-penalty for violation.

-procedure for enforcing.

Amendments.

Pending actions not affected.

navigation; and the said rules and regulations shall be published at least once in such newspaper or newspapers of general circulation as in the opinion of the Secretary of War shall be best adapted to give notice of said rules and regulations to persons affected thereby and locally interested therein. And all modifications of said rules and regulations shall be similarly published.

And such rules and regulations when so prescribed and published as to any such stream or waterway shall have the force of law, and any violation thereof shall be a misdemeanor, and every person convicted of such violation shall be punished by a fine of not exceeding two thousand five hundred dollars nor less than five hundred dollars, or by imprisonment (in case of a natural person) for not less than thirty days nor more than one year, or by both such fine and imprisonment, in the discretion of the court:

Provided, That the proper action to enforce the provisions of this section may be commenced before any commissioner, judge, or court of the United States, and such commissioner, judge or court shall proceed in respect thereto as authorized by law in the case of crimes or misdemeanors committed against the United States.

SEC. 3. That the right to alter, amend, or repeal this Act at any time is hereby reserved.

SEC. 4. That this Act shall not, nor shall any rules or regulations prescribed thereunder, in any manner affect any civil action or actions heretofore commenced and now pending to recover damages claimed to have been sustained by reason of the violation of any of the terms of said section fifteen, as originally enacted, or in violation of any other law. [May 9, 1900.]

May 10, 1900.

31 Stat. L., 174.

Twelfth Census.

CHAP. 389.—An Act Relating to the Twelfth and subsequent censuses, and giving the Director thereof additional power and authority in certain cases, and for other purposes. (1)

Be it enacted, &c., That in addition to the power and authority con1899, Mar. 3, ch. ferred upon the Director of the Census by an Act entitled "An Act to 419 (2 Supp. R. S., provide for taking the Twelfth and subsequent censuses," approved Appointment of March third, eighteen hundred and ninety-nine, said Director of the additional em- Census shall have power, and is hereby authorized, to appoint and ployees.

978).

Chief clerk to

dent of building.

employ, as the necessity therefor may arise, one superintendent of printing, at an annual salary of two thousand five hundred dollars, and to appoint and employ such number of skilled mechanics and other persons in the Census printing office as may be necessary to carry into effect the preliminary printing and binding provided for in said Act, at the same compensation as is paid for similar work in the Government Printing Office.

SEC. 2. That the chief clerk of the Census Office shall act as superact as superinten- intendent, and have general charge of all buildings occupied for the purpose of carrying on the work of the Census, and shall receive therefor the sum of three hundred dollars, in addition to his regular salary.

Director's salary.

Additional pay to supervisors.

1899, Mar. 3, ch. 419, § 11 (2 Supp. R. S., 982).

SEC. 3. That the salary of the Director of the Census shall be seven thousand five hundred dollars per annum.

SEC. 4. That in addition to the sum provided to be paid to superVisors of census in section eleven of an Act entitled "An Act to provide for taking the Twelfth and subsequent censuses," approved March third, eighteen hundred and ninety-nine, the Director of the Census is hereby authorized and directed to pay to each supervisor, as further

NOTE.—(1) See 1900, February 1, ch. 7, ante, p. 1113, making provision for certain additional employees; and for review of legislation relating to the census see note to 1899, March 3, ch. 419 (2 Supp. R. S., 978), providing for the taking of the Twelfth Census.

-minimum pay

compensation, a sum equal to two per centum of the amount paid to
the enumerators for taking the census in said supervisor's district:
Provided, That the amount of such additional or further compen
sation to be paid to each supervisor shall in no case be less than two ment.
hundred and fifty dollars. May 10, 1900.]

CHAP. 390.--An Act To provide for sittings of the circuit and district courts of South
Carolina in the city of Florence, South Carolina. (1)

May 10, 1900.

31 Stat. L., 174. South Carolina. R. S., § 658.

Be it enacted, &c., That in addition to the times and places now fixed by law for the sitting of the circuit court of the United States At Florence, for the district of South Carolina there shall be a session of the said term of circuit circuit court in the city of Florence on the first Tuesday in March in court. each year hereafter.

