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CHAPTER 25.-Approved, March 3, 1851.-Vol. 9, p.

An Act to found a military asylum for the relief and support of invalid and disabled soldiers of the army of the United States.1

That all soldiers of the army of the United States, and all soldiers who have been, or may hereafter be, of the army of the United States, whether regulars or volunteers, and who have contributed, or may hereafter contribute, according to section seven of this act, to the support of the military asylum hereby created, shall, under the restrictions and provisions which follow, be members of the said asylum, with all the rights annexed thereto.

SEC. 2. That, for the good government and attainment of the objects proposed by the institution aforesaid, the general-in-chief commanding the army, the generals commanding the eastern and western geographical military divisions, the quartermastergeneral, the commissary-general of subsistence, the paymastergeneral, the surgeon-general, and the adjutant-general, shall be, ex officio, commissioners of the same, constituting a board of commissioners, a majority of whom shall have power to establish, from time to time, regulations for the general and internal direction of the institution, to be submitted to the secretary of war for approval, and may do any other act or acts necessary for the government and interests of the same, as authorized herein.

SEC. 3. That the officers of the institution shall consist of a governor, a deputy governor, and a secretary, for each separate site of the asylum, the latter to be also treasurer; and the said officers shall be taken from the army, and appointed or removed, from time to time, as the interests of the institution may require, by the secretary of war, on the recommendation of the board of commissioners.

SEC. 4. That the following persons, members of the army asylum, according to section one, shall be entitled to the rights and benefits herein conferred, and no others, viz.: every soldier of the army of the United States who shall have served, or may serve, honestly and faithfully twenty years in the same, and

1 The military asylums at Washington and Harrodsburg were established under this act the latter was ordered to be abolished by 3 March, 1857, sec. 10. For material changes in this act, see chap. 83, 3 March, 1859, sec. 4, 5, 6, and 7.

every soldier, and every discharged soldier, whether regular or volunteer, who shall have suffered by reason of disease or wounds incurred in the service and in the line of his duty, rendering him incapable of further military service, if such disability has not been occasioned by his own misconduct: Provided, That no deserter, mutineer, or habitual drunkard shall be received without such evidence of subsequent service, good conduct, and reformation of character as the commissioners shall deem sufficient to authorize his admission.

SEC. 5. That any soldier admitted into this institution for disability as aforesaid, and who shall recover his health, so as to fit him again for military service, (he being under fifty years of age,) shall be discharged: Provided, That any pensioner on account of wounds or disability incurred in the military service, although he may not have contributed to the funds of the institution, shall be entitled to all the benefits herein provided, upon transferring his pension to said asylum for and during the period that he may voluntarily continue to receive such benefits.

SEC. 6. That the provisions of the foregoing sections shall not be extended to any soldier in the regular or volunteer service who shall have been convicted of felony, or other disgraceful or infamous crimes of a civil nature, since he shall have been admitted into the service of the United States.

SEC. 7. That for the support of the said institution the following funds shall be set apart, and the same are hereby appropriated: any unexpended balance of the appropriation made March second, eighteen hundred and forty-seven, now remaining in the treasury, for the benefit of discharged soldiers disabled. by wounds; the sum of one hundred and eighteen thousand seven hundred and ninety-one dollars and nineteen cents, levied by the commanding general of the army of the United States in Mexico, during the war with that republic, for the benefit of the soldiers of the United States army, regulars and volunteers, engaged in that war, but taken possession of as funds of the United States and placed in the treasury; all stoppages or fines adjudged against soldiers by sentence of courts-martial, over and above any amount that may be due for the reimbursement of

1 So modified by sec. 5, chap. 83, 3 March, 1857, as to embrace "invalid and disabled soldiers, whether regulars or volunteers, of the war of 1812, and all subsequent wars."

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government, or of individuals; all forfeitures on account of desertion, all moneys, not exceeding two-thirds of the balance on hand, of the hospital fund, and of the post fund of each military station, after deducting the necessary expenses of the year, and all moneys belonging to the estates of deceased soldiers, which now are or may hereafter be unclaimed for the period of three years subsequent to the death of said soldier or soldiers, to be repaid by the commissioners of the institution, upon the demand of the heirs or legal representatives of the deceased: And provided, also, That from the first day of the month, next after the passage of this act, there shall be deducted from the pay of every noncommissioned officer, musician, artificer, and private of the army of the United States, the sum of twenty-five cents per month, which sum so deducted shall, by the pay department of the army, be passed to the credit of the commissioners of the army asylum, who are hereby also authorized to receive all donations of money or property made by any person or persons for the benefit of the institution, and hold the same for its sole and exclusive use: Provided, That the deduction of twenty-five cents per month from the pay of non-commissioned officers, musicians, artificers, and privates of regiments of volunteers, or other corps or regiments, raised for a limited period or for a temporary purpose or purposes, shall only be made with their consent.

