of "An Act to amend an act entitled 'An Act to carry into effect, in the States of Alabama and Mississippi, the existing compacts with those States with regard to the five per cent. fund and the school reservations,' approved March third, eighteen hundred and forty-seven," be, and the same are hereby extended, so as to enable the State of Alabama to have three years from the passage of this act in which to make the selections of land authorized by the preceding acts to which this is an amendment. APPROVED, February 26, 1849. CHAP. LXXVII. —An Act making Appropriations for the Payment of Navy Pensions for the Year ending the thirtieth June, one thousand eight hundred and fifty. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the following sums be, and the same are hereby, appropriated out of any money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated, for the payment of navy pensions for the year ending the thirtieth of June, one thousand eight hundred and fifty. To pay invalid pensions, forty thousand dollars. To pay the pensions of widows and orphans of officers, seamen, and marines, fifty thousand dollars. To pay the pensions of invalids who were wounded on board of private armed vessels during the last war with Great Britain, three thousand dollars. APPROVED, March 2, 1849. CHAP. LXXVIII. An Act declaratory of the Act for the Admission of the State March 2, 1849. of Iowa into the Union. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That by the act entitled "An Act for the admission of the State of Iowa into the Union," approved December twenty-eighth, eighteen hundred and fortysix, the United States assented to the application for the support of common schools, as made in the second section of the tenth article of the constitution of said State, of the five per cent. of the net proceeds of the sales of the public lands within the State of Iowa, and of the five hundred thousand acres of land granted to said State by the act of the fourth of September, eighteen hundred and forty-one; said land to be selected in legal subdivisions of not less than three hundred and twenty acres. APPROVED, March 2, 1849. Support of common schools in Iowa. 1846, ch 1. CHAP. LXXIX.- An Act to allow Subsistence to certain Arkansas and other Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the proper accounting officers of the army of the United States be, and they are hereby, required to pay, in money, to each volunteer of the Arkansas regiment, and to each volunteer of any other corps that has been in the military service of the United States, who has been a prisoner of war in Mexico, the sum of forty cents a day, in lieu of subsistence, during the whole time of his imprisonment. March 2, 1849. Money, in lieu of subsistence, to be paid to certain volunteers. SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That the benefits provided by Benefits of this act to be extend- the first section of this act extend to the legal representatives of said ed to legal repre- volunteer. sentatives. What evidence shall be sufficient. March 2, 1849. Pay department ure of offices. SEC. 3. And be it further eaacted, That the same evidence as is now required to establish the fact of ordinary service shall be sufficient to establish the fact of imprisonment, and to authorize and require said accounting officers to make the payment provided by the first section of this act, upon application of said volunteer, his authorized agent, or legal representative. APPROVED, March 2, 1849. CHAP. LXXX.-An Act concerning the Pay Department of the Army. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the pay deof the army re- partment of the army shall consist of a Paymaster-General, who shall organized. Officers, their have the rank of colonel, and the same pay and allowances as are rank, pay, emolu- at present provided by law, and the same tenure of office as the heads ments, and ten- of other disbursing departments of the army; two deputy PaymastersGeneral, with the same rank, pay, and allowances as are now provided by law for such officers, and the same tenure of office as officers of like grade in other disbursing departments of the army; and twenty-five Paymasters, with the same rank, pay, and allowances as are now provided by law for such officers, and the same tenure of office as officers of like grade in other disbursing departments of the army. That it shall be the duty of all disbursing officers of the pay department to renew their bonds, or furnish additional security, at least once in four years, or as much oftener as the President may direct. That the officers of the pay department, provided for by the first section of this act, shall consist of the Paymaster-General, the two deputy PaymastersGeneral now in commission, the fifteen Paymasters who were in service under the acts in force at the commencement of the war with Mexico, and ten Paymasters to be selected from the additional paymasters now in service, and the thirteen Paymasters authorized by the acts of the seventeenth of June, eighteen hundred and forty-six, and the third of March, eighteen hundred and forty-seven. APPROVED, March 2, 1849. Disbursing officers of the denew their bonds every four years. Of what officers partment to re the pay department shall con sist. 1846, ch. 28. 1847, ch. 61. March 2, 1849. 