PUBLIC LAWS-CH. 722-SEPT. 18, 1940 Duration. Merger. Transfer of certifi- cates and permits. Authority of Com- mission. Information re- quired. Filingofcopyofcon- tract, charter, or agree- ment. Confidential treat- ment accorded. Proveso. Failure to conform to published schedule. Ante, p. 936. Uniform system of accounts Such temporary authority shall be valid for such time as the Com- mission shall specify but not for more than an aggregate of one hundred and eighty days, and shall create no presumption that corresponding permanent authority will be granted thereafter. "(b) Pending the determination of an application filed with the Commission under this Act for approval of a consolidation or merger of the properties of two or more water carriers, or of a purchase, lease, or contract to operate the properties of one or more water carriers, the Commission may, for good cause shown, and without hearings or other proceedings, grant temporary approval, for a period not exceeding one hundred and eighty days, of operation of the properties of such carriers by water by the person proposing to acquire them, as aforesaid. "rRANSFER OF CERTIFICATES AND PERMITS "SEO. 312. Except as provided in this part, any such certificate or permit may be transferred in accordance with such regulations as the Commission shall prescribe for the protection of the public interest and to insure compliance with the provisions of this part. "ACCOUNTS, REOORDS, AND REPORTS "SEC. 313. (a) The Commission is hereby authorized to require annual, periodical, or special reports from water carriers and lessors (as defined in this section), and to prescribe the manner and form in which such reports shall be made, and to require from such carriers and lessors specific and full, true, and correct answers to all questions upon which the Commission may deem information to be necessary. Such annual reports shall give an account of the affairs of the carrier or lessor in such form and detail as may be prescribed by the Commission. Said annual reports shall contain all the required information for the period of twelve months ending on the thirty-first day of December in each year, unless the Commission shall specify a different date, and shall be made out under oath and filed with the Commission at its office in Washington within three months after the close of the year for which the report is made, unless addi- tional time be granted in any case by the Commission. Such periodi- cal or special reports as may be required by the Commission under this paragraph shall also be under oath whenever the Commission so requires. "(b) The Commission may also require any such carrier to file with it a true copy of any contract, charter, or agreement between such carrier and any other carrier or person in relation to transportation facilities, service, or traffic affected by the provisions of this part. The Commission shall not, however, make public any contract, char- ter, or agreement between a contract carrier by water and a shipper, or any of the terms or conditions thereof, except as a part of the record in a formal proceeding where it considers such action con- sistent with the public interest: Provided,That if it appears from an examination of any such contract that it fails to conform to the published schedule of the contract carrier by water as required by section 306 (e), the Commission may, in its discretion, make public such of the provisions of the contract as the Commission considers necessary to disclose such failure and the extent thereof. "(c) The Commission may, in its discretion, for the purpose of enabling it the better to carry out the purposes of this part, prescribe a uniform system of accounts applicable to any class of water carriers, and a period of time within which such class shall have such uniform system of accounts, and the manner in which such accounts shall be kept. 944 [54 STAT.
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