Page images
PDF
EPUB

Officers of the Army and Navy shall, as far as practica- R. S., 4687. ble, be employed in the work of surveying the coast of the United States, whenever and in the manner required by the Department having charge thereof.

Feb. 14, 1903.

The Secretary of Commerce may make such allowances R. S., 4688. to the officers and men of the Army and Navy, while employed on Coast Survey service, for subsistence, in addi- Sec. 4. tion to their compensation, as he may deem necessary, not exceeding the sum authorized by the Treasury regulation of the eleventh day of May, eighteen hundred and fortyfour.

The salary of the Superintendent of the Coast Survey R. S., 4689. shall be six thousand dollars a year.

The Coast Survey report shall be submitted to Congress R. S., 4690. during the month of December in each year, and shall be accompanied by a general chart of the whole coasts of the United States, on as large a scale as convenient and practicable, showing, as near as practicable, the configuration of the coasts, and showing, by lines, the probable limits of the Gulf Stream, and showing, by lines, the probable limit to which the soundings off the coast will extend, and showing, by the use of colors and explanations, the exact portions of our coasts, of which complete. charts have been published by the Coast Survey; also, showing such other parts of the coasts of which the triangulation, the topography, and the soundings have been completed, but not published, and, also, such parts of the coasts of which the triangulation and topography, or the triangulation only, have been completed.

475. District court commissioners.

The terms of office of all commissioners of the circuit May 28, 1896. courts heretofore appointed shall expire on the thirtieth Sec. 19. day of June, eighteen hundred and ninety-seven; and such office shall on that day cease to exist, and said commissioners shall then deposit all the records and other official papers appertaining to their offices in the office of the clerk of the circuit court by which they were appointed. All proceedings pending, returnable, unexecuted, or unfinished at said date before any such commissioner shall be continued and disposed of according to law by such commissioner appointed as herein provided, as may be designated by the district court for that purpose. It shall be the duty of the district court of each judicial district to appoint such number of persons, to be known as United States commissioners, at such places in the district as may be designated by the district court, which United States commissioners shall have the same powers and perform the same duties as are now imposed upon commissioners of the circuit courts. The appointment of such United States commissioners shall be entered of record in the district courts, and notice thereof

R. S., 3679.
Mar. 3, 1905.
Sec. 4.

Sec. 3.

at once given by the clerk to the Attorney-General. That such United States commissioners shall hold their offices, respectively, for the term of four years, but they shall be at any time subject to removal by the district court; and no person shall at any time be a clerk or deputy clerk of a United States court and a United States commissioner without the approval of the Attorney-General: Provided, That all acts and parts of acts applicable to commissioners of the circuit courts, except as to appointment and fees, shall be applicable to United States commissioners appointed under this Act. Warrants of arrest for violations of internal revenue laws may be issued by United States commissioners upon the sworn complaint of a United States district attorney, assistant United States district attorney, collector or deputy collector of internal revenue, or revenue agent or private citizen, but no such warrant of arrest shall be issued upon the sworn complaint of a private citizen unless first approved in writing by a United States district attorney. That United States commissioners and all clerks of United States courts are hereby authorized to administer oaths.

476. Unauthorized services.

No Executive Department or other Government establishment of the United States shall expend, in any one Feb. 27, 1906. fiscal year, any sum in excess of appropriations made by Congress for that fiscal year, or involve the Government in any contract or other obligation for the future payment of money in excess of such appropriations unless such contract or obligation is authorized by law. Nor shall any Department or any officer of the Government accept voluntary service for the Government or employ personal service in excess of that authorized by law, except in cases of sudden emergency involving the loss of human life or the destruction of property. All appropriations made for contingent expenses or other general purposes, except appropriations made in fulfillment of contract obligations expressly authorized by law, or for objects required or authorized by law without reference to the amounts annually appropriated therefor, shall, on or before the beginning of each fiscal year, be so apportioned by monthly or other allotments as to prevent expenditures in one portion of the year which may necessitate deficiency or additional appropriations to complete the service of the fiscal year for which said appropriations are made; and all such apportionments shall be adhered to and shall not be waived or modified except upon the happening of some extraordinary emergency or unusual circumstance which could not be anticipated at the time of making such apportionment, but this provision shall not apply to the contingent appropriations of the Senate or House of Representatives; and in case said apportionments are waived or modified as herein provided,

the same shall be waived or modified in writing by the head of such Executive Department or other Government establishment having control of the expenditure, and the reasons therefor shall be fully set forth in each particular case and communicated to Congress in connection with estimates for any additional appropriations required on account thereof. Any person violating any provision of this section shall be summarily removed from office and may also be punished by a fine of not less than one hundred dollars or by imprisonment for not less than one month.

476 (a). Waterways Commission.

Sec. 18.

