For the prosecution of the work, including pay of commissioner and all Work under reother expenses provided in the first article of the reciprocity treaty with ciprocity treaty. Great Britain, eleven thousand five hundred and ninety-five dollars. For expenses of the consulates in the Turkish Dominions, viz: inter- Consulates in preters, guards and other expenses of the consulates at Constantinople, Turkey. Smyrna, Candia, and Alexandria, two thousand dollars. For interpreters, guards, and other expenses of the consulate at Beirut, five hundred dollars. APPROVED, August 1, 1856. CHAP. LXXIII.-An Act for the Relief of the Widows and Orphans of the Officers, Aug. 1, 1856. Seamen, and Marines of the United States Sloop-of-war Albany, and for other Pur poses. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That for the purpose of fixing Times of comthe time at which shall commence the pensions, under the existing laws, mencement of of the widows and orphan children of the officers, seamen, marines, pensions of officers, &c., of the and others in service, who were lost in the United States sloop-of-war Albany and PorAlbany, as well as the time to which the pay of said officers, seamen, poise. marines, and others in service shall be allowed, the eighteenth day of April, one thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, shall be deemed and taken to be the day on which the said sloop-of-war Albany foundered at sea; and that, for the like purposes, the twenty-ninth day of June, one thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, shall be deemed and taken to be the day on which the United States brig Porpoise was lost in like manner. SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That the widow, or child, or children, Additional pay and in case there be no widow, or child, or children, (as aforesaid,) then to the relatives. the parent or parents, and if there are no parents, the brothers and sisters, of the officers, seamen, marines, and others in service, who were lost in said sloop-of-war Albany and brig Porpoise, including captain's clerk and assistant draughtsman, shall be entitled to and receive out of any money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated, a sum equal to twelve months' pay of their respective deceased relations aforesaid, in addition to the pay due to the said deceased at the date of the loss of said vessels respectively. SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That the proper accounting officers Settlement of of the Treasury Department be and hereby are authorized and directed accounts of Nixon White, purser to settle the accounts of Nixon White, late purser in the navy, who was of The Albany. lost in the sloop-of-war Albany, with all his accounts and vouchers for expenditures and payments made by him, and with all the money, stores, and supplies procured for the use of said vessel, and to allow him a credit for whatever sum appears to be due from him on the books of the department. SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That the pensions and payments Pensions and made to the proper representatives (as provided for in this act) of Passed payments of relatives of passed Midshipman William K. Bridge, who was in command as acting lieuten- midshipmen of ant of the brig Porpoise when she was lost, and of the other passed mid- The Porpoise, shipmen who were on board The Porpoise when she was lost, under acting as lieutenorders from the Navy Department, as acting lieutenants as well as their pay from the time of their joining said vessel, shall be the same as though they were then duly commissioned and actually holding said rank of lieutenant. SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That for the purpose of fixing the time to which the pay of Passed Midshipman William C. Smith shall be allowed, the first day of May, one thousand eight hundred and fifty-one shall be deemed and taken to be the day on which the said Smith was lost at sea. APPROVED, August 1, 1856. ants. Time at which Wm. C. Smith have been lost. shall be taken to Aug. 6, 1856. 1855, ch. 122. court of claims CHAP. LXXXI.-An Act to amend an Act entitled "An Act to establish a Court for the Investigation of Claims against the United States," approved February twenty-fourth, eighteen hundred and fifty-five. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United Any of the two States of America in Congress assembled, That any two of the Judges of judges of the the Court of Claims, authorized by the act to which this is an amendto be a quorum. ment, approved the twenty-fourth day of February, eighteen hundred and fifty-five, shall constitute a quorum, and may hold a court for the transaction of business, and the court may appoint commissioners to take testimony in the manner prescribed in the said act. Assistant solic itor. Oath. Salary. SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That an assistant solicitor shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, whose duty it shall be to aid the solicitor in the performance of the duties mentioned in the said act, and shall take an oath to support the Constitution of the United States, and discharge faithfully the duties of his office, and he shall receive a salary of three thousand five hundred dollars per annum, and shall hold his office for a period of four years, Solicitor may unless sooner removed by the President. And the solicitor of the United appoint a depu- States, mentioned in the act to which this is an amendment, shall have ty. power, and he is hereby authorized to employ a deputy, who shall receive a salary of two thousand five hundred dollars per annum, and whose duty it shall be to aid the said solicitor in the performance of the duties mentioned in said act, in such way as the said solicitor shall direct. Clerk to dis fund. Bond. SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That the clerk of the said court shall burse contingent be, and he is hereby authorized to disburse, under the direction of the said court, the contingent fund which may hereafter be appropriated from time to time for the use of the said court: Provided, he shall first give bond in such an amount and in such form, and with such security, as shall be His accounts. approved by the Secretary of the Treasury: And, provided further, That his accounts shall be settled by the proper accounting officers of the treasury in the same way as the accounts of other disbursing agents of Salary of clerk the government are now settled. And from and after the first day of and assistant clerk. Aug. 7, 1856. April one thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, the salary of the said CHAP. LXXXII.