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VIII. TITLES AND ABSTRACTS OF THE PUBLIC LAWS, PASSED AT THE FIRST SESSION OF THE 34TH CONGRESS.

[The references by Chapters are to Little, Brown, & Co.'s authorized edition of the Laws of the United States. The omitted Chapters are private acts.] Appropriations for the Years ending June 30, 1856, and June 30, 1857.* For Civil and Diplomatic Expenses. For the year ending June 30, 1856. Legislative.-Congress, pay of members,

66

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Officers and Clerks of both
Houses,

Contingent expenses of Senate, including en-
graving, reporting, books, newspapers, &c.
Contingent expenses of House, including as
above,

Paper and printing of both Houses,

Library of Congress.-Purchase of books, &c.

Incidental expenses,

Executive. - President of the United States,

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June 30, 1857.

$890,686.00

$1,425,450.00

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Surveys of Public Lands,

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Intercourse with Foreign Nations,

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Custom-Houses, Post-Offices, and Court-Houses,

940,500.00

2,639,873.33

Coast Survey,

445,000.00

550,000.00

Independent Treasury,

65,600.00

Public Buildings and Grounds, including Executive Buildings, 1,185,430.28

72,100.00

1,598,464.00

Public Lands,

612,300.00

253,000.00

Marine Hospitals,

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Paper and Printing for Executive Departments,

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Indians and Indian Treaties,

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Miscellaneous and Contingent,

720,335.59

1,087,919.46

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Indian Department and Treaty Stipulations with Indian Tribes, 2,267,948.06

2,539,285.25

Fortifications,

1,842,600.00

1,694.300.00

Lighthouses, Lightboats, Buoys, &c.

1,215,580.15

Mail Steamers,

2,013,600 00

Military Roads in Territories,

280,000.00

50,000.00

Military Posts in Territories,

15,000.00

Rivers and Harbors,

161,000.00

775,000.00

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1,087,919.46

Relief of Sundry Individuals,

154,358.79

* Total,

$71,144,623.62 $67,477,132.50

No. 1. Ch. I. An Act to relieve the Commissioner of Pensions from the Performance of certain Clerical Duties. The Commissioner, with the approval of the Secretary of the In

*The following amounts are substantially accurate.

The army apportionment bill was passed at the Extra Session of Congress, and was approved August 30th, 1856.

terior, may from time to time appoint a person to sign the Commissioner's name to certificates or warrants for bounty lands. February 20, 1856.

No. 2. Ch. IV.

An Act authorizing the Secretary of the Treasury to change the Names of Vessels in certain Cases. Owners may have the names of their vessels changed, if the Secretary see fit, and he may establish regulations for this purpose. March 5, 1856. No. 3. Ch. VIII. An Act to define the Jurisdiction of the District and Circuit Courts of the United States, for the District of East Tennessee. It embraces the following counties: Anderson, Bledsoe, Blount, Bradley, Campbell, Carter, Claiborne, Cocke, Grainger, Greene, Hamilton, Hancock, Hawkins, Jefferson, Johnson, Knox, McMinn, Meigs, Marion, Monroe, Morgan. Polk, Rhea, Roane, Sevier, Scott, Sullivan, Washington, Union, and Cumberland, and any new counties formed out of the same. March 19, 1856. No. 4. Ch. IX. An Act relating to Punishment in the Penitentiary. Any one convicted of an offence punishable by imprisonment and hard labor, may be sentenced to the penitentiary within the State, though it be out of the judicial district where the conviction is had. March 22, 1856.

No. 5. Ch. XI. An Act to continue temporarily the Land-Offices at Kalamazoo, in the State of Michigan, and at Palmyra, in the State of Missouri. They are to be discontinued when the President thinks the public interest will permit. April 5, 1856. No. 6. Ch. XII. An Act to constitute the Cities of Hannibal, Missouri, and Peoria, Illinois, Ports of Delivery. They are made part of the collection district of New Orleans, and there is to be a Surveyor at each port. April 5, 1856.

No. 7. Ch. XIII. An Act making Appropriations for restoring and maintaining the Peaceable Disposition of the Indian Tribes on the Pacific, and for other Purposes. $300,000 are appropriated for the Indians, and $120,000 for gunpowder for the Pacific coast. April 5, 1856.

No. 8. Ch. XIV. An Act making Appropriations for the Payment of Invalid and other Pensions of the United States for the Year ending June 30th, 1857. $1,460,304.07 are appropriated. April 5, 1856.

