Board shall report annually to Congress. Regents to select a site for building when and where. Proviso. certify the same to the proper officer of the treasury for payment And the said board shall submit to Congress, at each session thereof, a report of the operations, expenditures, and condition, of the institution. SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That, after the board of regents shall have met and become organized, it shall be their duty forthwith to proceed to select a suitable site for such building as may be necessary for the institution, which ground may be taken and appropriated out of that part of the public ground in the city of Washington lying between the patent office and Seventh Street: Provided, The President of the United States, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of War, the Secretary of the Navy, and the Commissioner of the Patent Office, shall consent to the same; but, if the persons last named shall not consent, then such location may be made upon any other of the public grounds within the city of Washington, belonging to the United States, which said regents may select, by and with the consent of the persons herein named; and the said ground, so selected, shall be set out by proper metes and bounds, Selection to be and a description of the same shall be made, and recorded in a book to be provided for that purpose, and signed by the said legents, or so many of them as may be convened at the time of their said organization; and such record, or a copy thereof, certified by the chancellor and secretary of the board of regents, shall be received in evidence, in all courts, of the extent and boundaries of the lands appropriated to the said institution; and, upon the making of such record, such site and lands shall be deemed and taken to be appropriated, by force of this act, to the said institution. recorded. Copy of such record to be evi dence. Description of building to be erected. Board of regents authorized to contract for the erection of a suitable building. SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That, so soon as the board of regents shall have selected the said site, they shall cause to be erected a suitable building, of plain and durable materials and structure, without unnecessary ornament, and of sufficient size, and with suitable rooms or halls for the reception and arrangement, upon a liberal scale, of objects of natural history, including a geological and mineralogical cabinet; also a chemical laboratory, a library, a gallery of art, and the necessary lecture rooms; and the said board shall have authority, by themselves, or by a committee of three of their members, to contract for the completion of such building, upon such plan as may be directed by the board of regents, and shall take sufficient security for the building and finishing the same according to the said plan, and in the time stipulated in such contract; and may so locate said building, if they shall deem it proper, as in appearance to form a wing to the patent office building, and may so connect the same with the present hall of said patent office building, containing the national cabinet of curiosities, as to constitute the said hall, in whole or in part, the deposit for the cabinet of said institution, if they deem it expedient to do so: Provided, said building shall be located upon said patent office lot, in the manner aforesaid: Provided, however, That the whole expense of the building and enclosures aforesaid shall not exceed the amount of (a) dollars, which sum is hereby appropriated, payable out of money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated, together with such sum or sums out of the annual interest accruing to the institution as may, in any year, remain unexpended, Duplicates of after paying the current expenses of the institution. And duplicates of all such contracts as may be made by the said board of regents shall be deposited with the treasurer of the United States; and all claims on any contract made as aforesaid shall be allowed and certified by the board of regents, or the executive committee thereof, as Proviso. contracts to be deposited with the treasurer. (a) No sum is inserted in the record at Washington. the case may be, and, being signed by the chancellor and secretary of the board, shall be a sufficient voucher for settlement and payment at the treasury of the United States. And the board of regents shall be authorized to employ such persons as they may deem necessary to superintend the erection of the building and fitting up the rooms of the institution. And all laws for the protection of public property in the city of Washington shall apply to, and be in force for, the protection of the lands, buildings, and other property, of said institution. And all moneys recovered by, or accruing to, the institution, shall be paid into the treasury of the United States, to the credit of the Smithsonian bequest, and separately accounted for, as provided in the act approved July first, eighteen hundred and thirty-six, accepting said bequest. SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That, in proportion as suitable arrangements can be made for their reception, all objects of art and of foreign and curious research, and all objects of natural history, plants, and geological and mineralogical specimens, belonging, or hereafter to belong, to the United States, which may be in the city of Washington, in whosesoever custody the same may be, shall be delivered to such persons as may be authorized by the board of regents to receive them, and shall be arranged in such order, and so