CHAP. LXXXVIII.

An Act to facilitate the Collection of the Revenue in El Paso
County, Texas, and in the Territory of New Mexico.

Stat. at Large, Vol. XII. p. 761.

Collection dis

and New Mexico.

Be it enacted, &c. That the tenth section of an act entitled "An act making appropriations for the legislative, executive, and judicial expenses trict in Texas of the government for the year ending thirtieth of June, eighteen hundred 1857, ch.107,§ 10. and fifty-eight," approved March third, eighteen hundred and fifty-seven, be, and the same is hereby, repealed; and the act entitled "An act creating a collection district in Texas and New Mexico," approved August 1854, ch. 193. second, eighteen hundred and fifty-four, is hereby revived and re-enacted : Provided, That the collector shall reside at El Paso, Texas, instead of Frontera.

Ante, p. 363.
Residence of

collector.

Jurisdiction of

New Mexico.

SEC. 2. That the jurisdiction of the district court of New Mexico shall district court of extend over the citizens of El Paso county, Texas, only in cases not in- Violations of stituted by indictment, and the trial and proceedings for violations of the revenue laws revenue laws in said district court of New Mexico shall be the same as in other district courts of the United States invested with admiralty pow- effect. ers; and this act shall take effect from and after its passage.

how tried.
When act takes

CHAP. LXXXIX. - An Act to authorize the Appointment of an Assistant Treasurer of Stat. at Large, the United States; and to fix the Pay of the Treasurer, Assistant Treasurer, Clerks, Vol. XII. p. 761. and Messengers in the Office of the Treasurer of the United States.

Appointment of assistant

Be it enacted, &c. That the President of the United States be, and he is hereby, authorized to appoint from time to time, by and with the consent treasurer of the and approval of the Senate of the United States, an assistant treasurer of United States the United States; and the treasurer of the United States may, in his dis- authorized. cretion, with the consent of the Secretary of the Treasury of the United States, authorize the said assistant to act in the place and stead, and at any and at all times to discharge any or all the duties required by law of ties. the said treasurer of the United States.

Power and du

No. 446. MARCH 3, 1863.

CHAP. XC.

- An Act to protect the Liens upon Vessels in certain Cases, and for other
Purposes.

Stat. at Large, Vol. XII. p. 762.

Bona fide

citizens, &c.

vided for out of

cated.

Be it enacted, &c. That in all cases now or hereafter pending wherein any ship, vessel, or other property, shall be condemned in any proceeding claims of loyal by virtue of the acts above mentioned, or of any other laws on that sub- duly established, ject, the court rendering judgment of condemnation shall, notwithstanding to be first prosuch condemnation, and before awarding such ship, vessel or other proper- the proceeds of ty, or the proceeds thereof, to the United States, or to any informer, first vessels or other provide for the payment, out of the proceeds of such ship, vessel, or other property confisproperty, of any bona fide claims which shall be filed by any loyal citizen of the United States, or of any foreign state or power at peace and amity with the United States, intervening in such proceeding, and which shall be duly established by evidence as a valid claim against such ship, vessel, or other property, under the laws of the United States or of any loyal State thereof: Provided, That no such claim shall be allowed in any case where the claimant shall have knowingly participated in the illegal use of be allowed. such ship, vessel, or other property: And provided, also, That this act shall extend to such claims only as might have been enforced specifically against such ship, vessel, or other property, in any loyal State wherein such claim arose.

When such claim is not to

To what claims this act extends.

Reference is had to the act of July 13, 1861, ch. 3, and to the act of August 6, 1861, ch. 60, which were recited in the title of the bill as reported. When the act was passed, its title was changed, but this clause was not altered.

Stat. at Large, CHAP. XCV.-An Act to facilitate the taking of Depositions within the United States, Vol. XII. p. 769. to be used in the Courts of other Countries, and for other Purposes.

Testimony of

United States

may be taken to be used in suits in foreign countries.

Mode of procedure.