No. 9. Ch. XVIII. An Act to change the Times of holding the United States Courts in the Southern District of Illinois. They shall be at Springfield on the first Mondays of January and June. April 23, 1856.

No. 10. Ch. XIX. An Act making Appropriations for the Support of the Military Academy, for the Year ending June 30th, 1857. $158,894 are appropriated. A copy of all documents published by the Senate is to be sent to the library of the Academy. April 23, 1856.

No. 11. Ch. XX. An Act to repeal part of an Act entitled "An Act to provide for the Safe-keeping of the Acts, Records, and Seal of the United States, and for other Purposes." The charge of twenty-five cents for affixing the seal to authenticate copies is abolished. April 23, 1856.

No. 12. Ch. XXI. An Act amendatory of an Act entitled "An Act to regulate the Fees and Costs to be allowed Clerks, Marshals, and Attorneys of the Circuit and District Courts of the United States, and for other Purposes." The provisions as to jurors' fees are extended to the jurors of the United States Courts for the District of Columbia. April 23, 1856. No. 13. Ch. XXIII. An Act to alter and amend an Act entitled "An Act to establish a Circuit Court of the United States in and for the State of California," approved March 3d, 1855. For times and places of holding the court, see ante, p. 123. There shall be four sessions of the court each year, two in the Northern and two in the Southern District. The Circuit Judge, and the District Judge for the district where the court is held, shall preside over said court, either one being a quorum, and each one having all the authority of any Circuit Judge in any circuit in the United States, all laws relating to which are made applicable to this court. The marshal for each district shall be the marshal of this court in said district. The clerk of this court shall keep his records at San Francisco, and he may appoint deputies, whose acts shall have full credit as his own. Provision is made for the transfer of suits of Circuit Court jurisdiction from the District Courts to this court. This act takes effect ninety days from its passing, and not before. April 30, 1856.

No. 14. Ch. XXIV. An Act creating Columbus, in Kentucky, a Port of Delivery. It is made part of the New Orleans Collection District, and a surveyor is authorized. It is made the duty of the Secretary of the Treasury to abolish this port when, in his judgment, the public good requires. May 9, 1856.

No. 15. Ch. XXV. An Act to surrender to the State of Illinois the Cumberland Road in said State. May 9, 1856.

No. 16. Ch. XXVI. An Act to amend the Act in Addition to certain Acts granting Bounty Land to certain Officers and Soldiers who have been engaged in the Military Service of the United States, approved March 3d, 1855. [Acts of 1855, ch. 207.] Wherever a certificate or warrant for Bounty Land, for less than one hundred and sixty acres, has been issued under existing laws, the evidence upon which it was issued shall be received to establish the service of the person for whom it was issued, in his application, or that of his widow or minor children, for a certificate or warrant for sufficient land to make up one hundred and sixty acres, on proof of the identity of such officer or soldier, or, in case of his death, of the marriage and identity of his widow, or, in case of her death, of the identity of his minor child or children. But if the Commissioner of Pensions shall not be satisfied that the former certificate or warrant was properly granted, he may require additional evidence both of the fact and term of service.

So where a pension has been granted to any officer or soldier, the evidence upon which it was granted shall be received to establish the service of such officer or soldier in his application for Bounty Land under existing laws; and upon proof of his identity as such pensioner, a certificate or warrant shall issue to him for the land to which he is entitled; and, in case of his death, the widow, or, if she be dead, the minor child or children, shall have the certificate or warrant. But if the Commissioner of Pensions is not satisfied that the pension was properly granted, he may require additional evidence both of the fact and of the term of service.

Hereafter parol evidence of service may be received, where no record evidence exists, under such rules as the Commissioner of Pensions shall prescribe. The eighth section of the act to which this is in addition shall embrace officers, marines, seamen, and other persons engaged in the naval service of the United States during the Revolutionary war, and their widows and minor children. They shall also be extended to all who have served as volunteers with the armed forces of the United States, subject to military orders, for fourteen days, in any of the wars specified in the first section of said act, whether mustered into the service of the United States or not, and their widows or minor children; and when any company, battalion, or regiment, in an organized form, marched under the authority of the President, or any general officer of the United States commanding an army or department, or of the Chief Executive of the State or Territory by which it was called into service, more than twenty miles to the place where they were mustered or discharged, one day shall be allowed in computing the length of service for every twenty miles in march to the place of muster, or from that of discharge. May 14, 1856.

