SEC. 398. For the purpose of making better postal arrangements with Postal arrange foreign countries, or to counteract their adverse measures affecting our ments with forpostal intercourse with them, the Postmaster-General, by and with the eign countries. advice and consent of the President, may negotiate and conclude postal treaties or conventions, and may reduce or increase the rates of postage on mail-matter conveyed between the United States and foreign countries. tions. SEC. 399. The Postmaster-General shall transmit a copy of each postal Publication of convention concluded with foreign governments to the Secretary of postal conven State, who shall furnish a copy of the same to the Congressional Printer for publication; and the printed proof-sheets of all such conventions shall be revised at the Post-Office Department. Title 5. SEC. 199. There shall be at the seat of Government an Executive Department to be known as the Department of State, and a Secretary of Establishment State, who shall be the head thereof. [Salary, eight thousand dollars.] of the Depart SEC. 200. There shall be in the Department of State an Assistant Sec- ment of State. retary of State, and a Second Assistant Secretary of State,* each of whom Second Assistant shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent Secretaries of of the Senate, and shall be entitled to a salary of six thousand dollars a State. year, to be paid monthly. [§ 177, VACANCIES IN DEPARTMENTS.] Assistant and SEC. 202. The Secretary of State shall perform such duties as shall Management of from time to time be enjoined on or intrusted to him by the President foreign affairs. relative to correspondences, commissions, or instructions to or with public ministers or consuls from the United States, or to negotiations with public ministers from foreign states or princes, or to memorials or other applications from foreign public ministers or other foreigners, or to such other matters respecting foreign affairs as the President of the United States shall assign to the Department, and he shall conduct the business of the Department in such manner as the President shall direct. SEC. 203. The Secretary of State shall have the custody and charge of Custody of seals the seal of the United States and of the seal of the Department of State, and of all the books, records, papers, furniture, fixtures, and other property now remaining in and appertaining to the Department, or hereafter acquired for it. [See FLAG AND SEAL.] and property. Promulgation SEC. 204. That section number two hundred and four of the Revised Statutes of the United States shall hereafter read as follows: Whenever of the laws. a bill, order, resolution or vote of the Senate and House of Representatives, having been approved by the President, or not having been returned by him with his objections, becomes a law or takes effect, it shall forthwith be received by the Secretary of State from the President; and whenever a bill, order, resolution or vote is returned by the President with his objections, and, on being reconsidered, is agreed to be passed, and is approved by two-thirds of both Houses of Congress and thereby becomes a law or takes effect, it shall be received by the Secretary of State from the President of the Senate, or Speaker of the House of Representatives, in whichsoever House it shall last have been so approved, and he shall carefully preserve the originals. Amendments SEC. 205. Whenever official notice is received at the Department of State that any amendment proposed to the Constitution of the United to Constitution. States has been adopted, according to the provisions of the Constitution, the Secretary of State shall forthwith cause the amendment to be published in the newspapers authorized to promulgate the laws, with his certificate, specifying the States by which the same may have been adopted, and that the same has become valid, to all intents and purposes, as a part of the Constitution of the United States. SEC. 213. For making out and authenticating copies of records in the Fees for copies Department of State, a fee of ten cents for each sheet containing one of records. hundred words shall be paid by the person requesting such copies, except where they are requested by an officer of the United States in a matter relating to his office. *There is also a Third Assistant, authorized June 20, 1874. The salaries of the assistants are now three thousand five hundred dollars. As amended by act of December 28, 1874. Title 7, Chap. 1. SEC. 233. There shall be at the seat of Government an Executive Department to be known as the Department of the Treasury, and a of the Depart Secretary of the Treasury, who shall be the head thereof.