CHAP. CLII. An Act to amend the Act of the twenty-first December, eighteen hundred and sixty-one, entitled "An Act to further promote the Efficiency of the Navy." June 25, 1864. 1861, ch. 1. Vol. xii. p. 329. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the first section of the act of the twenty-first of December, anno Domini eighteen hundred and sixtyone, entitled "An act to further promote the efficiency of the navy," shall not be so construed as to retire any officer under the age of sixty-two years, and whose name shall not have been borne upon the navy register officers not to be for a period of forty-five years after he had arrived at the age of sixteen years. APPROVED, June 25, 1864. Certain navy retired, if, &c. CHAP. CLIII. ·An Act granting Lands to the State of Wisconsin to build a Military June 25, 1864. Road to Lake Superior. to Wisconsin for Mineral lands not granted. Lands to be granted in lieu of those previously disposed of. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That there be, and is hereby, granted to the State of Wisconsin, to aid in the construction of a military Lands granted wagon-road from Wausaw, Marathon County, Wisconsin, following the military wagonWisconsin River as far as Skonowang, and from thence, on the most feasi- road. ble and direct route, to a point on the state line between the States of Wisconsin and Michigan, in a direction leading to Ontonagon, on Lake Superior, every alternate section of public land, not mineral, designated by odd numbers, for three sections in width on each side of said road. But in case it shall appear that the United States have, when the line or route of said road is definitely fixed, sold, reserved, or otherwise disposed of any section, or any part thereof, granted as aforesaid, or that the right of preemption or homestead settlement has attached to the same, then it shall be the duty of the Secretary of the Interior to set apart from the public lands of the United States, as hereinbefore described, designated by odd numbers, as near to said even section aforesaid as may be, and the same shall be located within six miles of said road, so much land as shall be equal to such lands as the United States have sold or otherwise appropriated, or to which the right of preemption or homestead settlement has attached; which lands, (thus selected in lieu of those sold, reserved, or otherwise appropriated, and to which the right of preemption or homestead settlement has attached as aforesaid) together with the sections and parts of sections designated by odd numbers as aforesaid, and approved as aforesaid, shall be held by the State of Wisconsin for the use and purpose aforesaid: Provided, That the lands hereby granted shall be exclusively applied in the construction of that road for and on account of which such be applied. lands are hereby granted, and shall be disposed of only as the work progresses, and the same shall be applied to no other purpose whatever: Provided, further, That any and all lands heretofore reserved to the United States, or granted by any act of congress, or in any other manner by not affected hereby. competent authority, for the purpose of aiding in any object of internal improvement, or for any other purpose whatsoever, be, and the same are hereby, reserved and excluded from the operation of this act, except so far as it may be found necessary to locate the route of said road through such reserved lands, in which case the right of way only shall be granted. SEC. 2. 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, for the purposes aforesaid and no other; and the said road shall be, and ture to dispose of remain, a public highway for the use of the government of the United Road to be States, free from tolls or other charge upon the transportation of any highway, &c. property, troops, or mails of the United States. Lands, how to Former grants State legisla lands. SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That the lands hereby granted to Lands, how said state shall be disposed of only in the following manner that is to say, posed of. only to be diswhen the said governor shall certify to the Secretary of the Interior that Patents not to be granted until ten miles of road are completed, &c. Lands to revert, if, &c. Road, how to be constructed. June 25, 1864. 1850, ch. 76. Vol. ix. p. 496. to work forfeiture in certain cases. any ten consecutive miles of said road has been completed under the provisions of this act, and in accordance with the fourth section of this act, stating definitely where said completed section of road commences and where it terminates, it shall be the duty of the said secretary to cause patents to issue to said state for three sections of land for each mile of road thus completed as aforesaid, and so on until the whole of said road is completed: Provided, further, That no patent shall be given for any of the aforesaid lands before the completion of ten consecutive miles of road, or for any road, or for any part of any road, made before the passage of this act, or for any greater quantity than thirty sections for each ten miles completed according to the provisions of this act; and if said road is not completed within five years, no further sales shall be made, and the lands unsold shall revert to the United States. SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That said military road shall be constructed under the direction of such agents or commissioners as the governor of said state may appoint, and where it passes through timbered lands shall be chopped out a uniform width of at least six rods. The road-bed proper to be not less than thirty-two feet wide, and constructed with ample ditches on both sides, so as to afford sufficient drains, with good and substantial bridges and proper culverts and sluices where necessary. All stumps and roots to be thoroughly grubbed out between the ditches the entire length of said road; the central portion of which to be sufficiently raised to afford a dry road-bed by means of drainage from the centre to the side ditches; the hills to be levelled and valleys raised so as to make as easy a grade as practicable. APPROVED, June 25, 1864. CHAP. CLIV. - An Act to amend the Act of Congress making Donations to the Settlers on the Public Lands in Oregon, approved September twenty-seven, eighteen hundred and fifty, and the Acts amendatory thereto. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United Failing to file States of America in Congress assembled, That in all cases under the notice in time, not act of congress approved September twenty-seventh, eighteen hundred and fifty, entitled "An act to create the office of surveyor-general of the public lands in Oregon, and to provide for the survey, and to make donations to settlers of the said public lands," and the several acts amendatory and supplemental thereto, in which the actual settlement may be shown to be bona fide, and the claim in all respects to be fully within the requirements of existing laws, except as to the failure of the party.to file notice within the time fixed by statute, such failure shall not work forfeiture when no adverse rights intervene before the filing of the required notification by the claimant. June 25, 1864. Heads of de annual reports to APPROVED, June 25, 1864. CHAP. CLV.