Be it enacted, &c. That the testimony of any witness residing within witnesses in the the United States, to be used in any suit for the recovery of money or property depending in any court in any foreign country with which the United States are at peace, and in which the government of such foreign country shall be a party or shall have an interest, may be obtained, to be used in such suit. If a commission or letters rogatory to take such testimony shall have been issued from the court in which said suit is pending, on producing the same before the district judge of any district where said witness resides or shall be found, and on due proof being made to such judge that the testimony of any witness is material to the party desiring the same, such judge shall issue a summons to such witness requiring him to appear before the officer or commissioner named in such commission or letters rogatory, to testify in such suit. Such summons shall specify the time and place at which such witness is required to attend, which place shall be within one hundred miles of the place where said witness resides or shall be served with said summons.

Summons.

Penalty on SEC. 2. That if any person shall refuse or neglect to appear at the time witness for not and place mentioned in the summons issued, in accordance with this act, appearing or refusing to testify. Or if, upon his appearance, he shall refuse to testify, he shall be liable to the same penalties as would be incurred for a like offence on the trial of a suit in the district court of the United States.

Fees and mile

SEC. 3. That every witness who shall appear and testify, in manner age of witnesses. aforesaid, shall be allowed and shall receive from the party, at whose instance he shall have been summoned, the same fees and mileage as are allowed to witnesses in suits depending in the district courts of the United States.

Commissions

SEC. 4. That whenever any commission or letters rogatory, issued to to take testimony take the testimony of any witness in a foreign country, in any suit in which of witnesses in the United States are parties or have an interest, shall have been executforeign countries in suits in which ed by the court or the commissioner to whom the same shall have been dithe United States rected, the same shall be returned by such court or commissioner to the are parties, how minister or consul of the United States nearest the place where said letters returned. or commission shall have been executed, who, on receiving the same, shall indorse thereon a certificate, stating the time and place when and where the same was received; and that the said deposition is in the same condition as when he received the same; and he shall thereupon transmit the said letters or commission, so executed and certified, by mail, to the clerk of the court from which the same issued, in the manner in which his official despatches are transmitted to the government. And the testimony of witnesses so, as aforesaid, taken and returned, shall be read as evidence on the trial of the suit in which the same shall have been taken, without objection as to the method of returning the same.

Depositions.

Stat. at Large, CHAP. I. Vol. XIII. p. 1.

An Act declaring the Assent of Congress to an Act of the Legislature of the
State of Illinois, therein named.

The city of Be it enacted, &c. That the consent of Congress is hereby given to the Chicago may erect piers in the operation of the eleventh section, chapter fifteen, of the act of the general navigable waters assembly of the State of Illinois, approved February thirteenth, eighteen of Lake Michi- hundred and sixty-three, entitled "An act to reduce the charter of the gan, to protect aqueduct-pipes. city of Chicago, and the several acts amendatory thereof, into one act, and to revise the same," which section is as follows: "Said city shall have the power to extend aqueducts or inlet-pipes into Lake Michigan, so far as may be deemed necessary to insure a supply of pure water, and to erect

Piers to be

a pier or piers in the navigable waters of said lake, for the making, pre-
serving, and working of said pipes or aqueducts: Provided, That such
piers shall be furnished with a beacon-light, which shall be lighted at all lighted.
such seasons and hours as the light on the pier at the entrance of Chicago
river."

CHAP. XV. —An Act to extend the Time for the Withdrawal of Goods from public
Stores and bonded Warehouses, and for other Purposes.

Stat. at Large,

Vol. XIII. p. 12.

Goods in public stores, &c.

Be it enacted, &c. That all goods, wares, and merchandise, now in public stores or bonded warehouses, on which duties are unpaid, and which when may be shall have been in bond more than one year, and less than three years, at entered, and the time of the passage of this act, may be entered for consumption, and bonds cancelled. the bonds cancelled at any time before the first day of September next, on payment of duties and charges according to law; and that all acts and Repealing parts of acts inconsistent with the provisions of this act be, and the When act takes same are hereby, repealed. This act to take effect from and after its effect. passage.

clause.

shall extend to

SEC. 2. That the term "license," in the first proviso to the fifteenth "License" section of the act entitled "An act increasing temporarily the duties on what. imports, and for other purposes," approved July fourteen, eighteen hun- 1862, ch.163,§ 15. dred and sixty-two, shall be held to extend to all vessels authorized by law to engage in the coasting trade, whether sailing under registers or enrolments and licenses.

