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District deaf

ted.

to the Columbia Institution for the Deaf and Dumb from the District of Columbia, under section forty-eight hundred and sixty-four of the Revised Statutes, ten thousand five hundred dollars, or so much thereof as may be necessary:

Provided, That hereafter all deaf mutes of teachable age, of good mutes to be admit- mental capacity, and properly belonging to the District of Columbia shall be received and instructed in said institution, their admission thereto being subject to the approval of the superintendent of public schools in the District of Columbia.

Not an institu

tion of charity.

National Guard.

not officers of United States.

And said institution shall not be regarded nor classified as an institution of charity.

*

*

[Par. 8.] (6) That members of the National Guard of the District of When members Columbia who receive compensation for their services as such shall not be held or construed to be officers of the United States, or persons holding any place of trust or profit, or discharging any official function under or in connection with any Executive Department of the Government of the United States within the provision of section fifty-four hundred and ninety-eight of the Revised Statutes of the United States: Provided further, That all moneys collected on account of deductions made from the pay of any officer or enlisted man of the National Guard of the District of Columbia on account of Government property lost or destroyed by such individual shall be repaid into the United States Treasury to the credit of the officer of the militia of the District of Columbia who is accountable to the United States Government for such property lost or destroyed:

Collec.ions for lost property, how credited.

-for violating regulations.

-accounts.

And provided further, That all moneys collected on account of deductions made from the pay of any officer or enlisted man of the National Guard of the District of Columbia for or on account of any violation of the regulations governing said National Guard shall be held by the commanding general of the militia of the District of Columbia, who is authorized to expend such moneys so collected for general incidental expenses of the service;

and for all moneys so collected and expended the commanding general shall make an accounting in like manner as for the appropriation disbursed for pay of troops. * * [March 1, 1901.]

NOTE. (6) The first portion of this paragraph, down to the words, "Provided further," where they first occur, is a repetition from 1900, June 6, ch. 789 (31 Stat. L., 577). R. S., § 5498, here referred to, is one prohibiting the prosecution of claims by officers, etc., of the United States.

The militia of the District of Columbia is regulated by 1889, March 1, ch. 328 (1 Supp. R. S., 661), which constitutes a substitute for R. S. D. C., §§ 1192-1295. See also 1896, June 11, ch. 419, par. 14 (2 Supp. R. S., 525), relative to leases, contracts, and liabilities of the militia of the District of Columbia, and 1898, May 11, ch. 293 (2 Supp. R. S., 752), in regard to the naval battalion of the District militia.

March 1, 1901.

31 Stat. L., 847.

Public lands.
Substitute for

CHAP. 674.—An Act Providing that entrymen under the homestead laws, who have served in the United States Army, Navy, or Marine Corps during the Spanish war or the Philippine insurrection, shall have certain service deducted from the time required to perfect title under homestead laws, and for other purposes. (1)

Be it enacted, &c., That sections twenty-three hundred and four and twenty-three hundred and five of the Revised Statutes be, and the same R. S., §§ 2304, are hereby, amended to read as follows:

2305.

Soldiers and sail

ors serving during

rebellion.

(2) "SEC. 2304. Every private soldier and officer who has served in the Army of the United States during the recent rebellion for ninety

NOTES. (1) By 1898, June 16, ch. 458 (2 Supp. R. S., 805), provision was made for the case of a settler enlisting in the military service of the United States, and its effect upon the length of residence necessary to acquire a homestead, etc. See also note thereto.

(2) The amendment of this section consists in the addition of the matter commencing with "and every private soldier and officer" in the tenth line, down to and including the words "the Philippines for ninety days, and who was or shall be honorably discharged," ending on the nineteenth line.