classed, as best [to] facilitate the examination and study of them, in the building so as aforesaid to be erected for the institution; and the regents of said institution shall afterwards, as new specimens in natural history, geology, or mineralogy, may be obtained for the museum of the institution, by exchanges of duplicate specimens belonging to the institu tion, (which they are hereby authorized to make,) or by donatica, which they may receive, or otherwise, cause such new specimens to be also appropriately classed and arranged. And the minerals, books, manuscripts, and other property, of James Smithson, which have been received by the government of the United States, and are now placed in the department of state, shall be removed to said institution, and shall be preserved separate and apart from other property of the institution. SEC. 7. And be it further enacted, That the secretary of the board of regents shall take charge of the building and property of said institution, and shall, under their direction, make a fair and accurate record of all their proceedings, to be preserved in said institution; and the said secretary shall also discharge the duties of librarian and of keeper of the museum, and may, with the consent of the board of regents, employ assistants; and the said officers shall receive for their services such sum as may be allowed by the board of regents, to be paid semi-annually on the first day of January and July; and the said officers shall be removable by the board of regents, whenever, in their judgment, the interests of the institution require any of the said officers to be changed. Members and honorary members may hold stated and special meetings. SEC. 8. And be it further enacted, That the members and honorary members of said institution may hold such stated and special meetings, for the supervision of the affairs of said institution and the advice and instruction of said board of regents, to be called in the manner provided for in the by-laws of said institution, at which the President, and in his absence the Vice-President, of the United States shall preside. And the said regents shall make, from the interest of said fund, an appropriation, not exceeding an average of twenty-five thousand dollars annually, for the gradual formation of a tion of a library. library composed of valuable works pertaining to all departments of human knowledge. moneys which SEC. 9. And be it further enacted, That of any other have accrued, or shall hereafter accrue, as interest upon the said VOL. IX. PUB. — 14 Annual appropriation for the gradual forma Managers authorized to dispose of unappro fund. priated interest Smithsonian fund, not herein appropriated, or not required for the purposes herein provided, the said managers are hereby authorized to make such disposal as they shall deem best suited for the promotion of the purpose of the testator, any thing herein contained to the contrary notwithstanding. Persons taking out copyrights for books, &c., to deposit a copy with librarian of institute, and copy with libra a rian of Congress. Right reserved of altering or repealing this act. Proviso. SEC. 10. And be it further enacted, That the author or proprietor of any book, map, chart, musical composition, print, cut, or engraving, for which a copyright shall be secured under the existing acts of Congress, or those which shall hereafter be enacted respecting copyrights, shall, within three months from the publication of said book, map, chart, musical composition, print, cut, or engraving, deliver, or cause to be delivered, one copy of the same to the librarian of the Smithsonian Institution, and one copy to the librarian of Congress Library, for the use of the said libraries. SEC. 11. And be it further enacted, That there is reserved to Congress the right of altering, amending, adding to, or repealing, any of the provisions of this act: Provided, That no contract, or individual right, made or acquired under such provisions, shall be thereby divested or impaired. APPROVED, August 10, 1846. Aug. 10, 1846. CHAP. CLXXIX. · An Act authorizing the Payment of certain Claims of the State of Alabama. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That there be paid to the State of Alabama, out of any money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated, the sum of thirteen thousand four hundred and fifty-five dollars and thirty-two cents, for moneys paid by the said State for subsistence, supplies, and services, of her local roops, and for provisions and forage furnished the friendly Indians during the Creek and Seminole hostilities, in the years eighteen hundred and thirty-six and eighteen hundred and thirty-seven. APPROVED, August 10, 1846. CHAP. CLXXX.- An Act to provide for the Payment of the Evidences of public Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That whenever it shall appear, to the satisfaction of the Secretary of the Treasury, upon due proof taken in the manner hereinafter directed, that any treasury note, which has been, before the passage of this act, received or redeemed by any authorized officer of the government, has been subsequently purloined or stolen, and put into circulation, without having upon it any evidence or marks of having been cancelled, and has been received by any person or institution, for a full consideration, in the usual course of business, without notice or knowledge of the same having been redeemed or received as aforesaid, or having been cancelled, or having been purloined or stolen as aforesaid, and without any circumstances existing to create suspicion of the good faith or due caution with