Chapter 797. making appropriations for fortifications and other works of defense, for the armament thereof, for the procurement of heavy ordnance for trial and service, and for other purposes
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CHAP. 797.— An Act making appropriations for fortifications and other works of defense, for the armament thereof, for the procurement of heavy ordnance for trial and service, and for other purposes.August 18, 1890. *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled*,Fortifications appropriations. That the sums of money herein provided for be, and the same are hereby, appropriated, out of any moneys in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, to be available until expended, namely:Available until expended.Preservation and repair.
Preservation and repair of Fortifications: For the protection, preservation, and repair of fortifications for which there may be no special appropriations available, eighty thousand dollars. 316FIFTY-FIRST CONGRESS. Sess. I. Ch. 797. 1890. For preparation of plans for fortifications, five thousand dollars.Plans.Fort Marion; seawall. For repair and preservation of Fort Marion, Florida, and for construction of seawall to preserve the site, fifteen thousand dollars. For completing seawall at Governor’s Island, New York Harbor,sea-wall, Governor’s Island. fifty thousand dollars.
Torpedoes for Harbor Defense: For the purchase of submarineTorpedoes, etc. mines and necessary appliances to operate them for dosing the channels leading to our principal seaports, one hundred thousand dollars. For needful casemates and cable galleries to render it possible to operate submarine mines, one hundred thousand dollars. For continuing torpedo experiments and for practical instruction of engineer troops in the details of the service, thirty thousand dollars. Purchase of Machine Guns:
For the purchase of machinePurchase of machine guns. guns, musket caliber, of American manufacture, twenty thousand dollars. For the following, to be expended under the direct supervision ofExpenditures by Board of Ordnance and Fortification.Vol. 25, pp. 489–491. the Board of Ordnance and Fortification, created by the fortification appropriation act approved September twenty-second, eighteen hundred and eighty-eight, and in the manner prescribed by said act, namely: Gun and Mortar Batteries:
For construction of gun and mortarGun and mortar batteries.Boston.New York.San Francisco. batteries for defense of Boston Harbor, two hundred and thirty-five thousand dollars; New York, seven hundred and twenty-six thousand dollars; San Francisco, two hundred and sixty thousand dollars; in all, one million two hundred and twenty-one thousand dollars. For the procurement of land, or right pertaining thereto, neededProcurement of land for works, etc. for the site, location, construction, or prosecution of works, for fortifications and coast defenses, five hundred thousand dollars, or so much thereof as may be necessary, and hereafter the Secretary of Condemnation procedure.War may cause proceedings to be instituted, in the name of the United States, in any court having jurisdiction of such proceedings, for the acquirement, by condemnation, of any land, or right pertaining thereto, needed for the site, location, construction, or prosecution of works for fortifications and coast defenses, such proceedings to be prosecuted in accordance with the laws relating to suits for the condemnation of property of the States wherein the *Provisos*.Immediate purchase at reasonable price.proceedings may be instituted: *Provided*, That when the owner of such land or rights pertaining thereto shall fix a price for the same, which, in the opinion of the Secretary of War, shall be reasonable, he may purchase the same at such price without further delay:Acceptance of donations. *provided further*, That the Secretary of War is hereby authorized to accept on behalf of the United States donations of lands or rights pertaining thereto required for the above-mentioned purposes:Limitation of expenditure. etc. *And provided further*, That nothing herein contained shall be construed to authorize an expenditure, or to involve the Government in any contract or contracts for the future payment of money, in excess of the sums appropriated therefor.
Armament of Fortifications: For the manufacture (finishingArmament.Manufacture, etc., of steel sea-coast guns. and assembling) of eight-inch, ten-inch, and twelve-inch steel sea-coast guns from forgings procured under fortification act of Vol. 25, p. 490.September twenty-second, eighteen hundred and eighty-eight, seventy thousand dollars. For completing the manufacture (finishing and assembling) ofCompleting steel field and siege cannon. three and six-tenths-inch, five-inch, and seven-inch steel field and siege cannon from forgings procured under fortification act of March second, eighteen hundred and eighty-nine, thirty-six thousand Unexpended balance.dollars. together with the unexpended balance of the appropriation of fourteen thousand dollars made for this object by the fortification 317 appropriation act approved March second, eighteen hundred andVol. 25, p. 887. eighty-nine.