* Establishment ment of the Treasury. Restrictions SEC. 234. There shall be in the Department of the Treasury two Assistant Secretaries of the Treasury, who shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, and shall each be entitled to a salary of six thousand dollars a year, to be paid monthly. SEC. 243. No person appointed to the office of Secretary of the Treasupon officers of ury, or First Comptroller, or First Auditor, or Treasurer, or Register, the Department. shall directly or indirectly be concerned or interested in carrying on the business of trade or commerce, or be owner in whole or in part of any sea-vessel, or purchase by himself, or another in trust for him, any public lands or other public property, or be concerned in the purchase or disposal of any public securities of any State, or of the United States, or take or apply to his own use any emolument or gain for negotiating or transacting any business in the Treasury Department, other than what shall be allowed by law; and every person who offends against any of the prohibitions of this section shall be deemed guilty of a high misdemeanor and forfeit to the United States the penalty of three thousand dollars, and shall upon conviction be removed from office, and forever thereafter be incapable of holding any office under the United States; and if any other person than a public prosecutor shall give information of any such offense, upon which a prosecution and conviction shall be had, one-half the aforesaid penalty of three thousand dollars, when recovered, shall be for the use of the person giving such information. Restrictions uponclerks in the Department. SEC. 244. Every clerk employed in the Treasury Department who carries on any trade or business in the funds or debts of the United States, or of any State, or in any kind of public property, or who takes or applies to his own use any emolument or gain for negotiating or transacting any business in the Department, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and punished by a fine of five hundred dollars and removed from office. Title 7, Chap. 2. SEC. 245. The Assistant Secretaries of the Treasury shall examine letDuties of As-ters, contracts, and warrants prepared for the signature of the SecreSecreta- tary of the Treasury, and perform such other duties in the office of the Secretary of the Treasury as may be prescribed by the Secretary or by law. [See § 177, under VACANCIES IN THE DEPARTMENTS.] sistant ries. rants. SEC. 246. The Secretary of the Treasury may, by an appointment Signing war. under his hand and official seal, delegate to one of the Assistant Secretaries of the Treasury authority to sign in his stead all warrants for the payment of money into the public Treasury, and all warrants for the disbursement from the public Treasury, of money certified by the proper accounting officers of the Treasury to be due upon accounts duly audited and settled by them. Effect of warrants. SEC. 247. Warrants signed by either of the Assistant Secretaries, as authorized by the preceding section, shall be in all cases of the same validity as if they had been signed by the Secretary of the Treasury himself. SEC. 248. The Secretary of the Treasury shall, from time to time, General duties digest and prepare plans for the improvement and management of the of the Secretary. revenue, and for the support of the public credit; shall superintend the collection of the revenue; shall, from time to time, prescribe the forms of keeping and rendering all public accounts and making returns; shall grant, under the limitations herein established, or to be hereafter provided, all warrants for moneys to be issued from the Treasury in pursuance of appropriations by law; shall make report, and give information *Salary, eight thousand dollars, act of March 3, 1875. Salary, four thousand five hundred dollars, act of March 3, 1875. to either branch of the legislature in person or in writing, as may be required, respecting all matters referred to him by the Senate or House of Representatives, or which shall appertain to his office; and generally shall perform all such services relative to the finances as he shall be directed to perform. Sec. DEPARTMENT OF WAR. 214. Establishment of the Department of War. 216. Management of military affairs. 221. Meteorological observations, storm-signals. 222. Signal-stations, reports, &c. Sec. 223. Telegraph-lines connecting signal-stations. 231. Report of examinations of river and harbor improvements. Chief clerk may sign requisitions, &c. SEC. 214. There shall be at the seat of Government an Executive Department to be known as the Department of War, and a Secretary of War, who shall be the head thereof.* Title 6. Establishment of the Department of War. Management of SEC. 216. The Secretary of War shall perform such duties as shall from time to time be enjoined on or intrusted to him by the President military affairs. relative to military commissions, the military forces, the warlike stores of the United States, or to other matters respecting military affairs; and he shall conduct the business of the Department in such manner as the President shall direct. SEC. 221. The Secretary of War shall provide for taking meteorolog- Meteorological ical observations at the military stations in the interior of the continent, observations, and at other points in the States and Territories, and for giving notice storm-signals. on the northern lakes and sea-coast, by magnetic telegraph and marine signals, of the approach and force of storms. SEC. 222. The Secretary of War shall provide, in the system of obser- Signal-stations, vations and reports in charge of the Chief-Signal Officer of the Army, reports, &c. for such stations, reports, and signals as may be found necessary for the benefit of agriculture and commercial interests. nal-stations. SEC. 223. The Secretary of War is authorized to establish signal-sta- Telegraph-lines tions at light-houses and at such of the life-saving stations on the lake connecting sig or sea-coast as may be suitably located for that purpose, and to connect the same with such points as may be necessary for the proper discharge of the signal-service by means of a suitable telegraph-line in cases where no lines are in operation, to