AN ACT To revise and consolidate the Statutes of the United States in force on the first day of December, anno Domini one thousand eight hundred and seventy-three. TITLE EIGHT. THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE. SEC. 346. There shall be at the seat of Government an Executive Department to be known as the Department of Justice, and an AttorneyGeneral, who shall be the head thereof. ୮ SEC. 347. There shall be in the Department of Justice an officer, learned in the law, to assist the Attorney General in the performance of his duties, called the Solicitor-General, who shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, and shall be entitled to a salary of seven thousand five hundred dollars a year. In case of a vacancy in the office of Attorney-General, or of his absence or disability, the Solicitor General shall have power tofexercise all the duties of that office. SEC. 348. There shall be in the Department of Justice three officers, learned in the law, called the Assistant Attorneys-General, who shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, and shall assist the Attorney-General and Solicitor-General in the performance of their duties. Each of them is entitled to a salary of five thousand dollars a year. SEC. 349. There shall be in the Department of Justice a Solicitor of the Treasury, au Assistant Solicitor of the Treasury, a Solicitor of Internal Revenue, a Naval Solicitor, and an Examiner of Claims for the Department of State, who shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, and shall be entitled to the following salaries: The Solicitor of the Treasury to four thousand dollars a year, the Assistant Solicitor of the Treasury to three thousand dollars a year, the Solicitor of Internal Revenue to five thousand dollars a year, the Naval Solicitor to three thousand five hundred dollars a year, and the Examiner of Claims for the Department of State four thousand dollars a year. SEC. 350. The officers named in the preceding section shall exercise their functions under the supervision and control of the head of the Department of Justice. SEC. 351. There shall be in the Department of Justice, One chief clerk, at a salary of two thousand two hundred dollars a year. One law clerk, acting as examiner of titles, at a salary of three thousand dollars a year. One stenographic clerk, at a salary of two thousand dollars a year. One clerk, at a salary of two thousand dollars a year. One disbursing clerk. Six clerks of class four; one clerk of class two; one telegraph opera 153 tor, at one thousand dollars; five copyists, at nine hundred dollars each; one messenger; two assistant messengers, two laborers, and two watch men. In the office of the Solicitor of the Treasury : One chief clerk, at a salary of two thousand dollars a year, and such temporary clerks as may from time to time be needed, but the allowances for such temporary clerks shall in no one year exceed one thousand dollars. Four clerks of class four; two clerks of class three; three clerks of class two; two clerks of class one; one messenger, and one laborer. SEC. 352. The superintendent of the Treasury building shall from time to time provide such rooms as may be suitable and necessary for the accommodation of the Department of Justice, in some building in the vicinity of the Treasury building. SEC. 353. The seal heretofore provided for the office of the AttorneyGeneral shall be, with such change as the President shall approve, the seal of the Department of Justice. SEC. 354. The Attorney-General shall give his advice and opinion upon questions [of] law, whenever required by the President. SEC. 355. No public money shall be expended upon any site or land purchased by the United States, for the purposes of erecting thereon any armory, arsenal, fort, fortification, navy-yard, custom-house, lighthouse, or other public building, of any kind whatever, until the written opinion of the Attorney-General shall be had in favor of the validity of the title, nor until the consent of the legislature of the State in which the land or site may be, to such purchase, has been given. The district attorneys of the United States, upon the application of the AttorneyGeneral, shall furnish any assistance or information in their power in relation to the titles of the public property lying within their respective districts. And the Secretaries of the Departments, upon the application of the Attorney-General, shall procure any additional evidence of title which he may deem necessary, and which may not be in the possession of the officers of the Government, and the expense of procuring it shall be paid out of the appropriations made for the contingencies of the Departments respectively. SEC. 356. The head of any Executive Department may require the opinion of the Attorney-General on any questions of law arising in the administration of his Department. SEC. 357. Whenever a question of law arises in the administration of the Department of War or the Department of the Navy, the cognizance of which is not given by statute to some other officer from whom the head of the Department may require advice, it shall be sent to the Attorney-General, to be by him referred to the proper officer in his Department, or otherwise disposed of as he may deem proper. SEC. 358. Any question of law submitted to the Attorney-General for his opinion, except questions involving a construction of the Constitution of the United States, may be by him referred to such of his subordinates as he may deem appropriate, and he may require the written opinion thereon of the officer to whom the same may be referred. If the opinion given by such officer is approved by the Attorney-General, such approval, indorsed thereon, shall give the opinion the same force and effect as belong to the opinions of the Attorney-General. SEC. 359. Except when the Attorney-General, in particular cases, otherwise directs, the Attorney-General and Solicitor-General shall conduct and argue suits and writs of error and appeals in the Supreme Court and suits in the Court of Claims, in which the United States is |