SEC. 9. That the secretary of the treasury shall be ex-officio President of the Light-house Board of the United States, and the said board, at their first meeting, shall proceed to ballot for one of their members as chairman; and the member who shall receive the majority of ballots of the whole board shall be declared by the President to be chairman of the Light-house Board, who shall, in the absence of the president of the board, preside over their meetings, and do and perform such acts as may be required by the rules of the board.

SEC. 10. That the Light-house Board shall meet four times in each year for the transaction of general and special business, each meeting to commence on the first Monday in March, June, September, and December, and that the secretary of the treasury is hereby authorized to convene the Light-house Board whenever, in his judgment, the exigencies of the service may require it.

[SEC. 11. Certain clerks, archives, &c. to be transferred to such board.] SEC. 12. That it shall be the duty of the Light-house Board, immediately after being organized, to arrange the Atlantic, Gulf, Pacific, and Lake Coasts of the United States into light-house districts, not exceeding twelve. in number; and the President is hereby authorized and required to direct that an officer of the army or navy be assigned to each district as a lighthouse inspector, subject to and under the orders of the Light-house Board, who shall receive for such service the same pay and emoluments that he would be entitled to by law for the performance of duty in the regular line of his profession, and no other, except the legal allowance per mile when travelling under orders connected with his duties.

[SEC. 13. Rules and regulations to be established and distributed.]

SEC. 14. That it shall be the duty of the Light-house Board to cause to be prepared by the engineer secretary of the board, or by such officer of engineers of the army as may be detailed1 for that service, all plans, drawings, specifications, and estimates of cost of all illuminating and other apparatus, and of construction and repair of towers, buildings, &c., connected with the Lighthouse Establishment; and no bid or contract shall be accepted or entered into except upon the decision of the board, at a regular or special meeting, and through their properly authorized officers.

SEC. 15. That hereafter all materials for the construction and repair of light-houses, light-vessels, beacons, buoys, &c. &c., shall be procured by public contracts, under such regulations as the board may from time to time adopt, subject to the approval of the secretary of the treasury; and all works of construction,

1 By the President, 3 March, 1851, chap. 37, sec. 9.

renovation, and repair shall be made by the orders of the board, under the immediate superintendence of their engineer secretary, or of such engineer of the army as may be detailed for that service.

SEC. 16. That it shall be the duty of the Light-house Board to furnish, upon the requisition of the secretary of the treasury, all the estimates of expense which the several branches of the light-house service may require, and such other information as may be required, to be laid before Congress at the commencement of each session.

SEC. 17. That all acts and parts of acts inconsistent with the provisions of this act are hereby repealed, and all acts and parts of acts relating to the Light-house Establishment of the United States, not inconsistent with the provisions of this act, and necessary to enable the Light-house Board, under the superintendence of the secretary of the treasury, to perform all duties relating to the management, construction, illumination, inspection, and superintendence of light-houses, light-vessels, beacons, buoys, seamarks, and their accessories, including the procuring and testing of appa. ratus, supplies, and materials of all kinds for illuminating, building, and rebuilding when necessary, maintaining and keeping in good repair the light-houses, light-vessels, beacons, buoys, and sea-marks of the United States, and the second and third sections of the act2 making appropriations for light-houses, light-vessels, buoys, &c., approved March 3, 1851, are hereby declared to be in full force, and shall have the same effect as though this act had not passed.

Provided, That no additional salary shall be allowed to any civil, military, or naval officer who shall be employed on the Light-house Board, or who may be in any manner attached to the light-house service of the United States under this act: And provided, further, That it shall not be lawful for any member of the Light-house Board, inspector, light-keeper, or other person in any manner connected with the light-house service, to be engaged, either directly or indirectly, in any contract for labor, materials, or supplies for the light-house service, nor to possess, either as principal or agent, any pecuniary interest in any patent, plan, or mode of construction or illumination, or in any article of supply, for the light-house service of the United States. [Approved, August 31, 1852.]

1 See chap. 69, sec. 4, 23 May, 1828, vol. 4, p. 284.

2 Chap. 37, vol. 9, p. 627.

CHAPTER 42.-Approved, February 3, 1853.-Vol. 10, p. 154.

An Act to continue half pay to certain widows and orphans.

That all widows and orphans who were granted and allowed five years' half pay by the provisions of the act' approved the twenty-first day of July, one thousand eight hundred and fortyeight, entitled "An act amending the act granting half pay3 to widows or orphans where their husbands or fathers have died of wounds received in the military service of the United States, in case of deceased officers and soldiers of the militia and volunteers, passed July fourth, one thousand eight hundred and thirtysix," or an act approved the twenty-second day of February, one thousand eight hundred and forty-nine, entitled "An act granting five years' half pay to certain widows and orphans of officers, non-commissioned officers, musicians, and privates, both regulars and volunteers," be, and they are hereby, granted a continuance of said half pay, under like limitations and restrictions, for a further period of five years, to commence at the expiration of the half pay provided for by the aforesaid acts: Provided, however, That in case of the death or marriage of such widow before the expiration of said term of five years, the half pay for the remainder of the term shall go to the child or children of the deceased officer or soldier, whilst under the age of sixteen years; and in like manner, the child or children of such deceased, when there is no widow, shall be paid no longer than while there is a child or children under the age aforesaid: And provided, further, That no greater sum shall be allowed in any case to the widow or the child or children of any officer than the half pay of a lieutenant-colonel: And provided, further, That the act approved the twenty-second day of February, eighteen hundred and fortynine, "granting five years' half pay to certain widows and orphans of officers, non-commissioned officers, musicians, and privates, both regular and volunteer," be so extended and construed as to embrace the widows and minor heirs of the officers, non-commissioned officers, musicians, and privates of the regulars, militia, and volunteers of the war of eighteen hundred and twelve, and of the various Indian wars since seventeen hundred and ninety.

