penses except such as are actually incurred in the discharge of his official duty.

It shall be the duty of all officers of the customs to exe- R. S., 2652. cute and carry into effect all instructions of the Secretary of the Treasury relative to the execution of the revenue laws; and in case any difficulty shall arise as to the true construction or meaning of any part of the revenue laws, the decision of the Secretary of the Treasury shall be conclusive and binding upon all officers of the customs.

The Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authorized, R. S., 2653. whenever he shall think it advantageous to the public service, to abolish or suspend the office of naval officer, or any other subordinate office, in any collection-district of the United States, except in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Charleston, Savannah, Portland in Maine, and San Francisco, and to assign the duties of the office or any other subordinate office so abolished or suspended to a deputy collector or inspector of the customs; and so much of all fines, penalties, and forfeitures as would otherwise inure to either of such naval officers shall, after the discontinuance of their offices, respectively, be paid into the Treasury of the United States, and there credited to the fund for defraying the expenses of collecting the revenue from customs.

465. Alaska seal agents.

The Secretary of Commerce and Labor shall have au- Apr. 21, 1910 thority to appoint such additional officers, agents, and Sec. 9. employees as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this Act and the laws of the United States relating to the seal fisheries of Alaska, to prescribe their duties and to fix their compensation; he shall likewise have authority to purchase from the present lessee of the right to take seals on the islands of Saint Paul and Saint George, at a fair valuation to be agreed upon, the warehouses, salt houses, boats, launches, lighters, horses, mules, wagons, and other property of the said lessee on the islands of Saint Paul and Saint George, including the dwellings of the natives of said islands; he shall likewise have authority to establish and maintain depots for provisions and supplies on the Pribilof Islands and to provide for the transportation of such provisions and supplies from the mainland of the United States to the said islands by the charter of private vessels or by the use of public vessels of the United States which may be placed at his disposal by the President; and he shall likewise have authority to furnish food, shelter, fuel, clothing, and other necessaries of life to the native inhabitants of the Pribilof Islands and to provide for their comfort, maintenance, education, and protection.

The Secretary of Commerce and Labor is authorized to appoint one agent and three assistant agents, who shall

R. S., 1973.
Feb. 14, 1903,

Sec. 7.

R. S., 1975.

R. S., 1976.

R. S., 2999.

be charged with the management of the seal fisheries in Alaska, and the performance of such other duties as may be assigned to them by the Secretary of Commerce and Labor.

Such agents shall never be interested, directly or indirectly, in any lease of the right to take seals, nor in any proceeds or profits thereof, either as owner, agent, partner, or otherwise.

Such agents are empowered to administer oaths in all cases relating to the service of the United States, and to take testimony in Alaska for the use of the Government in any matter concerning the public revenues.

For the purpose of better guarding against frauds upon the revenue on foreign merchandise transported between the ports of the Atlantic and those of the Pacific overland through any foreign territory, the Secretary of the Treasury may appoint special sworn agents as inspectors of the customs, to reside in such foreign territory where such Feb. 14, 1903. merchandise may be landed or embarked, with power to

Sec. 10.

R. 8., 4681.

R. 8., 4682.

R. S., 4686.

superintend the landing or shipping of all merchandise, passing coastwise between the ports of the United States on the Pacific and the Atlantic. It shall be their duty, under such regulations and instructions as the Secretary of the Treasury may prescribe, to guard against the perpetration of frauds upon the revenue. The compensation paid to such inspectors shall not in the aggregate exceed five thousand dollars per annum.

466. Coast and Geodetic Survey.

The President is authorized to cause a survey to be taken of the coasts of the United States, in which shall be designated the islands and shoals, with the roads or places of anchorage, within twenty leagues of any part of the shores of the United States; and also the respective courses and distances between the principal capes or headlands, together with such other matters as he may deem proper for completing an accurate chart of every part of the coasts.

The President may also cause such examinations and observations to be made with respect to Saint George's Bank, and to any other bank, or shoal, and the soundings and currents, although beyond the distance of twenty leagues from the shore to the Gulf Stream, as he may deem especially subservient to the commercial interests of the United States.

The President is authorized, for any of the purposes of surveying the coast of the United States, to cause to be employed such of the public vessels in actual service as he deems it expedient to employ, and to give such instructions for regulating their conduct as he deems proper, according to the tenor of this Title [R. S., 4681-4691].

Officers of the Army and Navy shall, as far as practica- R. S., 4687. ble, be employed in the work of surveying the coast of the United States, whenever and in the manner required by the Department having charge thereof.

