CHAPTER 43. 66 AN ACT TO PROVIDE FOR THE APPOINTMENT OF A MISSISSIPPI RIVER COMMISSION June 28, 1879. 21 Stat. L., 37. SECTION Mississippi River Commission. -members of; how appointed. -to direct and -to make report. SECTION 4. additional duties of. 5. -to prepare plans, &c. 6. - and officers and men from Coast and Geo- 7. may employ additional force, &c. Be it enacted, &c. secretary of, to be detailed from Engineer Corps of Army. Appropriation to be expended by Secretary of War. [SECTION 1], That a commission is hereby created, to be called "The Mississippi River Commission", to consist of seven members. SEC. 2. The President of the United States shall, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, appoint seven commissioners, three of whom shall be selected from the Engineer Corps of the Army, one from the Coast and Geodetic Survey, and three from civil life, two of whom shall be civil engineers. And any vacancy which may occur in the commission shall in like manner be filled by the President of the United States; and he shall designate one of the commissioners appointed from the Engineer Corps of the Army to be president of the commission. The commissioners appointed from the Engineer Corps of the Army and the Coast and Geodetic Survey shall receive no other pay or compensation than is now allowed them by law, and the other three commissioners shall receive as pay and compensation for their services each the sum of three thousand dollars per annum; and the commissioners appointed under this act shall remain in office subject to removal by the President of the United States. SEC. 3. It shall be the duty of said commission to direct and complete complete surveys such surveys of said river, between the Head of the Passes near its of Mississippi mouth to its headwaters as may now be in progress, and to make such River, &c. additional surveys, examinations, and investigations, topographical, hydrographical, and hydrometrical, of said river and its tributaries, as may be deemed necessary by said commission to carry out the objects of this act. And to enable said commission to complete such surveys, examinations, and investigations, the Secretary of War shall, when requested by said commission, detail from the Engineer Corps of the Army such officers and men as may be necessary, and shall place in the charge and for the use of said commission such vessel or vessels and such machinery and instruments as may be under his control and may be deemed necessary. - and officers and And the Secretary of the Treasury shall, when requested by said comfrom Coast mission in like manner detail from the Coast and Geodetic Survey such and Geodetic Sur- officers and men as may be necessary, and shall place in the charge and for the use of said commission such vessel or vessels and such machinery and instruments as may be under his control and may be deemed neces And the said commission may, with the approval of the Secretary of War, employ such additional force and assistants, and provide, by purchase or otherwise, such vessels or boats and such instruments and means as may be deemed necessary. SEC. 4. It shall be the duty of said commission to take into consideration and mature such plan or plans and estimates as will correct, permanently locate, and deepen the channel and protect the banks of the Mississippi River; improve and give safety and ease to the navigation thereof; prevent destructive floods; promote and facilitate commerce, trade, and the postal service; and when so prepared and matured, to submit to the Secretary of War a full and detailed report of their proceedings and actions, and of such plans, with estimates of the cost thereof, for the purposes aforesaid, to be by him transmitted to Congress: Provided, That the commission shall report in full upon the practica- Mississippi River bility, feasibility, and probable cost of the various plans known as the Commission; to make report. jetty system, the levee system, and the outlet system, as well as upon such others as they deem necessary. SEC. 5. The said commission may, prior to the completion of all the -to prepare plans, surveys and examinations contemplated by this act, prepare, and sub- specifications, &c. mit to the Secretary of War plans, specifications, and estimates of costs for such immediate works as, in the judgment of said commission, may constitute a part of the general system of works herein contemplated, to be by him transmitted to Congress. SEC. 6. The Secretary of War may detail from the Engineer Corps of secretary of, to the Army of the United States an officer to act as secretary of said com- be detailed from Engineer Corps of mission. Army. SEC. 7. The Secretary of War is hereby authorized to expend the sum Appropriation to of one hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars, or so much thereof as be expended by may be necessary, for the payment of the salaries herein provided for, Secretary of War." and of the necessary expenses incurred in the completion of such surveys as may now be in progress, and of such additional surveys, examinations, and investigations as may be deemed necessary, reporting the plans and estimates, and the plans, specifications, and estimates contemplated by this act, as herein provided for; and said sum is hereby appropriated for said purposes out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated. [June 28, 1879.] CHAPTER 49. AN ACT CHANGING THE TIME OF HOLDING THE NOVEMBER TERM OF THE UNITED District court of Connecticut at Hartford to be held on first Tuesday of December. June 30, 1879. 21 Stat. L., 41. District court Hartford to be held Be it enacted, &c., That the term of the United States district court for the district of Connecticut, at Hartford, now held on the fourth for Connecticut at Tuesday in November, shall hereafter be held on the first Tuesday of on first Tuesday of December. [June 30, 1879.] December. CHAPTER 52. AN ACT MAKING APPROPRIATIONS FOR CERTAIN JUDICIAL EXPENSES FOR THE GOV- SEC. 2. That the per diem pay of each juror, grand or petit, in any court of the United States, shall be two dollars; June 30, 1879. 