A DIGEST OF THE LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES. 1857-63. Accounts. 1. Accounts of receiving officers to be settled monthly. Proceedings in case of default. 12 Stat. 593. ceiving officers case of default. 1. Any officer or agent of the United States who shall receive public money which he 17 July 1862 2 1. is not authorized to retain as salary, pay or emolument, shall render his accounts monthly, instead of quarterly, as heretofore; and such accounts, with the vouchers Accounts of renecessary to the correct and prompt settlement thereof, shall be rendered direct to the to be settled, proper accounting officer of the treasury, and be mailed or otherwise forwarded to its monthly. proper address, within ten days after the expiration of each successive month. And in Proceedings in, case of the non-receipt at the treasury of any accounts within a reasonable and proper time thereafter, the officer whose accounts are in default shall be required to furnish satisfactory evidence of having complied with the provisions of this act; and for any default on his part, the delinquent officer shall be deemed a defaulter, and be subject to all the penalties prescribed by the 16th section of the act of August 6th 1846, "to provide for the better organization of the treasury, and for the collection, safe-keeping, transfer and disbursement of the public revenue:"(a) Provided, That the secretary of the treasury may, if in his opinion the circumstances of the case justify and require it, extend the time herein before prescribed for the rendition of accounts: And provided further, That nothing herein contained shall be construed to restrain the heads of any of the departments from requiring such other returns or reports from the officer or agent, subject to the control of such heads of departments, as the public interests may require. (a) Ante 887, pl. 57. Acts of Congress, 1. Number of pamphlet laws to be delivered to the executive departments. 1. In lieu of the number of copies of the pamphlet laws directed by the act of 20th 2 March 1861 25. April 1818, (a) to be delivered to the officers of the executive departments, there shall 12 Stat. 245. hereafter be delivered to the head of each department, including the attorney-general, Number of pam for the use of those officers, a number equal to the number of copies which they are or delivered to the may be entitled to receive of the Statutes at Large, published by Little and Brown, executive departunder the provisions of the act of 8th August 1846.(b) phlet laws to be ments. Ibid. 28. Distribution of 2. The number of pamphlet laws directed to be placed in the library of congress by the act of 20th of April 1818, (c) and of the Statutes at Large, published by Little and Brown, directed to be placed in the said library, by the act of 8th August 1846, (d) shall copies in the con be distributed by the secretary of the interior, agreeably to the provisions of the 11th library. gressional section of the act of 5th February 1859, (e) excepting twelve copies to be sent to the library of congress for the use of the supreme court during its sessions; and two copies for use in said library. Admiralty. The jurisdiction of the district courts, in cases of admiralty, does not rest upon the act of 1845, but upon the constitution of the United States. It is not limited to tide waters, but embraces lakes and navigable rivers, through which commerce is carried on between different states, or with a foreign nation. Franconet . The Propeller F. W. Backus, 1 Newb. 1. Parmlee . The Charles Mears, Ibid. 197. Williatus r. The Jenny Lind, Ibid. 443. The act 20 July 1790, 26 (26, pl. 7), confers power on the judge or justice to issue summary process for seamen's wages; and the court will not look beyond the certificate of such officer for the authority of the clerk to issue the process prescribed; but such certificate must show on its face that the commissioner had authority to act. Kief r. The Steamboat London, 1 Newb. 6. The act of 1845 did not enlarge the jurisdiction of the federal courts as to questions of admiralty. The term "navigable waters" used therein, is not to be understood in the same sense as "natural streams;" but must be held to include an artificial communication such as the Welland Canal. Scott e. The Young America, 1 Newb. 101. The admiralty jurisdiction of the district court extends to all the large, public, navigable rivers and lakes of the United States. McGinnis e. The Pontiac, 1 Newb. 130. Eads v. The Steamboat II. D. Bacon, Ibid. 274. The district courts have a general admiralty jurisdiction in rem, in suits brought by material men against foreign ships; and in cases of domestic ships, where the local law gives a lien. Wick v. The Samuel Strong, 1 Newb. 187. When a libel is filed to enforce a lien upon a domestic vessel, it must be distinctly set forth in the libel, by what municipal regu lation or state law, such lien is conferred. Parmlce