SEC. 2. That there shall be a regular term of the district court of the United States for the eastern district of the district of South Carolina in the city of Florence on the first Tuesday in March in each year hereafter:

Provided, however, That suitable rooms and accommodations are furnished for the holding of said courts at Florence free of expense to the Government of the United States. [May 10, 1900.]

NOTE. (1) 1898, December 21, ch. 32 (2 Supp. R. S., 912), fixes the terms of the circuit and district courts for South Carolina.

-term of district

court.

R. S., § 572.

Court rooms.

CHAP 391.-An Act To amend the Revised Statutes of the United States relating to the (1) northern district of New York, to divide the same into two districts, and provide for the terms of court to be held therein and the officers thereof and the disposition of pending causes.

Be it enacted, &c., That section five hundred and forty-one of the Revised Statutes be amended so as to read as follows:

"The State of New York is divided into four districts, which shall be called the western, northern, eastern, and southern districts of New York.

The western district includes the counties of Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Chemung, Erie, Genesee, Livingston, Monroe, Niagara, Ontario, Orleans, Schuyler, Seneca, Steuben, Wayne, Wyoming, and Yates, with the waters thereof.

The northern district includes the counties of Albany, Broome, Cayuga, Chenango, Clinton, Cortland, Delaware, Essex, Franklin, Fulton, Hamilton, Herkimer, Jefferson, Lewis, Madison, Montgomery, Oneida, Onondaga, Oswego, Otsego, Rensselaer, Saint Lawrence, Saratoga, Schenectady, Schoharie, Tioga, Tompkins, Warren, and Washington, with the waters thereof.

The eastern district includes the counties of Richmond, Kings, Queens, Nassau, and Suffolk, with the waters thereof.

The southern district includes the residue of said State, with the waters thereof."

Appointment of district judge for

western district.

-powers and

SEC. 2. That the President of the United States, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint a district judge for the western district of New York, who shall possess and exercise all the powers conferred by existing law upon the judges of the district courts of the United States, and who shall, as to all business and proceedings arising in said western district as hereby constituted or trans- duties. ferred thereto, succeed to and possess the same powers and perform the same duties within the said western district as are now possessed and performed by the district judge for the northern district of New York.

NOTE. (1) The terms of the district and circuit courts for the northern district of New York were fixed by 1882, March 23, ch. 48 (1 Supp. R. S., 334).

SUP R S-VOL 2-78

District courts.
R. S., § 572.

Northern dis trict, terms of. -at Albany.

-at Utica.

-at Binghamp

ton.

-at Auburn.

-at Syracuse.

-at other places.

Western district,

terms of court.

-at Elmira.

-at Buffalo.

-at Rochester.

-at Jamestown. -at Lockport. Circuit courts. R. S. § 658.

Northern district, terms of. -at Utica.

-at Syracuse. -at Albany.

Western district,

terms of.

SEC. 3. That that part of section five hundred and seventy-two of the Revised Statutes declaring the times, places, and provisions for holding terms of the district court in the northern district of New York be, and is hereby, repealed, and that said section be, and is hereby, amended by inserting in place of the part so repealed the following two paragraphs:

"In the northern district of New York, at Albany, on the second Tuesday of February;

at Utica, on the first Tuesday of December;

at Binghamton, on the second Tuesday of June;

at Auburn, on the first Tuesday of October;

at Syracuse, on the first Tuesday of April,

and, in the discretion of the judge of the court, one term annually at such time and place within the counties of Saratoga, Onondaga, Saint Lawrence, Clinton, Jefferson, Oswego, and Franklin as he may from time to time appoint. Such appointment shall be made by notice of at least twenty days published in a newspaper published at the place where said court is to be held.

"In the western district of New York, at the city of Elmira, on the second Tuesday of January;

at the city of Buffalo, on the second Tuesdays of March and November:

at the city of Rochester, on the second Tuesday of May;
at the city of Jamestown, on the second Tuesday of July;
at the city of Lockport, on the second Tuesday of October.'

SEC. 4. That that part of section six hundred and fifty-eight of the Revised Statutes declaring the times, places, and provisions for holding terms of the circuit court in the northern district of New York be, and is hereby repealed, and that said section be, and is hereby, amended by inserting in place of the part so repealed the following two paragraphs:

"In the northern district of New York, at Utica, on the first Tuesday of December;

at Syracuse, on the first Tuesday of April;

at Albany, on the second Tuesday of February.

