surveyor-general of California, touching the matters indicated by him, or proofs to be taken thereon, or may direct a new survey and plat to be made. Whenever the objections are disposed of, or the survey and plat are corrected, or a new survey and plat are made in conformity with his directions, he shall indorse upon the survey and plat adopted his certificate of approval. After the survey and plat have been, as herein before provided, approved by the commissioner of the general land-office, it shall be the duty of the said commissioner to cause a patent to issue to the claimant as soon as practicable after such approval. Patents when to issue. These provisions applicable to all surveys not approved. SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That the provisions of the preceding section shall apply to all surveys and plats by the surveyor-general of California heretofore made, which have not already been approved by one of the district courts of the United States for California, or by the commissioner of the general land-office: Provided, That where pro- Proviso. ceedings for the correction or confirmation of a survey are pending on the passage of this act in one of the said district courts, it shall be lawful for such district court to proceed and complete its examination and determination of the matter, and its decree thereon shall be subject to appeal to the circuit court of the United States for the district in like manner, and with like effect, as hereafter provided for appeals in other cases to the circuit court; and such appeals may be in like manner disposed of by said circuit court. When appeal may be taken. trict court is in SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That where a plat and survey Appeals from have already been approved or corrected by one of the district courts of decree of apthe United States for California, and an appeal from the decree of ap- and plat to be proval of survey proval or correction has already been taken to the supreme court of the heard in supreme United States, the said supreme court shall have jurisdiction to hear and court. determine the appeal. But where from such decree of approval or correction no appeal has been taken to the supreme court, no appeal to that court shall be allowed, but an appeal may be taken, within twelve months after this act shall take effect, to the circuit court of the United States for California, and said circuit court shall proceed to fully determine the matter. The said circuit court shall have power to affirm or reverse or modify the action of the district court, or order the case back to the surveyor-general for a new survey. When the case is ordered back for a new survey, the subsequent survey of the surveyor-general New surveys. shall be under the supervision of the commissioner of the general landoffice, and not of the district or circuit court of the United States. SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That whenever the district judge of If judge of disany one of the district courts of the United States for California is inter- terested, case to ested in any land, the claim to which, under the said act of March third, be transferred to eighteen hundred and fifty-one, is pending before him, on appeal from the circuit court. board of commissioners created by said act, the said district court shall order the case to be transferred to the circuit court of the United States for California, which court shall thereupon take jurisdiction and determine the same. The said district courts may also order a transfer to the said circuit court of any other cases arising under said act, pending before may be transthem, affecting the title to lands within the corporate limits of any city or town, and in such cases both the district and circuit judges may sit. SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That all the right and title of the United States to the lands within the corporate limits of the city of San United States to Francisco, as defined in the act incorporating said city, passed by the leg- Francisco relinislature of the State of California, on the fifteenth of April, one thousand quished. eight hundred and fifty-one, are hereby relinquished and granted to the said city and its successors, for the uses and purposes specified in the ordinances of said city, ratified by an act of the legislature of the said state, approved on the eleventh of March, eighteen hundred and fifty-eight, entitled "An act concerning the city of San Francisco, and to ratify and confirm certain ordinances of the common council of said city," there Other cases ferred. Rights of the lands in San Certain lands being excepted from this relinquishment and grant all sites or other pardevoted to public cels of lands which have been, or now are, occupied by the United States uses excepted. for military, naval, or other public uses, or such other sites or parcels as may hereafter be designated by the President of the United States, within one year after the rendition to the general land-office, by the surveyor-general, of an approved plat of the exterior limits of San Francisco, as recognized in this section, in connection with the lines of the public surveys: And provided, That the relinquishment and grant by this ment not to affect act shall in no manner interfere with or prejudice any bona fide claims private rights. of others, whether asserted adversely under rights derived from