Chapter XXII. providing for keeping and distributing all Public Documents
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Chap. XXII.— An Act providing for keeping and distributing all Public Documents.Feb. 5, 1859. *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,* That the Secretary of the InteriorSecretary of Interior to receive, keep, and distribute all public documents, except, &c. is hereby charged with receiving, arranging, safe-keeping, and [with the] distribution of all printed journals of the two houses of Congress, and all other books and documents, of every nature whatever, already or hereafter directed by law to be printed or purchased for the use of the government, except such as are directed to be printed or purchased for the particular use of Congress, or *if* [of] either house thereof, or for the particular use of the Executive or of any of the departments; and for this purpose the Secretary of the Interior is hereby directed to set apart a proper roomRooms in Patent Office Building to be used therefor. or rooms in the Patent-Office building to be used for this and no other purpose; and the superintendent of public printing, public printer, binder, or contractor, or any other person whose duty it shall be to deliver any of the same, shall deliver the same to him there.
Sec. 2. *And be it further enacted,* That it shall be the duty of theSuch public documents to be removed from other offices. Secretary of the Interior to obtain and remove from the other members and offices and from the Congressional Library, and other places where the same are now kept, all such journals, books, and other documents now on hand and described in the foregoing section; and for this purpose, so much as is necessary of the appropriation made in the following clause of the act, entitled “An act making appropriations for certain civil expenses of the government for the year ending the thirtieth of June,1857, ch. 108.*Ante*, p. 227. eighteen hundred and fifty-eight,” approved March three, eighteen hun-380THIRTY-FIFTH CONGRESS.
Sess. II. Ch. 22. 1859.dred and fifty-seven, to wit: “For expenses of packing and distributing the congressional journals and documents, in pursuance of the provisions contained in the joint resolution of Congress approved twenty-eighth January, eighteen hundred and fifty-seven, twenty-two thousand dollars,” as*Ante*, p. 253. remains unexpended, is hereby appropriated. Sec. 3. *And be it further enacted,* That a register of such journals,Register thereof to be kept to show receipts and delivery. of books, and other documents shall be kept under the authority of the Secretary of the Interior, showing the quantity and kind of each at any time received by him in pursuance of this act; and it shall be his duty to cause to be entered in such register, at the proper time, when, where, and to whom the same, or any part of them, have been distributed and delivered, and to report the same to Congress at the first session of each Congress.
Sec. 4. *And be it further enacted,* That the same shall be delivered outTo be delivered only on written requisitions, except, &c. by the Secretary of the Interior only on the written requisition of the heads of departments, Secretary of the Senate, Clerk of the House of Representatives, Librarian of Congress, and other officers and persons, private and corporate, who are, by law, authorized to receive the same, except where by law the Secretary of the Interior is required, without such requisition, to cause the same to be sent and delivered; and in either of such cases it shall be the duty of the Secretary of the Interior to cause the same to be sent and delivered, the expenses thereof, except whenExpense of delivery how charged. otherwise directed, to be charged on the contingent fund of the department.
Sec. 5. *And be it further enacted,* That all such journals, books, and other documents, shall hereafter be distributed according to and for theDistribution by Secretary of Interior. purposes now prescribed by law, except that the distribution of the same to the governors of the States and Territories and to the judges of the courts of the United States and other officers and public bodies within the States or Territories shall be wholly under the control of the Secretary of the Interior; and the joint resolution approved March twenty, eight[een] hundred and fifty-eight, supplementary to the joint resolution approvedRepeal of Res. *Ante*, p. 368.
January twenty-eight, eighteen hundred and fifty-seven, respecting the distribution of certain documents, is hereby repealed; and the third section of said joint resolution of January twenty-eight, eighteen hundred and fifty-seven, is hereby amended by striking out the words “by him”Amendment of Res.*Ante*, p. 253. in the last line, and inserting the words “to him by each of the senators from the several States, respectively, and by the representative in Congress from each congressional district, and by the delegate from each Territory in the United States.” *And provided,* That such distributionProviso. shall first be made at the instance of the representatives in Congress from districts in which such public documents have not already been distributed so that the quantity distributed to each congressional district and territory shall be equal.
Sec. 6. *And be it further enacted,* That the tenth section of an act entitled1846, ch. 178, § 10.Vol. ix. p. 106. “An act to establish the ‘Smithsonian Institution’ for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men,” approved August tenth, eighteen hundred and forty-six, is hereby repealed. Sec. 7. *And be it further enacted,* That by this act the distribution ofWilkes’ Exploring Expedition excepted. all works mentioned in the first section as public documents is intended and directed to be made, except the “Exploring Expedition” conducted by Commander Wilkes.
Sec. 8. *And be it further enacted,* That all books, maps, charts, and other publications of every nature whatever heretofore deposited in the Department of State according to the laws regulating copyrights, togetherMatters pertaining to copyrights transferred from State Department to Department of the Interior. with all the records of the Department of State in regard to the same, shall be removed to, and be under the control of the Department of the Interior, which is hereby charged with all the duties connected with the same, and with all matters pertaining to copyright, in the same manner 381THIRTY-FIFTH CONGRESS.
Sess. II. Ch. 22, 23, 26. 1859. and to the same extent that the Department of State is now charged with the same; and hereafter all such publications of every nature whatever shall, under present laws and regulations, be left with, and kept by him. Sec. 9. *And be it further enacted,* That the Joint Committee on theJoint Committee on Library may dispose of duplicates, &c. Library may, at any time, dispose of duplicate, injured, or wasted books of the library, or any other matter in the library not deemed proper to it, in such manner as such committee may deem best.
Sec. 10. *And be it further enacted,* That all such books and documents,Books, &c. not to be removed from proper offices. when received at the proper offices, libraries, and so forth, as provided by law, shall be kept there and not removed from such places. Sec. 11. *And be it further enacted,* That of the Statutes at Large of theStatutes At Large now in Library of Congress. United States, published by Little and Brown, now deposited in the library of Congress for the use of senators and representatives during the sessions of Congress, ten copies be retained by the librarian for the use of the judges of the Supreme Court, during the terms of court, and that one third of the number then remaining in the library be transferred to the Senate and two thirds to the library of the House of Representatives for the use of the senators and representatives during the sessions of Congress.
Approved, February 5, 1859.