Chapter CXVI. making Appropriations for the Support of the Army for the Year ending June thirty, eighteen hundred and seventy-two, and for other Purposes
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CHAP. CXVI.— An Act making Appropriations for the Support of the Army for the Year ending June thirty, eighteen hundred and seventy-two, and for other Purposes.March 3, 1871. *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,* That the following sums be, and522FORTY-FIRST CONGRESS. Sess. III. Ch. 116. 1871. the same are hereby, appropriated, out of any moneys in the treasury notArmy appropriation for the year ending June 30, 1872. otherwise appropriated, for the support of the army for the year ending June thirty, eighteen hundred and seventy-two:— For expenses of the commanding general’s office, five thousand dollars.Commanding general’s office.
For expenses of recruiting and transportation of recruits, one hundredRecruiting. and twenty thousand five hundred and eighty dollars. For contingent expenses of the adjutant-general’s department at theAdjutant-general’s department. headquarters of military divisions and departments, five thousand dollars. For the expenses of the signal service of the army, five thousand dollars.Signal service. For pay of the army, and for payment to discharged soldiers for clothingPay and clothing for discharged soldiers.Indian scouts. not drawn, twelve million three hundred thousand dollars; of which sum one hundred thousand dollars, and no more, may be expended for pay of Indian scouts.
For allowance to officers of the army for transportation of themselvesTransportation for officers. and their baggage, when traveling on duty, without troops, escorts, or supplies, one hundred and fifty thousand dollars. For general expenses, such as the additional compensation of judge advocates,General expenses. recorders, members, and witnesses while on court-martial service, and traveling expenses of paymasters’ clerks, and postage on letters and packages, and telegrams received and sent by officers of the army on public business, one hundred thousand dollars.
For subsistence of regular troops, engineers, and Indian scouts, two millionSubsistence.Limit for Indian scouts. nine hundred thousand dollars, of which sum fifty-five thousand dollars, and no more, may be expended for subsistence of Indian scouts. For regular supplies of the quartermaster’s department, to wit: ForQuartermaster’s department. the regular supplies of the quartermaster’s department, consisting of fuel for officers, enlisted men, guards, hospitals, storehouses, and offices; of forage in kind for the horses, mules, and oxen of the quartermaster’s department at the several posts and stations, and with the armies in the field; for the horses of the several regiments of cavalry, the batteries of artillery, and such companies of infantry as may be mounted, and for the authorized number of officers’ horses when serving in the field, and at the outposts, including bedding for the animals; of straw for soldiers’ bedding; and of stationery, including blank books for the quartermaster’s department, certificates for discharged soldiers, blank forms for the pay and quartermaster’s departments, and for printing of division and department orders and reports, four million dollars.
For extra pay to soldiers employed under the direction of the quartermaster’sIncidental expenses of quartermaster’s department.1819, ch. 45.Vol. iii. p. 488.1854, ch. 247, § 6.Vol. x. p. 576. department, in the erection of barracks, quarters, storehouses, and hospitals, in the construction of roads, and other constant labor, for periods of not less than ten days, under the acts of March two, eighteen hundred and nineteen, and August four, eighteen hundred and fifty-four, including those employed as clerks at division and department headquarters; expenses of expresses to and from the frontier posts and armies in the field; of escorts to paymasters and other disbursing officers, and to trains where military escorts cannot be furnished; expenses of the interment of officers killed in action, or who die when on duty in the field, or at post on the frontiers, or at posts and other places when ordered by the Secretary of War, and of non-commissioned officers and soldiers; authorized office-furniture, hire of laborers in the quartermaster’s department, including the hire of interpreters, spies, and guides for the army; compensation of clerks to officers of the quartermaster’s department; compensation of forage and wagon-masters, authorized by the act of July five,1888, ch. 162, § 10.Vol. v. p. 257. eighteen hundred and thirty-eight; for the apprehension of deserters, and the expenses incident to their pursuit; and for the following expenditures required for the several regiments of cavalry, the batteries of light artil-523lery, and such companies of infantry as may be mounted, namely:
The purchase of traveling forges, blacksmiths’ and shoeing tools, horse and mule shoes and nails, iron, and steel for shoeing, hire of veterinary surgeons, medicines for horses and mules, picket ropes, and for shoeing the horses of the corps named; also, generally, the proper and authorized expenses for the movement and operations of an army not expressly assigned to any other department, nine hundred thousand dollars. For purchase of horses for the cavalry and artillery, and for IndianCavalry and artillery horses. scouts, four hundred and fifty thousand dollars.