Spain, Mexico, or the laws of the United States, nor preclude a judicial examination and adjustment thereof. Relinquish Confirmed private land claims to be surveyed. Proviso. Surveys to follow decree. SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of the surveyor-general of California to cause all the private land claims finally confirmed to be accurately surveyed and plats thereof to be made, whenever requested by the claimants: Provided, That each claimant requesting a survey and plat shall first deposit in the district court of the district within which the land is situated a sufficient sum of money to pay the expenses of such survey and plat, and of the publication required by the first section of this act. Whenever the survey and plat requested shall have been completed and forwarded to the commissioner of the general land-office, as required by this act, the district court may direct the application of the money deposited, or so much thereof as may be necessary, to the payment of the expenses of said survey and publication. SEC. 7. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of the surveyor-general of California, in making surveys of the private land claims finally confirmed, to follow the decree of confirmation as closely as practicable whenever such decree designates the specific boundaries of the claim. But when such decree designates only the out-boundaries within which the quantity confirmed is to be taken, the location of such quantity shall be made, as near as practicable, in one tract and in a compact form. And if the character of the land, or intervening grants, be such as to renSeparate loca- der the location impracticable in one tract, then each separate location shall be made, as near as practicable, in a compact form. And it shall be the duty of the commissioner of the general land-office to require a substantial compliance with the directions of this section before approving any survey and plat forwarded to him. tions. Repeal of act of 1860, ch. 128, Vol. xii. p. 33. SEC. 8. And be it further enacted, That the act entitled "An act to amend an act entitled An act to define and regulate the jurisdiction of the district courts of the United States in California, in regard to the survey and location of confirmed private land claims," approved June fourteen, eighteen hundred and sixty, and all provisions of law inconsistent with this act, are hereby repealed. APPROVED, July 1, 1864. An Act for the Sale of a Lot of Land in Iowa, in the Fort Crawford Reservation. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United A lot of land in States of America in Congress assembled, That it shall and may be lawful Iowa to be sold. for the commissioner of the general land-office to cause to be sold, after public notice, the tract described as lot numbered one, in township ninetyfive north, of range three west of the fifth principal meridian, in the State of Iowa, situated in what is known as the Fort Crawford military reservation, subject to such minimum price per acre as the said commissioner may establish as fair and reasonable, not less than two dollars and fifty cents per acre; and in the event of said lot not being disposed of at public sale, the commissioner is hereby authorized to reoffer the same at public sale, or after the second offering to dispose of said lot at such minimum as he may establish, and for the sale so made a patent shall issue as in ordi nary cases. Other lots may SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That if it shall appear that there are any other lots in said reserve not disposed of by the United States, it be sold. shall and may be lawful for the said commissioner to dispose of the same in the manner provided in the foregoing section. APPROVED, July 1, 1864. CHAP. CXCVI.- An Act to regulate the Compensation of Registers and Receivers of July 1, 1864. the Land Offices in the several States and Territories, in the Location of Lands by States and Corporations under Grants from Congress. Fees of registers and receivers Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That from and after the passage of this act, in the location of lands by states and corporations under grants of landl-offices. from congress for railroads and other purposes, (except for agricultural colleges,) the registers and receivers of the land-offices of the several states and territories, in the districts where such lands may be located, for their services therein, shall be entitled to receive a fee of one dollar for each final location of one hundred and sixty acres, to be paid by the state or corporation making such location, the same to be accounted for in the same manner as fees and commissions on warrants and preëmption locations, with limitations as to maximums of salary prescribed by existing laws, in accordance with such instructions as shall be given by the commissioner of the general land-office. Burlington and SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That the Burlington and Missouri River railroad company may so far change or modify the location of the uncompleted portion of its line, as shown by the map thereof now on file in the general land-office of the United States, so as to secure a better and more expeditious route to the terminus of said line on the Missouri River, said new line to be located within the limits of the land grant made by the United States to aid in its construction; and said change shall not impair the right to, nor change the location of, their present land grant. A map of the change shall be filed with the commissioner of the general Post, pp. 528, 573. land-office within one year after the passage of this act. APPROVED, July 1, 1864. Postmasters to Salary of those of 1st class; of 2d class; of 3d class; of 4th class; CHAP. CXCVII. —An Act to establish Salaries for Postmasters, and for other Purposes. July 1, 1864. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the annual compensation of postmasters shall be at a fixed salary, in lieu of commissions, to be be paid salaries. Five classes, divided into five classes, exclusive of the postmaster of the city of New &c. York. Postmasters of the first class shall receive not more than four thousand dollars, nor less than three thousand dollars; postmasters of the second class shall receive less than three thousand dollars and not less than two thousand dollars; postmasters of the third class shall receive less than two thousand dollars and not less than one thousand dollars; postmasters of the fourth class shall receive less than one thousand dollars and not less than one hundred dollars; postmasters of the fifth class shall receive less than one hundred dollars. The compensation of the postmaster of New York shall be six thousand dollars per annum, to take effect on the first day of July, eighteen hundred and sixty-four; and the New York. compensation of postmasters of the several classes aforesaid shall be established by the Postmaster-General under the rules hereinafter provided. Whenever the compensation of postmasters of the several offices, (except What offices the office of New York,) for the two consecutive years next preceding the to be rated as 1st first day of July, eighteen hundred and sixty-four, shall have amounted to an average annual sum not less than three thousand dollars, such offices of 5th class. Postmaster of class. What offices to shall be assigned to the first class; whenever it shall have amounted to be rated as 2d class; 3d class; 4th class; 5th class. Salaries of several classes. Estimates of certain offices. Salaries to be readjusted every two years. Salaries, when to take effect. Salaries at lished for two years. less than three thousand dollars, but not less than two thousand dollars, such offices shall be assigned to the second class; whenever it shall have amounted to less than two thousand dollars, but not less than one thousand dollars, such offices shall be assigned to the third class; whenever it shall have amounted to less than one thousand dollars, but not less than one hundred dollars, such offices shall be assigned to the fourth class; and whenever it shall have amounted to less than one hundred dollars, such offices shall be assigned to the fifth class. To offices of the first, second, and third classes shall be severally assigned salaries, in even hundreds of dollars, as nearly as practicable in amount the same as, but not exceeding, the average compensation of the postmasters thereof for the two years next preceding; and to offices of the fourth class shall be assigned severally salaries, in even tens of dollars, as nearly as practicable in amount the same as, but not exceeding, such average compensation for the two years next preceding; and to offices of the fifth class shall be severally assigned salaries, in even dollars, as nearly as practicable in amount the same as, but not exceeding, such average compensation for the two years next preceding. Wherever returns showing the average of annual compensation of postmasters for the two years next preceding the first day of July, eighteen hundred and sixty-four, shall not have been received at the Post-Office Department at the time of adjustment, the same may be estimated by the Postmaster-General for the purpose of adjusting the salaries of postmasters herein provided for. And it shall be the duty of the auditor of the treasury for the Post-Office Department, to obtain from postmasters their quarterly accounts with the vouchers necessary to a correct adjustment thereof, and to report to the Postmaster-General all failures of postmasters to render such returns within a proper period after the close of each quarter. SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That the Postmaster-General shall review once in two years, and in special cases, upon satisfactory representation, as much oftener as he may deem expedient, and readjust, on the basis of the preceding section, the salary assigned by him to any office; but any change made in such salary shall not take effect until the first day of the quarter next following such order, and all orders made assigning or changing salaries shall be made in writing and recorded in his journal, and notified to the auditor for the Post-Office Department. SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That salaries of the first, second, and third classes shall be adjusted to take effect on the first day of July, eighteen hundred and sixty-four, and of the fourth and fifth classes at the same time, or at the commencement of a quarter as early as practicable thereafter. SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That, at offices which have not been offices not estab- established for two years prior to the first day of July, eighteen hundred and sixty-four, the salary may be adjusted upon a satisfactory return by the postmaster of the receipts, expenditures, and