pay, in money, except quarters actually provided for and occupied by such officers.

SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That the office of Commissary General of Purchases, sometimes called Commissary of Purchases, shall be, and the same is hereby abolished, and the duties thereof shall hereafter be performed by the officers of the Quartermaster's department, with such of the officers and clerks now attached to the Purchasing department as shall be authorized by the Secretary of War, and under such regulations as shall be prescribed by the said Secretary, under the sanction of the President of the United States.

pay

SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That, within one month after the passage of this act, the offices of one inspector general, of three masters, two surgeons, and ten assistant surgeons of the army shall be abolished, and that number of paymasters, surgeons and assistant surgeons, shall be discharged by the President, and they shall be allowed three months' pay, in addition to the pay and emoluments to which they may be entitled at the time of their discharge.

SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That a competent person may be employed by the Ordnance bureau, under the direction of the Secretary of War, for such time as may be necessary, to superintend the manufacture of iron cannon at the several foundries where such cannon may be made under contracts with the United States, whose pay and emoluments shall not exceed those of a major of ordnance during the time he shall be so employed, to be paid out of the appropriations for armament of fortifications; and for the services rendered in such superintendence since the first day of March, eighteen hundred and forty-one, under the authority of the War Department, the same compensation shall be allowed as herein provided.

SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That the rations authorized to be allowed to a brigadier while commander-in-chief, and to each officer while commanding a separate post, by the act of March third, seventeen hundred and ninety-seven, and to the commanding officers of each separate post, by the act of March sixteen, eighteen hundred and two, shall hereafter be allowed to the following officers and no others: to the major general commanding the army, and to every officer commanding in chief a separate army, actually in the field; to the generals commanding the eastern and western geographical divisions; to the colonels or other officers commanding military geographical departments; to the commandant of each permanent or fixed post, garrisoned with troops, including the superintendent of the military academy at West Point, who is regarded as the commandant of that post. APPROVED, August 23, 1842.

CHAP. CLXXXVII.—An Act to provide for the satisfaction of claims arising under the fourteenth and nineteenth articles of the treaty of Dancing Rabbit creek, concluded in September, one thousand eight hundred and thirty.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the act approved on the third of March, eighteen hundred and thirty-seven, entitled "An act for the appointment of commissioners to adjust the claims to reservations of land under the fourteenth article of the treaty of eighteen hundred and thirty, with the Choctaw Indians: and also, the act approved on the twenty-second day of February, eighteen hundred and thirty-eight, entitled "An act to amend an act entitled An act for the appointment of commissioners to adjust the claims to reservations of land under the fourteenth article of the treaty of eighteen hundred and thirty, with the Choctaw Indians,' so far as the same are not repealed or modified by the provisions of this act," be, and the same are hereby, VOL. V.-65

Powers, &c. of commission

ers extended.

Proviso.

Commission

ers may issue

Marshals, &c. may execute process, &c.their fees.

revived and continued in force until the powers conferred by this act shall be fully executed, subject, nevertheless, to repeal or modification by any act of Congress. And all the powers and duties of the commissioners are hereby extended to claims arising under the nineteenth article of the said treaty, and under the supplement to the said treaty, to be examined in the same manner and with the same effect as in cases arising under the fourteenth article of the said treaty: Provided, That the salary of said Commissioners shall not exceed the rate of two thousand five hundred dollars per annum.

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That subpoenas for the attendance of witnesses before the said commissioners, and process to compel subpoenas, &c. such attendance may be issued by the said commissioners, or any two of them, under their seals in the same manner and with the same effect as if issued by courts of record, and may be executed by the marshal of any district, or by any sheriff, deputy sheriff or other peace officer designated by the said commissioners, who shall receive for such services the same fees as are allowed in the district court of the United States for the district in which the same shall be rendered for similar services, to be paid, on the certificate of the commissioners, out of the contingent fund appropriated by the fourth section of the act secondly above recited, which was approved on the twenty-second day of February, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-eight, and which is revived by this act: Provided, That nothing herein contained shall be construed to revive such portion of the act approved the third day of March, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-seven, referred to in the first section of this act, as provides for the employment and pay of the district attorney of either of the districts of the State of Mississippi.