For transportation of the army, including baggage of the troops whenTransportation. moving either by land or water; of clothing, camp and garrison equipage from the depots of Philadelphia and Jeffersonville to the several posts and army depots, and from those depots to the troops in the field; and of subsistence stores from the places of purchase, and from the places of *of* delivery under contract, to such places as the circumstances of the service may require them to be sent; of ordnance, ordnance stores, and small arms from the founderies and armories to the arsenals, fortifications, frontier posts, and army depots; freights, wharfage, tolls, and ferriages; the purchase and hire of horses, mules, oxen, and harness, and the purchase and repair of wagons, carts, and drays, and of ships and other sea-going vessels, and boats required for the transportation of supplies and for garrison purposes; for drayage and cartage at the several posts, hire of teamsters, transportation of funds for the pay and other disbursing departments; the expense of sailing public transports on the variousPublic transports.Water.Obstructions, roads, harbors, rivers. rivers, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Atlantic and Pacific; for procuring water at such posts as, from their situation, require it to be brought from a distance; and for clearing roads and removing obstructions from roads, harbors, and rivers, to the extent which may be required for the actual operations of the troops in the field, four million dollars.
For hire of quarters for officers on military duty, hire of quarters forHire, &c. of quarters, huts, repairs, &c. troops, of storehouses for the safekeeping of military stores, and of grounds for summer cantonments; for the construction of temporary huts, hospitals, and stables; and for repairing public buildings at established posts, one million dollars. For heating and cooking stoves, five thousand dollars.Stoves. For purchase and manufacture of clothing, camp and garrison equipage,Clothing and camp equipage. and for preserving and repacking stock of clothing, camp and garrison equipage, and materials on hand at the Schuylkill arsenal and other depots, five hundred thousand dollars.
For establishing and maintaining national cemeteries, two hundredNational cemeteries. thousand dollars. For army contingencies, namely: Such expenses as are not providedContingencies. for by other estimates, embracing all branches of the military service, fifty thousand dollars. For purchase of medical and hospital supplies, pay of private physiciansMedical and hospital supplies, &c. employed in emergencies, hire of hospital attendants, expenses of purveying depots, of medical examining boards, and incidental expenses of the medical department, two hundred thousand dollars.
For the Army Medical Museum and medical and other necessary worksArmy Medical Museum. for the library of the surgeon-general’s office, seven thousand dollars. For trials with torpedoes for harbor and land defence and to instructTrials with torpedoes for harbor, &c. defence. the engineer troops in their practical construction and application, ten thousand dollars. For completion of barracks and officers’ quarters at the engineer depotBarracks at Willet’s Point. at Willet’s Point, New York, twenty-five thousand dollars.
For repairs and preservation of bridge equipage, ten thousand dollars.Bridge equipage. For purchase and supply of material and labor for repairs of quartersBarracks, &c. at engineer posts. and barracks at engineer posts, two thousand dollars. For the ordnance service required to defray the current expenses at524 the arsenals; of receiving stores and issuing arms and other ordnanceOrdnance service. supplies; of police and office duties; of rents, tolls, fuel, and lights; of stationery and office furniture; of tools and instruments for use; of public animals, forage, and vehicles; incidental expenses of the ordnance service, including those attending practical trials and tests of ordnance, small-arms, and other ordnance supplies, two hundred thousand dollars.
For manufacturing metallic ammunition for small-arms, one hundredMetallic ammunition for small-arms. thousand dollars. For overhauling, preserving, and cleaning new ordnance stores onOrdnance stores in arsenals. hand in the arsenals, seventy-five thousand dollars. For sea-coast cannon, and carriages for the same, two hundred thousandSea-coast cannon. dollars. For purchase and manufacture of other ordnance stores, to fill requisition of troops, fifty thousand dollars. For manufacture of arms at the national armory, one hundred and fiftyManufacture of arms. thousand dollars.
Sec. 2. That the President of the United States shall be, and he isPresident to appoint three commissioners of claims;their term of office and duties. hereby, authorized to nominate, and, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, appoint a board of commissioners, to be designated as commissioners of claims, to consist of three commissioners, who shall be commissioned for two years, and whose duty it shall be to receive, examine, and consider the justice and validity of such claims as shall be broughtClaims of loyal citizens for, &c.
Vol. xvii. p. 12. before them, of those citizens who remained loyal adherents to the cause and the government of the United States during the war, for stores or supplies taken or furnished during the rebellion for the use of the army of the United States in States proclaimed as in insurrection against the United States, including the use and loss of vessels or boats while employed in the military service of the United States. And the said commissionersCommissioners to be satisfied from evidence of the loyalty of the claimants, &c.; in considering said claims shall be satisfied from the testimony of witnesses under oath, or from other sufficient evidence, which shall accompany each claim, taken under such rules and regulations as the commissioners may adopt, of the loyalty and adherence of the claimant to the cause and the government of the United States before and at the time of the taking or furnishing of the property for which any claim shall be made, and of the quantity, quality, and value of the property alleged to have been taken or furnished, and the time, place, and material circumstancesto report in writing in each case. of the taking or furnishing of the same.