v. The Charles Mears, 1 Newb. 197. When a libel is filed to enforce a lien under the general maritime law, such facts must be set forth in the libel, which, if proven, would satisfy the court, that the vessel was a foreign one, at the time the lien attached. Ibid. When the general maritime law gives the mechanic or materialman a lien for labor and materials, in the building of a vessel, the admiralty has jurisdiction to enforce it, by a process in rem, even before the vessel is launched or employed in navigation. Ibid. The jurisdiction of the district courts, under the act of 1799, embraces all cases of a maritime nature, whether they be particularly of maritime cognisance or not. They are not embarrassed by the restraining acts of Rich. II. and Hen. IV., but are governed by the principles of maritime law recognised in maritime nations of continental Europe. Kynoch v. The Propeller S. C. Ives, 1 Newb. 206. The admiralty and maritime jurisdiction of the United States in rem, is exclusively in the federal courts. Ashbrook r. The Golden Gate, 1 Newb. 296: contra, Taylor v. The Columbia, 5 Cal. 268. A court of admiralty has no jurisdiction to try questions of equitable title to vessels, or to enforce the equities between mortgagor and mortgagee of vessels; it can only pass upon the legal title. The William D. Rice, 20 Law Rep. 501. The court affords a remedy against domestic vessels for labor, supplies, &c., furnished, only where the vessel is subject, by the local law, to a lien therefor; and the privilege is enforced, subject to every qualification or limitation attached to it by that law. The Alida, 1 Abbott 165. The Infanta, Ibid. 263. The admiralty jurisdiction does not extend to cases where a lien is claimed by the builders of a vessel, for work done, and materials provided, in its construction. People's Ferry Co. v. Beers, 20 How. 393. Whether the district courts can enforce a lien in such cases, given by the state law, the supreme court do not decide. Ibid. Such jurisdiction denied in The Coernine, 21 Law Rep. 343. And see Pratt v. Reed, 19 How. 359: contra, The Richard Busteed, 21 Law Rep. 601. The admiralty jurisdiction extends to cases of collision upon navigable waters, although the place of such collision be within the body of a county, and above the flux and reflux of the tide. Jackson . The Magnolia, 20 How. 296. The district courts exercise this jurisdiction over fresh-water rivers navigable from the sea, by virtue of the act of 1789, and not by virtue of the act of 1845, which extends their jurisdiction to the great lakes and waters "not navigable from the sea." Ibid. The admiralty can acquire no jurisdiction by the scizure of a vessel, already in the possession of the sheriff under valid state process. Taylor e. Carryl, 20 How. 584. Services rendered on board a vessel of 35 tons, engaged in transporting stone and lumber between Quincy and Boston, are maritime in their character, and within the jurisdiction of the admiralty. Derry r. Hersey, 21 Law Rep. 473. Full costs are to be taxed in admiralty causes, notwithstanding the decree be for less than $100. The act of 1847 is in this respect repealed by the fee bill of 1853. Ibid. Under the act of 1845, a libel cannot be sustained on a bill of lading for the carriage of goods between two ports of the same state, though in a general ship whose principal voyage is between ports of different states. Allen e. The Fashion, 21 How. 244. Nor for supplies furnished to a vessel engaged in a trade between ports within the same state. Maguire v. Crd, Ibid. 248. On the 1st May 1857, a new rule of the supreme court went into effect, by which the federal courts would not, after that time, enforce any domestic lien given by state statute. Tupper v. The St. Lawrence, 16 Leg. Int. 317. See Fox v. Revenue Cutter, 8 Am. L. R. 463-4. The admiralty have no jurisdiction in rem, on a maritime contract, unless a lien be annexed to it by law. Vandewater e. The Yankee Blade, 1 McAllister 9. The admiralty and maritime jurisdiction given to the federal courts over the western lakes and rivers, by the constitution and the act of 1789, is not in any way restricted by the act of 1545. Fox r. Revenue Cutter, 8 Am. L. R. 459. A contract for building a ship, or furnishing materials therefor, is not a maritime contract; and a state law, which creates a lien in such a case, cannot confer jurisdiction on the federal courts. Roach v. Chapman, 22 How. 129. The admiralty has jurisdiction to decree the bounty allowed to persons employed in the cod fishery; and a claim for a proportion of the bounty may be united with one for an account of the num ber of fish taken during the voyage. The Lucy Anne, 23 Law Rep. 545. 1. Department of agriculture established. 2. Appointment of commissioner. Salary. Agriculture. Franking privilege. 4. Appointment of chief clerk and other officers. Oath of office. 3. Duties of commissioner. Annual report. Special reports. Bonds. 15 May 1862 1. 