§ 902. (Act March 4, 1911, c. 285, § 1.) Designation of acting Commissioner during absence of Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner.

Hereafter in the case of the absence of the Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner of Fisheries the Secretary of Commerce and Labor may designate some officer of said bureau to perform the duties of the Commissioner during their absence. (36 Stat. 1436.) This was a provision of the sundry civil appropriation act for the fiscal year 1912, cited above.

Appropriations for the Deputy Commissioner, mentioned in this provision, were made, after the transfer of the Commission to the Department of Commerce, in the annual sundry civil appropriation acts. The appropriation for the fiscal year 1917 was $3,500, by Act July 1, 1916, c. 209, § 1, 39 Stat.

This provision supersedes previous provisions for designation of an Assistant Commissioner, to discharge the duties of the Commissioner in his absence, etc., contained in Act March 3, 1883, c. 143, § 1, 22 Stat. 628, and Act March 3, 1885, c. 359, 23 Stat. 450.

See notes to § 901, ante.

§ 903. (Act March 3, 1885, c. 360.) Details from Revenue Marine for duty under Commissioner.

The Secretary of the Treasury is authorized to detail from time to time for duty under the Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries any officers and men of the Revenue Marine Service whose services can be spared for such duty. (23 Stat. 494.)

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

Provisions relating to revenue cutters and boats are contained in Title XXXIV, "Collection of Duties upon Imports," c. 3, §§ 5389-5461.

§ 904. (R. S. § 4396.) Duties of the Commissioner.

The commissioner of fish and fisheries shall prosecute investigations and inquiries on the subject, with the view of ascertaining whether any and what diminution in the number of the food-fishes of the coast and the lakes of the United States has taken place; and, if so, to what causes the same is due; and also whether any and what protective, prohibitory, or precautionary measures should be adopted in the premises; and shall report upon the same to Congress.

Res. Feb. 9, 1871, No. 22, § 2, 16 Stat. 594.

The Commissioner was required to submit to Congress an annual detailed statement of expenditures under all appropriations for "propagation of foodfishes," by Act March 3, 1887, c. 362, post, § 908.

He was also required to embrace in the annual estimates of appropriations estimates for all officers, clerks, and other employés whose services are permanent and continuous in their character, and deemed to be necessary, by Act Aug. 5, 1892, c. 380, § 1, post, § 6727.

The Commissioner was required to investigate, under the direction of the Secretary of the Treasury, and, when requested, to report annually to the Secretary, regarding the conditions of seal life upon the rookeries of the Pribilof Island, and also to continue his inquiries relative to the life, history, and migrations of the fur seals frequenting the waters of Behring Sea, by Act March 3, 1893, c. 208, § 1, post, § 8860.

The Commissioner was directed to investigate the damage to fisheries by dogfish and other predacious fishes and aquatic animals, by Act June 21, 1916, c. 160, post, §§ 904a-904c.

The printing and distribution of the reports of the Commissioner and of the bulletins of the Commission, were provided for by the Printing and Binding Act of Jan. 12, 1895, c. 23, § 73, pars. 10, 11, post, §§ 7062, 7063.

§ 904a. (Act June 21, 1916, c. 160, § 1.) Investigation of damage to fisheries by predacious fish and aquatic animals; duty of Commissioner.

That the Commissioner of Fisheries be, and he is hereby, authorized and directed to conduct investigations and experiments for the purpose of ameliorating the damage wrought to the fisheries by dogfish and other predacious fishes and aquatic animals. (39 Stat.)

This section, and the section next following, were part of an act entitled "An act to conduct investigations and experiments for ameliorating the dam

age wrought to the fisheries by predacious fishes and aquatic animals," cited above. Section 3 of said act made an appropriation to enable the Commissioner to carry out the provisions of the act.

§ 904b. (Act June 21, 1916, c. 160, § 2.) Investigation of damage to fisheries by predacious fish and aquatic animals; purpose of. The said investigations and experiments shall be such as to develop the best and cheapest means of taking such fishes and aquatic animals, of utilizing them for economic purposes, especially for food and to encourage the establishment of fisheries and markets for them. (39 Stat.)

See note to § 904 ante.

§ 905. (R. S. § 4397.) Executive Departments to aid investigations.

