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which said committee on accounts shall have the same powers and perform the same duties in reference to payments made from the contingent fund of the House of Representatives of the Fifty-fourth Congress as are now authorized by law and the rules of the present House of Representatives; and which said temporary committee on accounts shall begin to exercise its powers immediately upon the termination of this Congress, and shall continue to exercise and discharge said duties until after the meeting and organization of the House of Representatives of the Fifty-fourth Congress, and until the appointment of the regular committee on accounts.

And all payments made out of the contingent fund of the House of Representatives upon vouchers approved by said temporary committee on accounts shall be deemed, held, and taken, and are hereby declared to be conclusive upon all the Departments and auditing officers of the Government.

And hereafter the Speaker of the House of Representatives of each subsequent Congress shall, before the termination of the last session of each Congress, appoint, from the Representatives-elect, at temporary committee on accounts of three members, with similar powers and for the same purposes. (28 Stat. 768.)

These were provisions of the legislative, executive, and judicial appropriation act for the fiscal year 1896, cited above.

A subsequent provision declaring payments from the contingent fund of the House, approved by the Committee on Accounts, conclusive, contained in Act March 4, 1911, c. 240, is set forth post, § 111.

§ 111. (Act March 4, 1911, c. 240.) Payments from contingent fund of House of Representatives, on vouchers approved by Committee on Accounts, conclusive.

Hereafter the payments made from the contingent fund of the House of Representatives upon vouchers approved by the Committee on Accounts shall be deemed, held, and taken, and are hereby declared to be conclusive upon all the departments and officers of the Government. (36 Stat. 1318.)

This was a provision of the deficiency appropriation act for the fiscal year 1911, cited above.

A previous provision to the same effect, contained in Act Oct. 2, 1888, c. 1069, § 1, is set forth ante, § 109.

Notes of Decisions

Jurisdiction of committee under previous laws.-The committee on accounts of the House of Representatives has exclusive and final jurisdiction to audit and settle accounts chargeable upon the contingent fund

(R. S. § 77. Superseded.)

of the House. (1858) 9 Op. Atty. Gen. 167.

Such accounts are not open to inquiry before the Auditor and Comptroller of the Treasury. Id.

This section provided for the compilation of the Congressional Directory at each session of Congress under the direction of the Joint Committee on Public Printing. It was superseded by different provisions for the compilation, printing, distribution, etc., of the Directory, contained in the Printing and Binding Act of Jan. 12, 1895, c. 23, § 73, par. 43, post, § 7088.

The printing, etc., of the Senate Manual and Digest and of the Manual of the House of Representatives were also provided for by the same section, Act Jan. 12, 1895, c. 23, § 73, par. 42, post, § 7087.

(R. S. § 78. Superseded.)

This section provided that, "until a contract for publishing the debates of Congress is made, such debates shall be printed by the Congressional Printer, under the direction of the Joint Committee on Public Printing," etc. The provision was derived from Act March 3, 1873, c. 227, § 1, 17 Stat. 510, which was amended, to supply an omission, by Act Jan. 22, 1874, c. 14, 18 Stat. 5. But the original provision and amendment were superseded by the provisions for the printing, distribution, and sale of the Congressional Record, and of Indexes thereto, contained in the Printing and Binding Act of Jan. 12, 1895, c. 23, §§ 13, 14, and § 73, pars. 45-60, post, §§ 6967, 6968, 7090.

§ 112. (R. S. § 79, as amended, Act Feb. 18, 1875, c. 80, § 1.) Publication of laws.

After the fourth day of March, eighteen hundred and seventyfive, the publication of the laws in newspapers shall cease.

Act May 8, 1872, c. 140, § 1, 17 Stat. 66. Act Feb. 18, 1875, c. 80, 18 Stat. 317.

This section as originally enacted, providing that, after the date specified, "no money shall be paid from the Treasury for the publication of the laws in newspapers," was changed to read as set forth here, as one of the amendments made by Act Feb. 18, 1875, c. 80, § 1, 18 Stat. 316.