"In the western district of New York, at Rochester, on the second

-at Rochester. Tuesday of May;

-at Canandai

gua.

-at Buffalo.

falo.

at Canandaigua, on the second Tuesday in September;
at Buffalo, on the second Tuesday of November."

SEC. 5. That regular sessions of the district court for the western Sessions at Buf- district of New York, for the hearing of motions and for proceedings in bankruptcy and the trial of causes in admiralty, shall be held at the city of Buffalo at least two weeks in each month of the year except August unless the business is sooner disposed of. The times for holding the same, and such other special sessions as the court shall deem necessary, shall be fixed by rules of the court. All process in admiralty causes and proceedings in the western district of New York shall be made returnable at Buffalo.

Process.

Existing judicial officers to continue in office.

Clerk of district court to be clerk

SEC. 6. That the district judge of the northern district of New York in office at the time this Act takes effect shall continue to be the district judge for the northern district of New York as constituted by this Act. That the clerk of the circuit court for the northern district of New York in office at the time this Act takes effect shall continue to be clerk of the circuit court of the northern district as constituted by this Act until his successor shall be appointed and qualified, and said clerk of said circuit court or his successor shall likewise be clerk of the district court of that district until a clerk of said district court shall be appointed and qualified.

SEC. 7. That the present clerk of the district court for the northern district of New York as heretofore constituted shall be the clerk of the of western district. district court of the western district of New York as hereby consti

tuted until his successor is appointed and qualified. He shall also be the clerk of the circuit court in the said western district hereby constituted until a clerk of said circuit court is duly appointed and qualified. SEC. 8. That all prosecutions for crimes or offenses hereafter committed in either of said districts shall be cognizable within the district in which committed.

-also circuit court clerk. Prosecution of

crimes.

Terms of officers unaffected.

SEC. 9. That all other officers who have been heretofore appointed for the northern district of New York as heretofore constituted who shall be in office at the time of the taking effect of this Act and who reside therein as hereby constituted shall continue in office as officers of the district of their residence until the expiration of their respective terms, or until their successors are appointed and qualified, and shall perform the same duties and receive the same salary and compensation as heretofore. All officers not residing in said northern district as hereby constituted officers, northern shall cease to be officers of said northern district when their successors, district. respectively, for the northern district as hereby constituted are duly appointed and qualified.

etc.

duties, salary,

Nonresident

Appointment of

The office of marshal and district attorney in each of said districts, marshal, attorney, deputy marshals and assistant district attorneys, and all other officers etc., for western authorized by law and made necessary by the creation of said western district. district and the provisions of this Act, and all vacancies created thereby in either of said districts, shall be filled in the manner provided by existing law.

The salaries, pay, fees, and allowances of the judges, district attor- etc. neys, marshals, and other officers in said districts, until changed under the provisions of existing law, shall be the same, respectively, as now fixed for such officers in the northern district of New York.

Salaries, fees,

Transfer of cer

SEC. 10. That all causes and proceedings of every name and nature, tain pending civil and criminal, now pending in the courts of the northern district causes. of New York as now constituted, whereof the courts of the western district of New York as hereby constituted would have had jurisdiction if Isaid district and the courts thereof had been constituted when said. causes or proceedings were instituted, shall be, and are hereby, transferred to, and same shall be proceeded with in, the western district of New York, and jurisdiction thereof is hereby transferred to and vested in the courts of said western district, and the records and proceedings therein and relating to said proceedings and causes shall be certified and transferred thereto:

Pending causes

trans

Provided, That nothing herein contained shall be construed to impair in northern disor affect the jurisdiction of the district court of the northern district trict of New York as hereby constituted in any case, civil or criminal, pend- ferred, unaffected. ing therein as heretofore constituted at the time of the passage of this Act or returnable thereto and not transferred to said western district, but the same shall be proceeded in to final disposition as if this Act had not been passed:

-causes considered, etc., to be re

And provided further, That all motions and causes submitted, and all causes and proceedings, both civil and criminal, including proceed- tained. ings in bankruptcy, now pending in said northern district of New York as heretofore constituted, in which the evidence has been taken in whole or in part before the district judge of the northern district of New York as heretofore constituted or taken in whole or in part and submitted to and passed upon by the said district judge, shall be retained, proceeded with, and disposed of in said northern district of New York as constituted by this Act:

-criminal proceedings in which

And provided further, That nothing in the preceding proviso contained shall be held to retain or keep in said northern district as con- validity of indictstituted by this Act any criminal proceeding or prosecution for the ment raised, etc. reason that questions as to the validity of the indictment have been raised and disposed of by the judge of said district. [May 12, 1900.]