-in Philippines.

days, and who was honorably discharged and has remained loyal to the 1862, Feb. 13, ch. Government, including the troops mustered into the service of the 25, $3 (12 Stat. L., 339). United States by virtue of the third section of an Act approved February thirteenth, eighteen hundred and sixty-two, and every seaman, marine, and officer who has served in the Navy of the United States or in the Marine Corps during the rebellion for ninety days, and who was honorably discharged and has remained loyal to the Government, and every private soldier and officer who has served in the Army of the United States during the Spanish war, or who has served, is serv- during Spanish ing, or shall have served in the said Army during the suppression of war. the insurrection in the Philippines for ninety days, and who was or shall be honorably discharged; and every seaman, marine, and officer who has served in the Navy of the United States or in the Marine Corps during the Spanish war, or who has served, is serving, or shall have served in the said forces during the suppression of the insurrection in the Philippines for ninety days, and who was or shall be honorably discharged, shall, on compliance with the provisions of this chapter, as hereinafter modified, be entitled to enter upon and receive-may enter pubpatents for a quantity of public lands not exceeding one hundred and lic lands, etc. sixty acres, or one quarter section, to be taken in compact form, according to legal subdivisions, including the alternate reserved sections of public lands along the line of any railroad or other public work not otherwise reserved or appropriated, and other lands subject to entry under the homestead laws of the United States; but such homestead -time for entry. settler shall be allowed six months after locating his homestead and filing his declaratory statement within which to make his entry and commence his settlement and improvement.

Time homestead

Final proof by

soldier.

(3) "SEC. 2305. The time which the homestead settler has served in the Army, Navy, or Marine Corps shall be deducted from the time settler was in service deducted, etc. heretofore required to perfect title, or if discharged on account of wounds received or disability incurred in the line of duty, then the term of enlistment shall be deducted from the time heretofore required to perfect title, without reference to the length of time he may have served; but no patent shall issue to any homestead settler who has not resided upon, improved, and cultivated his homestead for a period of at least one year after he shall have commenced his improvements:" Provided, That in every case in which a settler on the public land of the United States under the homestead laws died while actually heirs of "deceased engaged in the Army, Navy, or Marine Corps of the United States as private soldier, officer, seaman, or marine, during the war with Spain or the Philippine insurrection, his widow, if unmarried, or in case of her death or marriage, then his minor orphan children or his or their legal representatives, may proceed forthwith to make final proof upon the land so held by the deceased soldier and settler, and that the death-legal effect of of such soldier while so engaged in the service of the United States shall, in the administration of the homestead laws, be construed to be equivalent to a performance of all requirements as to residence and cultivation for the full period of five years, and shall entitle his widow, if unmarried, or in case of her death or marriage, then his minor orphan children or his or their legal representatives, to make final proof upon and receive Government patent for said land; and that upon proof patent to be produced to the officers of the proper local land office by the widow, issued. if unmarried, or in case of her death or marriage, then his minor orphan children or his or their legal representatives, that the applicant for patent is the widow, if unmarried, or in case of her death or marriage, his orphan children or his or their legal representatives, and that such soldier, sailor, or marine died while in the service of the United States as hereinbefore described, the patent for such land shall issue. [March 1, 1901.]

NOTE.

(3) The amendment of this section consists in the addition of all matter commencing with the proviso down to the end of the section.

death.

March 2, 1901. 31 Stat. L., 877.

Commission for settlement of Spanish claims.

war

CHAP. 800.-An Act To carry into effect the stipulations of article seven of the treaty between the United States and Spain concluded on the tenth day of December, eighteen hundred and ninety-eight.

Be it enacted, &c., That the President of the United States shall appoint, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, five suitable persons learned in the law, who shall constitute a commission, -appointment. whose duty it shall be, and it shall have jurisdiction, to receive, examine, and adjudicate all claims of citizens of the United States against Spain, which the United States agreed to adjudicate and settle by the seventh article of the treaty concluded between the United States and Spain (1) on the tenth day of December, anno Domini eighteen hundred and ninety-eight.

Treaty, 1898,
Dec. 10 (30 Stat.
L., 1757).
-duty.

-president.

-vacancies.

Qualifications.

Meetings.

Quarters.

It shall adjudicate said claims according to the merits of the several cases, the principles of equity, and of international law.

One of said persons shall be designated by the terms of his appointment to be the president of said commission.

The President of the United States, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall fill by appointment all vacancies which may occur in said commission.