SEC. 8. That the commissioners of this institution, by and with the approval of the President, be, and the same are hereby, authorized and required to procure for immediate use, at a suitable place or places, a site or sites for the military asylum, and if the necessary buildings cannot be procured with the site or sites, to have the same erected, having due regard to the health of the locations, facility of access, to economy, and giving preference to such places as, with the most convenience and least cost, will accommodate the persons provided for in this act.

SEC. 9. That the commissioners, with the approval of the secretary of war, prepare the necessary rules and regulations for the government of said institution, and cause the same to be fitted and furnished for the immediate reception of those persons provided for in this act, and that the secretary of war report upon the execution of this duty at the next session of Congress.

[Approved, March 3, 1851.]

1 The words in italics repealed by sec. 2, chap. 133, 5 July, 1862.

2 Reduced to 12 cents per month by sec. 7, chap. 83, 3 March, 1859, which see for important changes.

CHAPTER 33.-Approved, March 3, 1851.-Vol. 9, p. 618. An Act making appropriations for the support of the army for the year ending the thirtieth of June, one thousand eight hundred and fifty-two.

SEC. 1. For pay of the army, &c. Provided, That all promotions in the staff department, or corps, shall be made as in other corps of the army.1

CHAPTER 37.-Approved, March 3, 1851.—Vol. 9, p. 627. An Act making appropriations for light-houses, light-boats, buoys, &e., and providing for the erection and establishment of the same, and for other purposes.

SEC. 2. That if such person as the secretary of the treasury shall designate shall report, in any of the cases herein provided for, that preliminary surveys are necessary to determine the site of a proposed light-house or light-boat, beacon or buoy, or to ascertain more fully what the public exigency demands, the secretary of the treasury shall thereupon direct the superintendent of the survey of the coast of the United States to perform such duty on the seaboard, and the colonel of the corps of topographical engineers to perform such duty on the northwestern lakes.

SEC. 3. That the officers so directed shall forthwith enter upon the discharge of the duty, and, after fully ascertaining the facts, shall report: First, whether the proposed facility to navigation is the most suitable for the exigency which exists; and, Second, where it should be placed if the interests of commerce demand it: Third, if the thing proposed be not the most suitable, whether it is expedient to make any other kind of improvement: Fourth, whether the proposed light has any connection with other lights, and if so, whether it cannot be so located as to subserve both the general and local wants of trade and navigation: and, Fifth, whether there be any, and, if any, what other facts of importance touching the subject.2

1 By sec. 8, chap. 162, 5 July, 1838, the transfer of officers from the line to the staff of the adjutant-general is to be without prejudice to their rank and promotion in the line. And by sec. 7, 18 June, 1846, appointments in the line and in the general staff which confer equal rank in the army shall not be held by the same officer at the same time, &c.

Sec. 2 and 3 are continued by sec. 17, chap. 112, 31 Aug. 1852.

SEC. 4. That all such reports shall, as speedily as may be, be laid before the secretary of the treasury, and if such as to authorize the work without further legislation, he shall forthwith proceed with it; otherwise, such reports shall be laid before Congress at the next ensuing session; but in all cases where the person designated by the secretary of the treasury, under the second section of this act, does not report such preliminary examination as expedient, the provisions of this act shall without delay be carried into execution.

SEC. 8. That the secretary of the treasury be, and he is hereby, authorized and required to cause a board, to be convened at as early a day as may be practicable after the passage of this act, to be composed of two officers of the navy, of high rank, two officers of engineers of the army, and such civil officer of high scientific attainments as may be under the orders, or at the disposition, of the treasury department, and a junior officer of the navy to act as secretary to said board, whose duty it shall be, under instructions from the treasury department, to inquire into the condition of the light-house establishment of the United States, and make a general detailed report and programme to guide legislation in extending and improving our present system of construction, illumination, inspection, and superintendence: Provided, That no additional compensation shall be allowed any person serving on said board.

SEC. 9. That the President be, and he is hereby, required to cause to be detailed from the engineer corps of the army, from time to time, such officers as may be necessary to superintend the construction and renovating light-houses.1

[Approved, March 3, 1851.]

[By Res. 6, 3 March, 1851, vol. 9, p. 647, the benefits of the acts of 7 July, 1838, chap. 189, ante, 3 March, 1843, chap. 102, ante, and 17 June, 1844, chap. 102, ante, granting pensions to widows, extended to those whose husbands died after the passage of those acts.]

1 See act 31 Aug. 1852, chap. 112.

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