1849, ch. 61. CHAP. LXXXI. - An Act to continue the Light at Sand's Point, on Long Island, Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That so much of the fourth section of the act of the third of March, eighteen hundred and forty-seven, entitled "An Act authorizing the erection of certain lighthouses, and for other purposes," as requires the light at Sand's Point, on Long Island, to be discontinued, be, and it is hereby, repealed. APPROVED, March 2, 1849. CHAP. LXXXII. An Act to amend an Act entitled "An Act for authenticating certain Records," approved February twenty-second, eighteen hundred and forty-nine. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the First section of United States of America in Congress assembled, That the first secact for authenti- tion of the act entitled "An Act for authenticating certain records," cating records amended approved February twenty-second, eighteen hundred and forty-nine, be, and explained. and the same is hereby, amended so as to read as follows: certain SEC. 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That it may and shall be lawful for the keepers or persons having the custody of laws, judgments, orders, decrees, journals, correspondence, or other Repeal of pro vision of act of July 19, 1848, ch. 104, prohibiting the filling of vacancies in the medical staff. CHAP. LXXXIII. An Act to provide for an Increase of the Medical Staff, and March 2, 1849. for an additional Number of Chaplains of the Army of the United States. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That so much of section third of an act entitled "An Act to amend an act entitled An Act supplemental to an act entitled an An Act providing for the prose cution of the existing war between the United States and the republic of Mexico, and for other purposes," approved July nineteen, eighteen hundred and forty-eight, as prevents the filling of vacancies in the medical department of the army until further authorized by law, be, and the same is hereby, repealed. Medical staff SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That the medical staff of the army be increased by the addition of ten assistant surgeons, to be increased. appointed as provided by existing laws, and the regulations made under them. SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That the provisions of the act of eighteen hundred and thirty-eight be, and hereby are, extended so as to authorize the employment of ten additional chaplains, for military posts of the United States. SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That the President be, and he is hereby, authorized, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to appoint a suitable person as judge advocate for the army, to be taken from the captains in the army, who shall have the brevet rank, pay, and emoluments of a major of cavalry, and that so much of the proviso to the third section of the act approved July nineteenth, eighteen hundred and forty-eight, as relates to officers of the Adjutant-General's department, be, and the same is hereby, repealed. APPROVED, March 2, 1849. Appointment of ten additional chaplains authorized. 1838, ch. 162. Judge advocate of the army appointment of, authorized. 1848, ch. 104 CHAP. LXXXIV. An Act for changing the Location of the Land Office in the Chippewa Land District, and establishing an additional Land District in the State of Wisconsin. March 2, 1849. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That from and after the thirtieth June next, the land office for the sale of the public lands in the Chippewa land district shall be removed from the Falls of St. Wisconsin, to be Land office at Falls of St.Croix, water. removed to Still- Croix, to Stillwater, in the county of St. Croix, in the proposed Territory of Minesota; and sales of the public lands in said district shall thereafter be held at Stillwater, in the county aforesaid. Additional land district created. SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That for the sale of the public office and land lands in the Territory of Wisconsin, an additional land office and land district are hereby created, comprising all the lands not included within the districts of land subject to sale at Green Bay, Milwaukee, or Mineral Point, which shall be called the western land district. Post, p. 420. Register and SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That the President be, and he is receiver to be hereby, authorized to appoint, by and with the advice and consent of appointed; their receiver of the public moneys for the said the Senate, a register and powers, duties, and compensa- district, who shall respectively be required to reside at the site of said tions. office, and who shall have the same powers, perform the same duties, and be entitled to the same compensation as are, or may be, prescribed by law in relation to other land officers of the United States. Lands in said posed to sale. SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That the President is authorized district to be ex- to cause the public lands in the said district, with the exemption of sections numbered sixteen, in each township, reserved for the use of schools, or such other lands as may be selected by law in lieu thereof, and of such other tracts as he may select for military or other purposes, to be exposed to sale in the same manner, and upon the same terms and conditions, as the other public lands of the United States. President to de of land office. SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That the President is hereby signate the site authorized to designate the site at which the said office shall be established, and to remove the same to any other place within said district, whenever, in his opinion, it may be deemed expedient. APPROVED, March 2, 1849. March 2, 1849. CHAP. LXXXVI. - An Act in relation to the Fox and Wisconsin River Reservation, in the State of Wisconsin. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That all land entries made in the Green Bay land district, in the State of Wisconsin, upon the odd-numbered sections of the Fox and Wisconsin River reservation, in said State, subsequent to the passage of an act entitled "An Act to grant a certain quantity of land to aid in the improvement of the Fox and Wisconsin Rivers, and connect the same by canal, in the Territory of Wisconsin," approved on the eighth day of August, eighteen hundred and forty-six, be, and the same are hereby, declared to be good and valid as though said act had not been passed: Provided, nevertheless, That the governor of said State is hereby authorized to select the same quantity of other lands in lieu thereof; subject, however, to the approval of the President of the United States. SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That all similar entries made upon the even-numbered sections of said reservations be also declared to be as good and valid as though said reservation had not been made. APPROVED, March 2, 1849. March 2, 1849. CHAP. LXXXVII. —An Act to aid the State of Louisiana in draining the Swamp Lands therein. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Certain swamp United States of America in Congress assembled, That to aid the State lands granted to State of Louisi- of Louisiana in constructing the necessary levees and drains to reclaim the swamp and overflowed lands therein, the whole of those swamp and overflowed lands, which may be or are found unfit for cultivation, shall be, and the same are hereby, granted to that State. ana. shall be selected. SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That as soon as the Secretary of How said lands the Treasury shall be advised, by the Governor of Louisiana, that that State has made the necessary preparation to defray the expenses thereof, he shall cause a personal examination to be made, under the direction of the surveyor-general thereof, by experienced and faithful deputies, of all the swamp lands therein which are subject to overflow and unfit for cultivation; and list of the same to be made out, and certified by the deputies and surveyor-general, to the Secretary of the Treasury, who shall approve the same, so far as they are not claimed or held by individuals; and on that approval, the fee simple to said lands shall vest in the said State of Louisiana, subject to the disposal of the legislature thereof: Provided, however, That the proceeds of said lands shall be applied exclusively, as far as necessary, to the construction of the levees be applied. and drains aforesaid. SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That in making out a list of these swamp lands, subject to overflow and unfit for cultivation, all legal subdivisions, the greater part of which is of that character, shall be included in said list; but when the greater part of a subdivision is not of that character, the whole of it shall be excluded therefrom: Provided, however, That the provisions of this act shall not apply to any lands fronting on rivers, creeks, bayous, watercourses, &c., which have been surveyed into lots or tracts under the acts of third March, eighteen hundred and eleven, and twenty-fourth May, eighteen hundred and twenty-four: And provided, further, That the United States shall in no manner be held liable for any expense incurred in selecting these lands and making out the lists thereof, or for making any surveys that may be required to carry out the provisions of this act. APPROVED, March 2, 1849. Proceeds lands-how of to How selection is to be made when only part of a subdivision is swamp land. Proviso as to land on bayous, 1811, ch. 46. 1824, ch. 141. Proviso. CHAP. LXXXVIII. An Act for the Settlement of the Claims of New Hampshire March 2, 1849. against the United States. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Second Auditor of the Treasury be, and he hereby is, authorized to settle and adjust the account of the State of New Hampshire against the United States, "for sundry military expenses incurred by the State in repelling invasion and suppressing insurrection at Indian Stream, in the county of Coos, in said State," in the same manner and upon the same principles as if the militia therein referred to had been called out by the President of the United States; and to pay the amount thus ascertained to be due out of any unappropriated money in the treasury: Provided, That said amount shall not exceed the sum of seven thousand dollars. APPROVED, March 2, 1849. Claims of the State of New Hampshire for certain military expenses to be justed. audited and ad Proviso - that amount shall not exceed $7000. CHAP. LXXXIX. An Act to define the Period of Disability imposed upon certain March 2, 1819. Bidders for Mail Contracts. Disability imtain bidders for posed upon cermail contracts Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the disability to contract with the Post-Office department, now imposed by law on any person or persons, for entering into combinations against said department in relation to contracts therewith, shall in all cases, existing or to limited to five exist, cease after the expiration of five years from the time incurred: 1836, ch. 270, § 28. Provided, That any person incurring said disability a second time shall Proviso as to never be released therefrom. years. the offending APPROVED, March 2, 1849. |