SEC. 2. That each of the members of said commission, the Assistant Attorney-General, the assistant attorneys, and the clerk provided for by this Act shall be citizens of the United States, and shall take the oath of office prescribed by law to be taken by officers of the United States.

SEC. 3. That the said commission shall, within thirty days after the appointment of the members thereof, meet, and it shall thereafter hold its sessions, in the city of Washington. The Department of Justice shall provide said commission with all necessary and suitable rooms and offices for holding its sessions and transacting its business. All Payment of sal- the expenses, including salaries and compensation of said commission and of its officers and employees, shall be paid by the Department of Justice, upon vouchers certified by the president of the commission or by order of the other members of the commission in case of his absence or inability to act;

aries, etc.

Annual priation.

Rules.

appro

Employees.

Commissioners

and the sum of fifty thousand dollars annually, or so much thereof as may be necessary, is hereby appropriated and made immediately available for the Department of Justice as a special fund for the payment of said expenses.

SEC. 4. That the commission is empowered to make all necessary or convenient and proper rules and regulations of practice and procedure for the transaction of its business.

SEC. 5. That the commission is empowered to appoint a clerk, and may also appoint one messenger and one or more stenographers, typewriters, and interpreters as the business of the commission may require;

and may also appoint one or more commissioners, whose duty it to take testimony. shall be to take testimony in such cases as may be brought before said commission. Such commissioners to take testimony shall be citizens. of the United States, and they shall receive for their services such fees as may be fixed by said commission, not exceeding the fees allowed by law for the taking of testimony to be used in the courts of the NOTE.-(1) Article VII of the treaty referred to provides as follows (30 Stat. L., 1757):

-fees.

"The United States and Spain mutually relinquish all claims for indemnity, national and individual, of every kind, of either Government, or of its citizens or subjects, against the other Government, that may have arisen since the beginning of the late insurrection in Cuba and prior to the exchange of ratifications of the present treaty, including all claims for indemnity for the cost of the war.

"The United States will adjudicate and settle the claims of its citizens against Spain relinquished in this article."

United States, including the sum of three dollars per day which -per diem. the courts of the United States are now authorized by section twenty-1896, May 28, ch. one of the Act of May twenty-eighth, eighteen hundred and ninety-six, R. S., 487). 252, § 21 (2 Supp.

to allow to commissioners.

The clerk of said commission shall, before assuming the duties of his office, execute a bond to the United States, with sufficient surety or sureties, in such amount and conditioned as the Attorney-General shall prescribe, for the faithful performance of his duties as such clerk. The appointments authorized by this section shall be made without reference to the rules and regulations of the civil service.

Clerk's bond.

Appointments

not under civil service.

Assistant Attor

Assistant attor

SEC. 6. That the President shall appoint, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, one additional Assistant Attorney-General ney-General. of the United States, who shall hold his office during the existence of said commission, and the Attorney-General of the United States is empowered to employ such assistant attorneys as the business of the commission may require. It shall be the duty of said Assistant neys. Attorney-General and assistant attorneys to appear as attorneys and counsel for the United States, under the direction of the AttorneyGeneral, and defend the United States in all proceedings to adjudicate claims which may be had before said commission.

SEC. 7. That each of the said commissioners and the clerk and each

Duties.

Power to admin

of the commissioners to take testimony shall have authority to admin- ister oaths.
ister oaths in all proceedings before the commission, and every per-
son knowingly and willfully swearing or affirming falsely in any such
proceedings shall be deemed guilty of perjury, and shall, upon con-
viction, suffer the punishment provided by the laws of the United
States for that offense, when committed in its courts of justice.

Perjury.

Calls upon De

R. S. § 1076.

SEC. 8. That all reports, records, proceedings, and other documents now on file or of record in the Department of State, or in any other partments for data. Department, or certified copies thereof, relating to any claims prosecuted before the said commission under this Act shall be furnished to the commission upon its order, made of its own motion or at the request of the claimant or of the attorney representing the United States before said commission.

Petition.

Procedure.

