mail service in Texas. Post, p. 110. tinue present the present mail service in Texas, established under its former laws, upon any of the foregoing routes, as he may deem expedient, not, however, for a longer period than the thirtieth June, eighteen hundred and fifty, and to make contracts for the appropriate mail service on any of the foregoing routes, either without advertisement, where the same can be effected at rates of compensation not exceeding the average prices for like service in the other States of this Union, or upon advertisements for a less period than twelve weeks, as he shall deem best for the public interests. Postmaster General may pay mail contractors in Texas for service performed. Compensation. account to U. S. Postmasters in Texas to account for and pay over to the Postmaster-General all balances, &c. Rates of possame as in other tage to be the States. P. O. Laws extended to Texas. Repeal of Act of 1816, ch. 6, establishing post routes in Texas. SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That the Postmaster-General be, and he is hereby, authorized to pay mail contractors in Texas for service duly performed by them since the sixteenth day of February, eighteen hundred and forty-six, and also officers employed in superintending the mail service: Provided, however, That such payment shall in no case exceed the compensation agreed upon with the late authorities of Texas: Provided, also, That the several postmasters in Texas, appointed by the late government of Texas, shall duly account to and pay over to the Postmaster-General of the United States all balances accruing at their offices, respectively, from and after said sixteenth of February, eighteen hundred and forty-six; that is, all money collected, or to be collected, for postages at their offices, respectively, after deducting the commissions allowed by the law to postinasters in the United States. And it is hereby enacted and declared to be the duty of said persons and postmasters as aforesaid, in Texas, to account for and pay over to said Postmaster-General of the United States all said balances, in the manner and to the extent required by the laws of the United States of the several postmasters in the United States; and the like remedies and means of collecting, and enforcing collection, by suit or otherwise, of said balances, are hereby granted, as now exist by law against the postmasters of the United States. The same rates of postage are to be charged and collected in Texas as in other States of this Union; and all laws concerning the post-office department, and regulations thereof, are hereby declared to have full effect and operation in said State from and after said sixteenth of February aforesaid. SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That the act establishing certain post routes in Texas, approved the sixth of February, anno Domini eighteen hundred and forty-six, be, and the same is hereby, repealed. APPROVED, May 29, 1846. May 29, U. S. Courts in actions, &c., now CHAP. XXVI. -An Act in Relation to the July Term of the Circuit and District Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the July term of the Circuit and District Courts of the United States, in the District of Ohio, shall hereafter be held on the third Monday of July, annually: Provided, That all actions, suits, appeals, recognizances, processes, writs, and proceedings whatever, pending or which may be pending said courts, or returnable to the term as it now exists, shall have day therein, and be heard, tried, proceeded with, and disposed of, at the term as fixed by this act. APPROVED, May 29, 1846 CHAP. XXVIII. · An Act making Alterations in the Pay Department of the Army. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the President of the United States be, and he is hereby, authorized, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to appoint three additional paymasters, to be attached to the pay department of the army. SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That the officers appointed in virtue of this act shall perform the same duties, receive the same pay and allowances, as the present paymasters of the army, and shall, in like manner, be subject to the rules and articles of war; and previous to entering upon the duties of their office, shall give such bonds to the United States as the Secretary of War may direct, for the faithful performance of their duties. APPROVED, June 17, 1846. June 17, 1846. Three addition al paymasters to be appointed. Duties, com pensation, &c. Bonds of - CHAP. XXIX. An Act supplemental to an Act entitled "An Act providing for the Prosecution of the existing War between the United States and the Republic of Mexico," and for other Purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the President of the United States be, and he hereby is, authorized to appoint, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, one major-general and two brigadier-generals, in addition to the present military establishment: Provided, That when the war with Mexico shall be terminated by a definitive treaty of peace, duly concluded and ratified, the number of major-generals in the army shall be reduced to one, and the number of brigadier-generals shall be reduced to two; and the President of the United States is authorized and directed to select from the whole number which may then be in office, without regard to the date of their commissions, the number to be retained, and cause the remainder to be discharged from the service of the United States. How to made. President au SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That the President of the United States be, and he hereby is, authorized to call into the service, under thorized to call into service genthe act approved May thirteenth, eighteen hundred and forty-six, such eral officers of of the general officers of the militia as the service, in his opinion, may the militia. require, and to organize into brigades and divisions the forces authorized by said act, according to his discretion. SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That the field and staff of a separate battalion of volunteers, under the said act, shall be one lieutenantcolonel or major, one adjutant, with the rank of lieutenant, one sergeant-major, one