No. 17. Ch. XXVIII. An Act making a Grant of Lands to the State of Iowa, in alternate Sections, to aid in the Construction of certain Railroads in said State. To aid in the construction of a railroad from Burlington, on the Mississippi, to a point on the Missouri, near the mouth of the Platte River; one from the city of Davenport, via Iowa City and Fort Des Moines, to Council Bluffs; one from Lyons City northwesterly to a point of intersection with the main line of the Iowa Central Air-Line Railroad, near Maquoketa, thence on said main line, running as near as practicable to the 42d parallel, across the said State to the Missouri River, from the city of Dubuque to a point on the Missouri near Sioux City, with a branch from the mouth of the Tete Des Morts to the nearest point on said road, to be completed as soon as the main road is completed to that point, — there is granted to the State of Iowa every alternate section of land, designated by odd numbers, for six sections in width on each side of said roads, but in no case to be farther than fifteen miles from the line of said roads respectively. If it shall be found that the United States have sold or that pre-emption rights have attached to any of the land hereby granted, the Governor of Iowa may select, subject to the approval of the Secretary

of the Interior, from the lands of the United States nearest to the tiers of sections above specified, in alternate sections, an amount of land equal to that so sold, &c., and in lieu thereof. In case the United States have heretofore reserved, for any purpose, any of said lands, they are saved from the operation of this act, except that the right of way is hereby granted to said roads over them. The lands thus granted to the State are subject to the disposal of the Legislature thereof, to be disposed of only as the road progresses, and the proceeds to be exclusively applied to the construction of said roads respectively, and for no other purposes whatever. The remaining lands of the United States, within six miles on each side of said roads, shall not be sold for less than double the minimum price of the public lands; nor shall they be subject to private entry, until they have first been offered at public sale at the increased price.

The lands are to be disposed of by the State only, as follows:- A quantity not exceeding one hundred and twenty sections, and included within a continuous length of twenty miles of each of said roads, may be sold; and when the Governor shall certify to the Secretary of the Interior that any twenty continuous miles of any of the roads is completed, then another quantity, not exceeding one hundred and twenty sections for each road having twenty continuous miles of road completed, and included within a continuous length of twenty miles of each of said roads, may be sold; and so from time to time, until said roads are completed; and if any of the roads are not completed within ten years, no further sale shall be made on account of such road, and the lands unsold shall revert to the United States.

These railroads shall be public highways for the use of the government of the United States, free from toll or other charge upon the transportation of any property or troops of the United States, and the mail shall be carried over them at such price as Congress may by law direct, and until such price is fixed by law, the Postmaster-General shall determine it. May 15, 1856.

No. 18. Ch. XXIX. An Act to supply Deficiencies in the Appropriations for the Service of the Fiscal Year ending June 30th, 1856. $4,194,416.30 are appropriated. The twenty per cent additional compensation is allowed the officers of the library of Congress, but not the public printer. Blank-books, binding, ruling, &c. for the Executive Departments are no longer to be furnished by the Superintendent of Public Printing. $3,000 is the full salary of the Governor of New Mexico, including his duties as Superintendent of Indian Affairs. May 15, 1856.

No. 19. Ch. XXX. An Act to provide for at least two Election Precincts in each Ward in the City of Washington, and for other Purposes. Persons naturalized between the 30th of December preceding the election and the day of the election, shall not vote at such next succeeding election. At all elections for municipal officers, the polls shall open at 7 A. M., and close at 7 P. M. May 16, 1856.

No. 20. Ch. XXXI. An Act granting Public Lands in alternate Sections to the States of Florida and Alabama, to aid in the Construction of certain Railroads in said States. A grant of public lands within the States respectively, precisely similar in terms and conditions to that to Iowa (for which see ante, No. 17, Ch. XXVIII. p. 142), is made to Florida, to aid in the construction of railroads, to wit: one from St. John's River, at Jacksonville, to the waters of Escambia Bay, at or near Pensacola; one from Amelia Island, on the Atlantic, to the waters of Tampa Bay, with a branch to Cedar Key on the Gulf of Mexico; and one from Pensacola to the State line of Alabama, in the direction of Alabama; and to the State of Alabama, to aid in the construction of a railroad from Montgomery to the State line of Florida, in the direction of Pensacola. May 17, 1856.

No. 21. Ch. XXXVI. An Act to transfer certain Rights and Duties conferred upon the Trustees of the Town of Vincennes, Indiana, to the Common Council of the City of Vincennes. June 2, 1856.