The heads of the several Executive Departments shall cause to be rendered all necessary and practicable aid to the commissioner in the prosecution of his investigations and inquiries.

Res. Feb. 9, 1871, No. 22, § 3, 16 Stat. 594.

§ 906. (R. S. § 4398.) Powers of Commissioner.

The commissioner may take or cause to be taken at all times, in the waters of the sea-coast of the United States, where the tide ebbs and flows, and also in the waters of the lakes, such fish or specimens thereof as may in his judgment, from time to time, be needful or proper for the conduct of his duties, any law, custom, or usage of any State to the contrary notwithstanding.

Res. Feb. 9, 1871, No. 22, § 4, 16 Stat. 594.

Duplicate specimens may be distributed to colleges, academies, and other institutions of learning upon the payment of the cost of preparation for and the transportation of such specimens, by a provision of Act March 3, 1883, c. 143, § 1, post, § 10578.

Cited without definite application, Manchester v. Massachusetts (1891) 11 Sup. Ct. 559, 565, 139 U. S. 240, 35

L. Ed. 159; McDonald & Johnson v.
Southern Express Co. (C. C. 1904) 134
Fed. 282.

§ 907. (Act May 31, 1880, c. 113, § 1.) Vessels of the Commission.

The Secretary of the Navy is hereby authorized to place the vessels of the United States Fish Commission on the same footing with the Navy Department as those of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey. (21 Stat. 151.)

This was a provision of an appropriation act for the payment of deficiencies in the appropriation for the payment of pensions for the fiscal year 1880, cited above.

Provisions relating to the vessels of the Coast and Geodetic Survey were made by R. S. § 4686, post, § 8557.

§ 907a. (Act Sept. 8, 1916, c. 464, § 1.)

officers and crews of vessels.

Commutation of rations of

Commutation of rations may be paid to officers and crews of vessels of the Bureau of Fisheries at such rates as the Secretary of Commerce may fix and under regulations prescribed by him, not to exceed 50 cents per day to each person. (39 Stat.)

This was a provision in the deficiency appropriation act for the year 1916, cited above.

§ 908. (Act March 3, 1887, c. 362.) Annual statement of expenditures for propagation of food-fishes.

The Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries shall submit to Congress at its next session a detailed statement of the expenditures for the fiscal year eighteen hundred and eighty-seven under all appropriations for "propagation of food-fishes;" and annually thereafter a detailed statement of expenditures under all appropriations for "propagation of food-fishes" shall be submitted to Congress at the beginning of each session thereof. (24 Stat. 523.)

This was a provision of the sundry civil appropriation act for the fiscal year 1888, cited above.

909. Census Office made permanent.
910. Time of organization of permanent
Census Office.

911. Director of the Census; salary;
duties.

912. Director of the Census to edit, in-
dex, and publish Official Regis-
ter.

913. Officers, clerks, and employés ;
bond of disbursing clerk.
913a. Division of Cotton and Tobacco
Statistics.

913b. Special agents for Division of
Cotton and Tobacco Statistics;
rate of compensation.

914. Appointment of employés; preference of honorably discharged soldiers and their widows.

915. Additional officers during decennial census period.

Sec.

The Census Office, temporarily established in the Department of the Interior for the taking of the Twelfth Census, in accordance with Act March 3, 1899, c. 419, § 2, 30 Stat. 1014, was made a permanent office by the Census Act of March 6, 1902, c. 139, § 1, 32 Stat. 51, and was transferred to the Department of Commerce and Labor by the act establishing that Department, Act Feb. 14, 1903, c. 552, § 4, ante, § 857.

This chapter includes the provisions of said acts and subsequent provisions which remain in force and may be applicable to the Census Office in the Department of Commerce.

§ 909. (Act March 6, 1902, c. 139, § 1.) Census office made per

manent.

The Census Office temporarily established in the Department of the Interior in accordance with an Act entitled "An Act to provide for taking the Twelfth and subsequent censuses," approved March third, eighteen hundred and ninety-nine, is hereby made a permanent office. (32 Stat. 51.)

This section and the two sections next following were part of the Census Act of 1902, entitled "An act to provide for a permanent Census Office," cited above. Other sections of the act are set forth post, §§ 913, 914, 4489-4491, 4503, 4514.