The printing and publication of the laws at the Government Printing Office were provided for by Act Jan. 12, 1895, c. 23, § 73, pars. 18-25, and other subsequent provisions collected post, §§ 7070-7073.

§ 113. (Act March 3, 1885, c. 360.) Contracts involving employment of horses for service of House of Representatives.

In all contracts hereafter made for service for the House of Representatives involving the employment of horses, the expense of keeping such horses shall be covered by the contract; and no money hereafter appropriated for contingent or other expenses of the House of Representatives shall be expended for stables or forage. (23 Stat. 512.)

This was a provision of the sundry civil appropriation act for the fiscal year 1886, cited above.

§ 114. (Act March 3, 1891, c. 541, § 1.) Contracts for hire of horses and mail wagons for mail service of House of Representatives.

Hereafter the appropriations for hire of horses and mail wagons. for carrying the mails for the House of Representatives shall be expended under the direction of the Postmaster of the House, under contracts to be let annually to the lowest responsible bidder therefor after due advertisement. (26 Stat. 914.)

This was a provision of the legislative, executive, and judicial appropriation act for the fiscal year 1892, cited above.

§ 115. (Act March 3, 1901, c. 830, § 1.) Contracts for packing boxes for use of House.

Hereafter packing boxes for the use of the House of Representatives shall be procured after advertisement for proposals therefor, under specifications to be prepared by the Clerk of the House, and from the lowest and best bidder to furnish the same. (31 Stat. 960.)

This was a provision of the legislative, executive, and judicial appropriation act for the fiscal year 1902, cited above.

§ 116. (Act Aug. 7, 1882, c. 433, § 1.) Sale of waste paper, etc., and condemned furniture.

It shall be the duty of the Clerk and Doorkeeper of the House. of Representatives and the Secretary and Sergeant-at-Arms of the Senate to cause to be sold all waste paper and useless documents and condemned furniture that have accumulated during the fiscal year eighteen hundred and eighty-two, or that may hereafter accumulate, in their respective departments or offices, under the direction of the Committee on Accounts of their respective houses and cover the proceeds thereof into the Treasury; and they shall, at the beginning of each regular session of Congress, report to their respective houses the amount of said sales. (22 Stat. 337.)

This was a provision of the sundry civil appropriation act for the fiscal year 1883, cited above.

Provisions for the disposition of accumulations of useless papers in the Executive Departments are set forth under R. S. § 197, post, § 280, or referred to in notes thereto.

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§ 117. (Act March 3, 1875, c. 130, § 8.) Actions against officers for official acts; district attorney to enter appearance; application of provisions for removal of suits, withholding of executions, and payment of judgments against revenue or other officers; defense of actions.

In any action now pending, or which may be brought against any person for or on account of anything done by him while an officer of either House of Congress in the discharge of his official duty, in executing any order of such House, the district attorney for the district within which the action is brought, on being thereto requested by the officer sued, shall enter an appearance in behalf of such officer; and all provisions of the eighth section of the act of July twenty-eighth, eighteen hundred and sixty-six, entitled "An act to protect the revenue, and for other purposes," and also all provisions of the sections of former acts therein referred to, so far as the same relate to the removal of suits, the withholding of executicns, and the paying of judgments against revenue or other officers of the United States, shall become applicable to such action and to all proceedings and matters whatsoever connected therewith, and the defense of such action shall thenceforth be conducted under the supervision and direction of the Attorney General. (18 Stat. 401.)

This was a section of the sundry civil appropriation act for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1876, cited above.

The provisions of Act July 28, 1866, c. 298, § 8, 14 Stat. 329, referred to in this section, were not re-enacted in terms in the Revised Statutes, but the "provisions of the sections of former acts therein referred to," also referred to in this section, were incorporated in the Revised Statutes in various sections to which reference is made in the following paragraphs of this note.