- An Act to expedite and regulate the Printing of Public Documents, and for other Purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That hereafter, instead of furnishing manuscript copies of the documents usually accompanying their partments to send annual reports to each house of congress, the heads of the several departsuperintendent of ments of government shall transmit them, on or before the first day of public printing November in each year, to the superintendent of public printing, who before, &c. shall cause to be printed the usual number, and, in addition thereto, one thousand copies for the use of the Senate and two thousand copies for the use of the House of Representatives; and that it shall be the duty of the joint committee on printing to appoint some competent person, who shall edit and select such portions of the documents so placed in their Number of copies. Editor to be hands as shall, in the judgment of the committee, be desirable for popular selected to predistribution, and to prepare an alphabetical index to the same. pare volumes for popular distribu Editing of off SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That the Secretary of War be, tion, &c. and he is hereby, authorized to appoint some competent person to edit the printing of the official reports of the operations of the armies of the cial reports of United States. army. to furnish copy of SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of the Heads of deheads of the several departments of government to furnish the superin- partments, when tendent of public printing with copies of their respective reports, on or reports. before the third Monday in November in each year. SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of the Superintendent superintendent of public printing to print the President's message, the of public printing to print message reports of the heads of departments, and the abridgment of accompany- and documents, ing documents prepared under the direction of the joint committee on &c. public printing, suitably bound; and that, in addition to the number now required by law, and unless otherwise ordered by either house of congress, reports. it shall be his duty to print ten thousand copies of the same for the use of Number of the Senate, and twenty-five thousand copies for the use of the House, and copies of several to deliver the same to the proper officer of each house, respectively, on or before the third Wednesday in December following the assembling of congress, or as soon thereafter as practicable; and further, it shall also be the duty of the said superintendent to cause to be printed and stitched in paper covers twenty-five hundred copies of the annual reports of the executive departments for the use of said departments, respectively; and also one thousand copies of the reports of the commissioner of the general land-office, commissioner of pensions, commissioner of the internal revenue, and such number of the report of the commissioner of Indian affairs, to be bound, not exceeding three thousand copies, as may be directed by the Secretary of the Interior, for their use, respectively; and also five hundred copies of the reports of the superintendent of the Washington aqueduct, architect of the capitol extension, metropolitan police board, third auditor of the treasury, and of the Insane Asylum, Columbia Institute, and commissioner of public buildings, respectively, for their use, and one hundred copies of the report of the bureau of engineers, for the use of said bureau. And he shall not print any greater number of said reports unless otherwise directed by either house of congress. "Commercial distributed. SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That seven thousand copies of the "Commercial Relations," annually prepared under the direction of the Relations," how Secretary of State, be printed and distributed as follows, viz: the usual number (one thousand five hundred and fifty) for the houses of congress; four hundred and fifty for the state department; two thousand for the use of the members of the Senate; and three thousand for the use of the members of the House. Offers and contracts for convey SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That the annual report of the Postmaster-General of offers received and contracts for conveying the mails, ing mails not to in compliance with the twenty-fourth and twenty-fifth sections of the act be printed unless, of congress approved July two, eighteen hundred and thirty-six, be no &c. longer printed, unless specially ordered by either house of congress; and that such portion of the above-mentioned act as authorized the said publication be, and the same is hereby, repealed. lutions. SEC. 7. And be it further enacted, That from and after the passage of Laws and resothis act it shall be the duty of the secretary of the Senate to furnish the superintendent of public printing with correct copies of all laws and joint resolutions as soon as possible after their approval by the President of the United States, and that the superintendent shall immediately cause to be printed, separately, the usual number for the use of the two houses of congress; and, in addition thereto, he shall cause to be printed and bound, at the close of each session of congress, three thousand copies Number of thereof for the use of the Senate and ten thousand copies for the use of copies. Index. Advertisement for proposals for Lithographing and engraving &c. the House, with a complete alphabetical index, prepared under the direction of the joint committee on public printing. SEC. 8. And be it further enacted, That section seven of the joint resolution in relation to the public printing, approved June twenty-three, eighteen hundred and sixty, be so amended as to require the superintendent of public printing to advertise only in two newspapers, published in the cities of New York, Cincinnati, Boston, Philadelphia, and Baltimore, for thirty days prior to the first day of November of each year, for proposals for furnishing the paper necessary for the execution of the public printing. SEC. 9. And be it further enacted, That all lithographing and ento be awarded to graving, where the probable total cost of the maps or plates illustrating lowest bidder, if, or accompanying any one work exceeds two hundred and fifty dollars, shall be awarded to the lowest and best bidder for the interests of the government, due regard being paid to the execution of the work, after due advertisement by the superintendent of public printing, under the direction of the joint committee on printing: Provided, That the joint committee on public printing be authorized to empower the superintendent