the provisions of section 11 of the Act, relating to the compilation and publication of all prior administrative rules and orders, became effective upon the approval of the Act, and if not, when do these provisions become effective? The answers to these questions depend upon the construction to be placed upon the following provisions of section 10 of the Federal Register Act: 66 The provisions of section 2 shall become effective sixty days after the date of approval of this Act and the publication of the Federal Register shall begin within three business days thereafter: Provided, That the appropriations involved have been increased as required by section 9 of this Act. * *99 (49 Stat. 503). Section 9 of the Act, referred to in the proviso above quoted, in so far as it relates to appropriations is in the following words: "The cost of printing, reprinting, wrapping, binding, and distributing the Federal Register and any other expenses incurred by the Government Printing Office in carrying out the duties placed upon it by this Act shall be borne by the appropriations to the Government Printing Office and such appropriations are hereby made available, and are authorized to be increased by such additional sums as are necessary for such purposes, such increases to be based upon estimates submitted by the Public Printer. The purposes for which appropriations are available and are authorized to be made. under section 10 of the Act entitled "An Act to establish a National Archives of the United States Government, and for other purposes " (48 Stat. 1122) are enlarged to cover the additional duties placed upon the National Archives Establishment by the provisions of this Act. *99 In view of the above, I am of the opinion that publication of the Federal Register is not required until such time as the appropriations to the Government Printing Office have been increased for that purpose, notwithstanding such time be more than 63 days after the approval of the Act. may I am also of the opinion that the provisions of section 2 of this Act requiring the filing of documents with the division in the National Archives Establishment do not become effective until such appropriations have been increased. It is true that the only appropriations required by section 9 of the Act to be presently increased are the appropriations to the Government Printing Office. This section makes the present appropriation to the National Archives Establishment available for the expense occasioned by the additional duties placed upon that establishment by the Act, and authorizes increases for that purpose in future appropriations to be made to that establishment. Moreover, the legislative history of the proviso in section 10 might be considered of importance. The original bill as passed in the House did not contain the proviso. It was added to the bill in the Senate by amendment. In the conference report on the bill the object of this amendment is explained as follows: "The effect of this amendment is to modify the time when the provisions of section 2 of the Act should become effective, so as not to require publication before the necessary appropriations are available." [Italics supplied.] Considering these facts, and under the opinion of the Supreme Court in Georgia Banking Co. v. Smith, 128 U. S. 174, 181, it might be contended that properly construed the proviso relates only to the publication of the Federal Register. On the other hand, grammatically the proviso would seem to apply to the whole of the preceding portion of section 10 and therefore to relate to both the filing and the publication. Moreover, the Supreme Court has held that in construing a proviso, as in other statutory construction, "it is the duty of the courts to find, if possible, within the four corners of the Act, and from the language used, the scope and meaning of the law." (White v. United States, 191 U. S. 545, 551.) Viewed in this light and considered as a whole the Act would seem to contemplate a contemporaneous filing and publication. Section 2 of the Act relates to the filing of documents and the duties of the Director of the division with reference thereto. Section 3 relates to the publication of such documents. Section 5 defines the kind and classes of documents required to be filed and published. Section 7 provides that documents which are required to be published shall be invalid as against persons having no actual knowledge thereof until they have been filed with the division and copies made available for inspection as provided in section 2. Section 10 in its entirety reads as follows: "The provisions of section 2 shall become effective sixty days after the date of approval of this Act and the publication of the Federal Register shall begin within three business days thereafter: Provided, That the appropriations involved have been increased as required by section 9 of this Act. The limitations upon the effectiveness of documents required, under section 5 (a), to be published in the Federal Register shall not be operative as to any document issued, prescribed, or promulgated prior to the date when such document is first required by this or subsequent Act of the Congress or by Executive order to be published in the Federal Register." The limitations upon the effectiveness of documents referred to in section 10 are those contained in section 7 of the Act, and are as follows: "No document required under section 5 (a) to be published in the Federal Register shall be valid as against any person who has not had actual knowledge thereof until the duplicate originals or certified copies of the document shall have been filed with the Division and a copy made available for public inspection as provided in section 2; and, unless otherwise specifically provided by statute, such filing of any document, required or authorized to be published under section 5, shall, except in cases where notice by publication is insufficient in law, be sufficient to give notice of the contents of such document to any person subject thereto or affected thereby." |