Provisions for appearance by the district attorney in suits against revenue officers for their official acts were contained in R. S. § 771, post, § 1296, and provisions relating to compensation for such services in R. S. §§ 827, 834, post, §§ 1381, 1395.

Provisions for removal from State courts to the courts of the United States of suits and prosecutions against revenue officers for their official acts, etc., were contained in R. S. § 643, and were incorporated in the Judicial Code, § 33, post, § 1015.

Provisions for the withholding of executions against revenue officers, on recovery in suits against them for their official acts, and for the payment of judgments so recovered against them, were contained in R. S. § 989, post, § 1635.

Sec.

CHAPTER SIX

The Library of Congress

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Sec.

134. Superintendent of Library build-
ing and grounds; appointment,
compensation, duties, and bond;
employment of subordinates.
134a. Superintendent of Library build-
ing and grounds; salary.
135. Persons employed in and about
Library to be appointed solely
with reference to fitness.
136. Disbursements by superintendent
of Library building and grounds.
137. No maps to be taken out.
138. Who may take out books.
139. Persons specially privileged to use
Library.

140. Use of Library by Regents of
Smithsonian Institution.
141. Use of Library by Interstate
Commerce Commission, and by
Chief of Engineers of Army.

133. Librarian's report.

Sec.

142. Use of Library by Justices of
Courts of District of Columbia.
143. Use and regulation of law library.
144. Law library to be open while Con-
gress in session.

145. Copies of Statutes at Large.
146. Copies of journals and documents.
147. Deposit in Library of journals of
Senate and House.

148. Delivery to and preservation in
Library of bound volumes from
files of House of Representa-
tives.

Sec.
149. Transfer to Library of books, etc.,
from Executive Departments or
bureaus, etc.

150. Transfer to other libraries of
books, etc., and disposition of

useless material.

151. Sale of copies of card indexes and
other publications.

152. Smithsonian library.
153. How to be kept and used.
154. Library of House of Representa-
tives under control of Librarian
of Congress.

§ 118. (R. S. § 80.) Collections composing Library.

The Library of Congress, composed of the books, maps, and other publications which now remain in existence, from the collections heretofore united under the act of January twenty-six, eighteen. hundred and two, chapter two; the resolution of October twentyone, eighteen hundred and fourteen; the act of January thirty, eighteen hundred and fifteen, chapter twenty-seven; the act of June twenty-five, eighteen hundred and sixty-four, chapter one hundred and forty-seven, section one; the resolution of July twenty-five, eighteen hundred and sixty-six; the act of March two, eighteen hundred and sixty-seven, chapter one hundred and sixty-seven, section one; and those added from time to time by purchase, exchange, donation, reservation from publications ordered by Congress, deposit to secure copyright, and otherwise, shall be preserved in the Capitol in the rooms which were, on the fourth day of July, eighteen hundred and seventy-two, appropriated to its use, and in such others as may hereafter be assigned thereto.

Act Jan. 26, 1802, c. 2, 2 Stat. 128. Act Jan. 30, 1815, c. 27, 3 Stat. 195. 148. Res. July 25, 1866, No. 77, 14 § 1, 14 Stat. 464.

Res. Oct. 21, 1814, No. 3, 3 Stat. 246. Act June 25, 1864, c. 147, § 1, 13 Stat. Stat. 365. Act March 2, 1867, c. 167,

Provisions for the removal of the Library to the Library Building, erected pursuant to Act April 15, 1886, c. 50, 24 Stat. 12, and for the custody, care, and maintenance of that building, were made by Act Feb. 19, 1897, c. 265, § 1, 29 Stat. 544.

Notes of Decisions

Bequests to Library.-There is no indication in the statutes concerning the Library that it is a corporation or artificial person, and "the Library of Congress" is not a proper legatee to be named in a bequest. (1907) 26 Op. Atty. Gen. 447.

The best form of a bequest to the Library depends upon the law of the testator's domicile, and it is therefore impossible to formulate any particular style of bequest that will be everywhere valid and in proper form. Id.

