June 11, 1896. Postal service. Postmasters' claims for losses. Allowance by Department increased. Vol. 25, p. 135. CHAP. 424.-An Act To amend section one of "An Act to amend an Act entitled 'An Act authorizing the Postmaster-General to adjust certain claims of postmasters for loss by burglary, fire or other unavoidable casualty,"" approved May ninth, eighteen hundred and eighty-eight. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the first proviso in section one of said Act be so amended as to read as follows: Provided, That no claim exceeding the sum of ten thousand dollars shall be paid or credited until after the facts shall have been ascertained by the Postmaster-General and reported to Congress, together with his recom mendation thereon, and an appropriation made therefor. Approved, June 11, 1896. RESOLUTIONS. [No. 1.] Joint Resolution Providing for the printing of the Monthly Summary December 18, 1895. Statement of Imports and Exports of the Bureau of Statistics, Treasury Department. and Exports. Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That there shall be printed monthly Summary of Imports by the Public Printer thirty-five hundred copies of the Monthly Number to be printed Summary Statement of Imports and Exports and other statistical monthly. information prepared by the Chief of the Bureau of Statistics, Treasury Department, five hundred copies of which shall be for the use of the Senate, one thousand copies for the use of the House of Representatives, and two thousand copies for the use of the Treasury Department. Approved, December 18, 1895. [No. 2.] Joint Resolution To pay the officers and employees of the Senate and House of Representatives their respective salaries for the month of December, eighteen hundred and ninety-five, on the twentieth day of said month. December 20, 1895. Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Secretary of the Senate and Officers, etc., of Conthe Clerk of the House of Representatives be, and they are hereby, cember salaries, Degress to be paid Deauthorized and instructed to pay the officers and employees of the Sen- cember 20, 1895. ate and House of Representatives, including the Capitol police, their respective salaries for the month of December, eighteen hundred and ninety-five, on the twentieth day of said month. Approved, December 20, 1895. [No. 3.] Joint Resolution Granting the State of Pennsylvania permission to use the United States court-house at Scranton, Pennsylvania, and at Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That full permission be, and the same is hereby, granted to the State of Pennsylvania and to the superior court of said State to occupy the United States court room and the rooms connected therewith at Scranton, in the county of Lackawanna, during the month of January, and at Williamsport, in the county of Lycoming, during the month of February, in each year, for the period of five years from the first day of January, eighteen hundred and ninety-six, for the purpose of holding the sessions of said court therein, and that during said period concurrent jurisdiction, so far as is necessary, over said property be, and the same is hereby, ceded to the State of Pennsylvania for said purposes, so that the sessions of said courts in said buildings and rooms may be, during said period, fully legalized: Provided, That the commissioners of each of said counties of Lackawanna and Lycoming shall pay to the United States each the sum of five hundred dollars to be made in five yearly payments for the use of said December 23, 1895. Scranton and Williamsport, Pa. Use of public buildings by State courts, five years. Proviso. Rent. Repairs, etc. Not to interfere with Federal sessions. Termination. December 27, 1895. Bureau of Engrav ing and Printing. for materials, etc., sustained. Vol. 28, p. 920. Vol. 28, p. 781. No certificate or or- der required. January 4, 1896. Katahdin." rooms for the time aforesaid: And provided further, That said rooms shall be kept in good repair at the expense of the State of Pennsylvania, and that said commissioners shall further provide necessary light and heat for said rooms at their own expense, and at the end of said period of five years the use of said rooms shall be relinquished to the United States by the said State of Pennsylvania and the said superior court in as good condition as before the occupancy of said rooms by said court. Provided, further, That the sessions of said superior court shall in no way interfere with the sessions of the said circuit and district courts of the United States: Provided further, That the Secretary of the Treasury is authorized in his discretion at any time to terminate this permit and the possession hereby granted of either or both of said premises upon thirty days notice to the Commissioners of the County wherein the same is situated and on such termination all further payments therefor shall cease. Approved, December 23, 1895. [No. 4.] Joint Resolution Ratifying the use of the appropriation for materials and Miscellaneous Expenses for the Bureau of Engraving and Printing for the fiscal year eighteen hundred and ninety-six for the purchase of articles provided for in the appropriation for the miscellaneous expenses of the Treasury Department, and authorizing the continued use of the same for the remaining portion of the fiscal year eighteen hundred and ninety-six. Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the use, by the Secretary of the Treasury, of the appropriation for the Bureau of Engraving and Printing in the Act of March second, eighteen hundred and ninetyfive, chapter one hundred and eighty-nine, acts Fifty-third Congress, third session, "For engravers', printers', and other materials, except distinctive paper, and for miscellaneous expenses, one hundred and ninety thousand dollars, to be expended under the direction of the Secretary of the Treasury," for the purchase of articles and the performance of services for the payment of which an appropriation was made in the act of March second, eighteen hundred and ninety-five, chapter one hundred and seventy-seven, laws Fifty-third Congress, third session, under the following caption, "For Contingent Expenses of the Treasury Department, including all buildings under control of the Treasury in Washington, District of Columbia," be and the same is hereby ratified and confirmed, and the accounting officers of the Treasury are hereby authorized and directed to allow to the Disbursing Agent of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing all items disallowed because of the use of said appropriation in the manner above specified; and the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authorized to continue the use of said appropriation for the Bureau of Engraving and Printing in the manner in which said appropriation has heretofore been used, as above specified, for similar expenditures for said Bureau, during the remaining portion of the fiscal year eighteen hundred and ninety-six, and no part of said appropriation shall be subject to the provisions of sections two hundred and forty and three thousand six hundred and eighty-three of the Revised Statutes. Approved, December 27, 1895. [No. 5.] Joint Resolution Authorizing and directing the acceptance of the ram Katahdin, thereby making said ram a part of the United States Navy. Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States To be accepted for of America in Congress assembled, That the Secretary of the Navy is hereby authorized and directed to accept the ram Katahdin, and to make said vessel a part of the United States Navy. Navy. Approved, January 4, 1896. [No. 6.] Joint Resolution To transfer certain offices of the United States in the Territory of Utah to the officers of the State of Utah. January 4, 1896. Utah. Delivery of Territorial property to State officers. Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Governor and Secretary of the Territory of Utah be and they are hereby authorized and directed upon the issuance of Executive proclamation declaring Utah a State, s. p. 12. to deliver to the then Governor and Secretary of the State of Utah, for the use and benefit of said State, the safes, desks and all furniture and fixtures of their respective offices and all property of like character, belonging to the United States under control of the Secretary, including that held by the board known as the Utah Commission. Approved, January 4, 1896. [No. 7.] Joint Resolution For filling vacancy on Board of Regents, Smithsonian Institution. January 14, 1896. William L. Wilson. Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the vacancy in the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution, of the class other than Members Smithsonian Institu of Congress, shall be filled by the appointment of William L. Wilson, of tion, the State of West Virginia, in place of Henry Coppee, deceased. Approved, January 14, 1896. [No. 8.] Joint Resolution Concerning the completion of the United States Court House and Post office building at Mankato, Minnesota. January 17, 1896. Preamble. Whereas, A clause in the sundry civil appropriation Act of March third, eighteen hundred and seventy five (18 Stat., 395) relating to pub- Vol. 18, p. 395. lic buildings, provides: "No change in said plan involving an increase of expense exceeding ten per centum of the amount to which said building was limited, shall be allowed or paid by any officer of the Government without the special authority of Congress;" and Whereas, In providing (during the last recess of Congress) for a much needed enlargement of the United States Court House and Post office building at Mankato, Minnesota, (still in process of erection) the limitatious prescribed by the above cited clause made it necessary for the Secretary of the Treasury to so modify the plans and specifications for said building as to provide a finish inferior to that originally intended; now, therefore, be it Resolved, By the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Secretary of the Treasury be, and he is hereby, authorized and directed to supply marble floor tiling, subbase, and wainscot in the first story of the above-named building as shown and called for by the original drawings and specifications: Provided, That the present appropriation for said buildings and grounds shall not be exceeded. Approved, January 17, 1896. Mankato, Minn. building authorized. Changes in public Proviso. Limit not extended. [No. 9.] Joint Resolution To extend the time for making an assessment of real estate in the District of Columbia. Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the time fixed for the return of assessment by section seven of the Act of August fourteenth, eighteen hundred and ninety-four, providing for an assessment of real estate in the District of Columbia be, and the same is hereby, extended to the Meeting of review board postponed. Vol. 28, p. 284. Tax on lands in county payable May, 1897. Vol. 19, p. 396. Proviso. Limited to one year. first Monday in April, eighteen hundred and ninety-six, as to the real estate in the present limits of the city of Washington, and that the time for returning the assessment of real estate in that portion of said District outside the present limits of the city of Washington be, and the same is hereby, extended to the first Monday in September, eighteen hundred and ninety-six. SEC. 2. That the time fixed by section nine of said Act for the meeting of the board of equalization and review be, and the same is hereby, postponed until the first day of September, eighteen hundred and ninetysix, so far as it refers to that portion of the District of Columbia outside the present limits of the city of Washington, and the said equalization and review shall be finally completed on or before the first Monday in November, eighteen hundred and ninety-six. SEC. 3. That section four of the Act entitled "An Act for the support of the government of the District of Columbia for the fiscal year ending June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and seventy-eight, and for other purposes," approved March third, eighteen hundred and seventyseven, be, and the same is hereby, amended so as to make the whole tax levied under the assessment of that portion of the District of Columbia outside the present limits of the city of Washington herein provided for, due and payable on the first day of May, eighteen hundred and ninety seven, instead of one-half on the first day of November, eighteen hundred and ninety-six, and one-half on the first day of May, eighteen hundred and ninety-seven, as by existing law: Provided, That these amendments shall not extend beyond the fiscal year ending June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and ninety-seven. Approved, January 21, 1896. January 8, 1896. Chicago. Special architect au building. Vol. 28, p. 911. [No. 10.] Joint Resolution Authorizing the employment of a skilled architect to assist the Supervising Architect of the Treasury Department in preparing the designs, plans, specifications, and other drawings for the public building at Chicago, Illinois. Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That in addition to the amount authorthorized for public ized to be expended for the temporary employment of draftsmen and skilled service in the preparation of plans and specifications for the public building at Chicago, Illinois, as provided in the sundry civil appropriation Act approved March third, eighteen hundred and ninetyfive, the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authorized to use, out of the appropriation heretofore made, a sum not exceeding twenty-five thousand dollars for the employment of a skilled architect to assist the Supervising Architect of the Treasury Department in preparing the designs, plans, specifications, and other drawings for said building, and for the architectural supervision of its construction. Approved, January 28, 1896. January 30, 1896. the Rebellion. Distribution of cop ies by Members of the Fifty-fourth Con [No. 11.] Joint Resolution Authorizing the distribution of copies of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in Congressional Districts where distribution has not been made. Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States Naval Records of of America in Congress assembled: That the Secretary of the Navy be, and he is hereby, authorized and directed to send the undistributed copies of the Official Records of the War of the Rebellion, both of the Union and of the Confederate Navies, to such libraries, organizations and individuals, as may be designated before the meeting of the next Congress by the Representatives in the Fifty-fourth Congress of the Districts whose Representatives in the Fifty-third Congress failed to gress. |