That a commission, to be known as the Waterways Aug. 8, 1917. Commission, consisting of seven members to be appointed by the President of the United States, at least one of whom shall be chosen from the active or retired list of the Engineers Corps of the Army, at least one of whom shall be an expert hydraulic engineer from civil life, and the remaining five of whom may each be selected either from civil life or the public service, is hereby created and authorized, under such rules and regulations as the President may prescribe, and subject to the approval of the heads of the several executive departments concerned, to bring into coordination and cooperation the engineering, scientific, and constructive services, bureaus, boards, and commissions of the several governmental departments of the United States and commissions created by Congress that relate to study, development, or control of waterways and water resources and subjects related thereto, or to the development and regulation of interstate and foreign commerce, with a view to uniting such services in investigating, with respect to all watersheds in the United States, questions relating to the development, improvement, regulation, and control of navigation as a part of interstate and foreign commerce, including therein the related questions of irrigation, drainage, forestry, arid and swamp land reclamation, clarification of streams, regulation of flow, control of floods, utilization of water power, prevention of soil erosion and waste, storage, and conservation of water for agricultural, industrial, municipal, and domestic uses, cooperation of railways and waterways, and promotion of terminal and transfer facilities, to secure the necessary data, and to formulate and report to Congress, as early as practicable, a comprehensive plan or plans for the development of waterways and the water resources of the United States for the purposes of navigation and for every useful purpose, and recommendations for the modification or discontinuance of any project herein or heretofore adopted. Any member appointed from the retired list shall receive the same pay and allowances as he would if on the active list, and no mem

June 12, 1917.

ber selected from the public service shall receive additional compensation for services on said commission, and members selected from civil life shall receive compensation of $7,500 per annum.

In all matters done, or to be done, under this section relating to any of the subjects, investigations, or questions to be considered hereunder, and in formulating plans, and in the preparation of a report or reports, as herein provided, consideration shall be given to all matters which are to be undertaken, either independently by the United States or by cooperation between the United States and the several States, political subdivisions thereof, municipalities, communities, corporations, and individuals within the jurisdiction, powers, and rights of each, respectively, and with a view to assigning to the United States such portion of such development, promotion, regulation, and control as may be undertaken by the United States, and to the States, political subdivisions thereof, municipalities, communities, corporations, and individuals such portions as belong to their respective jurisdictions, rights, and interests.

The commission is authorized to employ, or retain, and fix the compensation for the services of such engineers, transportation experts, experts in water development and utilization, and constructors of eminence as it may deem necessary to make such investigations and to carry out the purposes of this section. And in order to defray the expenses made necessary by the provisions of this section there is hereby authorized to be appropriated such sums as Congress may hereafter determine, and the sum of $100,000 is hereby appropriated, available until expended, to be paid out upon warrants drawn on the Secretary of the Treasury by the chairman of said commission.

The commission shall have power to make every expenditure requisite for and incident to its authorized work, and to employ in the District of Columbia and in the field such clerical, legal, engineering, artistic, and expert services as it may deem advisable, including the payment of per diem in lieu of subsistence for employees engaged in field work or traveling on official business, rent of offices in the District of Columbia and in the field and the purchase of books, maps, and office equipment. 476 (b). Bureau of War Risk Insurance.

The first section of the Act entitled "An Act to authorize the establishment of a Bureau of War Risk Insurance in the Treasury Department," approved September second, nineteen hundred and fourteen, is hereby amended to read as follows:

"That there is established in the Treasury Department a bureau to be known as the Bureau of War Risk Insurance, the director of which shall be entitled to a salary at the rate of $5,000 per annum."

Section two of such Act is hereby amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 2. That the said Bureau of War Risk Insurance, subject to the general direction of the Secretary of the Treasury, shall, as soon as practicable, make provisions for the insurance by the United States of American vessels, their freight and passage moneys, cargoes shipped or to be shipped therein, and personal effects of the masters, officers, and crews thereof against loss or damage by the risks of war, whenever it shall appear to the Secretary that American vessels, shippers or importers in American vessels, or the masters, officers, or crews of such vessels, are unable in any trade to secure adequate warrisk insurance on reasonable terms.

"The Bureau of War Risk Insurance, subject to the general direction of the Secretary of the Treasury, shall, as soon as practicable, make provisions for the insurance by the United States, as further provided in section three a, of masters, officers, and crews of American merchant vessels against loss of life or personal injury by the risks of war, and for compensation during detention following capture by enemies of the United States whenever it shall appear to the Secretary that in any trade the need for such insurance exists."

Sec. 2.

There is hereby added to such Act a new section, to Sec. 3. be known as section two a, to read as follows:

"SEC. 2a. That the Bureau of War Risk Insurance, with the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury, is hereby authorized to make provisions for the reinsurance by the United States of vessels of foreign friendly flags or their cargoes, or both, when such vessels or their cargoes are insured by the Government of any country which is at war with an enemy of the United States; and, further, to reinsure with the Governments of any countries which are at war with an enemy of the United States American vessels and their cargoes."

Section three of such Act is hereby amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 3. That the Bureau of War Risk Insurance, with the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury, is hereby authorized to adopt and publish forms of war-risk policies and to fix reasonable rates of premium for the policies which it is authorized to issue under this Act, which rates shall be subject to such change to each port and for each class as the Secretary shall find may be required by the circumstances. All proceeds of the aforesaid premium and from salvage which have been or are hereafter received shall be covered into the Treasury of the United States to the credit of the Bureau of War Risk Insurance, and in addition to all other appropriations made under this Act are hereby permanently appropriated for the purpose of paying losses and return premiums accruing under this Act."

Sec. 4.

« PreviousContinue »