Chapter LIV. *to establish a Branch of the Mint of the United States in California.*July 3, 1852. *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,* Branch mint in California
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Chap. LIV.— An Act *to establish a Branch of the Mint of the United States in California.*July 3, 1852. *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,* Branch mint in California.That a branch of the mint of the United States be established in California, to be located by the Secretary of the Treasury, for the coinage of gold and silver. Sec. 2. *And be it further enacted,* That suitable buildings shall beBuildings for the mint. procured or erected, for carrying on the business of said branch mint,*Post*. p. 96.Officers and workmen to be appointed. and the following officers shall be appointed so soon as the public interests may require their services, upon the nomination of the President, [by] and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to wit: one superintendent, one treasurer, one assayer, one melter and refiner, and one coiner.
And the said superintendent shall engage and employ as many clerks, and as many subordinate workmen and servants, as shall be provided for by law; and until the thirtieth of June, one thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, the salaries of said officers and clerks shall beSalaries and pay. as follows: to the superintendent and to the treasurer, the sum of four thousand five hundred dollars each; to the assayer, to the melter and refiner, and to the coiner, the sum of three thousand dollars each; to the clerks, the sum of two thousand dollars each; to the subordinate workmen, such wages and allowances as are customary and reasonable, according to their respective stations and occupations.
Sec. 3. *And be it further enacted,* That the officers and clerks toOfficers and clerks to make oath and give bonds. be appointed under this act, before entering upon the duties thereof, shall take an oath or affirmation before some judge of the United States, or the Supreme Court of the State of California, faithfully and diligently to perform the duties thereof, and shall each become bound to the United States of America, with one or more sureties, to the satisfaction of the Director of the Mint and the Secretary of the Treasury, or the District Attorney of the United States for the State of California, with condition for the faithful and diligent performance of their offices.
Sec. 4. *And be it further enacted,* That the general direction of theDirector of the mint at Philadelphia to have12THIRTY-SECOND CONGRESS. Sess. I. Ch. 54. 1852. general control over the branch in California, and to prescribe regulations. the control and regulation of the Director of the Mint at Philadelphia, subject to the approbation of the Secretary of the Treasury; and, for that purpose, it shall be the duty of the said director to prescribe such regulations, and require such returns periodically and occasionally, as shall appear to him to he necessary for the purpose of carrying into effect the intention of this act in establishing the said branch; also, for the purpose of discriminating the coin which shall be stamped at said branch and at the mint itself; and also for the purpose of preserving uniformity of weight, form, and fineness, in the coins stamped at said branch; and for that purpose, to require the transmission and delivery to him at the mint, from time to time, of such parcels of the coinage of said branch as he shall think proper, to be subjected to such assays and tests as he shall direct.
Sec. 5. *And be it further enacted,* That all the laws and parts ofLaws respecting the mint and coinage extended this branch. laws now in force for the regulation of the mint of the United States, and for the government of the officers and persons employed therein, and for the punishment of all offences connected with the mint or coinage of the United States, shall be, and they are hereby declared to bo in full force in relation to the branch of the mint by this act established, so far as the same may be applicable thereto.
Sec. 6. *And be it further enacted,* No permanent location to be made or buildings erected till California has agreed not to tax it.That no permanent location of said mint shall be made, or buildings erected therefor, until the State of California shall, by some law or other public act, pledge the faith of the State that no tax shall at any time be laid, assessed, or collected by the said State, or under the authority of the said State, on the said branch mint, or on the buildings which may be erected therefor, or on the fixtures and machinery which may be used therein, or on the lands on Proviso.which the same may be placed; but nothing in this section contained, shall be understood as implying an admission that any such power of taxation rightfully exists.
Sec. 7. *And be it further enacted,* That the said branch mint shallBranch to be a place of deposit for public moneys. be the place of deposit for the public moneys collected in the custom-houses in the State of California, and for such other public moneys as Treasurer of mint to be an assistant treasurer of U.S.the Secretary of the Treasury may direct; and the treasurer of said branch mint shall have the custody of the same, and shall perform the duties of an assistant treasurer, and for that purpose shall be subject to all the provisions contained in an act entitled “An act to provide for the better organization of the Treasury, and for the collection, safekeeping, transfer, and disbursement of the public revenue,” approved August the 1846, ch. 90.sixth, one thousand eight hundred and forty-six, which relates to the treasurer of the branch mint at New Orleans.
Sec. 8. *And be it further enacted,* Gold to be assayed and cast into bars or ingots, and stamped at exponse of depositor.That, if required by the holder, gold in grain or lumps shall be refined, assayed, cast into bars or ingots, and stamped in said branch mint, or in the mint of the United States, or any of its branches, in such manner as may indicate the value and fineness of the bar or ingot, which shall be paid for by the owner or holder of said bullion, at such rates and charges, and under such regulations, as the Director of the Mint, under the control of the Secretary of the Treasury, may from time to time establish.
Sec. 9. *And be it further enacted,* When mint is established, former provisions for an assayer in California repealed.That so soon as the said branch mint is established in the State of California, and public notice shall be given thereof in the mode to be designated by the Secretary of the Treasury, then so much of the act making appropriations for the civil and diplomatic expenses of the government for the year ending thirtieth June, eighteen hundred and fifty-one, and for other purposes,” as provides 1851, ch. 90.for the appointment of an United States Assayer, and the contracting for the assaying and fixing the value of gold in grain or lumps, and for forming the same into bars, be, and the whole of the clause containing said provisions shall be hereby repealed.
THIRTY-SECOND CONGRESS. Sess. I. Ch. 55, 57. 1852.13 Sec. 10. *And be it further enacted,* That the sum of ten thousandAppropriation for books for Library.That before the Secretary of theNothing to be done hereunder till buildings and machinery contracted for, at not more than $300,000. Treasury shall procure or erect the buildings provided for in the second section of this act, or commence operations under any of the provisions of the same, at San Francisco, State of California, it shall first be his duty to make a contract or contracts, for the erection of said buildings, and procuring the machinery necessary for the operations of said mint,*Post*. p. 96 at a sum or sums which shall not, in the whole, exceed the sum of three hundred thousand dollars, which said contract or contracts shall be secured by good and sufficient sureties, to the satisfaction of the said Secretary of the Treasury and the President of the United States.
Approved, July 3, 1852.