That contracts shall be invited by the Secretary of War by properContracts for manufacture, etc. notice and publication for the manufacture (finishing and assembling) of eight-inch, ten-inch, and twelve-inch steel sea-coast guns from forgingsSteel sea-coast guns. procured under fortification act of September twenty-second, eighteen hundred and eighty-eight, and if private parties shall offerVol. 25, pp. 489–491. to finish, assemble, and deliver any of such guns in proper condition for use as completed guns, at a price fair to the Government, the necessary contracts shall be entered into by the Secretary for that purpose, and to carry into effect this provision the sum of two hundred thousand dollars is hereby appropriated: *Provided*, That the*Provisos*.Maximum percentage of contracts. finishing and assembling of not over fifty per centum of each caliber of such forgings shall be thus contracted for: *Provided further*, That all contracts made hereunder shall be so made as to fully protect theGovernment to be protected against loss, etc.
Government against all loss or damage which may result from imperfect work, the fault of the contractor, and the work done hereunderInspection of work. shall be subject to inspection at every stage. For steel field-guns of three and two-tenths-inch caliber, twenty-fiveSteel field-guns. thousand dollars. For breech-loading rifled sea-coast mortars, cast-iron, hooped withCast-iron mortars.*Proviso*.Maximum constructed on Pacific coast. steel, of twelve-inch caliber, four hundred thousand dollars: *provided*, That contracts may be made for not more than one-fourth of the mortars herein provided for, to be constructed on the Pacific coast in the discretion of the Secretary of War.
For sights and implements for guns and for fuzes, two thousandSights, etc. dollars. For metallic carriages for field-gun batteries, one hundred andMetallic carriages for field guns. forty-three thousand one hundred and thirty-five dollars. For alteration of existing carriages for ten-inch and fifteen-inchAlterations of existing smooth-bore gun carriages. smooth-bore guns to adapt them to present service conditions, one hundred thousand dollars. For carriages for breech-loading rifled mortars of twelve-inch caliber,Carriages for cast-iron mortars.Vol. 35, p.490. procured under the fortification act of September twenty second, eighteen hundred and eighty-eight, two hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars.
For powder for proving sea-coast mortars of twelve-inch caliber,Powder for testing. procured under the fortification act of September twenty-second, eighteen hundred and eighty-eight, and for testing projectiles, ten thousand dollars. For steel shell or shrapnel for field guns, twelve thousand dollars,Steel projectiles. etc., for field, siege, and sea-coast guns. and for cast-iron projectiles for field, siege, and sea-coast guns, twenty-four thousand five hundred dollars for issues to the service; in all. thirty-six thousand five hundred dollars.
For cast-iron projectiles for proving sea-coast mortars of twelve-inchCast iron projectiles for sea-coast mortars. caliber, procured under the fortification act of September twenty-second, eighteen hundred and eighty-eight, ten thousand dollars. For steel shell for sea-coast cannon, twenty-five thousand dollars.Steel shell, sea-coast cannon.Steel projectiles, sea-coast guns. For steel armor-piercing projectiles for sea-coast guns, one hundred thousand dollars. For purchase and erection of armor plate for testing armor-piercingArmor plate for tests. projectiles, twenty-four thousand dollars.
Army Gun Factory: For machinery and plant for the manufactureArmy gun factory.Plant, etc., for field-gun projectiles.Machinery at Watervliet Arsenal. N. Y. of steel shell or shrapnel for field-guns, five thousand dollars. For machinery to complete the full capacity of present gun factory building at Watervliet Arsenal, West Troy, New York, one hundred and sixty-five thousand dollars. For construction of a building for washrooms, closets, and sinksWash-rooms, etc. for the operatives of the gun factory, twelve thousand dollars.