All provisions of Act March 3, 1899, c. 419, 30 Stat. 1014, mentioned in this section, which were inconsistent with this act, and several supplemental acts amendatory thereof, were repealed by section 12 of this act, 32 Stat. 53. And said Act March 3, 1899, c. 419, was repealed by Act July 2, 1909, c. 2, § 33, post, § 4519.

The Census Office was transferred from the Department of the Interior to the Department of Commerce and Labor by the act establishing the latter department, Act Feb. 14, 1903, c. 552, § 4, ante, § 857.

This act, establishing the permanent Census Office, and acts amendatory thereof and supplemental thereto, except as amended in the act to provide for the Thirteenth and subsequent decennial censuses, Act July 2, 1909, c. 2, 36 Stat. 10, remain in full force, by section 33 of said act, post, § 4519.

The transfer to the Census Office of all the schedules, records, and volumes of reports of the eleven decennial enumerations from 1790 to 1890, in possession of the Department of the Interior, was provided for by Act Jan. 12, 1903, c. 90, post, § 920.

§ 910. (Act March 6, 1902, c. 139, § 2.) Time of organization of permanent Census Office.

The work pertaining to the Twelfth Census shall be carried on by the Census Office under the existing organization until the first day of July, nineteen hundred and two, when the permanent Cen

sus Office herein provided for shall be organized by the Director of the Census. (32 Stat. 51.)

§ 911. (Act March 6, 1902, c. 139, § 3.) Director of the Census; salary; duties.

The permanent Census Office shall be in charge of a Director of the Census, appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, who shall receive an annual salary of six thousand dollars. It shall be his duty to superintend and direct the taking of the Thirteenth and subsequent censuses of the United States and to perform such other duties as may be imposed upon him by law. (32 Stat. 51.)

The Secretary of the Interior was authorized to exercise supervisory powers in relation to taking and returning of the census, by R. S. § 443, ante, § 866. Notes of Decisions

Seal of Census Office.-The Secretary of Commerce and Labor is authorized to require the Director of the Census to provide a seal for that office, as directed by section 31 of the Act of March 3, 1899 (30 Stat. 1021), and to give it a device in accordance

with his (the Secretary's)
1903) 25 Op. Atty. Gen. 1.

views.

There is nothing in the nature of this duty that is judicial or quasi judicial, or of such a character that its performance should not be subject to the direction of the head of the Department. Id.

§ 912. (Act June 7, 1906, c. 3048.) Director of the Census to edit, index, and publish Official Register.

The Director of the Census shall edit, index, and publish the Official Register of the United States, and the provisions of existing law imposing that duty upon the Department of the Interior are hereby repealed, and the data to be included in the Official Register, which is now required to be transmitted to the Secretary of the Interior, shall hereafter be transmitted to the Director of the Census. (34 Stat. 219.)

This was a provision added to section 7 of Act March 6, 1902, c. 139, 32 Stat. 52, by amendment of said section by Act June 7, 1906, c. 3048, cited above.

Said section, as otherwise amended by that act, is set forth post, § 4489. The provisions imposing on the Secretary of the Interior the duty to cause the Official Register to be edited, indexed, and published by the chief clerk of the Interior Department, mentioned in this provision, and superseded thereby, were made by the Printing and Binding Act of Jan. 12, 1895, c. 23, § 73, pars. 63-68, post, § 7092.

Further provisions as to the contents, etc., of the Official Register, of said Printing and Binding Act of Jan. 12, 1895, c. 23, § 73, and subsequent acts are set forth post, §§ 7092, 7127, 7128.

§ 913. (Act March 6, 1902, c. 139, § 4, as amended, Act June 30, 1902, c. 1325.) Officers, clerks, and employés; bond of disbursing clerk.