quartermaster-sergeant, and a chief bugler or principal musician, according to corps. SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That the President of the United States may limit the privates in any volunteer company, according to his discretion, at from sixty-four to one hundred; and that with every volunteer company an additional second lieutenant may be allowed and accepted. SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That when volunteers or militia are called into the service of the United States in such numbers that the officers of the quartermaster, commissary, and medical departments, authorized by law, be not sufficient to provide for supplying, quartering, transporting, and furnishing them with the requisite medical attendance, it shall be lawful for the President to appoint, with the advice and consent of the Senate, as many additional officers of said departments as the service may require, not exceeding one quartermaster and one commissary for each brigade, with the rank of major, and one VOL. IX. PUB. -3 Field and staff of separate bat talion of volunteers established. Number of pri-. vates in a com pany. An additional second lieutenant allowed. Additional officers of the quarmissary, and medtermaster, comical departments may be appoint ed. Pay, &c. Time of service. Assistant adjutant-generals may be appointed. 'Time of service. Promotions and appointments. Aids-de-camp, to be vhence taken. assistant quartermaster, with the rank of captain, one assistant commissary, with the rank of captain, one surgeon, and one assistant surgeon, for each regiment; the said quartermasters and commissaries, assistant quartermasters and assistant commissaries, to give bonds, with good and sufficient sureties, for the faithful performance of their duties; and they and the said surgeons and assistant surgeons to perform such duties as the President shall direct: Provided, That the said officers shall be allowed the same pay and emoluments as are now allowed to officers of the same descriptions and grades in those departments, respectively; that they be subject to the rules and articles of war, and continue in service only so long as their services shall be required, in connection with the militia and volunteers. SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That the President of the United States be, and he hereby is, authorized to appoint as many additional assistant adjutant-generals, not exceeding four, as the service may require; who shall be appointed, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, in the same manner, have the same brevet rank, pay, and emoluments, and be charged with the same duties, as those now authorized by law: Provided, that these additional appointments shall continue only so long as the exigencies of the service may render necessary. SEC. 7. And be it further enacted, That promotion, in the quartermaster's department, to the rank of major, shall hereafter be made from the captains of the army; and that appointments in the line, and in the general staff, which confer equal rank in the army, shall not be held by the same officer at the same time; and when any officer of the staff who may have been taken from the line shall, in virtue of seniority, have obtained or be entitled to promotion to a grade in his regiment equal to the commission he may hold in the staff, the said officer shall vacate such staff commission, or he may, at his option, vacate his commission in the line. SEC. 8. And be it further enacted, That the aids-de-camp of the major-general commanding the army in time of war may be taken from the line, without regard to rank; and the aids-de-camp allowed to other major-generals and brigadier-generals may be taken from the grade of captain or subaltern; and that the commanding or highest Military secre- general in rank may, while in the field, appoint a military secretary from the subalterns of the army, who shall have the pay and emoluments of a major of cavalry for the time being. tary. Allowance for clothing. Subsistence and forage of volunteers and militia. Enlistments for ordnance department authorized. SEC. 9. And be it further enacted, That the allowance for clothing to each non-commissioned officer, musician, and private, of volunteers, shall be three dollars and fifty cents per month, during the time he shall be in the service of the United States. SEC. 10. And be it further enacted, That the non-commissioned officers, musicians, and privates, of volunteers and militia, when called into the service of the United States, shall be entitled to receive fifty cents, in lieu of subsistence, and twenty-five cents in lieu of forage for such as are mounted, for every twenty miles, by the most direct route, from the period of leaving their homes to the place of general rendez-. vous, and from the place of discharge back to their homes. SEC. 11. And be it further enacted, That the colonel or senior officer of the ordnance department is authorized to enlist, for the service of that department, as many master armorers, master carriagemakers, master blacksmiths, artificers, armorers, carriage-makers, blacksmiths, and laborers, as the public service, in his judgment, under the directions of the Secretary for the Department of War, may require. APPROVED, June 18, 1846. CHAP. XXXI.-An Act making Appropriations for the Service of the Post-Office June 19, 1846. Department for the Year ending Curtieth June, eighteen hundred and forty-seven. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the following sums of money be, and the same are hereby, appropriated for the service of the Post-Office Department, for the year ending the thirtieth of June, eighteen hundred and forty-seven, out of any moneys in the treasury arising from the revenues of the said department, in conformity to the act of the second of July, eighteen hundred and thirtysix, namely: Appropriation Transportation. For transportation of the mails, two millions seven hundred thousand dollars; and the Postmaster-General is hereby authorized to apply twenty-five thousand dollars, of the money appropriated for mail transportation, for a line of mail steamers from the United States to Bremen; but no further sum shall be diverted to any other object from U. S. to than the transportation of the mail within the United States. For compensation of postmasters, one million dollars. For ship, steamboat, and way letters, twelve thousand dollars. For office furniture, (for post-offices,) four thousand dollars. For blanks, seventeen thousand dollars. For mail locks, keys, and stamps, four thousand dollars. For mail depredations and special agents, thirteen thousand dollars. For clerks for offices, (for offices of postmasters,) two hundred thousand dollars. For miscellaneous, fifty thousand dollars. Mail steamers Bremen. Postmasters. Letters. Paper, furniture, advertising, mail bags, blanks, locks, &c. Depredations & special agents. Clerks. Miscellaneous. For defraying the expenses of the magnetic telegraph from the city of Washington to Baltimore, four thousand dollars; this appropriation graph. to be available, if need be, before the commencement of the next fiscal year: Provided, That the Postmaster-General be, and he is hereby, authorized to let, for a limited time, the aforesaid telegraph to any person who will keep it in operation for its earnings; or he may, under the direction of the President of the United States, sell the same. May be leased Balance due For paying an ascertained balance due to Messrs. Hale and Coleman, under their contract of May thirty-first, eighteen hundred and Hale and Colethirty-seven, forty dollars and seventy-five cents. 1 For blishing a new edition, of eighteen thousand copies, of the Table o Post Offices in the United States, and the same number of the "Laws nd Regulations for the Government of the Post-Office Department," ight thousand five hundred dollars: Provided, the work be let to contract to the lowest bidder, upon the terms indicated by the sevente euth section of the act approved twenty-sixth August, eighteen hundred and forty-two, "legalizing and making appropriations for such necessary objects as have been usually included in the general appropriation bills without authority of law, &c." prove Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That in case the revenues of the department, referred to in the first section of this act, shall insufficient to meet the foregoing appropriations, then any deficiency that may thus arise shall be paid out of any moneys in the treasury not otherwise appropriated, APPROVED, June 19, 1846. man. June, 26, 1846. [Obsolete.] The President to organize them into brigades and divisions. 1846, ch. 16. Appointment of major and CHAP. XXXIII. An Act to provide for the Organization of the Volunteer Forces brought into the Service of the United States, into Brigades and Divisions, and for the Appointment of the necessary Number of General Officers to command the same Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the President of the United States be, and he is hereby, authorized to organize into brigades and divisions such of the volunteer forces as have been, or may be, called into the service of the United States, under the act approved May thirteenth, eighteen hundred and forty-six, entitled "An Act providing for the Prosecution of the existing War between the United States and the Republic of Mexico;" and that he be, and hereby is, authorized to appoint, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, such number of major-generals and brigadier-generals as the organization of such volunteer forces into brigades and divisions may render necessary: Provided, That the brigadier-generals and majorgenerals so appointed shall be discharged from service by the President of the United States, when the war with Mexico shall be terminated by a definitive treaty of peace, duly concluded and ratified; or, in case the brigades or divisions of volunteers at any time in the service shall be reduced in number, the brigadier-generals and major-generals herein provided for shall be discharged, in proportion to the reduction in the number of the brigades and divisions: And provided further, That Strength of each each brigade of volunteers shall consist of not less than three regiments, and each division shall consist of not less than two brigades. APPROVED, June 26, 1846. brigadier generals, as may be necessary. Discharge on conclusion of peace, or reduc tion of volun teers. Drigade and divis ion. 1846. June 27, [Obsolete.] CHAP. XXXIV. An Act making Appropriations for the current and contingent Expenses of the Indian Department, and for fulfilling Treaty Stipulations with the various Indian Tribes, for the Year ending June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and forty-seven. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the following Appropriation. sums be, and they are hereby, appropriated, for the year ending on the thirtieth day of June, eighteen hundred and forty-seven, for the purpose of paying the current and contingent expenses of the Indian Department, and fulfilling treaty stipulations with the various Indian tribes, to be paid out of any money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated. Superintendent and agents. 1834, ch. 162. 1837, ch. 31. Proviso. Sub agents. 1834, ch. 162. Agent for the tribes on the Up per Platte, and Upper Arkansas. For the current and contingent expenses of the Indian Department, viz.: For the pay of the superintendent of Indian affairs at St. Louis, and the several Indian agents, as provided by the acts of June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and thirty-four, and of March third, eighteen hundred and thirty-seven, sixteen thousand five hundred dollars Provided always, That no superintendent of Indian affairs, or Indian agent, or other disbursing officer in such service, shall have advanced to him, on Indian or public account, any money to be disbursed in future, until such superintendent, agent, or officer in such service, shall have settled his accounts of the preceding year, and satisfactorily shown that all balances in favor of the government, which may appear to be in his hands, are ready to be paid over on the order of the department. For pay of sub-agents, authorized by the act of June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and thirty-four, eleven thousand two hundred and fifty dollars. For an agent for the Indian tribes residing upon the waters of the Upper Platte and Upper Arkansas Rivers, the sum of fifteen hundred dollars. |