be constructed, maintained, and worked under the direction of the Chief Signal-Officer of the Army, or the Secretary of War and the Secretary of the Treasury; and the use of the life-saving stations as signal-stations shall be subject to such regulations as may be agreed upon by said officials. of river and harbor improvements. SEC. 231. The Secretary of War shall cause to be prepared and sub- Report of exmitted to Congress, in connection with the reports of examinations and aminations surveys of rivers and harbors hereafter made by order of Congress, full statements of all existing facts tending to show to what extent the general commerce of the country will be promoted by the several works of improvements contemplated by such examinations and surveys, to the end that public moneys shall not be applied excepting where such improvements shall tend to subserve the general commercial and naviga-. tion interests of the United States. An act authorizing the chief clerk of the War Department to sign requisitions on the March 4, 1874. Secretary of War may author Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, Than when, from illness or other cause, the Secretary of War is temporarily absent from the War Department, he may authorize the chief clerk of the Department to sign ize chief clerk to requisitions upon the Treasury Department, and other papers requiring sign requisitions, the signature of said Secretary; the same, when signed by the chief &c., in his ab clerk during such temporary absence, to be of the same force and effect as if signed by the Secretary of War himself. Approved, March 4, 1874. 6 NL * Salary eight thousand dollars. sence. Sec. DEBTS DUE BY OR TO THE UNITED STATES. 3466. Priority established. 3467. Liability of executors. 3468. Priority of sureties. 3469. Compromises. 3470. Purchase on execution. lished. Sec. 3471. Discharge of poor debtor by Secretary of the Treasury. 3472. Discharge by the President. Deduction of debts due from judgments. Title 36. SEC. 3466. Whenever any person indebted to the United States is insol Priority estab- vent, or whenever the estate of any deceased debtor, in the hands of the executors or administrators, is insufficient to pay all the debts due from the deceased, the debts due to the United States shall be first satisfied; and the priority hereby established shall extend as well to cases in which a debtor, not having sufficient property to pay all his debts, makes a voluntary assignment thereof, or in which the estate and effects of an absconding, concealed, or absent debtor are attached by process of law, as to cases in which an act of bankruptcy is committed. SEC. 3467. Every executor, administrator, or assignee, or other person who pays any debt due by the person or estate from whom or for which he acts, before he satisfies and pays the debts due to the United States from such person or estate, shall become answerable in his own person and estate for the debts so due to the United States, or for so much thereof as may remain due and unpaid. [See § 5101 R. S., BANKRUPTCY.] Liability of executors, &c. Priority of sureties. Compromise. Purchase execution. on SEC. 3468. Whenever the principal in any bond given to the United States is insolvent, or whenever, such principal being deceased, his estate and effects which come to the hands of his executor, administrator, or assignee, are insufficient for the payment of his debts, and, in either of such cases, any surety on the bond, or the executor, administrator, or assignee of such surety pays to the United States the money due upon such bond, such surety, his executor, administrator, or assignee, shall have the like priority for the recovery and receipt of the moneys out of the estate and effects of such insolvent or deceased principal as is secured to the United States; and may bring and maintain a suit upon the bond, in law or equity, in his own name, for the recovery of all moneys paid thereon. SEC. 3469. Upon a report by a district attorney, or any special attorney or agent having charge of any claim in favor of the United States, showing in detail the condition of such claim, and the terms upon which the same may be compromised, and recommending that it be compromised upon the terms so offered, and upon the recommendation of the Solicitor of the Treasury, the Secretary of the Treasury is authorized to compromise such claim accordingly. But the provisions of this section shall not apply to any claim arising under the postal laws. SEC. 3470. At every sale, on execution, at the suit of the United States, of lands or tenements of a debtor, the United States may, by such agent as the Solicitor of the Treasury shall appoint, become the purchaser thereof; but in no case shall the agent bid in behalf of the United States a greater amount than that of the judgment for which such estate may be exposed to sale, and the costs. Whenever such purchase is made, the marshal of the district in which the sale is held shall make all needful conveyances, assignments, or transfers to the United States. Discharge of SEC. 3471. Any person imprisoned upon execution issuing from any poor debtor by court of the United States, for a debt due to the United States, which he Secretary of the is unable to pay, may, at any time after commitment, make application, Treasury. in writing, to the Secretary of the Treasury, stating the circumstances of his case, and his inability to discharge the debt; and thereupon the Secretary may make, or