Until the rooms, &c., directed to be prepared by the first four sections of

this act can be

constructed, others to be pro

cured

1789, ch. 5.

1800, ch. 55.

On and after Jan. 1, 1817, the duties, taxes,&c., accruing to the U. S. shall be paid in gold and silver coin, or in treasury notes.

vaults, and safes, directed by the first four sections of this act to be constructed and prepared for the use of the treasurer of the United States, the treasurers of the mints at Philadelphia and New Orleans, and the assistant treasurers at New York, Boston, Charleston, and St. Louis, can be constructed and prepared for use, it shall be the duty of the Secretary of the Treasury to procure suitable rooms for offices for those officers at their respective locations, and to contract for such use of vaults and safes as may be required for the safe-keeping of the public moneys in the charge and custody of those officers respectively, the expense to be paid by the United States.

And whereas, by the thirtieth section of the act entitled "An Act to regulate the Collection of Duties imposed by Law on the Tonnage of Ships or Vessels, and on Goods, Wares, and Merchandises, imported into the United States," approved July thirty-one, seventeen hundred and eighty-nine, it was provided that all fees and dues collected by virtue of that act should be received in gold and silver coin only; and whereas, also, by the fifth section of the act approved May ten, eighteen hundred, entitled "An Act to amend the Act entitled An Act providing for the Sale of the Lands of the United States in the Territory North-west of the Ohio, and above the Mouth of Kentucky River," " it was provided that payment for the said lands shall be made by all purchasers in specie, or in evidences of the public debt; and whereas, experience has proved that said provisions ought to be revived and enforced, according to the true and wise intent of the constitution of the United States.

SEC. 18. Be it further enacted, That on the first day of January, in the year one thousand eight hundred and forty-seven, and thereafter, all duties, taxes, sales of public lands, debts, and sums of money accruing or becoming due to the United States, and also all sums due for postages or otherwise, to the general post-office department, shall be paid in gold and silver coin only, or in treasury notes issued under the authority of the United States: Provided, That the Secretary of Monthly pub the Treasury shall publish, monthly, in two newspapers at the city of Washington, the amount of specie at the several places of deposit, the amount of treasury notes or drafts issued, and the amount outstanding on the last day of each month.

lication.

On and after April 1, 1847, all payments to be made in gold and

silver coin, or in

treasury notes, if the creditor

agrees to receive them.

SEC. 19. And be it further enacted, That on the first day of April, one thousand eight hundred and forty-seven, and thereafter, every officer or agent engaged in making disbursements on account of the United States, or of the general post-office, shall make all payments in gold and silver coin, or in treasury notes, if the creditor agree to receive said notes in payment; and any receiving or disbursing officer or agent who shall neglect, evade, or violate, the provisions of this and the last preceding section of this act, shall, by the Secretary of the Treasury, be immediately reported to the President of the United States, with the facts of such neglect, evasion, or violation; and also and to Congress. to Congress, if in session; and if not in session, at the commencement of its session next after the violation takes place.

Violations of this and the

pre

ceding section to

be reported to the President,

No exchange of funds to be made except for gold and silver.

SEC. 20. And be it further enacted, That no exchange of funds. shall be made by any disbursing officers or agents of the government, of any grade or denomination whatsoever, or connected with any branch of the public service, other than an exchange for gold and silver; and every such disbursing officer, when the means for his disbursements are furnished to him in gold and silver, shall make his payments in the money so furnished; or when those means are furHow pay- nished to him in drafts, shall cause those drafts to be presented at their place of payment, and properly paid according to the law, and shall make his payments in the money so received for the drafts furnished, unless, in either case, he can exchange the means in his hands for gold

nients shall be made.

and silver at par. And it shall be and is hereby made the duty of the head of the proper department immediately to suspend from duty any disbursing officer who shall violate the provisions of this section, and forthwith to report the name of the officer or agent to the President, with the fact of the violation, and all the circumstances accompanying the same, and within the knowledge of the said Secretary, to the end that such officer or agent may be promptly removed from office, or restored to his trust and the performance of his duties, as to the President may seem just and proper: Provided, however, That those disbursing officers having at present credits in the banks shall, until the first day of January next, be allowed to check on the same, allowing the public creditors to receive their pay from the banks either in specie or bank notes.