SEC. 9. That every claim prosecuted before said commission shall be presented by petition, setting forth concisely and without unnecessary repetition the facts upon which such claim is based together with an itemized schedule setting forth all damages claimed. Said petition shall also state the full name, the residence, and the citizenship of the claimant, and the amount of damages sought to be recovered, and shall pray judgment upon the facts and law. It shall be signed by the claimant or his attorney or legal representative, and be verified by the affidavit of the claimant, his agent, attorney, or legal representative. It shall be filed with the clerk of the commission, and the prosecution of the claim shall be deemed to have been commenced at the date of such filing. All claims shall be filed as aforesaid within six months from the date of the first meeting of the commission, and every claim filing claims. not filed within such time shall be forever barred:

Limitation for

Provided, That the commission may receive claims presented within -claims filed six months after the termination of said period if the claimants shall late, etc. establish to their satisfaction good reasons for not presenting the same earlier.

Service of peti

SEC. 10. That service of the petition shall be made upon the AttorneyGeneral of United States at such time and in such manner as may be tion. prescribed by the rules of said commission. It shall be his duty to Attorney-Gendefend the interests of the United States, and he shall, within sixty eral to represent days after the service of the petition upon him, unless the time shall Government.

be extended by order of the commission, file a demurrer or answer to said petition, which answer shall set up all matters of counterclaim,

-procedure on

set-off, claim of damages, demand. or defense whatsoever of the Government against such claim:

Provided, That should the Attorney-General fail to so answer or failure to answer. demur, the claimant may proceed with the case under such rules as the commission may adopt; but the claimant shall not in such case have award for his claim or for any part thereof unless he shall establish the same by proof satisfactory to the commission.

etc.

Award.

-final.

SEC. 11. That the award in favor of any claimant shall be only for the amount of the actual and direct damage which said claimant shall prove that he has sustained. Remote or prospective damages shall not be awarded, nor shall interest be allowed on any claim.

SEC. 12. That all awards of said commission shall be final unless a new trial or hearing shall be granted by said commission and no new -rehearings, trial or rehearing shall be had except upon motion made within sixty days of said award.

Certification to Supreme Court.

Copy of award to be filed with

Secretary of State.
Payment.

SEC. 13. When the commission is in doubt as to any question of law arising upon the facts in any case before them, they may state the facts and the question of law so arising and certify the same to the Supreme Court of the United States for its decision, and said court shall have jurisdiction to consider and decide the same.

SEC. 14. That the commission shall file with the Secretary of State a copy of the award in each case immediately after the same shall have been made and become final, and in every case of final award by said commission the sum found to be due shall be paid out of any appropri ation made or to be made by Congress for the payment and satisfaction of such awards on presentation to the Secretary of the Treasury of a copy of said award, certified by the clerk of the commission and signed by the president of said commission, or by the Secretary of State in case said commission has terminated and ceased to exist. Disposition of All the files and records of said commission shall immediately upon the expiration thereof be deposited in the office of the Secretary of State.

records.

Salaries.

Duration of commission.

-extension.

-dissolution before two years.

SEC. 15. That the salaries and compensation of the persons appointed under this Act shall be as follows, and the same shall be paid monthly in equal installments:

To each commissioner, the sum of five thousand dollars per annum. To the Assistant Attorney-General, the sum of five thousand dollars per annum.

To the clerk, the sum of three thousand five hundred dollars per

annum.

To such assistant attorneys as may be employed, at the rate of two hundred dollars per month to each for the time of actual employment. To the messenger and to each stenographer and typewriter, the sum of one thousand two hundred dollars per annum.

To each interpreter, not exceeding the sum of one thousand eight hundred dollars per annum.

SEC. 16. That the powers and jurisdiction hereby granted to said commission shall be in force and continue for the period of two years from the date of the approval of this Act, and for no longer time:

Provided, That the President may, from time to time, extend the said period beyond said two years, not exceeding six months in each instance, when in his judgment such extension is necessary to enable the commission to complete its work:

And provided further, That in case the commission shall have completed its work before the expiration of the said two years the President may dissolve said commission. [March 2, 1901.]

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