require to be made, an examination and inquiry into the circumstances of the debtor, by the oath of the debtor, which the Secretary, or any other person by him specially appointed, is authorized to administer, or otherwise, as the Secretary shall deem necessary and expedient, to ascertain the truth; and upon proof made to his satisfaction, that the debtor is unable to pay the debt for which he is imprisoned, and that he has not concealed or made any conveyance of his estate, in trust, for himself, or with an intent to defraud the United States, or to deprive them of their legal priority, the Secretary is authorized to receive from such debtor any deed, assignment, or conveyance of his real or personal estate, or any collateral security, to the use of the United States. Upon a compliance by the debtor with such terms and conditions as the Secretary may judge reasonable and proper, the Secretary must issue his order, under his hand, to the keeper of the prison, directing him to discharge the debtor from his imprisonment under such execution. The debtor shall not be liable to be imprisoned again for the debt; but the judgment shall remain in force, and may be satisfied out of any estate which may then, or at any time afterward, belong to the debtor. The benefit of this section shall not be extended to any person imprisoned for any fine, forfeiture, or penalty, incurred by a breach of any law of the United States, or for moneys had and received by any officer, agent, or other person, for their use; nor shall its provisions extend to any claim arising under the postal laws. SEC. 3472. Whenever any person is imprisoned upon execution for a debt due to the United States, which he is unable to pay, and his case is such as does not authorize his discharge by the Secretary of the Treasury, under the preceding section, he may make application to the President, who, upon proof made to his satisfaction that the debtor is unable to pay the debt, and upon a compliance by the debtor with such terms and conditions as the President shall deem proper, may order the discharge of such debtor from his imprisonment. The debtor shall not be liable to be imprisoned again for the same debt; but the judgment shall remain in force, and may be satisfied out of any estate which may then, or at any time afterward, belong to the debtor. An act to provide for deducting any debt due the United States from any judgment recovered against the United States by such debtor. Discharge by the President. to Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United Amount of debt States of America in Congress assembled, That when any final judgment due U. S. to be recovered against the United States or other claim duly allowed by legal withheld by Secretary of Treasauthority, shall be presented to the Secretary of the Treasury for pay-ury in paying ment, and the plaintiff or claimant therein shall be indebted to the judgments, &c., United States in any manner, whether as principal or surety, it shall be of debtor against the duty of the Secretary to withhold payment of an amount of such U. S. judgment or claim equal to the debt thus due to the United States; and if such plaintiff or claimant assents to such set off, and discharges his judgment or an amount thereof equal to said debt or claim, the Secre- Secretary tary shall execute a discharge of the debt due from the plaintiff to the execute disUnited States. But if such plaintiff, or claimant, denies his indebted- charge, when. ness to the United States, or refuses to consent to the set-off, then the Secretary shall withhold payment of such further amount of such judg. Additional ment, or claim, as in his opinion will be sufficient to cover all legal withheld when charges and costs in prosecuting the debt of the United States to final claimant denies judgment. And if such debt is not already in suit, it shall be the duty debt. of the Secretary to cause legal proceedings to be immediately com- Duty of Secremenced to enforce the same, and to cause the same to be prosecuted to try to debt. final judgment with all reasonable dispatch. And if in such action Balance, judgment shall be rendered against the United States, or the amount paid to claimant recovered for debt and costs shall be less than the amount so withheld when judgment as before provided, the balance shall then be paid over to such plaintiff against U. S., or by such Secretary with six per cent. interest, thereon for the time it has withheld. been withheld from the plaintiff. Approved, March 3, 1875. amount to be sue on how for less sum than DESERTERS AND DESERTION. Sec. 1420. Deserters not to be enlisted. 1553. Enticing persons to desert. 1624. Punishment for desertion, enlisting deserters, &c. Sec. 4749. Certain soldiers and sailors not to be deemed deserters. 5455. Enticing desertion, harboring deserters. SEC. 1420. No minor under the age of sixteen years, no insane or in- Title 15, Chap. 1 toxicated person, and no deserter from the naval or military service of the United States shall be enlisted in the naval service. Persons not to be enlisted. SEC. 1553. Any person who shall entice or procure, or attempt to Title 15, Chap. 7. entice or procure, any seaman or other person in the naval service of Enticing perthe United States, or who has been recruited for such service, to desert sons to desert. therefrom, or who shall in any wise aid or assist any such seaman or other person in deserting, or in attempting to desert from such service, |