of public printing to make immediate contracts for engraving, whenever, in their opinion, the exigencies of the public service will not justify waiting for advertisement and award. Proviso. documents. Proceeds of sales of documents, &c. SEC. 10. And be it further enacted, That whenever any person may Extra copies of desire extra copies of any document printed at the government printing office by authority of law, and shall notify the superintendent of public printing of the number of copies desired previous to its being put to press, and shall pay, in advance, the estimated cost thereof to said superintendent, the superintendent shall be authorized, under the direction of the joint committee on public printing, to furnish such extra copies; and the money so received, together with moneys received by him from the sales of paper shavings and imperfections, shall be deposited in the treasury of the United States to the credit of the appropriations for public printing, binding, and paper, respectively, as designated by said superintendent; and, further, the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby directed to cause the moneys heretofore deposited by said superintendent in the treasury of the United States, being the proceeds of sales of paper shavings and imperfections, to be placed to the credit of the appropriations aforesaid, which said several sums of money shall be subject to the requisition of said superintendent in the manner now prescribed by law. Papers relating to foreign affairs. Number of copies. Form and style of printing and binding. Repealing clause. SEC. 11. And be it further enacted, That whenever papers relating to foreign affairs shall be communicated to congress accompanying the annual message of the President, it shall be the duty of the superintendent of public printing to cause to be printed and bound, in addition to the usual number, four thousand copies for the use of the members of the Senate, seven thousand copies for the use of the members of the House of Representatives, and such number for the executive department as the President shall direct. SEC. 12. And be it further enacted, That the forms and style in which the printing or binding ordered by any of the departments shall be executed, the materials and size of type to be used, shall be determined by the superintendent of public printing, having proper regard to economy, workmanship, and the purposes for which the work is needed. SEC. 13. And be it further enacted, That all laws, or parts of laws, joint resolutions, or parts of joint resolutions, conflicting with the above provisions, be, and they are hereby, repealed. APPROVED, June 25, 1864. CHAP. CLVI.—An Act to provide for the Public Instruction of Youth in the County of June 25, 1864. Washington, District of Columbia, and for other Purposes. School dis Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the school districts in the County of Washington, District of Columbia, without the limits of the tricts in Washcities of Washington and Georgetown, shall be and remain as now laid ington County, down according to law, subject to revision and alteration by the levy court of said county, and that the school commissioners now in office shall be and remain so until others are appointed. D. C. SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That the levy court shall annu- Commissioners ally, on the first Monday in May, appoint one person from each school of primary schools; district as a commissioner of primary schools, of which appointment the clerk of the levy court shall immediately notify the person so appointed; and whenever a vacancy shall occur in the board of said commissioners, the levy court, as soon as may be thereafter, shall fill the same, and all appointments made by, or resolutions of said court concerning, said commissioners shall be forthwith communicated by the clerk of said court to the clerk of the said board of commissioners, and each of said commissioners shall hold the office until a successor is appointed. SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That each of the said commission- their oath; ers, before he enters upon the execution of his office, and within fifteen days after notice of his appointment, shall take and subscribe, before some justice of the peace of said county, the following oath: "I,do solemnly swear (or affirm, as the case may be) that I will in all things, to the best of my knowledge and ability, well and truly execute the trust reposed in me as commissioner of primary schools for the County of Washington, District of Columbia, without prejudice and according to law; and every justice of the peace, before whom such oath shall be taken, shall certify the same in writing, and within eight days thereafter transmit or deliver said certificate to the clerk of the levy court for record. to be a corpo name and powers. SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That the said commissioners and their successors shall be a corporation, under the name and style of "The Board ration; of Commissioners of Primary Schools of Washington County, District of Columbia," with power to sue and be sued, and to take and hold, in feesimple, or otherwise, any estate, real or personal, not prohibited by law, which may be given to, or purchased by, the said board for primary-school purposes, and may alien and sell the same when, in the opinion of the levy court, it will be for the advantage of the said primary schools so to do; and all money in hand, after defraying the whole expenses of the several school districts at the end of each school year, shall be invested in some safe stock in the name of said corporation, and in their corporate name said board may prosecute and maintain actions for injuries done to the grounds, houses, furniture, or other property in their possession: &c.; SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That the said board of commis- Commissioners sioners shall make and keep a record of all its official acts, and a strict and to keep records, particular account of all moneys received or paid out by its order, a statement of which, with the vouchers relating thereto, as well as the record of the board, shall be subject at all times to the inspection of the levy court of said county, and to any tax-payer; and said record, or a copy thereof, certified to be correct by any one of said commissioners, attested by the signature of the clerk of said board, shall be prima facie evidence of their acts in all proceedings, judicial or otherwise; and the said board shall appoint to appoint a capable person as their clerk, (who may be one of their own members, clerk; or otherwise,) prescribe his duties, and allow him a reasonable compensation for his services. SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That the said board of commis- to hold stated sioners shall hold stated meetings in January, April, July, and October, meetings. of each and every year, at such times and places as they may appoint, |