May 12, 1900. 31 Stat. L., 177. Internal-revenue stamps.

etc.

used, etc.

CHAP. 393. An Act Authorizing the Commissioner of Internal Revenue to redeem or make allowance for internal-revenue stamps. (1)

Be it enacted, &c., That the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, subject to regulations prescribed by the Secretary of the Treasury, -redemption of may, upon receipt of satisfactory evidence of the facts, make allowspoiled, destroyed, ance for or redeem such of the stamps, issued under authority of law, to denote the payment of any internal-revenue tax, as may have been spoiled, destroyed, or rendered useless or unfit for the purpose intended, -improperly or for which the owner may have no use, or which through mistake may have been improperly or unnecessarily used, or where the rates or duties represented thereby have been excessive in amount, paid in Method of re- error, or in any manner wrongfully collected. Such allowance or deeming. redemption may be made, either by giving other stamps in lieu of the stamps so allowed for or redeemed, or by refunding the amount or value to the owner thereof, deducting therefrom, in case of repayment, the of percentage, if any, allowed to the purchaser thereof; but no allowance spoiled stamps, or redemption shall be made in any case until the stamps so spoiled or rendered useless shall have been returned to the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, or until satisfactory proof has been made showing the reason why the same can not be returned; or, if so required by the said Commissioner, when the person presenting the same can not satisfactorily trace the history of said stamps from their issuance to the presentation of his claim as aforesaid:

-return

etc.

Documentary

stamps.

1898, June 30, ch. 448 (2 Supp. R. S., 779). -amount necessary for redemption.

-time for redemption.

missioner final.

Provided, That documentary and proprietary stamps issued under the provisions of "An Act to provide ways and means for war expenditures, and for other purposes," approved June thirteenth, eighteen hundred and ninety-eight, may be redeemed only when presented in quantities of two dollars or more, face value:

Provided further, That no claim for the redemption of or allowance for stamps shall be allowed unless presented within two years after the purchase of said stamps from the Government.

SEC. 2. That the finding of facts in and the decision of the CommisDecision of Com- sioner of Internal Revenue upon the merits of any claim presented under or authorized by this Act shall, in the absence of fraud or mistake in mathematical calculation, be final and not subject to revision by any accounting officer.

Repeal.

SEC. 3. That all laws and parts of laws in conflict with any of the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed. [May 12, 1900.]

NOTE.-(1) A provision largely parallel to the one in the text appears in 1879, March 1, ch. 125, § 17 (1 Supp. R. S., 241), which is a substitute for R. S., § 3426.

May 17, 1900. 31 Stat. L., 179. Public lands.

tlers.

CHAP. 479.—An Act Providing for free homesteads on the public lands for actual and bona fide settlers, and reserving the public lands for that purpose. (1)

Be it enacted, &c., That all settlers under the homestead laws of the Free homesteads United States upon the agricultural public lands, which have already for bona fide set been opened to settlement, acquired prior to the passage of this Act by treaty or agreement from the various Indian tribes, who have resided or who shall hereafter reside upon the tract entered in good faith for the period required by existing law, shall be entitled to a -upon paying patent for the land so entered upon the payment to the local land officers of the usual and customary fees, and no other or further charge of any kind whatsoever shall be required from such settler to entitle him to a patent for the land covered by his entry:

fee.

Right to commute continued.

(2) Provided, That the right to commute any such entry and for pay said lands in the option of any such settler and in the time and at the prices now fixed by existing laws shall remain in full force and effect:

NOTES.-(1) For a review of laws relating to homesteads, see note (2) to 1898, May 14, ch. 299 (2 Supp. R. S., 755).

(2) By 1901, January 26, ch. 180, post, p. 1463, homestead settlers affected by the act in the text are permitted to commute their entries, etc.