how may be Trust funds to Holders of floating debt may convert the same. Tax to be interest and ple of that sum, not to exceed the amount of said liabilities, bearing interest interest, when, not to exceed six per centum per annum, payable semi-annually in gold, where, and how and having a period to run not more than thirty years nor less than fifteen payable; years; and the said commissioners are hereby authorized to negotiate the sale of the said bonds at their discretion, at a rate of discount not to exceed sold. three per centum upon their par value, and with the proceeds thereof to pay the said liabilities of the city of Washington; and the principal and interest of said bonds shall be made payable in the city of Washington, or in the city of New York: Provided, That such amount of the said bonds or their proceeds as is necessary shall be applied and strictly held to make be made good. good the trust-funds; on which there is a deficiency of two hundred and eighty-six thousand three hundred and seventeen dollars and fifty-eight cents: Provided, further, That the holders of any of the said floating debts shall have the privilege of converting the same, or any part thereof, at par, for an equal amount of the bonds proposed to be issued under this act. SEC. 2. That the legislative assembly of the District of Columbia is hereby empowered to cause to be levied upon and collected from all levied, &c., antaxable property of the city of Washington, within its limits, a tax nually, to pay annually, which shall be sufficient to pay the interest upon the said bonds, create a sinking and to create a sinking-fund sufficient to retire the said bonds at maturity, fund. the said tax to be collected at the same time and in the same manner as general annual taxes are collected in the said District: Provided, That the aggregate amount of taxes in any one year, excepting such additional assess- except, &c., not ments as may be made for improvements specially authorized by law, to exceed, &c. shall not exceed two per centum on the assessed cash valuation of property in said city. SEC. 3. That the collector of the District of Columbia shall pay over to Money colthe said commissioners, upon their requisition being first certified by the lected to be paid auditor and the comptroller of said District, as is now provided by the laws of said District, all the moneys collected by virtue of this act, with which said moneys the said commissioners shall pay or cause to be paid the coupons or interest on said bonds issued by them under the provisions of this act; and the residue, collected as aforesaid as a sinking-fund, the said commissioners shall invest in the said bonds issued by them, or in any bonds of the District of Columbia or of the late corporations of the cities of Washington or Georgetown, and shall cause to be placed on record, in the office Report of comof the register of the said District of Columbia, a full and complete report of all their acts herein on or before the first day of January of each year, and shall also make a report of the same to the legislative assembly at the commencement of each regular session thereof. Aggregate tax, to commissioners, and how applied. missioners. Tenor of the SEC. 4. That the said bonds shall be issued in the name of the District of Columbia, and shall show that they are so issued in payment of the bonds, how executed and regisliabilities aforesaid of the city of Washington (found to be due at the time tered. and in the manner provided in the first section of this act), and said bonds shall be signed by a majority of the commissioners aforesaid, and countersigned by the register and the comptroller of the said District; and a proper registry shall be kept in the office of the register of the said District of the number, denomination, date of issue, and to whom issued. SEC. 5. That so much of the act passed at the late extra session of the Conflicting legislative assembly of the District of Columbia, entitled "An act provid- provisions of act of the assembly ing for the payment of the debts of the late corporation of Washington," of the District approved January nineteenth, eighteen hundred and seventy-two, levying declared void. taxes on real and personal property in the city of Washington, to pay the debt and the interest on the debt of the late corporation of Washington, as conflicts with the provisions of this act, be, and the same is hereby, disapproved, cancelled, and declared void. SEC. 6. That the act of the legislative assembly of the District of Colum- Certain acts of bia, approved August nineteenth, eighteen hundred and seventy-one, entitled the assembly of "An act authorizing the District of Columbia to create a debt for special clared void. the District de improvements and repairs in said District by the issuing of four millions of bonds and levying a tax for the payment of the interest as it shall annually accrue thereon, and submitting the act with the question of the issuing of four millions of improvement bonds to a vote of the people at a general election in said District;" and also the act of the legislative assembly, approved August nineteenth, eighteen hundred and seventy-one, entitled "An act levying a tax for the payment of the interest as it shall annually accrue on four million dollars of bonds authorized to be issued by the District of Columbia to create a debt for special improvements and repairs in said District, by the issuing of four millions of bonds and levying a tax for the payment of the interest as it shall annually accrue