1 Chap. 108.

3 Chap. 62.

5 See 5 Aug. 1854, chap. 267, sec. 1.

2 See 4 July, 1836, chap. 362, sec. 8. 4 Chap. 62.

6 Chap. 62.

SEC. 2. That the widows of all officers, non-commissioned officers, musicians, and privates of the revolutionary army, who were married subsequent to January, anno Domini eighteen. hundred, shall be entitled to a pension in the same manner as those who were married before that date.

[Approved, February 3, 1853.]

CHAPTER 81.-Approved, February 26, 1853.-Vol. 9, p. 170.

An Act to prevent frauds upon the treasury of the United States.

That all transfers and assignments hereafter made of any claim upon the United States, or any part or share thereof, or interest therein, whether absolute or conditional, and whatever may be the consideration therefor, and all powers of attorney, orders, or other authorities for receiving payment of any such claim, or any part or share thereof, shall be absolutely null and void, unless the same shall be freely made and executed in the presence of at least two attesting witnesses, after the allowance of such claim, the ascertainment of the amount due, and the issuing of a warrant for the payment thereof.

SEC. 2. That any officer of the United States, or person holding any place of trust or profit, or discharging any official function under, or in connection with, any executive department of the government of the United States, or under the senate or house of representatives of the United States, who, after the passage of this act, shall act as an agent or attorney for prosecuting any claim against the United States, or shall in any manner, or by any means, otherwise than in the discharge of his proper official duties, aid or assist in the prosecution or support of any such claim or claims, or shall receive any gratuity, or any share of or interest in any claim, from any claimant

The Act for the relief of Brevet Brigadier-General Bennett Riley, and to enable him to settle his accounts with the United States, chap. 58, 3 February, 1853, vol. 10, p. 154, extended to him the provisions of the act of 1849, chap. 126, and allowed him a commission of 14 per cent., but, being a private act, is not inserted here.

When a clerk or other officer of the United States shall be sent away from his place of business as a witness for the Government, either with or without papers or books, his salary shall continue; his necessary expenses, stated in items and sworn to, in going, returning, and attendance on the court, shall be audited and paid; but no mileage nor other compensation shall in any case be allowed: sec. 3, chap. 80, 28 February, 1853.

against the United States, with intent to aid or assist, or in consideration of having aided or assisted, in the prosecution of such claim, shall be liable to indictment, as for a misdemeanor, in any court of the United States having jurisdiction thereof, and, on conviction, shall pay a fine not exceeding five thousand dollars, or suffer imprisonment in the penitentiary not exceeding one year, or both, as the court in its discretion shall adjudge.

SEC. 7. That the provisions of this act, and of the act of July twenty-ninth, eighteen hundred and forty-six,' entitled "An act in relation to the payment of claims," shall apply and extend to all claims against the United States, whether allowed by special acts of Congress, or arising under general laws or treaties, or in any other manner whatever.

[Approved, February 26, 1853.]

[By chap. 97, 3 March, 1853, vol. 10, p. 189, the annual compensation of the secretary of war was made eight thousand dollars.]

CHAPTER 98.-Approved, March 3, 1853.—Vol. 10, p. 214. An Act making appropriations for the support of the army for the year ending thirtieth of June, one thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.

For pay of the army, &c. Provided, That the salary of the military storekeepers of the ordnance department in Oregon, California, and New Mexico shall hereafter be $1250 per

annum.2

.SEC. 2. * * * Proviso, That, from and after the 1st day of July next, the act of 23 August, 1842,3 be so modified that the President may, if in his opinion the public interest demands it, place over any of the armories a superintendent who does not belong to the army; and, in order to enable him to decide to his satisfaction, he is hereby authorized to cause the necessary and proper inquiries to be instituted, through the medium of a commission of civilians and military men, with a view of ascertaining which of the two systems is the more economical, efficient, and safe for the managements of the public armories, that formerly existing under the superintendence of civil officers, or that now existing under the superintendence of officers of the ordnance department; and that the secretary of war be, and he is hereby, authorized to abolish such of the arsenals of the United States as in his judgment may be useless or unnecessary.

1 Chap. 66.

3 Chap. 186, sec. 2.

2 Increased $240 by chap. 55, 21 Feb. 1854.

4 See chap. 267, sec. 1, 5 August, 1854.