12 Stat. 387. Department of agriculture established. Ibid. 2. Appointment of commissioner. Salary. Ibid. 23. Duties of commissioner. 1. There is hereby established at the seat of government of the United States a department of agriculture, the general designs and duties of which shall be, to acquire and to diffuse among the people of the United States useful information on subjects connected with agriculture, in the most general and comprehensive sense of that word, and to procure, progagate and distribute among the people new and valuable seeds and plants. 2. There shall be appointed by the president, by and with the advice and consent of the senate, a 66 commissioner of agriculture," who shall be the chief executive officer of the department of agriculture; who shall hold his office by a tenure similar to that of other civil officers appointed by the president, and who shall receive for his compensation a salary of three thousand dollars per annum. 3. It shall be the duty of the commissioner of agriculture to acquire and preserve in his department all information concerning agriculture which he can obtain by means of books and correspondence, and by practical and scientific experiments (accurate records of which experiments shall be kept in his office), by the collection of statistics, and by any other appropriate means within his power; to collect, as he may be able, new and valuable seeds and plants; to test, by cultivation, the value of such of them 15 May 1862. Annual report. as may require such tests; to propagate such as may be worthy of propagation, and to distribute them among agriculturists. He shall annually make a general report in writing of his acts to the president and to congress, in which he may recommend the publication of papers forming parts of or accompanying his report, which report shall also contain an account of all moneys received and expended by him. He shall also Special reports. make special reports on particular subjects, whenever required to do so by the president or either house of congress, or when he shall think the subject in his charge requires it. He shall receive and have charge of all the property of the agricultural division of the patent office in the department of the interior, including the fixtures and property of the propagating garden. He shall direct and superintend the expenditure of all money appropriated by congress to the department, and render accounts thereof, and also of all money heretofore appropriated for agriculture and remaining unexpended. And said commissioner may send and receive through the mails, free of charge, all Franking privicommunications and other matter pertaining to the business of his department, not lege. exceeding in weight thirty-two ounces. other officers. 4. The commissioner of agriculture shall appoint a chief clerk, with a salary of two Ibid. 4. thousand dollars, who in all cases during the necessary absence of the commissioner, or Appointment of when the said principal office shall become vacant, shall perform the duties of commis- chief clerk, and sioner, and he shall appoint such other employees as congress may from time to time provide, with salaries corresponding to the salaries of similar officers in other departments of the government; and he shall, as congress may from time to time provide, employ other persons for such time as their services may be needed, including chemists, botanists, entomologists and other persons skilled in the natural sciences pertaining to agriculture. And the said commissioner, and every other person to be appointed in the Oath of office. said department, shall, before he enters upon the duties of his office or appointment, make oath or affirmation truly and faithfully to execute the trust committed to him. And the said commissioner and the chief clerk shall also, before entering upon their Bonds. duties, severally give bonds to the treasurer of the United States, the former in the sum of ten thousand dollars, and the latter in the sum of five thousand dollars, conditional to render a true and faithful account to him or his successor in office, quarter-yearly accounts of all moneys which shall be by them received by virtue of the said office, with sureties to be approved as sufficient by the solicitor of the treasury; which bonds shall be filed in the office of the first comptroller of the treasury, to be by him put in suit upon any breach of the conditions thereof. 1. Hereafter the terms of the district court of the United States for the northern 9 June 1860 31. district of Alabama shall commence on the third Mondays of May and November, respectively, in every year, instead of the times now provided by law. 12 Stat. 28. Terms of northern district. Ibid. 2. Special terms. 