thereon, and submitting the act, with the question of the issuing of four millions of improvement bonds, to a vote of the people at a general election in the said Certain bonds District," be, and the same are hereby, disapproved and declared null and not to be issued. void, and the authorities of the District are hereby forbidden to issue any portion of the four millions of bonds named in said acts; and that the act Certain act ap- of the said legislative assembly, approved July tenth, eighteen hundred and proved. seventy-one, entitled "An act making appropriations for improvements and repairs in the District of Columbia, and providing for the payment thereof," be, and the same is hereby, approved, ratified, and confirmed. Debt of the District not to exceed, &c., unless, &c. Repealing clause. May 9, 1872. Time of holding circuit and district court at La Crosse, Wis. 1870, ch. 175, § 2. Vol. xvi. p. 171. December term abolished. Proviso. Courts at Mad ison and certain power of judges not interfered with. May 9, 1872. Persons hold ing pre-emptions on public lands in certain States to have one year SEC. 7. That the debt of the District of Columbia, including the debts of the late corporations, shall at no time exceed the sum of ten millions of dollars, unless an increase over the said amount shall have been previously authorized by act of Congress. SEC. 8. That all laws and parts of laws inconsistent with this act are hereby repealed. APPROVED, May 8, 1872. CHAP. CXLIII. An Act to change the Time for holding the Circuit and District Courts of the United States for the western District of Wisconsin, at La Crosse. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the time of holding the circuit and district courts of the United States for the western district of Wisconsin, at La Crosse, be on the third Tuesday of September of each year, instead of the first Monday of December, as now provided by law; and that the December term at La Crosse be, and the same is hereby, abolished, and that all recognizances, indictments, writs, process, and other proceedings, civil and criminal, now pending in either of said courts, may be entered, heard, and tried at the time herein fixed for holding said courts: Provided, however, That a term of said court may be held in December, eighteen hundred and seventy-two, for the purpose of taking forfeitures of recognizances and disposing of any and all matters pending in said court, civil or criminal, necessary to be disposed of at said term to prevent discontinuances or any loss of any rights that may have accrued to any party or to the government of the United States. SEC. 2. This act shall not interfere with the term of said courts appointed to be holden at Madison, in said district, nor with the power now possessed by the judges of said courts to order special terms of the same, as now provided by law. APPROVed, May 9, 1872. CHAP. CXLIV.-An Act to extend the Time of Payment for their Lands by Persons holding Pre-emptions on the public Lands in the States of Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan, and Territory of Dakota. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That all persons holding preemptions upon any of the public lands of the United States within the States of Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan, and Territory of Dakota, whose final payment has not been made, shall be allowed the additional time of one year in which to make final proof and payment from the time additional to at which such pre-emptions are required to be paid for by the present make final proof, laws. APPROVED, May 9, 1872. &c. CHAP. CXLV. — An Act for the Relief of Purchasers of Lands sold for direct Taxes in May 9, 1872. the insurrectionary States. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That no owner, his heirs or Lands in insurassigns, of any land sold for taxes under the provisions of the act entitled rectionary States sold for direct "An act for the collection of direct taxes in the insurrectionary districts taxes not to be within the United States, and for other purposes," approved June seventh, recovered in proeighteen hundred and sixty-two, and of the acts amendatory thereof, shall ceedings against the purchasers, be permitted to recover the same in any action or proceeding against the &c., without purchaser at such sale, his heirs or assigns, without showing, in addition to showing, &c. other necessary facts, that all taxes, costs, and penalties due the said upon land, at the time of the sale, have been paid by him or them, or bringing into court and depositing with the clerk, for the use of the United States, the amount, with interest, of the taxes and penalties due to the United States on account of the land when sold, together with all the costs and expenses of the sale, which sum, in case of the recovery of the land by such owner, his heirs or assigns, shall be paid by the clerk into the treasury of the United States. 1862, ch. 98. Vol. xii. p. 422. 1863, ch. 21. Vol. xii. p. 640. Vol. xiii. p. 501. 1865, ch. 87. Purchasers, chase-money, if, &c. [Amended. 