There shall be in the Census Office, to be appointed by the Director thereof, with the approval of the head of the Department to which the said Census Office is attached, four chief statisticians, who shall be persons of known and tried experience in statistical work, at an annual salary of two thousand five hundred dollars each; a chief clerk, at an annual salary of two thousand five hundred dollars, who, in the absence of the Director, shall serve as acting director; a disbursing clerk, who shall also act as appointment clerk, at an annual salary of two thousand five hundred dollars; one stenographer, at an annual salary of one thousand five hundred dollars; four expert chiefs of division, at an annual salary of one thousand eight hundred dollars each; six clerks of class three; ten clerks of class two; and such number of clerks of class one, and of clerks, copyists, computers, and skilled laborers, with salaries at the rate of not less than six hundred dollars nor more than one thousand dollars per annum, messengers, assistant messengers, watchmen, un

skilled laborers, and charwomen as may be necessary for the proper and prompt performance of the duties required by law. The disbursing clerk herein provided for shall, before entering upon his duties, give bond to the Secretary of the Treasury in the sum of twenty-five thousand dollars, which bond shall be conditioned that the said officer shall render a true and faithful account to the proper accounting officers of the Treasury quarter yearly of all moneys and properties which shall be received by him by virtue of his office, with surety, to be approved by the Solicitor of the Treasury. Such bond shall be filed in the of.ice of the Secretary of the Treasury, to be by him put in suit upon any breach of the conditions thereof. (32 Stat. 51. 32 Stat. 506.)

This section and the section next following were sections 4 and 5 of the act to provide for a permanent Census Office, first cited above.

See notes to section 1 of the act, ante, § 909.

The amendment of this section by Act June 30, 1902, c. 1325, cited above, consisted in the insertion after the word "watchmen," and before the words "and charwomen," of the words "unskilled laborers."

The appointment of employés of the Office was provided for by the next following section of this act, post, § 914.

Estimates in detail for the expenses of the permanent Census Office are to be submitted annually in the regular Book of Estimates, by a provision of Act June 28, 1902, c. 1301, § 1, post, § 6714.

Annual appropriations for the Census Office are made in the legislative, executive, and judicial appropriation acts. The provisions for the fiscal year 1917 were by Act May 10, 1916, c. 117, § 1, 39 Stat.

During the decennial census period, the annual compensation of the officials of the Census Office is increased, by Act July 2, 1909, c. 2, § 5, post, § 917. During the decennial census period, in addition to the force in the Census Office provided for by this act, the appointment of an Assistant Director and other officers, and the employment of additional clerks and other employés are authorized by Act July 2, 1909, c. 2, §§ 3, 4, 6, 7, post, §§ 915, 916, 918, 919. All laws or parts of laws inconsistent with rates of salaries or compensation appropriated by the legislative, executive, and judicial appropriation acts are repealed, and the rates of salaries or compensation of officers or employés appropriated for in said acts are to constitute the rate of salary or compensation of such officers or employés, respectively, until otherwise fixed by an annual rate of appropriation or other law, by Act July 16, 1914, c. 141, § 6, post, § 3228a.

The officers and employés of the United States whose salaries are appropriated for in the legislative, executive, and judicial appropriation act for the fiscal year 1916, Act March 4, 1915, c. 141, 38 Stat. 1049, are established and continued from year to year to the extent that they are appropriated for by Congress, by § 6.of said act, post, § 3228b.

Unless otherwise specially authorized by law, no money appropriated by any act shall be available for payment to any person receiving more than one salary, when the combined amount of said salaries exceeds $2,000 per annum, with certain enumerated exceptions, by Act May 10, 1916, c. 117, § 6, as amended by Act Aug. 29, 1916, c. 417, post, § 3230a.

§ 913a. (Act May 10, 1916, c. 117, § 1.)

Tobacco Statistics.

Division of Cotton and

Hereafter there shall be in the official organization of the bureau a separate, distinct, and independent division called the Division of Cotton and Tobacco Statistics. (39 Stat.)

This was a provision of the legislative, executive, and judicial appropriation act for the fiscal year 1916, cited above. See notes to § 913b, post.

§ 913b. (Act May 10, 1916, c. 117, § 1.) Special agents for Division of Cotton and Tobacco Statistics; rate of compensation. The compensation of not to exceed five special agents provided for in this paragraph may be fixed at a rate not to exceed $8 per day. (39 Stat.)

This was a provision of the legislative, executive, and judicial appropriation act for the fiscal year 1917, cited above. "The special agents provided for in this paragraph" are those provided for by a preceding portion of the paragraph, making an appropriation for securing information for census reports provided for by law, etc., and for per diem compensation of special agents and supervising special agents, etc. See notes to § 4421a, post.