For increase of machinery and plant for manufacture of projectiles,Increase of plant, etc., for making projectiles. etc. and for castings needed in current work of gun fabrication at army gun factory, sixteen thousand dollars. 318 For erection and completion of a fireproof brick office buildingOffice. for the army gun factory, Watervliet Arsenal, New York, twenty-three thousand dollars. For railroad sidings, switches, and weighing scale at the armyRailroad sidings,etc. gun factory, Watervliet Arsenal, New York, two thousand eight hundred dollars.
For one hundred and fifty horsepower steam-engine and shaftingSteam engine, etc. for machine-shop at the army gun factory, Watervliet Arsenal, New York, three thousand five hundred dollars. For boring and turning lathes, rifling machine, and eighty-tonLathes, etc. traveling-crane fully equipped for the manufacture of twelve-inch guns, at Watervliet Arsenal, New York, three hundred and twenty thousand dollars. That all material purchased under the foregoing provisions of thisAll purchases to be of American material.*Proviso*. act shall be of American manufacture: *Provided*, That from the appropriation of twenty thousand dollars made in the fortification Instruments for annual artillery practice, excepted.appropriation act, approved March second, eighteen hundred and eighty-nine, for conducting the annual heavy artillery practice of the Army, the Secretary of War may in his discretion authorize purchase of such instruments as may be necessary from abroad, whenever the same are not produced in this country.
That the President is hereby authorized to appoint a board to consistGun factory board to be appointed. of three officers of the Army, one of engineers, one of artillery, Composition of board.Duties.and one of ordnance, not below the rank of lieutenant-colonel, who shall inquire into the facilities for producing steel forgings for high-power guns at or near the Pacific coast; and in the vicinity of the Rock Island Arsenal, and in the vicinity of the Indianapolis Arsenal, and at some point on or near the Gulf coast, and the advisability of erecting gun factories for finishing and assembling high-power guns, to be mounted in fortifications, at the Benicia Arsenal, in California, or at the Rock Island Arsenal, or at the Indianapolis Arsenal, or at some point on or near the Gulf coast.
Said board shall also examine and report as to the capacity, costReport, etc. of erection, and equipment of each of such gun factories. For the payment of the necessary expenses of said board, threeExpenses of board. thousand dollars. Board of Ordnance and Fortification: To enable the BoardBoard of Ordnance and Fortification.Foreign purchases for experimental tests. of Ordnance and Fortification to purchase abroad, for experimental purposes, such articles of foreign manufacture as are not produced in this country, and which are necessary in order that the board may determine what may be best and worthy of adoption and manufacture in the United States, one hundred thousand dollars.
For the necessary expenses of the board, as provided for in theExpenses of board.Vol. 25, sec. 6. p. 491. last clause of section six of the act approved September twenty-second, eighteen hundred and eighty-eight, five thousand dollars. To enable the necessary experiments to be made to test the valueExperimental tests. thereof, including the purchase of material and construction where necessary, of pneumatic gun-carriages, segmental guns, and highPneumatic gun-carriages, guns, and high explosives. explosives, fifty thousand dollars, or so much thereof as may be necessary.
And the Secretary of War, through the medium of the Board of Ordnance and Fortification, under the appropriation made Vol. 25, sec. 6, p. 490, 491.by section six of the fortification act, approved September twenty-second, eighteen hundred and eighty-eight, shall have authority if Recoil-operated infantry small arm, etc.he deems it expedient, to test and purchase a recoil-operated infantry small arm of thirty caliber, with proper character and amount of ammunition, such ammunition to consist of the compound accelerating Rapid fire, etc., six-pounder breech-loading field gun, etc.cartridge; and also to test and purchase one light rapid fire, rapid twist six-pounder breech loading field gun mounted upon a disappearing shielded field gun carriage, with proper amount of ammunition therefor, consisting of said accelerating cartridge, and also to test Retiring sea-coast defense carriage.one retiring sea-coast defense carriage.
And the last paragraph of “An act making appropriations for the support of the Army for the 319 fiscal year ending June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and ninety, and for other purposes,” approved March second, eighteen hundred andVol 25, p. 887, amended. eighty-nine, is hereby so amended as to authorize the use, if the Secretary of War deems it expedient, of a six-inch breech-loading rifled cannon of new pattern in the test of the counterpoise battery therein provided for, and the appropriation is hereby continued forAppropriation continued. the purposes of such test for the fiscal year eighteen hundred and ninety-one.
