17. {Same; voting franchise; discrimination based on race, color, sex,
 or religious belief prohibited)

 Beginning on January 1, 1938, or on such earlier date subsequent to January
1, 1937, as may be fixed by local law or ordinance for either municipality, and
thereafter, the franchise shall be vested in residents of the Virgin Islands who are
citizens of the United States, twenty-one years of age, or over, and able to read and
write the English language. Additional qualifications may be prescribed by the
legislative assembly: Provided, however, That no property or income qualification shall
ever be imposed upon or required of any voter, nor shall any discrimination in
qualification be made or based upon difference in race, color, sex, or religious belief.


 18. (Same; laws continued in force until modified; patent, trade-mark,
 and copyright laws extended to Islands; jurisdiction of district
 court)

 The laws of the United States applicable to the Virgin Islands on the date of
 enactment of this Act, and all local laws and ordinances in force on such date in the
 Virgin Islands, not inconsistent with this Act, shall continue in force and effect:
 Provided, That the Municipal Council of Saint Croix and the Municipal Council of Saint
 Thomas and Saint John, and the legislative assembly, shall have power, when not
 inconsistent with this Act and within their respective jurisdictions, to amend, alter,
 modify, or repeal any law of the United States of local application only, or any
 ordinance, public or private, civil or criminal, continued in force and effect by this Act,
 except as herein otherwise provided, and to enact new laws and ordinances not
 inconsistent with this Act and not inconsistent with the laws of the United States
 hereafter made applicable to the Virgin Islands or any part thereof, subject to the
 power of the Congress to annul the same. The laws of the United States relating to
 patents, trade marks, and copyrights, and to the enforcement of rights arising
 thereunder, shall have the same force and effect in the Virgin Islands as in the
 continental United States, and the District Court of the Virgin Islands shall have the
 same jurisdiction in causes arising under such laws as is exercised by United States
 district courts. *

 19. {Same; legislative power; tax discrimination against non-residents
 prohibited}

 The legislative power of the Virgin Islands shall extend to all subjects of local
 application not inconsistent with this Act or the laws of the United States made
 applicable to said islands, but no law shall be enacted which would impair rights
 existing or arising by virtue of any treaty entered into by the United States, nor shall
 the lands or other property of nonresidents be taxed higher than the lands or other
 property of residents. *