1838, ch. 13. Proviso.

1837, ch. 39.

Conditions, upon proof of the performance of which, any Choctaw shall be entitled to a patent.

SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That when the said commissioners shall have ascertained that any Choctaw has complied or offered to comply with all the requisites of the fourteenth article of the said treaty, to entitle him to any reservation under that article, which requisites are as follows, to wit: that said Choctaw Indian did signify his or her intention to the agent, in person, or by some person duly authorized and especially directed, by said Indian, to signify the intention of said Indian to become a citizen of the State, within six months from the date of the ratification of the said treaty, and had his or her name, within the time of six months aforesaid, enrolled on the register of the Indian agent aforesaid, for that purpose; or shall prove, to the entire satisfaction of the said commissioners and to the Secretary of War, that he or she did signify his or her intention, within the term of six months from the date of the ratification of the treaty aforesaid, if his or her name was not enrolled in the register of the agent aforesaid, but was omitted by said agent; and, secondly, that said Indian did, at the date of making said treaty, to wit, on the twenty-seventh day of September, eighteen hundred and thirty, have and own an improvement in the then Choctaw country; and that, having and owning an improvement, at the place and time aforesaid, did reside upon that identical improvement, or a part of it, for the term of five years continuously, next after the ratification of said treaty, to wit, from the twenty-fourth of February, eighteen hundred and thirty-one, to the twenty-fourth of February, eighteen hundred and thirty-six, unless it shall be made to appear that such improvement was, before the twenty-fourth day of February, eighteen hundred and thirty-six, disposed of by the United States, and that the reservee was dispossessed by means of such disposition; and, thirdly, that it shall be made to appear, to the entire satisfaction of said commissioners, and to the Secretary of War, that said Indian did not receive any other grant of land under the provisions of any other article of said treaty; and, fourthly, that it shall be made to appear, in like manner, that said Indian did not remove to the Choctaw country west of the Mississippi

But

Quantity due to each child of said Indian to in like manner,

be ascertained

&c.

If U. S. have

disposed of land to which any Indian was entitled, &c., the

commissioners shall allow

other land.

river, but he or she had continued to reside within the limits of the
country ceded by the Choctaw Indians to the United States, by said
treaty of twenty-seventh September, in the year eighteen hundred and
thirty, it shall be the duty of said commissioners, if all and each of the
above requisites shall be made clearly to appear to their satisfaction,
and the Secretary of War shall concur therein, to proceed to ascertain
the quantity of land to which said Indian, by virtue of the fourteenth
article of said treaty, is entitled to, which, when ascertained, shall be
located for said Indian, according to sectional lines, so as to embrace
the improvement, or a part of it, owned by said Indian at the date of
said treaty; and it shall be the duty of the President of the United
States to issue a patent to said Indian for said land, if he or she be
living, and if not, to his or her heirs and legal representatives'; and in
like manner shall the commissioners aforesaid ascertain the quantity of
land granted by said article to each child of said Indian, according to
the limitations contained in said article, and locate said quantity, for
said children, contiguous to and adjoining the improvement of the pa-
rent of such child or children; and the President shall issue a patent
for each tract of land thus located, to said Indian child, if living, and
if not, to the heirs and legal representatives of such Indian child.
if the United States shall have disposed of any tract of land, to which
any Indian was entitled, under the provisions of said fourteenth article
of said treaty, so that it is now impossible to give said Indian the quan-
tity to which he was entitled, including his improvements, as aforesaid,
or any part of it, or to his children, on the adjoining lands, the said
commissioners shall thereupon estimate the quantity to which each In-
dian is entitled, and allow him or her, for the same, a quantity of land
equal to that allowed, to be taken out of any of the public lands in the
States of Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, and Arkansas, subject to
entry at private sale; and certificates to that effect shall be delivered,
under the direction of the Secretary of War, through such agent as he
may select, not more than one half of which shall be delivered to said
Indian until after his removal to the Choctaw territory west of the Mis-
sissippi river. The said commissioners shall also ascertain the Choc-
taws, if any, who relinquished or offered to relinquish any reservations
to which he was entitled under the nineteenth article of the said treaty,
or whose reservations under that article had been sold by the United
States; and shall also determine the quantity to which such claimant
was entitled; and the quantity of land which should be allowed him on
extinguishment of such claim, at the rate of two fifths of an acre for
every acre of the land to which said claimant was entitled, said land
having been estimated under this article at fifty cents per acre: Pro-
vided, nevertheless, That no claim shall be considered or allowed by Proviso.
said commissioners, for or in the name or behalf of any Indian claimant
whose name does not appear upon the lists or registers of claimants
made by Major Armstrong, special agent for that purpose, in conjunc-
tion with the three chiefs of the three Choctaw districts, and returned
to the Department of War in January, eighteen hundred and thirty-
two, and who does not appear from those registers to be entitled to a
reservation under said nineteenth article.

SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That the said commissioners, within two years from the time of their entering upon the duties of their offices, and as often as shall be required by the President of the United States, shall report to him their proceedings in the premises, with a full and perfect list of names of all the Choctaws whom they shall have determined to be entitled to reservations under this act; the quantity of land to which each shall be so entitled, the number of claims which can be located according to the provisions of the fourth section of this act, and such as cannot be located according to the provisions of the fourth

Certificates for

the land, how to be given.

Commission

ers shall ascer

taws who relinquished reservations under the 19th article, &c. and determine,

tain the Choc

&c.

Commissioners to report their proceedings, &c. to the President,

when.

Powers, &c. of the commissioners, when to cease.

Commission.

claims under

section of this act; and the powers and duties of the said commissioners shall cease at the expiration of two years from the time of the first organization of the board; and their proceedings may be terminated by the President at any time previous to the expiration of the said two years.

SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That the commissioners to be apers to determine pointed under this act shall also ascertain and determine the quantity the supplement of land to which any Choctaw or other person named in the supplement to the said treaty of Dancing Rabbit creek was entitled by virtue thereof, and which such person has by any means been prevented from receiving.

to the treaty.

SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That if the President of the United States shall approve and confirm the determination of the commissioners heretofore appointed to investigate the claims existing under the fourteenth article of the said treaty of Dancing Rabbit creek, in any case, he shall cause to be delivered to the claimant, if he be a Choctaw Indian, his legal representatives or heirs, certificates, as provided by the fourth section of this act, for the quantity of land to which such claimant shall appear, by such determination, to have been entitled, in full satisfaction and discharge of such claim: Provided, Such determination was made by adhering, in every instance, to the requisites contained in the fourth section of this act: And provided, also, That said claims, nor either of them, cannot now be located, according to the provisions of the fourth section of this act.

SEC. 7. And be it further enacted, That distinct accounts shall be kept of the certificates issued in satisfaction of the claims provided for by this act, and of all expenses attending the execution of the same; and the amount thereof shall be retained and withheld from any distribution to the States.

SEC. 8. And be it further enacted, That nothing in this act contained shall be so construed as to authorize the said commissioners to adjudicate any claim which may be presented by a white man who may have had, or now has, an Indian wife or family; and any patent to land, which shall issue on any Indian claim, under the provisions of the treaty aforesaid, shall be issued to the Indian to whom the claim was allowed, if living, and if dead, to his or her heirs and legal representatives, any act of Congress, or usage, or custom, to the contrary notwithstanding.