No. 450. - MARCH 11, 1864.

CHAP. XXVIII. — An Act to constitute Parkersburg, in the State of West Virginia, a
Port of Delivery.

Stat. at Large, Vol. XIII. p. 22.

Be it enacted, &c. That Parkersburg, in the State of West Virginia, Parkersburg, in West Virginia shall be, and is hereby, constituted a port of delivery, within the collection made a port of district of New Orleans; and there shall be appointed a surveyor of cus- delivery. toms to reside at said port, who shall, in addition to his own duties, perform the duties and receive the salary and emoluments prescribed by the act of Congress approved on the second of March, eighteen hundred and thirty-one, for importing merchandise into Pittsburg, Wheeling, and other places.

CHAP. XXX. An Act to supply Deficiencies in the Appropriations for the Service of the Fiscal Year ending the thirtieth of June, eighteen hundred and sixty-four, and for other Purposes.

Stat. at Large, Vol. XIII. p. 22.

Additional assistant secretary

SEC. 3. That the President shall appoint, in the Treasury Department, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, an additional assistant of the treasury. secretary of the treasury, [whose salary shall be three thousand dollars per annum,] See 1865, ch. who shall perform all such duties in the office of the Secretary of the Treas- 734. ury, belonging to that department, as shall be prescribed by the Secreta- ties. ry of the Treasury, or as may be required by law.

Salary and du

SEC. 7. That so much of the act entitled "An act to provide for the Limit of office of assistant regisappointment of an assistant register of the Treasury Department, and a ter of treasury solicitor for the War Department, and for other purposes," approved Feb- to one year reruary twentieth, eighteen hundred and sixty-three, as limits the office of pealed. the assistant register of the treasury to a term of one year, is hereby repealed.

55

1863, ch. 44.

No. 452.- MARCH 25, 1864.

Stat. at Large, CHAP. XL. - An Act to provide for carrying the Mails from the United States to forVol. XIII. p. 36. eign Ports and for other Purposes. Vessels belong- Be it enacted, &c. That all steamers and sailing-vessels belonging to ing to citizens of the United States citizens of the United States, and bound from any port in the United to carry the States to any foreign port, or from any foreign port to any port in the mails. United States, shall, before clearance, receive on board and securely convey all such mails as the Post-Office Department of the United States, or any minister, consul, or commercial agent of the United States abroad shall offer, and promptly deliver the same to the proper authorities, on arriving at the port of destination, and shall receive for such service such reasonable compensation as may be allowed by law.

Master to make return under

oath.

Penalty for failure.

SEC. 2. That upon the entry of every steamer or sailing-vessel from any foreign port, the master or commander thereof shall make return, on oath or affirmation, showing that he has promptly delivered at such foreign port or ports all mails placed on board of the steamer or vessel under his command before clearance from the United States. And in case the master or commander shall fail to make oath or affirmation as aforesaid, showing that he has delivered the mails placed on board his steamer or vessel in good faith, the said steamer or vessel shall not be entitled to the privileges of a steamer or vessel of the United States.

No. 453. APRIL 9, 1864.

Stat. at Large, CHAP. LIV.— An Act to appoint an Appraiser and Assistant Appraiser for the Port Vol. XIII. p. 46. of Portland, and for other Purposes.

Appraiser and assistant appraiser at Portland, Maine.

Be it enacted, &c. That the President of the United States, with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint an appraiser and assistant appraiser for the port of Portland, Maine, whose duties shall be the same as those of similar officers in other ports; and the ninth section of the act 1822, ch. 107, § 9. of Congress passed May seventh, one thousand eight hundred and twentytwo, entitled an act further to establish the compensation of officers of the customs and to alter certain collection districts, and for other purposes," is hereby amended by adding Portland aforesaid to the ports therein enumerated, and the deputy collectors, not exceeding three in number, and the appraiser of said port shall each receive the compensation of two thousand dollars per annum, and the assistant appraiser shall receive a compensation of fifteen hundred dollars per annum.

Pay of deputy collectors, appraiser, and assistant apprais

ers.