And, upon satisfactory evidence of the justice and validity of any claim, the commissioners shall report their opinion in writing in each case, and shall certify the nature, amount, and value of the property taken, furnished, or used as aforesaid.Rejected claims to be reported and reasons for rejection.Material evidence not to be withdrawn. And each claim which shall be considered, and rejected as unjust and invalid, shall likewise be reported, with the reasons therefor; and no claimant shall withdraw any material evidence submitted in support of any claim.
Sec. 3. That said commissioners shall each take the oath of office providedCommissioners to take oath.One to be designated as president.Vacancies.Commissioners may administer oaths, &c.;to organize and hold sessions at Washington.Quorum.Rules.Vol. xvii. p. 6. by law to be taken by all officers of the United States, and shall proceed without delay to discharge their duties under this act. The President of the United States shall designate in his appointment one of said commissioners to be president of the board, and shall be authorized to fill any vacancy which may occur, by reason of death or resignation, in said board; and each commissioner shall have authority to administer oaths and affirmations, and to take the depositions of witnesses in all matters pertaining to their duties.
The said commissioners shall meet and organize said board, and hold their sessions at Washington. Two members of the board shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business, and the agreement of two shall decide all questions in controversy. The said commissioners shall have authority to make and publish rules for their procedure, not inconsistent with this act, and shall publish notice of525 their sessions. They shall keep a journal of their proceedings, to beJournal.Register of claims. signed by the president of the board, and a register of all claims brought before the board, showing the date of presentation, number, name, and residence of claimant, subject-matter and amount of claim, and the amount, if any, allowed; which records shall be open to the inspection ofRecords to be open for inspection. the President and Attorney-General of the United States, or of such officer as the President may designate.
Sec. 4. That said commissioners shall make report of their proceedings,Commissioners to report at the beginning of each session of Congress.Claims not presented to be barred. and of each claim considered by them, at the commencement of each session of Congress, to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, who shall lay the same before Congress for consideration; and all claims within this act and not presented to said board shall be barred, and shall not be entertained by any department of the government without further authority of Congress.
Sec. 5. That the commissioners of claims shall be paid quarterly underPay of commissioners;clerk, short-hand reporter, and messenger. this act, at the rate of five thousand dollars per annum each, and they shall have authority to appoint one clerk and one short-hand reporter, to be paid quarterly at the rate of two thousand five hundred dollars per annum each, and one messenger, to be paid at the rate of one thousand two hundred dollars per annum, who shall perform the services required of them respectively, and said board shall be further allowed the necessaryOffice rent, printing, &c. actual expenses of office rent, furniture, fuel, stationery, and printing, to be certified by the president of the board, and to be audited on vouchers, and paid as other judicial expenses are.
Sec. 6. That a sufficient appropriation to carry this act into effect isAppropriation. hereby made, out of any money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated. Sec. 7. That the Secretary of War be, and he is hereby, authorizedSecretary of War to negotiate for construction and operation of telegraph line from Yancton to Fort Randall, and Fort Sully, if, &c.Pay for portions, and for whole of line. and directed to negotiate with a responsible party to build and operate a telegraph line from Yancton, Dakota Territory, to Fort Randall, Dakota, and thence to Fort Sully, if, in the opinion of the Secretary of War, the public service demands such extension.
And upon the completion of each hundred miles of said line to the satisfaction of the Secretary of War, he is authorized to pay the party constructing the same the sum of eight thousand dollars; and upon the completion of the whole line he shall pay, as aforesaid, the sum of eighty dollars per mile for any number of miles the same may extend over the number of even hundreds: *Provided,* That the money so paid shall be refunded to the United States inMoney so paid to be refunded in use of line; the use of said telegraph line at rates not higher than charged private individuals, nor higher than may, in the opinion of said Secretary, be just: *Provided also,* That when the money advanced by the said Secretary ofwhen refunded United States to have no lien.
War shall be refunded, as above provided, the United States shall have no title to nor lien upon said line, but may at all times use the same for public purposes at such rates as may be just. Sec. 8. That an amount necessary to enable the Secretary of War toAppropriation. carry into effect the provisions of the foregoing section is hereby appropriated out of any moneys in the treasury not otherwise appropriated. Sec. 9. That, in accordance with the fifth section of the act approvedSecretary of Treasury to pay over to Pacific Railroad companies one half of compensation, &c.1862, ch. 120.Vol. xii. p. 489.1864, ch. 216.Vol. xiii. p. 356.
July two, eighteen hundred and sixty-four, entitled “An act to amend an act entitled ‘An act to aid in the construction of a railroad and telegraph line from the Missouri river to the Pacific Ocean, and to secure to the government the use of the same for postal, military, and other purposes,’ approved July first, eighteen hundred and sixty-two,” the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby directed to pay over in money to the Pacific Railroad companies mentioned in said act, and performing services for the United States, one half of the compensation at the rate provided by law for such services, heretofore or hereafter rendered: *Provided,* That this sectionLegal rights of parties not otherwise affected. shall not be construed to affect the legal rights of the government or the obligations of the companies, except as herein specifically provided.
Approved, March 3, 1871.