No. 22. Ch. XLI. An Act granting Public Lands in alternate Sections to the State of Alabama, to aid in the Construction of certain Railroads in said State. The railroads aided are from the Tennessee River, at or near Gunter's Landing, to Gadsden on the Coosa River; from Gadsden to connect with the Georgia and Tennessee and Tennessee line of railroads through Chattooga, Wills, and Lookout Valleys; and from Elyton to the

Tennessee River, at or near Beard's Bluff, Alabama; the Memphis and Charleston Railroad, from Memphis, Tennessee, to Stevenson, on the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad in Alabama; the Girard and Mobile Railroad, from Girard to Mobile, Alabama; the Northeastern and Southwestern Railroad, from near Gadsden to some point on the Alabama and Mississippi State line in the direction to the Mobile and Ohio Railroad, with a view to connect with said Mobile and Ohio road; the Coosa and Alabama Railroad, from Selima to Gadsden; the Central Railroad, from Montgomery to some point on the Alabama and Tennessee State line, in the direction to Nashville, Tenn. The lands granted for constructing a railroad from the northeast to the southwestern portion of the State, lying northwest of Elyton, shall be assigned to such road as may be designated by the Legislature of Alabama.

For the terms and conditions of the grants, see the grants to Iowa, to which they are in all respects similar, ante, No. 17, Ch. XXVIII., p. 142. June 3, 1856.

No. 23. Ch. XLII. An Act making a Grant of Lands to the State of Louisiana, to aid in the Construction of Railroads in said State. The railroads are from the Texas line in Louisiana west of the town of Greenwood, via Greenwood, Shreveport, and Monroe, to a point on the Mississippi River opposite Vicksburg; from New Orleans by Opelousas to the State line of Texas; and from New Orleans to the State line in the direction to JackMiss. For the terms and conditions of the grants, see the grants to Iowa, to which they are in all respects similar, ante, No. 17, Ch. XXVIII., p. 142. June 3, 1856.

son,

No. 24. Ch. XLIII. An Act granting Public Lands to the State of Wisconsin, to aid in the Construction of Railroads in said State. The railroads are from Madison, or Columbus, by the way of Portage City to the St. Croix River or Lake between townships 25 and 31, and thence to the west end of Lake Superior, and to Bayfield; and also from Fond du Lac on Lake Winnebago, northerly to the State line. The terms and conditions of the grants are like those to Iowa. See ante, No. 17, Ch. XXVIII., p. 142. June 3, 1856. No. 25. Ch. XLIV. An Act making a Grant of alternate Sections of the Public Land to the State of Michigan, to aid in the Construction of certain Railroads in said State, and for other Purposes. The railroads are from Little Bay de Noguet to Marquette, and thence to Ontonagon, and from the last two named places to the Wisconsin State line; from Amboy, by Hillsdale and Lansing, and from Grand Rapids to some point on or near Traverse Bay; also from Grand Haven and Pere Marquette to Fluit, and thence to Port Huron. The terms and conditions of the grants are like those to Iowa, ante, No. 17, Ch. XXVIII., p. 142. June 3, 1856.

No. 26. Ch. XLV. An Act to change the Place of holding the Courts of the United States, in the District of Delaware. The courts are to be held, and the offices of the clerks to be, at Wilmington. June 14, 1856. No. 27. Ch. XLVII. An Act to revive and continue in force the Provisions of the Act of 1853, in relation to "Suspended Entries of Public Lands," and the Act of 1846 in relation to "Suspended Pre-emption Land Claims." The provisions of these acts are revived and continued in force, and made applicable to cases that have arisen since, and that may arise hereafter, and shall apply to locations under bounty land warrants, as well as to ordinary entries and locations, and to all other pre-emption cases or locations where the law has been substantially complied with, and the error has arisen from ignorance, accident, or mistake, and is satisfactorily explained, and where existing rights will not be prejudiced, and there is no adverse claim. June 26, 1856.

No. 28. Ch. XLVIII. An Act changing the Time of holding the District Court of the United States at Wytheville, in the Western District of Virginia. See Times and Places of holding the District Courts, ante, p. 126. This act takes effect from its passage. June 26, 1856.

No. 29. Ch. L. An Act changing the Time of holding the United States Courts in Tennessee. See Times and Places of holding Circuit and District Courts, ante, pp. 123, 127. July 3, 1856.

No. 30. Ch. LI. An Act granting to certain Citizens of the State of Missouri the Right to enter certain Lands in the Plattsburgh District, in said State. July 3, 1856.

No. 31. Ch. LIV. An Act to remove Obstructions to Navigation in the Mouth of the

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