Stat. at Large, CHAP. LXV. - An Act to change the Name of the District and Port of Presque Isle to Vol. XIII. p. 54. the District and Port of Erie.

District of

Presque Isle to be known as Erie.

1799, ch. 22. § 8.

Stat. at Large, Vol. XIII. p. 54. 1857, ch. 56. Ante, p. 388. Standard

weight, &c. of the cent.

Be it enacted, &c. That the district of Presque Isle, in the State of Pennsylvania, shall hereafter be known as the district of Erie, and the port of Presque Isle shall hereafter be known as the port of Erie.

No. 455. APRIL 22, 1864.

CHAP. LXVI. · An Act in Amendment of an Act entitled "An Act relating to Foreign Coins and the Coinage of Cents at the Mint of the United States," approved February twenty-one, eighteen hundred and fifty-seven.

Be it enacted, &c. That, from and after the passage of this act, the standard weight of the cent coined at the mint of the United States shall be forty-eight grains, or one tenth of one ounce troy; and said cent shall be composed of ninety-five per centum of copper, and five per centum of tin

and zinc, in such proportions as shall be determined by the director of the mint; and there shall be from time to time struck and coined at the mint

a two-cent piece, of the same composition, the standard weight of which Two-cent pieces shall be ninety-six grains, or one fifth of one ounce troy, with no greater to be coined. deviation than four grains to each piece of said cent and two-cent coins;

and the shape, mottoes, and devices of said coins shall be fixed by the Shape, devices, director of the mint, with the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury; &c. and the laws now in force relating to the coinage of cents and providing for the purchase of material and prescribing the appropriate duties of the officers of the mint and the Secretary of the Treasury be, and the same are hereby, extended to the coinage herein provided for.

SEC. 2. That all laws now in force relating to the coins of the United States and the striking and coining the same shall, so far as applicable, be extended to the coinage herein authorized, whether said laws are penal or otherwise, for the security of the coin, regulating and guarding the process of striking and coining, for preventing debasement or counterfeiting, or for any other purpose.

Present laws extended there

to.

Director of mint to secure

SEC. 3. That the director of the mint shall prescribe suitable regulations to insure a due conformity to the required weights and proportions conformity of alof alloy in the said coins; and shall order trials thereof to be made from loy in such coins. time to time by the assayer of the mint, whereof a report shall be made in writing to the director.

SEC. 4. That the said coins shall be a legal tender in any payment, the one-cent coin to the amount of ten cents, and the two-cent coin to the amount of twenty cents; and it shall be lawful to pay out said coins in exchange for the lawful currency of the United States, (except cents or half-cents issued under former acts of Congress,) in suitable sums, by the treasurer of the mint, and by such other depositaries as the Secretary of the Treasury may designate, under general regulations proposed by the director of the mint and approved by the Secretary of the Treasury; and the expenses incident to such exchange, distribution, and transmission may be paid out of the profits of said coinage; and the net profits of said coinage, ascertained in like manner as is prescribed in the second section of the act to which this is a supplement, shall be transferred to the treasury of the United States.

Such coins to be legal tender and for what

sumns.

SEC. 5. That if any person or persons shall make, issue, or pass, or Penalty for making coins cause to be made, issued, or passed, any coin, card, token, or device what- intended to be soever, in metal or its compounds, intended to pass or be passed as money passed as cents, for a one-cent piece or a two-cent piece, such person or persons shall be &c. deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall, on conviction thereof, be punished by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars, and by imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years.

CHAP. LXIX. - An Act fixing certain Rules and Regulations for preventing Collisions on the Water.

Stat. at Large, Vol. XIII. p. 58.

Be it enacted, &c. That from and after September one, eighteen hun- Rules, &c. for dred and sixty-four, the following rules and regulations for preventing lisions on the preventing colcollisions on the water be adopted in the navy and the mercantile marine water. of the United States: Provided, That the exhibition of any light on board

sels-of-war need

of a vessel-of-war of the United States may be suspended whenever, in Lights on vesthe opinion of the Secretary of the Navy, the commander-in-chief of a not be exhibited, squadron, or the commander of a vessel acting singly, the special character when, &c. of the service may require it.