SEC. 21. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of the Secretary of the Treasury to issue and publish regulations to enforce the speedy presentation of all government drafts for payment at the place where payable, and to prescribe the time, according to the different distances of the depositaries from the seat of government, within which all drafts upon them, respectively, shall be presented for payment; and, in default of such presentation, to direct any other mode and place of payment which he may deem proper; but, in all these regulations and directions, it shall be the duty of the Secretary of the Treasury to guard, as far as may be, against those drafts being used or thrown into circulation as a paper currency or medium of exchange. And no officer of the United States shall, either directly or indirectly, sell or dispose to any person or persons, or corporations, whatsoever, for a premium, any treasury note, draft, warrant, or other public security, not his private property, or sell or dispose of the avails or proceeds of such note, draft, warrant, or security, in his hands for disbursement, without making return of such premium, and accounting therefor by charging the same in his accounts to the credit of the United States; and any officer violating this section shall be forthwith dismissed from office.

SEC. 22. And be it further enacted, That the assistant treasurers directed by this act to be appointed shall receive, respectively, the following salaries per annum, to be paid quarter-yearly at the treasury of the United States, to wit: the assistant treasurer at New York shall be paid a salary of four thousand dollars per annum; the assistant treasurer at Boston shall be paid a salary of two thousand five hundred dollars per annum; the assistant treasurer at Charleston shall be paid a salary of two thousand five hundred dollars per annum; the assistant treasurer at St. Louis shall be paid a salary of two thousand five hundred dollars per annum; the treasurer of the mint at Philadelphia shall, in addition to his present salary, receive five hundred dollars annually, for the performance of the duties imposed by this act; the treasurer of the branch mint at New Orleans shall also receive five hundred dollars annually, for the additional duties created by this act; and these salaries, respectively, shall be in full for the services of the respective officers; nor shall either of them be permitted to charge or receive any commission, pay, or perquisite, for any official service, of any character or description whatsoever; and the making of any such charge, or the receipt of any such compensation, is hereby declared to be a misdemeanor, for which the officer convicted thereof, before any court of the United States of competent jurisdiction, shall be subject to punishment by fine or imprisonment, or both, at the discretion of the court before which the offence shall be tried.

SEC. 23. And be it further enacted, That there shall be and hereby is appropriated, to be paid out of any money in the treasury not VOL. IX. PUB. · 9

otherwise appropriated, the sum of five thousand dollars, to be expended, under the direction of the Secretary of the Treasury, in such repairs or additions as may be necessary to put in good condition for use, with as little delay as may be consistent with the public interests, the offices, rooms, vaults, and safes, herein mentioned, and in the purchase of any necessary additional furniture and fixtures, in the purchase of necessary books and stationery, and in defraying any other incidental expenses necessary to carry this act into effect.

SEC. 24. And be it further enacted, That all acts, or parts of acts, which come in conflict with the provisions of this act be, and the same are hereby, repealed.

APPROVED, August 6, 1846.

CHAP. XCI.- An Act to provide for the Confirmation of certain Settlement Claims in the Greensburg Land District, Louisiana.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the second proviso of the third section of the act of eighth May, eighteen hundred and twenty-two, entitled "An Act supplementary to the several Acts for adjusting the Claims to Land and establishing Land Offices in the Districts east of the Island of New Orleans," shall not apply to the reports dated eighteenth November, eighteen hundred and twenty, and twenty-fourth July, eighteen hundred and twenty-one, of Cosby and Skipwith, on settlement claims in that part of Louisiana which lies east of the Mississippi River and west of Pearl River; but such claims which, according to the said reports, were inhabited or cultivated, or where the date of settlement was before the fifteenth April, eighteen hundred and thirteen, are hereby confirmed under the other restrictions of said third section; but this confirmation shall in no manner affect prior rights, and shall only amount to a relinquishment on the part of the United States.