which the same may have been received by such person or institution, he shall be, and hereby is, authorized to cause the amount of such note to be paid to the innocent holder thereof, out of any money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated. Provided, That the facts upon which any such payment shall be made shall be proved by the oath or affirmation of a credible witness or witnesses, taken before any judge of the United States, or of the highest court of record, or of the presiding judge of any court, exercising unlimited jurisdiction in amount, of any State, Territory, or district, and of the taking of which testimony due notice shall previously be given to the district attorney of the United States for the district in which such testimony is taken, who shall be at liberty to appear and propound questions to such witnesses; all which evidence shall be transmitted to the Secretary of the Treasury, and preserved in his department; and all wilful false swearing upon such examination shall be and hereby is declared to be perjury, and liable ing to be perjury to the punishment for that offence prescribed by the laws of the United States: And provided further, That a statement of all treasury notes paid under the provisions of this act, within the preceding year, shall be submitted to Congress with the annual report of the Secretary of the Treasury in relation to the finances. False swear Statement to be submitted to Congress. Officers and agents of U. S., receive such notes, to be cred who have or may ited with their amount. SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That when any officer or agent of the United States, duly authorized to receive, redeem, or cancel, any treasury notes issued by authority of law, has received, or shall receive, or has paid, or shall pay, any treasury note which had been previously received or redeemed by any officer or agent having authority to receive or redeem such note, and which had subsequently thereto been purloined and put into circulation, the Secretary of the Treasury, upon full and satisfactory proof that the same had been received or paid in good faith, and in the exercise of ordinary prudence, may allow a credit for the amount of such note to the officer or agent so receiving or paying the same; and all credits which have, before the passage of this act, been allowed in such cases, and under to be sanctioned. such circumstances, are hereby sanctioned. SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That all acts and parts of acts heretofore enacted, which are supplied by this act, so far as the same may not have been acted on are hereby repealed, and so far as they may have been acted on, they are ratified and confirmed. APPROVED, August 10, 1846. Credits made Repeal of acts supplied by this act if not acted on; if acted on, ratified and confirmed. RESOLUTIONS. Dec. 29 1845. Texas admitted into the Union. To be entitled [No. 1.] - Joint Resolution for the Admission of the State of Texas into the Union. WHEREAS the Congress of the United States, by a joint resolution approved March the first, eighteen hundred and forty-five, did consent that the territory properly included within, and rightfully belonging to, the Republic of Texas, might be erected into a new State, to be called The State of Texas, with a republican form of government, to be adopted by the people of said republic, by deputies in convention assembled, with the consent of the existing government, in order that the same might be admitted as one of the States of the Union; which consent of Congress was given upon certain conditions specified in the first and second sections of said joint resolution; and whereas the people of the said Republic of Texas, by deputies in convention assembled, with the consent of the existing government, did adopt a constitution, and erect a new State with a republican form of government, and, in the name of the people of Texas, and by their authority, did ordain and declare that they assented to and accepted the proposals, conditions, and guaranties contained in said first and second sections of said resolution: and whereas the said constitution, with the proper evidence of its adoption by the people of the Republic of Texas, has been transmitted to the President of the United States and laid before Congress, in conformity to the provisions of said joint resolution: Therefore Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the State of Texas shall be one, and is hereby declared to be one, of the United States of America, and admitted into the Union on an equal footing with the original States in all respects whatever. SEC. 2. And be it further resolved, That until the representatives to two represent- in Congress shall be apportioned according to an actual enumeration of the inhabitants of the United States, the State of Texas shall be entitled to choose two representatives. atives. APPROVED, December 29, 1845. Jan. 7, 1846. Estimates of appropriations to be printed. [No. 2.]—Joint Resolution relatine to the Printing and Distribution of the annual Estimates. Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That it shall be the duty of the Secretary of the Treasury to cause the estimates of appropriations which he is by law required to prepare and submit to Congress to be printed, and copies of the same to be delivered to the clerk of the House of Representatives, in time for distribution at the commencement of each session; and that the clerk distribute the said estimates in the manner in which documents printed by Congress are directed to be distributed. APPROVED, January 7, 1846. |