SEC. 9. And be it further enacted, That no claim shall be allowed, under the fourteenth article of said treaty, if the said commissioners shall be satisfied, by such proof as they may prescribe, that said claim had been, previous to the expiration of five years from the ratification of said treaty, assigned, either in whole or in part; and in case of a partial assignment, or agreement for an assignment thereof, the same shall be allowed so far only as the original Indian claimant was, at that date, the bona fide proprietor thereof.

SEC. 10. And be it further enacted, That all claims under either of the articles of said treaty mentioned above, or the supplemental articles thereof, which shall not be duly presented to said commissioners for allowance within one year after the final passage of this act, shall be thereafter for ever barred.

APPROVED, August 23, 1842.

CHAP. CLXXXVIII.-An Act further supplementary to an act entitled, “An act to establish the judicial courts of the United States," passed the twenty-fourth of September, seventeen hundred and eighty-nine.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the commissioners who now are, or hereafter may be, appointed by the circuit courts of the

United States to take acknowledgments of bail and affidavits, and also to take depositions of witnesses in civil causes, shall and may exercise all the powers that any justice of the peace, or other magistrate, of any of the United States may now exercise in respect to offenders for any crime or offence against the United States, by arresting, imprisoning, or bailing the same, under and by virtue of the thirty-third section of the act of the twenty-fourth of September, Anno Domini seventeen hundred and eighty-nine, entitled, "An act to establish the judicial courts of the United States;" and who shall and may exercise all the powers that any judge or justice of the peace may exercise under and in virtue of the sixth section of the act passed the twentieth of July, Anno Domini seventeen hundred and ninety, entitled "An act for the government and regulation of seamen in the merchant service."

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That in all hearings before any justice or judge of the United States, or any commissioner appointed as aforesaid, under and in virtue of the said thirty-third section of the act entitled "An act to establish the judicial courts of the United States," it shall be lawful for such justice, judge, or commissioner, where the crime or offence is charged to have been committed on the high seas or elsewhere within the admiralty and maritime jurisdiction of the United States, in his discretion to require a recognizance of any witness produced in behalf of the accused, with such surety or sureties as he may judge necessary, as well as in behalf of the United States, for their appearing and giving testimony, at the trial of the cause, whose testimony, in his opinion, is important for the purposes of justice at the trial of the cause, and is in danger of being otherwise lost; and such witnesses shall be entitled to receive from the United States the usual compensation allowed to Government witnesses for their detention and attendance, if they shall appear and be ready to give testimony at the trial.

SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That the district courts of the United States shall have concurrent jurisdiction with the circuit courts of all crimes and offences against the United States, the punishment of which is not capital. And in such of the districts where the business of the court may require it to be done for the purposes of justice, and to prevent undue expenses and delays in the trial of criminal causes, the said district courts shall hold monthly adjournments of the regular terms thereof for the trial and hearing of such causes.

SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That, in lieu of the punishment now prescribed by the sixteenth section of the act of Congress, entitled, "An act for the punishment of certain crimes against the United States,' passed on the thirtieth day of April, Anno Domini one thousand seven hundred and ninety, for the offences in the said section mentioned, the punishment of the offender, upon conviction thereof, shall be by fine not exceeding one thousand dollars, or by imprisonment not exceeding one year, or by both, according to the nature and aggravation of the offence.

SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That the district courts as courts of admiralty, and the circuit courts as courts of equity, shall be deemed always open for the purpose of filing libels, bills, petitions, answers, pleas, and other pleadings, for issuing and returning mesne and final process and commissions, and for making and directing all interlocutory motions, orders, rules, and other proceedings whatever, preparatory to the hearing of all causes pending therein upon their merits. And it shall be competent for any judge of the court, upon reasonable notice to the parties, in the clerk's office or at chambers, and in vacation as well as in term, to make and direct, and award all such process, commissions and interlocutory orders, rules, and other proceedings, when