2. The said court in term time, or the judge of said court in vacation, may order a special term of said court to be held at such time as the court or judge may appoint. Notice of the time of holding such special term shall be given by the clerk of the court, by advertisement, in some newspaper published in the city of Huntsville, at least once Notice. a week for four weeks next preceding the time appointed for holding such special term. II. COLLECTION DISTRICTS. 11 Stat. 260. 3. That Selma in the state of Alabama, which was constituted a port of delivery 27 Jan. 1858 ? 1. within the collection district of New Orleans by the act of 3d March 1857, chapter 102, be detached from that district, and be made a port of delivery within the collection dis- Selma annexed to trict of Mobile. district of Mobile. Aliens. 1. Aliens honorably discharged from the military service, to be naturalized on proof of one year's residence. 12 Stat. 597. discharged from the military ser 17 July 1862 21. 1. Any alien, of the age of twenty-one years and upwards, who has enlisted or shall enlist in the armies of the United States, either the regular or the volunteer forces, and Aliens honorably has been or shall be hereafter honorably discharged, may be admitted to become a citizen of the United States, upon his petition, without any previous declaration of his intention to become a citizen of the United States, and he shall not be required to prove more than one year's residence within the United States previous to his application to become such citizen; and the court admitting such alien shall, in addition to such proof of residence and good moral character as is now provided by law, be satisfied by competent proof of such person having been honorably discharged from the service of the United States as aforesaid. vice, to be naturalized on proof of one year's resi dence. A state law restricting its courts and their clerks from receiving applications, or entertaining jurisdiction for the naturalization of aliens, under the acts of congress, is not contrary to the constitution of the United States. Stephens' Case, 4 Gray 559. The process of naturalization is a judicial act which congress cannot authoritatively confer on a state court; but it may be exer cised by the state courts if not prohibited by the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of the United States. They derive no new judicial power from the act of congress, but only exercise a power already inherent in them as courts having common law jurisdiction. Morgan v. Dudley, 18 B. Monroe 693; reversing 8. c. 20 Law Rep. 371. See Ramsden's Case, 13 How. Pr. Rep. (N. Y.) 429. Rump v. Commonwealth, 6 Casey 475. The state courts, in entertaining jurisdiction of cases of naturalization, act exclusively under the laws of the United States, and are to be deemed, quoad hoc, courts of the United States. People v. Sweetman, 3 Parker C. R. 358. Wilful false swearing, by a person giving material testimony in a naturalization proceeding, before a state court, is an offence against the laws of the United States, and punishable only in the federal courts. Ibid.: contra, Rump v. Commonwealth, 6 Casey 475. Application for naturalization must be made in open court, and evidence of residence, &c., must be taken by the oral examination of witnesses, and not by previously prepared affidavits. Ibid. Under the acts of congress, children born abroad, not only of citizens by birth, but also of naturalized citizens, are citizens of the United States. Sasportas v. De la Motta, 10 Richardson Eq. R. 38. The allegiance of a naturalized citizen cannot be transferred to another government, by a treaty ceding the territory in which he is domiciled, as in case of a natural born citizen; by such cession he is released from his statutory allegiance and remitted to his original status. Tobin v. Walkinshaw, 1 McAllister 186. Ambassadors and Public Ministers. 1. Mission to Sardinia. 2. Minister and secretary of legation. 16 June 1860 1. 12 Stat. 40. Mission to Ibid. 2. Minister and secretary of legation 5 June 1862 21. 12 Stat. 421. Hayti and [See CONSULS.] 3. Commissioners to Hayti and Liberia. 1. That from and after the 30th of June next, the kingdom of Sardinia be ranked in schedule A of the consular and diplomatic bill, approved August 18th 1856, with Russia, Spain, Austria, Brazil, Mexico and China. 2. That the president may, by and with the advice and consent of the senate, appoint a representative to the kingdom of Sardinia of the grade of envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary, who shall receive for his services an annual compensation of twelve thousand dollars; and a secretary of legation who shall receive for his services an annual compensation of one thousand eight hundred dollars. 3. That the president of the United States be, and he hereby is authorized, by and with the advice and consent of the senate, to appoint diplomatic representatives of the Commissioners to United States to the republics of Hayti and Liberia respectively. Each of the said representatives so appointed shall be accredited as commissioner and consul-general, and shall receive the compensation of commissioners, according to the act of congress, approved August 18th 1856: (a) Provided, That the annual compensation of the representative at Liberia shall not exceed four thousand dollars. Compensation. 