Feb. 14, 1903.

Sec. 4.

The Secretary of Commerce and Labor may make such R. S., 4688. allowances to the officers and men of the Army and Navy, while employed on Coast Survey service, for subsistence, in addition to their compensation, as he may deem necessary, not exceeding the sum authorized by the Treasury regulation of the eleventh day of May, eighteen hundred and forty-four.

The salary of the Superintendent of the Coast Survey R. S., 4689. shall be six thousand dollars a year.

The Coast Survey report shall be submitted to Congress during the month of December in each year, and shall be accompanied by a general chart of the whole coasts of the United States, on as large a scale as convenient and practicable, showing, as near as practicable, the configuration of the coasts, and showing, by lines, the probable limits of the Gulf Stream, and showing, by lines, the probable limit to which the soundings off the coast will extend, and showing, by the use of colors and explanations, the exact portions of our coasts, of which complete charts have been published by the Coast Survey; also, showing such other parts of the coasts of which the triangulation, the topography, and the soundings have been completed, but not published, and, also, such parts of the coasts of which the triangulation and topography, or the triangu lation only, have been completed.

467. District court commissioners.

R. S., 4C90.

The terms of office of all commissioners of the circuit May 28, 1896 courts heretofore appointed shall expire on the thirtieth Sec. 19. day of June, eighteen hundred and ninety-seven; and such office shall on that day cease to exist, and said commissioners shall then deposit all the records and other official papers appertaining to their offices in the office of the clerk of the circuit court by which they were appointed. All proceedings pending, returnable, unexecuted, or unfinished at said date before any such commissioner shall be continued and disposed of according to law by such commissioner appointed as herein provided, as may be designated by the district court for that purpose. It shall be the duty of the district court of each judicial district to appoint such number of persons, to be known as United States commissioners, at such places in the district as may be designated by the district court, which United States commissioners shall have the same powers and perform the same duties as are now imposed upon commissioners of the circuit courts. The appointment of such United States commissioners shall be entered of record in the district courts, and notice thereof 96694°-11-31

R. S., 3679.

Mar. 3, 1905.

Sec. 4.

Sec. 8.

at once given by the clerk to the Attorney-General. That such United States commissioners shall hold their offices, respectively, for the term of four years, but they shall be at any time subject to removal by the district court; and no person shall at any time be a clerk or deputy clerk of a United States court and a United States commissioner without the approval of the Attorney-General: Provided, That all acts and parts of acts applicable to commissioners of the circuit courts, except as to appointment and fees, shall be applicable to United States commissioners appointed under this Act. Warrants of arrest for violations of internal revenue laws may be issued by United States commissioners upon the sworn complaint of a United States district attorney, assistant United States district attorney, collector or deputy collector of internal revenue, or revenue agent or private citizen, but no such warrant of arrest shall be issued upon the sworn complaint of a private citizen unless first approved in writing by a United States district attorney. That United States commissioners and all clerks of United States courts are hereby authorized to administer oaths.

468. Unauthorized services.

No Executive Department or other Government establishment of the United States shall expend, in any one Feb. 27, 1906. fiscal year, any sum in excess of appropriations made by Congress for that fiscal year, or involve the Government in any contract or other obligation for the future payment of money in excess of such appropriations unless such contract or obligation is authorized by law. Nor shall any Department or any officer of the Government accept voluntary service for the Government or employ personal service in excess of that authorized by law, except in cases of sudden emergency involving the loss of human life or the destruction of property. All appropriations made for contingent expenses or other general purposes, except appropriations made in fulfillment of contract obligations expressly authorized by law, or for objects required or authorized by law without reference to the amounts annually appropriated therefor, shall, on or before the beginning of each fiscal year, be so apportioned by monthly or other allotments as to prevent expenditures in one portion of the year which may necessitate deficiency or additional appropriations to complete the service of the fiscal year for which said appropriations are made; and all such apportionments shall be adhered to and shall not be waived or modified except upon the happening of some extraordinary emergency or unusual circumstance which could not be anticipated at the time of making such apportionment, but this provision shall not apply to the contingent appropriations of the Senate or House of Representatives; and in case said apportionments are waived or modified as herein provided,

the same shall be waived or modified in writing by the head of such Executive Department or other Government establishment having control of the expenditure, and the reasons therefor shall be fully set forth in each particular case and communicated to Congress in connection with estimates for any additional appropriations required on account thereof. Any person violating any provision of this section shall be summarily removed from office and may also be punished by a fine of not less than one hundred dollars or by imprisonment for not less than one month.