business of his office: Provided, That fifty per centum of the gross revenue of such office shall be, in all cases, the largest amount allowed to such postmasters for their salaries, respectively, except in cases where it shall be a separating or distributing office, as provided for in the sixth section of this act. Proviso. SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That at the post-office of New York and offices of the first and second classes, the Postmaster-General shall allow to the postmaster a just and reasonable sum for the necessary cost, in whole or in part, of rent, fuel, lights, and clerks, to be adjusted upon a satisfactory exhibit of the facts. And at offices of the third, fourth, and fifth classes, such expenses shall be paid by the postmaster, except as in the sixth section provided; it being intended that such allowances shall be made in accordance with existing usages. SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That the Postmaster-General may designate certain convenient offices, at the intersection of mail routes, as distributing offices, and certain others as separating offices; and where any such office is of the third, fourth, or fifth class of post-offices, he may make a reasonable allowance to such postmaster for the necessary cost, in whole or in part, of clerical services arising from such duties. Distributing offices. Postages and part of postal SEC. 7. And be it further enacted, That all postages and box-rents at post-offices, and all other receipts and emoluments at a post-office, shall be box-rents to be received and accounted for as a part of the postal revenues; and any part revenues. thereof which the postmaster ought to have collected, but has neglected to collect, shall be charged against him in his account, and he shall be liable therefor in the same manner as if the same had been collected; and he shall receive no fees or perquisites beyond his salary. Rates of foreign SEC. 8. And be it further enacted, That the uniform rate of United States postage, without reference to distance, upon letters and other mail- postage. able matter addressed to, or received from, foreign countries, when forwarded from, or received in, the United States by steamships or other vessels regularly employed in the transportation of the mails, shall be as follows, viz: ten cents per single rate of half an ounce or under, on letters; two cents each on newspapers; and the established domestic rates on pamphlets, periodicals, and other articles of printed matter; which postage shall be prepaid on matter sent, and collected on matter received: Provided, always, That these rates shall not apply to letters or other Proviso. mailable matter, addressed to, or received from, any foreign place or country, to and from which different rates of postage have been, or shall be, established by international postal convention or arrangement already concluded or hereafter to be made. Postage-stamps may be sold at discount. SEC. 9. And be it further enacted, That the Postmaster-General is authorized to sell, or cause to be sold, to individuals, corporations, and business firms, postage-stamps, in quantities of not less than one hundred dollars in value, at a discount not exceeding five per centum from the face value of such stamps, and to sell, or cause to be sold, stamped envelopes, in packages containing not less than five hundred envelopes, at a discount opes. not exceeding five per centum from the current prices thereof when sold in less quantities. Stamped envel Amendment of act 1863, Letters requested to be re SEC. 10. And be it further enacted, That the twenty-eighth section of the act entitled "An act to amend the laws relating to the Post-Office Department," approved March three, eighteen hundred and sixty-three, be, and the same is hereby, amended by the addition of the following clause, namely: And when any letter bearing a request for its return to the writer, in case of its non-delivery, shall have been so returned to the turned to be reoffice at which it was originally mailed, then, and in that case, it shall be ceived, and postobligatory upon the person to whom such letter has been returned, to re- age paid. ceive the same, and to pay therefor the postage specified by this section; and in default of said writer to receive and pay for the letter so returned, he shall be subject to a penalty of ten dollars, to be recovered in any Penalty. court of competent jurisdiction.. SEC. 11. And be it further enacted, That if any person, not authorized Penalty for by the Postmaster-General, shall set up or profess to keep any office, or setting up or keeping postany place of business bearing the sign, name, or title of post-office, every office; such person shall forfeit and pay the sum of five hundred dollars for every such offence. SEC. 12. And be it further enacted, That if any person employed in for unlawfully any of the departments of the post-office establishment shall unlawfully detaining or opening letters, detain, delay, or open, any letter, packet, bag, or mail of letters, with &c. which he shall be intrusted, or which shall have come to his possession, and which are intended to be conveyed by post, or to be carried or delivered by any mail-carrier, mail-messenger, letter-carrier, route-agent, or other person employed in any of the departments of the post-office establishment of the United States, or to be forwarded or delivered VOL. XIII. PUB.-29 |