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76 STAT.] PROCLAMATION 3443-DEC. 28, 1961 1441 these great documents and thereby gain new strength for the long struggle against the forces of terror that threaten the freedoms which give meaning to human existence—the right to speak without fear and to seek the truth regardless of frontiers; the right to worship in accord with conscience and to share the strength and glory of religion with our children; the right to determine our own institutions of govern- ment and to vote in secret for the candidate of our choice; the right to justice under law and to protection against arbitrary arrest; the right to labor and to join in efforts to improve conditions of work; the right to unite with our fellows, without distinction as to race, creed, or color, in tearing down the walls of prejudice, ignorance, and pov- erty wherever they may be, and to build ever firmer the foundations of liberty and equality for all. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Seal of the United States of America to be affixed. DONE at the City of Washington this ninth day of December in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and sixty-one, and of [SEAL] the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred and eighty-sixth. JOHN F . KENNEDY By the President: DEAN RUSK, Secretary of State. Proclamation 3443 ESTABLISHING THE BUCK ISLAND REEF NATIONAL MONUMENT IN THE VIRGIN ISLANDS OF THE UNITED STATES By the President of the United States of America December 28, i96i A Proclamation WHEREAS Buck lsh\nd, situated off the northeast coast of St. Croix Island in the Virgin Islands of the United States, was included in the public, government, or crown lands ceded to the United States by Denmark under the convention entered into August 4, 1916, and proclaimed by the President January 25, 1917 (39 Stat. 1706); and WHEREAS all property thus acquired by the United States from Denmark, not reserved by the United States for public purposes prior to June 22, 1937, was placed under the control of the Government of the Virgin Islands by the act of June 22, 1936, 49 Stat. 1807 (48 U.S.C. 1405-1405c), with the legal title remaining in the United States; and WHEREAS Buck Island was not reserved by the United States for public purposes prior to June 22, 1937, but has been owned by the United States continuously since the convention with Denmark in 1916;and WHEREAS Buck Island and its adjoining shoals, rocks, and under- sea coral reef formations possess one of the finest marine gardens in the Caribbean Sea; and WHEREAS these lands and their related features are of great scientific interest and educational value to students of the sea and to the public; and 78135 0-63—94 1442 PROCLAMATION 3443-DEC. 28, 1961 [76 STAT. WHEREAS this unique natural area and the rare marine life which are dependent upon it are subject to constant threat of com- mercial exploitation and destruction; and WHEREAS the Advisory Board on National Parks, Historic Sites, Buildings and Monuments, established pursuant to the act of Au- gust 21, 1935, 49 Stat. 666 (16 U.S.C. 463), impressed by the caliber and scientific importance of the coral reefs of Buck Island, has urged their prompt protection to prevent further despoliation; and WHEREAS the Governor of the Virgin Islands, under the au- thority vested in him by the legislative assembly of the Virgin Islands by an act approved December 5, 1961, has relinquished to the United States, for the purposes of facilitating the establishment and ad- ministration of a national monument for the protection of the above- mentioned areas and objects of historic and scientific interest, such control as is vested in the Government of the Virgin Islands by the said act of Congress dated June 22, 1936, over the area hereinafter described; subject, however, to the condition that the United States, including any agency or instrumentality thereof, shall not adopt or attempt to enforce any rule, regulation or requirement limiting, restricting or reducing the existing fishing (including the landing of boats and the laying of fishpots outside of the marine garden), bathing or recreational privileges by inhabitants of the Virgin Islands, and shall not charge any fees for admission to the area. WHEREAS it is in the public interest to preserve this area of outstanding scientific, aesthetic, and educational importance for the benefit and enjoyment of the people: NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOHN F. KENNEDY, President of the United States of America, under and by virtue of the authority vested in me by section 2 of the act of June 8, 1906, 34 Stat. 225 (16 U.S.C. 431), do proclaim that, subject to valid existing rights, there is hereby reserved and set apart, as the Buck Island Reef National Monument, the area embraced within lines drawn between the coordinates of lati- tude and longitude recited as follows: Beginning at latitude 17°47'58" N., longitude 64°38'16" W.; thence approxi- mately 10,450 feet to latitude 17°47'30" N., longitude 64''36'32" W.; thence approximately 1,500 feet to latitude 17°47'15" N., longitude 64°36'32" W.; thence approximately 4,500 feet to latitude 17''47'00" N., longitude 64°37'16" W.; thence approximately 8,600 feet to latitude 17°47'35" N., longitude 64''38'37" W.; and thence approximately 3,075 feet to latitude 17°47'58" N., longitude 64''38'16" W., the place of beginning, embracing an area of approximately 850 acres. WARNING is expressly given to all unauthorized persons not to appropriate, injure, destroy, deface, or remove any feature of this monument and not to locate or settle upon any of the lands reserved for the monument by this proclamation. The Secretary of the Interior shall have the supervision, manage- ment, and control of this monument as provided in the act of Congress entitled "An act to establish a National Park Service, and for other purposes," approved August 25, 1916, 39 Stat. 535 (16 U.S.C. 1-3), and all acts supplementary thereto and amendatory thereof: Provided^ that neither the Department of the Interior, nor any other agency or instrumentality of the United States, shall adopt or attempt to enforce any rule, regulation or requirement limiting, restricting or reducing the existing fishing (including the landing of boats and the laying of fishpots outside of the marine garden), bathing or recreational privileges by inhabitants of the Virgin Islands, or charge any fees for admission to the area. i-' -c<*-u 76 STAT.1 PROCLAMATION 3 4 4 4 - J A N . 5, 1962 1443 IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Seal of the United States of America to be affixed. DONE at the City of Washington this twenty-eighth day of December in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and [SEAL] sixty-one, and of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred and eighty-sixth. JOHN F . KENNEDY By the President: DEAN RUSK, Secretary of State. Proclamation 3444 HOMESTEAD CENTENNIAL YEAR By the President of the United States of America January s, i962 A Proclamation W H E R E A S May 20, 1962, marks the centennial of the enactment of the Homestead Act (12 Stat. 392), approved by President Lincoln, inducing settlement and cultivation of the undeveloped public lands and the establishment of homes thereon; and WHEREAS the granting of patents to more than 270 million acres of public domain lands has promoted the economic, social, and political development of this country through the establishment of farms, ranches, and communities and has provided the foundation for our highly productive agricultural economy; and WHEREAS the Homestead Act and supplemental acts of Congress, which are unique and distinctively American, stand as a tribute to the wisdom of those responsible for their enactment, in providing for the settlement of the public lands and thereby contributing to our free enterprise system by offering landless and laboring people an opportunity to acquire lands to provide for the needs of their families; and WHEREAS the Homestead Act and supplemental acts provide for the further recognition of those who have served in the armed forces of the United States; and WHEREAS specific Federal administration of the lands of the public domain began one hundred and fifty years ago with the estab- lishment on April 25, 1812, of the General Land Office, now the Bureau of Land Management in the Department of the Interior, and the development of the West has been coextensive with, and based substantially upon, the acquisition, use, and disposal of these lands; and WHEREAS the Nation's public lands have contributed to the development and maintenance of the land-grant colleges and univer- sities and the transcontinental and other railroads, and constitute the resource from which our national forest and park systems have been created; and WHEREAS the approximately 477 million acres of public domain, under the administration of the Department of the Interior, constitute a vital and necessary national land reserve, a trust dedicated to the greatest use and benefit of the public; and