APPROVED, August 6, 1846.

Aug. 7, 1846.

All unappropriated land of the U. S. in Tennessee, south and west of the Congressional reservation line, re State, with the proceeds of such

leased to said

as have been Bold.

CHAP. XCII.- An Act to surrender to the State of Tennessee all Title the United States hare to Lands in Tennessee, south and west of the Line commonly called the Congressional Reservation Line, and to release to said State the Proceeds of such of said Lands as may have been sold by the State of Tennessee, as the Agent of the United States.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the United States hereby release and surrender to the State of Tennessee the right and title of the United States to all lands in the State of Tennessee, lying south and west of the Congressional reservation line in said State, which may yet remain unappropriated, and further release and transfer to said State of Tennessee the proceeds of such of said lands as may have been sold by said State, not heretofore paid over to the United States, nor deposited subject to the order or use of the United States, under the authority of the act of Congress of the eighteenth February, eighteen hundred and forty-one, entitled "An Act to amend an Act entitled 'An Act to authorize the State of Tennessee to issue Grants and perfect Titles to certain Lands therein described, and to settle the Claims to the vacant and unappropriated Lands within the same,' passed the eighteenth Day of April, one thousand eight Said State to hundred and six." This surrender and transfer is upon the express apply $10,000 of condition that the State of Tennessee shall, out of the proceeds of the proceeds of said lands, set apart and apply forty thousand dollars towards the establishment and support of a college at Jackson, in the county of

1841, ch. 7.

said lands for a

college.

Madison, in the State of Tennessee, if the proceeds of the sales of said lands shall amount to so much; and if the aggregate amount of said sales (not paid over nor deposited as aforesaid) shall not amount to the said sum, then whatever sum smaller than forty thousand dollars they may amount to, in accordance with the provisions contained in an act of the General Assembly of said State, passed in the year eighteen hundred and thirty-eight, being chapter one hundred and seven, section eight, and in accordance with the desire expressed by said General Assembly, in their certain memorial to Congress, passed December four, eighteen hundred and forty-five: Provided, nevertheless, That the release herein provided for to the said State of Tennessee of said lands shall be in full satisfaction for any and all services rendered and expenses incurred by said State, or the authorities thereof, in the management, disposal, or administration, of said public lands, and as agent or agents of the United States, in virtue of the provisions of the act entitled "An Act to amend an Act entitled 'An Act to authorize the State of Tennessee to issue Grants and perfect Titles to certain Lands therein described, and to settle the Claims to the vacant and unappropriated Lands within the same,' passed the eighteenth February, eighteen hundred and forty-one:" And provided also, That all the said lands the release of which is herein provided for, and the proceeds thereof, shall be and remain subject to all the same claims, incumbrances, and liabilities, in relation to North Carolina land warrants," or other claims of North Carolina, as the same would or could be subject to as regards the United States, if the same were not so as aforesaid released.

APPROVED, August 7, 1846.

66

CHAP. XCIV. An Act making Appropriations for certain defensive Works of the United States for the fiscal Year ending the thirtieth Day of June, one thousand eight hundred and forty-seven.

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 they are hereby, appropriated, to be paid out of any unappropriated money in the treasury, for the preservation, repair, and construction, of certain fortifications for the fiscal year ending the thirtieth day of June, one thousand eight hundred and forty-seven. For the purchase from the State of New York of the defensive works on Staten Island, together with the land bought by the State for the site of said works, with all the material on and about them, and for repairs of said works when the title of the State of New York shall have been extinguished, one hundred thousand dollars: Provided, That the Executive be, and he is hereby, authorized to dispose of the site and materials of old Fort Gansevoort, and to apply the proceeds of such sale to the repair of the works on Staten Island. For the commencement of batteries on Soller's Point Flats, below Baltimore, thirty thousand dollars.