Sec. 2. That the Secretary of War is hereby authorized and Purchase of breech-loading single-charge steel guns.directed to purchase under contract, after due advertisement inviting proposals, and at prices which the Board of Ordnance and Fortification shall adjudge to be fail to the manufacturer and for the interest of the United States, twenty-five eight-inch, fifty ten-inch,*Post*, p. 770. and twenty-five twelve-inch guns, all of which guns shall be breech-loading single-charge steel guns, and of weight and dimensions to be prescribed by the Board, and shall fulfill the conditions hereinafter provided: *Provided*, That if two or more persons, citizens of*Provisos*.Proposals, etc. the United States, submit proposals to furnish said guns, either in part or in whole, at prices not materially different from each other, contracts may be awarded, in such proportion, among the citizensAward of contracts. submitting such proposals as the Secretary of War may direct.
One type gun of each of the above-mentioned caliber, with the properType guns, etc., to be presented. supply of ammunition therefor, shall be presented for test at such place and within such time as the contract shall provide, and shall be subjected to such tests in respect to accuracy, range, power,Tests. endurance, and general efficiency as the Board of Ordnance and Fortification shall have prescribed. All the other guns of each caliber, with the proper supply of ammunition, shall be delivered at such place and within such times as the contract shall provide, and shall be subjected to the ordinary service test of ten rounds with the full charge and weight of projectile, which shall develop the standard power prescribed for the gun.
If the type gun sustainsGuns, etc., accepted upon approval by Board, after tests. the prescribed test to the satisfaction of the Board of Ordnance and Fortification, it and each of the other guns which sustains the ordinary service test, and the ammunition expended in such tests, shall be accepted under the contract. All guns manufactured under these contracts, including the type guns, shall be subjected to inspectionInspection. at all stages of manufacture, and no change whatever shall be madeChange from type to be approved by Secretary of War. in the material, mode of manufacture, or dimensions of the guns for service from those employed in the type gun without the approval of the Secretary of War.
Payment for each gun and ammunition Payment.for testing same, including cost of transportation, shall be made upon the satisfactory completion of the prescribed test for that gun. All tests of guns shall be made in the presence of the Board and ofParties present at tests. the person presenting the gun, or his authorized agent, and due regard shall be paid to suggestions offered by him which respect the mode of making such test. That under the provisions of this section there shall not be expendedMaximum expenditures. or contract or contracts entered into involving the Government in an aggregate expenditure exceeding three million seven hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars, nor an expenditure on the part of the Government in any one fiscal year in excess of one million dollars.
And all guns and materials purchased under the authority of this section shall be of American manufacture and furnishedAmerican manufacture, etc.Maximum Pacific coast contracts. by citizens of the United States; *Provided further*, That contracts may be made for not exceeding one-fourth of the guns herein provided for, to be constructed on the Pacific coast, in the discretion of the Secretary of War: *Provided further*, That all expendituresAppropriation avail able. made under this section shall be paid from the amount made available and provided for in section six of the “Act making appropriationsVol. 25, p. 491. for fortifications and other works of defense, for the armament thereof, for the procurement of heavy ordnance for trial and service, 320FIFTY-FIRST CONGRESS.
Sess. I. Chs. 797, 801, 802. 1890. and for other purposes,” approved September twenty-second, eighteen hundred and eighty-eight, and the secretary of War shall Estimates of appropriations to carry out contracts.Accounts.embrace in his estimates of appropriations for fortifications from time to time the amounts necessary to carry out all contracts made hereunder: *Provided further*, That full and accurate accounts shall be kept, showing the cost of all type and experimental manufacture of guns, and other articles, and the average cost of the several classes of guns and the other articles manufactured by the Government a Annual statement to Congress.statement of which account shall be laid before Congress annually in the same manner as is now required from National Armories [R.
S., sec. 1665, p. 291](/us/rs/t/s1665/p291).under section sixteen hundred and sixty-five of the Revised Statutes. Approved, August 18, 1890.