21 Stat. L., 43. Jurors in United States courts; per diem of, to be $2. elsewhere. And that the last clause of section eight hundred of the Revised Stat--in Pennsylvania utes of the United States, which refers to the State of Pennsylvania, to be drawn as and sections eight hundred and one, eight hundred and twenty, and R. S., §§ 800, 801. eight hundred and twenty-one of the Revised Statutes of the United -repeal of special States, are hereby repealed; And that all such jurors, grand and petit, including those summoned during the session of the court, shall be publicly drawn from a box containing, at the time of each drawing, the names of not less than three oath for, and other restrictions. R. S., §§ 820, 821. how to be drawn. R. S., § 800. Jurors may be drawn from boxes used by State authorities. -term of scrvice of. -not disqualified hundred persons, possessing the qualifications prescribed in section eight hundred of the Revised Statutes, which names shall have been placed therein by the clerk of such court and a commissioner, to be appointed by the judge thereof, which commissioner shall be a citizen of good standing, residing in the district in which such court is held, and a well-known member of the principal political party in the district in which the court is held opposing that to which the clerk may belong, the clerk and said commissioner each to place one name in said box alternately, without reference to party affiliations, until the whole number required shall be placed therein. But nothing herein contained shall be construed to prevent any judge from ordering the names of jurors to be drawn from the boxes used by the State authorities in selecting jurors in the highest courts of the State; And no person shall serve as a petit juror more than one term in any one year, and all juries to serve in courts after the passage of this act shall be drawn in conformity herewith: Provided, That no citizen possessing all other qualifications which are on account of race or may be prescribed by law shall be disqualified for service as grand or petit juror in any court of the United States on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. or color, &c. Attorney-Gen- SEC. 3. That the Attorney-General shall include in his annual report eral to include in in his report state- a statement of all payments or expenditures during any fiscal year out ment of payments, of any appropriation fund subject to requisitions by him. [June 30, 1879.] &c. R. S., § 384. CHAPTER 54. June 30, 1879. 21 Stat. L., 44. license fee. AN ACT RELATING TO VESSELS NOT PROPELLED BY SAIL OR INTERNAL MOTIVE POWER Vessels not propelled by sail or internal power not Flat boats, barges, &c., not required to be enrolled, Vessels not proBe it enacted, &c., That the provisions of title fifty of the Revised Statpelled by sail or utes of the United States shall not be so construed as to require the internal power not to pay enrolling or payment of any fee or charge for the enrolling or licensing of vessels, built in the United States and owned by citizens thereof, not propelled Flat boats, by sail or by internal motive power of their own, and not in any case barges, &c., not carrying passengers, whether navigating the internal waters of a state required to be enrolled, registered, or the navigable waters of the United States, and not engaged in trade or licensed in cer- with contiguous foreign territory, nor shall this or any existing law be construed to require the enrolling, registering or licensing of any flat R. S., § 4311- boat, barge or like craft for the carriage of freight, not propelled by sail 4390, 4132, 4312, or by internal motive power of its own, on the rivers or lakes of the 16 Opin. Att'y- United States. [June 30, 1879.] tain cases. 4371, 4384. Gen., 563. CHAPTER 57. June 30, 1879. 21 Stat. L., 45. Promotion of AN ACT PROVIDING FOR FILLING VACANCIES IN THE OFFICE OF CHIEF OF ENGINEERS, Promotion of engineers in Army above colonel restored. Be it enacted, &c., That so much of the (1) act of June tenth, eighteen engineers in Army hundred and seventy-two, chapter four hundred and twenty-six, volume above colonel reseventeen, page three hundred and eighty-two, Statutes at Large, as stored. prohibits promotion in the Corps of Engineers above the rank of colonel, and all other acts prohibiting said promotion, be, and the same are hereby, repealed. [June 30, 1879.] R. S., § 1151. NOTE. (1) The provision of the act of June 10, 1872, ch. 426 (17 Stat. L., 382), here referred to, is incorporated into the Revised Statutes, and forms the last paragraph of § 1151, which this act repeals. CHAPTER 59. AN ACT TO PRESCRIBE THE TIMES FOR HOLDING THE CIRCUIT AND DISTRICT COURTS 1. Terms of circuit and district courts in Ken- 3. Monthly terms of district court to be held for 2.- not limited in number of days, &c. Be it enacted, &c. July 1, 1879. 21 Stat. L., 45. Terms of circuit [SECTION 1], That the regular terms of the circuit and district courts of the United States in the district of Kentucky shall be held at the and district courts times and places following, to wit: in Kentucky; when and where to At Covington, on the second Monday in May and the first Monday in be held. December; R. S., §§ 572, 658, At Louisville, on the third Monday in February and the first Mon- 577. day in October; At Frankfort, on the first Monday in January and the second Monday in June; And at Paducah, on the first Monday in April and the third Monday in November. SEC. 2. The terms of said courts shall not be limited to any particu--not limited in lar number of days, nor shall it be necessary to adjourn by reason of the number of days, intervention of term elsewhere; but the court intervening may be adjourned until the business of the court in session is concluded. SEC. 3. Nothing herein contained shall be construed to repeal section five hundred and seventy-eight of the Revised Statutes. [July 1, 1879.] &c. Monthly terms of district court to be held for crimi- CHAPTER 60. AN ACT TO GRANT ADDITIONAL RIGHTS TO HOMESTEAD SETTLERS ON PUBLIC LANDS Odd sections of public lands granted in aid of railways in Missouri and Arkansas opened to settlers under homestead laws to extent of 160 acres each. Settlers heretofore restricted to 80 acres may have additional 80 acres. - without fees, &c. - residence; how reckoned. -must have occupied one year. July 1, 1879. 