3 March 1863 23. 12 Stat. 754. 4. That so much of the act approved the 18th August 1856, (b) entitled "An act to regulate the diplomatic and consular systems of the United States," as prohibits the To whom pass granting of passports to any other than citizens of the United States, shall be and is hereby repealed, so far as that prohibition may embrace any class of persons liable to military duty by the laws of the United States. ports may be granted. 23 June 1860 ? 2. 12 Stat. 103. Repeal of act 26 Appropriations. 1. Repeal of act 26 August 1842, § 23. 1. The 23d section of the act entitled "An act legalizing and making appropriations. for such necessary objects as have usually been included in the general appropriation bills without authority of law, and to fix and provide for certain incidental expenses of August 184223. the departments and offices of the government, and for other purposes," approved 26th August 1842, (a) is hereby repealed. (a) Ante 44, pl. 12. 1. Boundaries. Arizona. 2. Territorial government. Appointment of officers. Acts re lating to New Mexico extended to Arizona. 12 Stat. C64. 1. All that part of the present territory of New Mexico, situate west of a line running 24 Feb. 18c3 1. due south from the point where the south-west corner of the territory of Colorado joins the northern boundary of the territory of New Mexico to the southern boundary line of Boundaries. said territory of New Mexico be, and the same is hereby erected into, a temporary government by the name of the territory of Arizona: Provided, That nothing contained in the provisions of this act shall be construed to prohibit the congress of the United States from dividing said territory or changing its boundaries in such manner and at such time as it may deem proper: Provided further, That said government shall be maintained and continued until such time as the people residing in said territory shall, with the consent of congress, form a state government, republican in form, as prescribed in the constitution of the United States, and apply for and obtain admission into the Union as a state, on an equal footing with the original states. Ibid. 22. officers. 2. The government hereby authorized shall consist of an executive, legislative and judicial power. The executive power shall be vested in a governor. The legislative Territorial gov power shall consist of a council of nine members, and a house of representatives of ernment. eighteen. The judicial power shall be vested in a supreme court, to consist of three judges, and such inferior courts as the legislative council may by law prescribe; there shall also be a secretary, a marshal, a district attorney and a surveyor-general for said territory, who, together with the governor and judges of the supreme court, shall be Appointment of appointed by the president, by and with the advice and consent of the senate, and the term of office for each, the manner of their appointment, and the powers, duties and the compensation of the governor, legislative assembly, judges of the supreme court, secretary, marshal, district attorney and surveyor-general aforesaid, with their clerks, draughtsman, deputies and sergeant-at-arms, shall be such as are conferred upon the same officers by the act organizing the territorial government of New Mexico, which subordinate officers shall be appointed in the same manner, and not exceed in number those created by said act; and acts amendatory thereto, together with all legislative enactments of the territory of New Mexico not inconsistent with the provisions of this Acts relating to act, are hereby extended to and continued in force in the said territory of Arizona, until New Mexico repealed or amended by future legislation: Provided, That no salary shall be due or Arizona. paid the officers created by this act until they have entered upon the duties of their respective offices within the said territory. extended to Ibid. 3. 3. There shall neither be slavery nor involuntary servitude in the said territory, otherwise than in the punishment of crimes, whereof the parties shall have been duly con- Slavery not to be victed; and all acts and parts of acts, either of congress or of the territory of New recognised. Mexico, establishing, regulating or in any way recognising the relation of master and slave in said territory, are hereby repealed. Armories and Arsenals. [See ARMY OF THE UNITED STATES, 30.] 1. Additional arsenals. 12 Stat. 537. 1. There shall be, and hereby is, established a national arsenal at Columbus, in the 11 July 1862 81. state of Ohio, at Indianapolis, in the state of Indiana, and on Rock Island, in the state of Illinois, for the deposit and repair of arms and other munitions of war. Additional arsenals. |