1872, ch. 337, § 9. Post, p. 332.] SEC. 2. That in all cases where the owner of any land sold for taxes as aforesaid, his heirs or assigns, shall recover the same from the purchaser, evicted from such lands, by, &c., his heirs or assigns, without collusion on his or their part, by the judgment through failure of any United States court, by reason of a failure, without his or their of title, to be refault or neglect, of the title of the purchaser derived from said sale, the paid their purSecretary of the Treasury, on the payment into the treasury, by the clerk, of the money deposited with him as aforesaid, and on being satisfied that any purchaser, his heirs or assigns, without his or their collusion, has been evicted from or turned out of possession of any such land by the judgment of any United States court, in the manner before mentioned, is hereby authorized, out of any money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated, to repay to the person or persons entitled thereto a sum of money equal to that originally paid by the purchaser of the land so recovered, if the same has been paid into the treasury. APPROVED, May 9, 1872. May 9, 1872. Depositions de bene esse in civil cases in United what notice; CHAP. CXLVI. — An Act to perpetuate Testimony in the Courts of the United States. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That hereafter all depositions taken de bene esse, to be used in any civil cause depending in any court in any district of the United States, for the causes and before the officers States courts to mentioned in section thirty of the "Act to establish the judicial courts of be taken upon the United States," approved September twenty-fourth, seventeen hundred 1789, ch. 20, § 30. and eighty-nine, shall be taken upon reasonable notice, to be given in Vol. 1. p. 88; writing by the party or his attorney proposing to take such deposition, to the opposite party or his attorney of record, which notice shall state the name of the witness and the time and place of the taking of his deposition; and in all cases in rem, the person having the agency or possession of the property at the time of seizure shall be deemed the adverse party, until a claim shall have been put in ; and whenever, by reason of the absence from the district and want of an attorney of record or other reason, the giving no attorney of of the notice herein required shall be impracticable it shall be lawful to take such depositions as there shall be urgent necessity for taking, upon such notice as any judge authorized to hold courts in such circuit or district shall think reasonable and direct. But this act shall not be construed to in cases in rem; where there is record. Power of court not limited here- affect the power of any such court to cause testimony to be taken under by. commission, according to the course of the common law, to be used therein. APPROVED, May 9, 1872. May 9, 1872. CHAP. CXLVII. —An Act to regulate Elections in Washington and Idaho Territories. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United Times of elec- States of America in Congress assembled, That elections in the Territories tions in Washof Washington and Idaho for delegates to the House of Representatives ington and Idaho Territories. of the forty-third Congress, shall be held on the Tuesday following the first Monday of November, anno Domini eighteen hundred and seventytwo, and thereafter biennially on the Tuesday next following the first Monday in November; and all elective territorial, county, and precinct officers shall hereafter be elected at the times herein specified, unless otherwise provided by legislation subsequent hereto, in either of said Territories. APPROVED, May 9, 1872. May 9, 1872. Appropriation for pay of surfmen at lifesaving stations on the NewJersey coast. CHAP. CXLVIII. - An Act authorizing the Appropriation for the Employment of Surfmen at alternate life-saving Stations on the New Jersey Coast, for the fiscal Year ending June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and seventy-two, to be expended in employing Crews at such Stations, and for such Periods, and at such Compensation, as the Secretary of the Treasury may deem reasonable, not to exceed forty Dollars per Month for each Person employed. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Secretary of the Treasury be authorized to expend the sum of ten thousand and eighty dollars, or so much thereof as may be necessary, appropriated by " An act making appropriations for sundry civil expenses of the government for the fiscal year ending June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and seventy-two, and for other purposes," approved March third, eighteen hundred and seventy-one, Vol. xvi. p. 496. for the "pay of six experienced surfmen to man each of the boats at alternate life-saving stations on the New Jersey coast, from December fifteenth to March fifteenth," in employing crews of experienced surfmen at such stations, and for such periods as he may deem necessary and proper, and at such compensation as he may deem reasonable, not to exceed forty dollars per month for each person to be employed. 1871, ch. 114. May 9, 1872. Osage Indian trust, &c., lands in Kansas, except, &c., to be subject to sale to whom, for what and how. Claimants, when to file statements and make payments. Actual settlers who have not paid for and entered their lands, when to file state APPROVED, May 9, 1872. CHAP. CXLIX. - An Act for the Relief of Settlers on the Osage Lands in the State of Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Osage Indian trust and diminished reserve lands in the State of Kansas, excepting the sixteenth and thirty-sixth sections in each township, shall be subject to disposal, for cash only, to actual settlers, in quantities not exceeding one hundred and sixty acres, or one quarter-section to each, in compact form, in accordance with the general principles of the pre-emption laws, under the direction of the Commissioner of the General Land Office; Provided, That