-An Act to alter and amend "An Act to appropriate Money to remove Obstructions in the Savannah River, below the City of Savannah, in the State of Georgia," approved March third, eighteen hundred and fifty-five, Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United Application of States of America in Congress assembled, That the balance of the unexbalance of appro- pended appropriation made by the act of third March, eighteen hundred priation of 1855, ch. 170, for re- and fifty-five, "for removing certain obstructions in the Savannah River," moving obstruc- may be, and is hereby authorized to be applied, under the direction of tions in Savan- the Secretary of War, to remove the bars, shoals, banks, and other nah River. impediments in said river, caused by said obstructions, as proposed in the project of the commissioners, approved by the War Department in February, eighteen hundred and fifty-three. APPROVED, August 7, 1856. Aug. 11, 1856. CHAP. LXXXIII An Act granting Public Lands in alternate Sections to the State of Mississippi to aid in the Construction of Railroads in said State, and for other Purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United Grant of land States of America in Congress assembled, That there be, and is hereby, to Mississippi for granted to the State of Mississippi, for the purpose of aiding in the construction of railroads from Jackson to the line between the State of Mis railroads. sissippi and the State of Alabama; from Tuscaloosa to the Mobile railroad within Mississippi; and from Brandon to the Gulf of Mexico, every alternate section of land designated by even numbers; for six sections in width on each side of each of said roads. But in case it shall appear that Grant in lieu the United States have, when the lines or routes of said roads are defi- of sections sold or preempted. nitely fixed, sold any sections or any parts thereof granted as aforesaid, or that the right of preemption has attached to the same, then it shall be lawful for any agent or agents, to be appointed by the governor of said State, to select, subject to the approval of the Secretary of the Interior, from the lands of the United States nearest to the tiers of sections above specified, so much land in alternate sections or parts of sections as shall be equal to such lands as the United States shall have sold or otherwise appropriated, or to which the right of preemption has attached as aforesaid; which lands (thus selected in lieu of those sold, and to which preemption rights have attached as aforesaid, together with the sections and parts of sections designated by even numbers as aforesaid, and appropriated as aforesaid) shall be held by the said State for the use and purpose aforesaid: Provided, That the lands to be so located shall in no case be further than fifteen miles from the lines of said roads, and selected for, and on account of each of said roads: Provided further, That the lands Application of hereby granted shall be exclusively applied in the construction of that said lands. road for and on account of which said lands are hereby granted, and shall be disposed of only as the work progresses, and the same shall be applied to no other purpose whatsoever: And provided further, That any and all lands heretofore reserved to the United States by any act of ply (except as to Congress, or in any other manner, by competent authority, for the right of way) to purpose of aiding in any object of internal improvement, or for any other purpose whatsoever, be and the same are hereby reserved to the United States from the operation of this act, except so far as it may be found necessary to locate the routes of said railroads through such reserved lands, in which case, the right of way only shall be granted, subject to the approval of the President of the United States. Act not to ap reserved lands. Price of altersections doubled. SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That the sections and parts of sections of land which, by such grant, shall remain to the United States, nate within six miles on each side of said roads, shall not be sold for less than double the minimum price of the public lands when sold; nor shall any of the said lands become subject to private entry until the same have been first offered at public sale at the increased price. Disposal of SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That the said lands hereby granted to the said State, shall be subject to the disposal of the legislature thereof, said lands. for the purpose aforesaid and no other; and the said railroads shall be Railroads to be and remain public highways for the use of the government of the United & public highway for governStates, free from toll or other charge upon the transportation of any ment. property or troops of the United States. SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That the lands hereby granted to the Disposal of said said State shall be disposed of by said State only in manner following, that lands. is to say: That a quantity of land not exceeding one hundred and twenty sections for each of said roads, and included within a continuous length of twenty miles of each of said roads, may be sold; and when the governor of said State shall certify to the Secretary of the Interior that any continuous twenty miles of either of said roads is completed, then another like quantity of land hereby granted, not exceeding one hundred and twenty sections for such road may be sold; and so from time to time until said roads are completed; and if said roads are not completed within ten years no further sales shall be made, and the lands unsold shall revert to the United States. of mails. SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That the United States mail shall Transportation be transported over said railroads, under the direction of the Post-Office Department, at such orice as Congress may, by law, direct: Provided, Similar grant for a railroad from Mobile to New Orleans. That until such price is fixed by law, the Postmaster-General shall have the power to determine the same. SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That a like grant to the same extent, and on the same terms and conditions in all respects, is hereby made to aid in constructing a railroad from the city of Mobile to New Orleans, such grant to be made to the several States through which said road shall pass, so far as said road is within their respective limits. APPROVED, August 11, 1856. Aug. 11, 1856. CHAP. LXXXIV.—An Act to amend the Charter of Georgetown in the District of ized in George Columbia. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United Poll tax author States of America in Congress assembled, That the Corporation of Georgetown, for schools. town, in the District of Columbia, shall have full power and authority to lay and impose the present year and annually thereafter, a school tax upon every free white male citizen, of the age of twenty-one years and upwards, of one dollar per annum; said tax to be levied and collected under such regulations as the said corporation may prescribe. for electors in Georgetown. SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That from and after the passage of Qualifications this act, every free white male citizen of the United States, who shall have attained the age of twenty one years, and shall have resided within the corporate limits of Georgetown, in the District aforesaid, one year immediately preceding the day of election, and shall have been returned on the books of the corporation during the year ending on the thirty-first day of December next preceding the day of election, as subject to a school tax for that year, (except persons non compos mentis, vagrants, paupers, and persons who shall have been convicted of any infamous crime,) and who shall have paid the school taxes due from him, shall be entitled to vote for mayor, members of the board of aldermen and board of common council, and for every officer authorized to be elected at any election under the acts of said corporation: Provided, That if, during the year ending on the thirty-first day of December next preceding the day of the first election after the passage of this act, no person shall have been returned on the books of the said corporation as subject to a school tax, then all persons who shall have been returned on the books of the said corporation as subject to a school tax before the day of the said first election, and who shall in all other respects be qualified under this act to vote, and who shall have paid the said school tax, shall be entitled to vote at the Penalties for said first election after the passage of this act; and if any person shall buy buying or selling or sell a vote, or shall vote more than once at any corporation election, held votes, or violating election laws. in pursuance of law, or shall give or receive any consideration therefor in money, goods, or any other thing of value, or shall promise any valuable consideration, or vote in consideration of such promise, he shall be disqualified forever thereafter from voting or holding any office under said corporation; and on complaint thereof to the attorney of the United States for the District of Columbia, it shall be the duty of said attorney to proceed against said offender or offenders by indictment and trial, as in other criminal cases; and if found guilty it shall be the duty of the court to sentence him to pay a fine of not less than ten dollars, and to imprisonment not more than two months, nor less than ten days. Evidence of furnished on demand. SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of the elections to be clerk of said corporation, on the presentation of the corporation tax collector's receipt showing that the applicant has paid his school tax for that year, to enter the name of such school tax payer on the books of said corporation, and to furnish the judges of elections to be held under the laws of said corporation at each precinct, before or on the morning of any election, before the hour for opening the polls, with a list of the names of all persons who shall have paid their school taxes for that year. SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That the school tax which shall be School tax dislevied and collected under this act shall constitute a fund, or be added to posed of. any other fund now or hereafter to be constituted by any act of said corporation for the establishment and support of common schools, and for no other purpose, under such regulations as the corporation may prescribe. Election pre tions. SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of said corporation to provide or establish at least two election precincts within eincts and the limits of the corporation of Georgetown, and to appoint not less than judges of electhree judges of election for each precinct, and to adopt such other regulations as may be necessary to give full force and effect to this section. SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That all acts or parts of acts in conflict with this act be and the same are hereby repealed. APPROVED, August 11, 1856. Inconsistent acts repealed. CHAP. LXXXV.—An Act to confirm to certain Persons therein named, their Titles to cer- Aug. 11, 1856. tain Lots in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin. Certain farm at Prairie du Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That all those farm and village lots at Prairie du Chien, in the State of Wisconsin, as designated and village lots upon the plat of the private land claims at said place, in volume four of Chien confirmed. the public lands American State Papers, which plat was made in the year of our Lord eighteen hundred and twenty, by Isaac Lee, Esquire, the agent appointed by the commissioners to adjust land titles at Green Bay and Prairie du Chien, which have not heretofore been confirmed and patented to the claimants, are hereby confirmed unto the several persons named upon said plat and the report of said Lee, and to their assigns and legal representatives; and village lots numbers six, ten, and eleven, in the main village, as designated upon said plat, are hereby confirmed to Hercules L. Dousman; and lot number nine, in said village, to Edward W. Pelton; and patents to the lots hereby confirmed, shall issue to such persons as now own, or as shall have the right to the same: Provided, That the confirmation hereby made shall not interfere with any tion to be only a heretofore made, and that such confirmation shall only operate as a relin- relinquishment quishment of title on the part of the United States, and shall in no manner interfere with any valid adverse right of any persons, if such exist, to the same land. APPROVED, August 11, 1856. This confirma of title. CHAP. LXXXVI.—An Act to provide for the Public Instruction of Youth in Primary Aug. 11, 1856. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the levy court of the Commission county of Washington, in the District of Columbia, at their first meeting ers of primary after the passage of this act, shall appoint seven intelligent inhabitants schools in Washington County, of the said county, who shall reside without the limits of the cities of D. C., to be apWashington and Georgetown, two of whom shall be residents of that pointed. portion of the said county lying and being west of Rock Creek, three between Rock Creek and the Eastern Branch, and two east and south of the Eastern Branch, to be commissioners of primary schools for said county, which said commissioners shall hold their offices until the second Monday in May, in the year one thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, Term of office. and until others are appointed in their places; and in case any of the said commissioners thus appointed or to be appointed, as aforesaid, shall refuse to serve, or die, or remove from the county, or become incapable of serving, the vacancy or vacancies shall be filled by the levy court as soon as practicable. Vacancies, how filled. |