21 Stat. L., 46. Odd sections of and Arkansas Be it enacted, &c., That from and after the passage of this act the odd sections within the limits of any grant of public lands to any railroad public lands grantcompany in the States of Missouri and Arkansas, or to such States ed in aid of railrespectively, in aid of any railroad where the even sections have been ways in Missouri granted to and received by any railroad company or by such states opened to settlers respectively in aid of any railroad shall be open to settlers under the under homestead homestead laws to the extent of one hundred and sixty acres to each laws to extent of settler; 160 acres each. And any person who has under existing laws taken a homestead on Settlers heretoany section within the limits of any railroad grant in said States, and fore restricted to who by existing laws shall have been restricted to eighty acres, may additional 80 acres. 80 acres may have enter under the homestead laws an additional eighty acres adjoining the land embraced in his original entry, if such additional land be subject to entry; or if such person so elect, he may surrender his entry to the United States for cancellation, and thereupon be entitled to enter lands under the homestead laws the same as if the surrendered entry had not been made. And any person so making additional entry of eighty acres, or new without fees or entry after the cancellation of his original entry, shall be permitted to commissions. do so without payment of fees or commissions; how reckoned. And the residence of such person upon and cultivation of the land residence, &c.; embraced in his original entry shall be considered residence and cultivation for the same length of time upon and of the land embraced in his additional or new entry, and shall be deducted from the five year's residence and cultivation required by law: Settlers must Provided, That in no case shall patent issue upon an additional or new bave occupied homestead entry under this act until the person has actually, and in conformity with the homestead laws, occupied, resided upon, and cultivated the land embraced therein at least one year. [July 1, 1879.] same one year. CHAPTER 61. July 1, 1879. 21 Stat. L., 46. National Board of Health to pro cure rooms, &c. 1879, March 3, ch. 202. 1879, June 2, ch. 11. - printing of, to be done at Government Printing Office. AN ACT TO PROVIDE office-rooms FOR THE NATIONAL BOARD OF HEALTH, AND FOR [SECTION 1], That the National Board of Health is hereby authorized and empowered to procure suitable and sufficient offices in the city of Washington for the transaction of its business, at a rental not to exceed the sum of one thousand eight hundred dollars per annum. And said board is also authorized to pay the sum of two hundred and twenty-five dollars for the rent of building number fourteen hundred and five G street, northwest, in the city of Washington, used by the National Board of Health for offices, from the third day of April, eighteen hundred and seventy-nine, to the third day of July, eighteen hundred and seventy-nine. SEC. 2. That the necessary printing of the National Board of Health be done at the Government Printing Office, upon the requisition of the Secretary of the board, in the same manner and subject to the same R. S., §§ 3785, provisions as other public printing for the several departments of the 3786. -to have report government: Provided, That the cost of said printing shall not exceed the sum of ten thousand dollars per annum. SEC. 3. That the National Board of Health is hereby authorized and of former Board of empowered to have printed and bound ten thousand copies of the report Medical Experts, of the Board of Medical Experts created by former act of Congress, &c., printed. which report shall include the report of Doctors Bemiss and Cochran and Engineer Hardee, upon the yellow-fever epidemic of eighteen hundred and seventy-eight; six thousand copies of the same to be furnished the House of Representatives, two thousand copies to the Senate, and the residue to the National Board of Health: -to pay stenograExperts. Provided, That the cost of publication and binding said report shall not exceed the sum of seven thousand five hundred dollars. And the said board is hereby authorized to pay Doctors Bemiss and Cochran and Engineer Hardee ten dollars per day, for the preparation of their said report, for the period of two months: Provided, That the same shall be completed and submitted to the board within that time. SEC. 4. That the National Board of Health is hereby authorized and pher of Board of directed to pay to Frank J Taylor, for services as stenographer to the Board of Medical Experts in reporting evidence of medical men and others touching the causes, introduction, and spread of epidemic diseases within the United States, and for preparing the same for publication, the sum of five hundred and forty dollars, said sum being the amount allowed him by the Committee on Epidemic Diseases. -chief clerk of, to clerk. SEC. 5. That the chief clerk of the National Board of Health shall act act as disbursing as disbursing agent for the board, and shall give bond, conformably to section one hundred and seventy-six of the Revised Statutes, for the faithful performance of that duty, and for such service he shall receive three hundred dollars per annum, in addition to his salary as chief clerk, and the Board of Health may, with the approval of the Secretary of the |