522
Scalia, J., concurring in judgment
ported the bill to the House floor. Moreover, his remarks merely echoed the House Report, which barely a page into its text stated: "We cannot point out too soon, or too emphatically, that the bill is not an inflexible stay of all claims against persons in military service." 1917 House Report 2. Congress intended to depart from the "arbitrary and rigid protection" that had been provided under the Civil War-era stay laws, ibid., which could give protection to men "who can and should pay their obligations in full," id., at 3. It is clear, therefore, that in the 1918 Act Congress intended to create flexible rules that would permit denial of protection to members of the military who could show no hardship.
The 1918 Act expired by its own terms six months after the end of the First World War. See 1918 Act, § 603, 40 Stat. 449. The 1940 Act was adopted as the Nation prepared for its coming participation in the Second World War. Both the House and Senate Reports described it as being, "in substance, identical with the [1918 Act]." H. R. Rep. No. 3001, 76th Cong., 3d Sess., 3 (1940); S. Rep. No. 2109, 76 Cong., 3d Sess., 4 (1940). Moreover, in Boone v. Lightner, 319 U. S. 561, 565 (1943), we acknowledged that the 1940 Act was "a substantial reenactment" of the 1918 Act, and looked to the legislative history of the 1918 Act for indications of congressional intent with respect to the 1940 Act. Relying on that legislative history, we found that "the very heart of the policy of the Act" was to provide "judicial discretion . . . instead of rigid and undiscriminating suspension of civil proceedings." Ibid.
Although the Court never mentions this fact, it is clear that under the 1918 and 1940 Acts a redemption period would not be tolled during the period of military service. In both enactments, § 205 governed only statutes of limitations and did not mention redemption periods.4 Moreover, in
4 Section 205 of the 1918 Act provided: "That the period of military service shall not be included in computing any period now or hereafter to be limited by any law for the bringing of
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