claimants shall file their declaratory statements as prescribed in other cases upon unoffered lands, and shall pay for the tracts, respectively, settled upon within one year from date of settlement where the plat of survey is on file at that date, and within one year from the filing of the township plat in the district office where such plat is not on file at date of settlement. SEC. 2. That any actual settler upon these lands who may have failed to pay for and enter the land settled upon by him under the act of July fifteenth, eighteen hundred and seventy, shall have three months from the date of this act in which to file his declaratory statement, and shall be required to prove up his claim and pay for the land before the first day of 1870, ch. 296, § 12. January, eighteen hundred and seventy-three. And in case of failure of any party to comply with the provisions of this act, the land claimed by him or her shall be subject to the settlement and entry of any other quali ments and make payments. Vol. xvi. p. 362. fied person: Provided, That all the persons availing themselves of the Five per cent provisions of this section shall be required to pay, and there shall be col- interest to be paid on what lected from them, at the time of making payment for their land, interest sum and for what on the total amounts paid by them, respectively, at the rate of five per time. centum per annum, from the date at which they would have been required to make payment under the act of July fifteenth, eighteen hundred and seventy, until the date of actual payment: Provided further, That the Settler, transtwelfth section of said act of July sixteenth, eighteen hundred and ferring claims seventy, is hereby so amended that the aggregate amount of the proceeds prior to, &c., not of sale received prior to the first day of March of each year shall be the entering upon amount upon which the payment of interest shall be based. precluded from another tract, if, SEC. 3. That the sale or transfer of his or her claim upon any portion of these lands by any settler prior to the issue of the commissioner's instruc- tions of the pretions of April twenty-sixth, eighteen hundred and seventy-one, shall not emption laws not to apply. operate to preclude the right of entry, under the provisions of this act, upon another tract settled upon subsequent to such sale or transfer: Provided, That satisfactory proof of good faith be furnished upon such subsequent settlement: Provided further, That the restrictions of the preemption laws relating to previous enjoyment of the pre-emption right, to removal from one's own land in the same State, or the ownership of over three hundred and twenty acres, shall not apply to any settler actually residing on his or her claim at the date of the passage of this act. APPROVED, May 9, 1872. CHAP. CLII. — An Act to promote the Development of the mining Resources of the United May 10, 1872. &c. " Length of mining-claims upon veins or lodes; Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United Post, p. 465. States of America in Congress assembled, That all valuable mineral deposits Valuable minin lands belonging to the United States, both surveyed and unsurveyed, are public lands and eral deposits in hereby declared to be free and open to exploration and purchase, and the the lands to be lands in which they are found to occupation and purchase, by citizens of open to citizens, the United States and those who have declared their intention to become such, under regulations prescribed by law, and according to the local customs or rules of miners, in the several mining-districts, so far as the same are applicable and not inconsistent with the laws of the United States. SEC. 2. That mining-claims upon veins or lodes of quartz or other rock in place bearing gold, silver, cinnabar, lead, tin, copper, or other valuable deposits heretofore located, shall be governed as to length along the vein or lode by the customs, regulations, and laws in force at the date of their location. A mining-claim located after the passage of this act, whether located by one or more persons, may equal, but shall not exceed, one thousand five hundred feet in length along the vein or lode; but no location of a mining-claim shall be made until the discovery of the vein or lode within the limits of the claim located. No claim shall extend more than three hundred feet on each side of the middle of the vein at the surface, nor shall any claim be limited by any mining regulation to less than twentyfive feet on each side of the middle of the vein at the surface, except where adverse rights existing at the passage of this act shall render such limitation necessary. The end-lines of each claim shall be parallel to each other. width; end-lines. Locators of where there is no SEC. 3. That the locators of all mining locations heretofore made, or which shall hereafter be made, on any mineral vein, lode, or ledge, mining locations situated on the public domain, their heirs and assigns, where no adverse adverse claim, claim exists at the passage of this act, so long as they comply with the &c., to have what laws of the United States, and with State, territorial, and local regulations exclusive rights not in conflict with said laws of the United States governing their posses- enjoyment. sory title, shall have the exclusive right of possession and enjoyment of all the surface included within the lines of their locations, and of all veins, lodes, and ledges throughout their entire depth, the top or apex of which of possession and |