For the commencement of a fort at the entrance to Cumberland Sound, Georgia, twenty thousand dollars.

For the commencement of a fort on the east side of Dauphin Island, Mobile Bay, Alabama, twenty thousand dollars.

Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That the President of the United States be, and he is hereby, authorized to take such steps as he may deem advisable for adjusting the title to the Pea Patch Island; and, should the same be found to be adverse to the United States, that he cause the value to be ascertained by arbitration, according to the agreement entered into between the Secretary of War and the agent of the claimants.

APPROVED, August 8, 1846.

Such release to be in satisfaction for services

and expenses of Tennessee.

1841, ch. 7.

Said lands to remain subject to certain claims..

Aug. 3, 1846.

[Obsolete.]

Appropriation.

Purchase of

defensive works

on Staten Island, N. Y., with land for site.

Fort Gansevoort to be sold.

Soller's Point Flats.

Cumberland Sound, Georgia.

Dauphin Island.

Adjustment of title to Pea Patch Island.

Aug. 8, 1816. [Obsolete.]

CHAP. XCV.-An Act making Appropriations for the Support of the Army for the Year ending on the thirtieth June, eighteen hundred and forty-seven.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the following Appropriation. sums be, and the same are hereby, appropriated for the support of the army for the year ending on the thirtieth June, eighteen hundred and forty-seven :

For pay of the army, one million three hundred and twenty-nine thousand three hundred and seventy-four dollars.

For commutation of officers' subsistence, four hundred and sixtyfive thousand eight hundred and thirty-two dollars.

For commutation of forage for officers' horses, including arrears since commencement of hostilities, one hundred and thirty-one thousand six hundred and three dollars.

For payments in lieu of clothing to officers' servants, twenty-eight thousand eight hundred and thirty dollars.

For subsistence in kind, four hundred and sixty-eight thousand one hundred and ninety-three dollars and sixty-seven cents.

For clothing for the army, camp and garrison equipage, two hundred and thirty-one thousand dollars.

For expenses of recruiting, twelve thousand and twenty-two dollars. For three months' extra pay to non-commissioned officers, musicians, and privates, sixteen thousand dollars.

For the regular supplies of the quartermaster's department, consisting of fuel, forage in kind for the authorized number of officers' horses, and for the horses, mules, and oxen, belonging to the quartermaster's department at the several military posts and stations, and for the horses of the two regiments of dragoons, and the four companies of light artillery; of straw for soldiers' bedding; and of stationery, including company and other blank books for the army, certificates for discharged soldiers, blank forms for the pay and quartermaster's departments, and the printing of department orders, army regulations, and general regulations, two hundred and five thousand dollars.

For the incidental expenses of the quartermaster's department, consisting of postage on letters and packets received by officers on public service; expenses of courts-martial and courts of inquiry, including the additional compensation to judge-advocates, members, and witnesses, while on that service, under the act of the sixteenth of March, eighteen hundred and two; extra pay to soldiers employed in the erection of barracks and quarters, the construction of roads, and other constant labor, for periods of not less than ten days, under the act of second of March, eighteen hundred and nineteen; expenses of expresses from the frontier posts; of escorts to paymasters; of the necessary articles for the interment of non-commissioned officers and soldiers; hire of laborers; compensation to clerks to the officers of the quartermaster's department, at posts where their duties cannot be performed without such aid; and compensation to agents in charge. of dismantled works, and to such wagon and forage masters as it may be necessary to employ, under the act of the fifth of July, eighteen hundred and thirty-eight; various expenditures necessary to keep the two regiments of dragoons and the four companies of light artillery complete, including the purchase of horses to supply the place of those which may be lost and become unfit for service, shoeing horses, and the apprehension of deserters, and the expenses incidental to their pursuit; - one hundred and fifteen thousand dollars.

For repairing and enlarging barracks, quarters, store-houses, and hospitals, at the several posts; for erecting temporary cantonments at