However, a bequest "to the United States of America, to be deposited in the Library of Congress," which latter part may be varied, in case of pecuniary bequests, to "to be applied to the increase or improvement of the Library of Congress," will, it is believed, be a satisfactory form to be used generally in the states of the Union and in other English-speaking countries. Id.

§ 119. (R. S. § 81.) Library to be in two departments. The Library of Congress shall be arranged in two departments, a general library and a law library.

Act July 14, 1832, c. 221, § 1, 4 Stat. 579.

120. (R. S. § 82.) Joint Committee upon Library.

The unexpended balance of any sums appropriated by Congress. for the increase of the general library, together with such sums as may hereafter be appropriated to the same purpose, shall be laid out under the direction of a joint committee of Congress upon the

Library, to consist of three members of the Senate and three members of the House of Representatives.

Act April 24, 1800, c. 37, § 5, 2 Stat. 56. Act Jan. 26, 1802, c. 2, § 6, 2 Stat. 129.

The number of members of each house constituting the committee was increased by Res. Feb. 7, 1902, No. 5, post, § 122.

§ 121. (Act March 3, 1883, c. 141, § 2.) Joint Committee upon Library during recess of Congress.

The portion of the Joint Committee of Congress upon the Library on the part of the Senate remaining in office as Senators shall during the recess of Congress exercise the powers and discharge the duties conferred by law upon the Joint Committee of Congress upon the Library. (22 Stat. 592.)

This was a provision of the deficiency appropriation act for the fiscal year 1883, cited above.

§ 122. (Res. Feb. 7, 1902, No. 5.) Committee upon Library.

Number of members of Joint

The Joint Committee of Congress upon the Library, authorized by section eighty-two of the Revised Statutes, shall hereafter consist of five members of the Senate and five members of the House of Representatives. (32 Stat. 735.)

This was a joint resolution entitled "Joint Resolution increasing the membership of the Joint Committee of Congress upon the Library."

R. S. § 82, mentioned in this resolution, is set forth ante, § 120.

§ 123. (R. S. § 83.) Incidental expenses of law library.

The incidental expenses of the law library shall be paid out of the appropriations for the Library of Congress.

Act July 14, 1832, c. 221, § 3, 4 Stat. 579.

§ 124. (R. S. § 84.) Purchase of books for law library.

The Librarian shall make the purchases of books for the law library, under the direction of and pursuant to the catalogue furnished him by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

Act July 14, 1832, c. 221, § 4, 4 Stat. 579.

Printing and binding for the Library are to be done at the Government Printing Office, by the Printing and Binding Act of Jan. 12, 1895, c. 23, § 93, post, 7172.

§ 125. (R. S. § 85.) Regulations for the Library.

The Joint Committee upon the Library is authorized to establish regulations, not inconsistent with law, in relation to the Library of Congress or either department thereof; and from time to time to alter, amend, or repeal the same; but such regulations as to the law library shall be subject to those imposed by the justices of the Supreme Court under section ninety-five. And until they impose new regulations or restrictions, the care and business of the Library shall continue to be regulated by such rules as may have been heretofore imposed by any lawful authority.

Act Jan. 26, 1802, c. 2, § 2, 2 Stat. 129.

So much of this section as authorized the Joint Committee upon the Library to establish regulations was probably superseded by the provision that the Librarian should make rules and regulations for the government of the Library, contained in Act Feb. 19, 1897, c. 265, § 1, post, § 129.

R. S. § 95, mentioned in this section, authorizing the Justices of the Supreme Court to make regulations for the use of the Law Library, is set forth post, § 143.

§ 126. (R. S. § 86.) Duplicate, injured, or wasted books.

The Joint Committee upon the Library may, at any time, exchange, or otherwise dispose of duplicate, injured, or wasted books of the Library, or documents, or any other matter in the Library not deemed proper to it, as they deem best.

Act June 26, 1848, c. 73, § 1, 9 Stat. 240.

Subsequent provisions for the disposition, by the Librarian, of books, etc., no

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