any bill presented to him for approval, after its passage by both houses of the legislature, within three days, (Sundays excepted,) after such presentation, the same shall become a law in like manner as if the governor had approved it: Provided, however, That the assembly shall not have adjourned sine die, during the three days prescribed as above, in which case it shall not become a law.

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That, from and after the passage of this act, the secretary of the Territory of New Mexico shall be ex-officio superintendent of public buildings and grounds, and shall have all control and management of all public buildings now erected, in progress of erection, or to be hereafter erected, and of all grounds pertaining thereto; and he shall be under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior, who shall establish such rules in relation to said public buildings and grounds as in his judgment he may devise, and for his services as such superintendent shall receive an annual salary of one thousand dollars, to take effect from and after the passage of this act; and it shall be the duty of the secretary of said Territory, upon the convening of the legislature thereof, to administer the oath of office to the members elect of the two houses and the officers thereof when chosen; and no other person shall be competent to administer said oath, save in the absence of the secretary; in which case any one member of either house may administer the oath to the presiding officer elect, and he shall administer, the same to the members and other officers: Provided, That the annual salary of the secretary of said Territory shall be two thousand dollars per annum from and after the first day of February, eighteen hundred and sixty-seven.

Approved, July 27, 1868.

[PUBLIC-No. 125.]

AN ACT to extend the laws of the United States relating to customs, commerce, and navigation over the territory ceded to the United States by Russia, to establish a collection district therein, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the laws of the United States relating to customs, commerce, and navigation be, and the same are hereby, extended to and over all the mainland, islands, and waters of the territory ceded to the United States by the Emperor of Russia by treaty concluded at Washington on the thirtieth day of March, anno Domini eighteen hundred and sixtyseven, so far as the same may be applicable thereto.

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That all of the said territory, with its ports, harbors, bays, rivers, and waters, shall constitute a customs collection district, to be called the district of Alaska, for which said district a port of entry shall be established at some convenient point to be designated by the President, at or near the town of Sitka or New Archangel, and a collector of customs shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, who shall reside at the said port of entry, and who shall receive an annual salary of two thousand five hundred dollars, in addition to the usual legal fees and emoluments of the office. But his entire compensation shall not exceed four thousand dollars per annum, or a proportionate sum for a less period of time.

SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That the Secretary of the Treasury be, and he is hereby, authorized to make and prescribe such regulations as he may deem expedient for the nationalization of all vessels owned by actual residents of said ceded territory on and since the twentieth day of June, anno Domini eighteen hundred and sixty-seven, and which shall continue to have been so owned up to the date of such nationalization, and that from any deputy collector of customs upon whom there has been or shall hereafter be conferred any of

the powers of a collector under and by virtue of the twenty-ninth section of the "Act further to prevent smuggling, and for other purposes," approved July eighteen, eighteen hundred and sixty-six, the Secretary of the Treasury shall have power to require bonds in favor of the United States in such amount as the said Secretary shall prescribe for the faithful discharge of official duties by such deputy.

SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That the President shall have power to restrict and regulate or to prohibit the importation and use of fire-arms, ammunition, and distilled spirits into and within the said territory. And the exportation of the same from any other port or place in the United States when destined to any port or place in the said territory, and all such arms, ammunition, and distilled spirits, exported or attempted to be exported from any port or place in the United States and destined for such territory, in violation of any regulations that may be prescribed under this section; and all such arms, ammunition, and distilled spirits, landed or attempted to be landed or used at any port or place in said territory, in violation of said regulations, shall be forfeited; and if the value of the same shall exceed four hundred dollars, the vessel upon which the same shall be found, or from which they shall have been landed, together with her tackle, apparel and furniture, and cargo, shall be forfeited; and any person wilfully violating such regulation shall, on conviction, be fined in any sum not exceeding five hundred dollars, or imprisoned not more than six months. And bonds may be required for a faithful observance of such regulations from the master or owners of any vessel departing from any port in the United States having on board fire-arms, ammunition, or distilled spirits, when such vessel is destined to any place in said territory, or if not so destined, when there shall be reasonable ground of suspicion that such articles are intended to be landed therein in violation of law; and similar bonds may also be required on the landing of any such articles in the said territory from the person to whom the same may be consigned.

SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That the coasting trade between the said territory and any other portion of the United States shall be regulated in accordance with the provisions of law applicable to such trade between any two great districts.

SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That it shall be unlawful for any person or persons to kill any otter, mink, marten, sable, or fur seal, or other fur-bearing animal, within the limits of said territory, or in the waters thereof; and any person guilty thereof shall, for each offence, on conviction, be fined in any sum not less than two hundred dollars nor more than one thousand, or imprisoned not more than six months, or both at the discretion of the court, and all vessels, their tackle, apparel, furniture, and cargo, found engaged in the violation of this act, shall be forfeited: Provided, That the Secretary of the Treasury shall have power to authorize the killing of any of such mink, marten, sable, or other furbearing animal, except fur seals, under such regulations as he may prescribe; and it shall be the duty of the said Secretary to prevent the killing of any fur seal, and to provide for the execution of the provisions of this section until it shall be otherwise provided by law: Provided, That no special privileges shall be granted under this act.

SEC. 7. And be it further enacted, That until otherwise provided by law, all violations of this act, and of the several laws hereby extended to the said territory and the waters thereof, committed within the limits of the same, shall be prosecuted in any district court of the United States in California or Oregon, or in the district courts of Washington, and the collector and deputy collectors appointed by virtue of this act, and any person authorized in writing by either of them, or by the Secretary of the Treasury, shall have power to arrest persons and seize vessels and merchandise liable to fines, penalties, or forfeitures under this and the said other laws, and to keep and deliver over the same to the mar

shal of some one of the said courts; and said courts shall have original jurisdiction and may take cognizance of all cases arising under this act and the several laws hereby extended over the territory so ceded to the United States by the Emperor of Russia, as aforesaid, and shall proceed therein in the same manner and with the like effect as if such cases had arisen within the district or territory where the proceedings shall be brought.

SEC. 8. And be it further enacted, That in all cases of fine, penalty, or forfeiture, mentioned and embraced in the act entitled "An act to provide for mitigating or remitting the forfeitures, penalties, and disabilities accruing in certain cases therein mentioned," or mentioned in any act in addition or amendatory of said act, that have occurred or may occur in said collection district of Alaska, the Secretary of the Treasury be, and he is hereby, authorized, if in his opinion the said fine, penalty, or forfeiture was incurred without wilful negligence or intention of fraud, to ascertain the facts in such manner and under such regulations as he may deem proper without regard to the provisions of the act above referred to, and upon the said facts so to be ascertained as aforesaid he may exercise all the power of remission conferred upon him by said act, as fully as he might have done had said facts been ascertained under and according to the provisions of said act.

SEC. 9. And be it further enacted, That the Secretary of the Treasury may prescribe all needful rules and regulations to carry into effect all parts of this act, except those especially intrusted to the President alone; and the sum of fifty thousand dollars is hereby appropriated from any unappropriated money in the treasury to carry this act into effect and meet the expenses of collecting the revenue from customs within the limits of the said territory. Approved, July 27, 1868.

[PUBLIC-No. 126.]

AN ACT authorizing the Manufacturers' National Bank of New York to change its location. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Manufacturers' National Bank of New York, now located in the city of New York, is hereby authorized to change its location to the city of Brooklyn. Whenever the stockholders representing three-fourths of the capital of said bank, at a meeting called for that purpose, determine to make such change, the president and cashier shall execute a certificate under the corporate seal of the bank, specifying such determination, and shall cause the same to be recorded in the office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and thereupon such change of location shall be effected and the operations of discount and deposit of said bank shall be carried on in the city of Brooklyn.

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That nothing in this act contained shall be so construed as in any manner to release the said bank from any liability, or affect any action or proceeding in law in which the said bank may be a party or interested. And when such change shall have been determined upon as aforesaid, notice thereof and of such change shall be published in at least two daily newspapers in each of the counties of New York and Kings, in the State of New York, for not less than ten days.

SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That this act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage.

Approved, July 27, 1868.

[PUBLIC-No. 127.]

AN ACT relating to the district courts of Utah Territory.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the governor of Utah Territory shall assign the district judges of said Territory to their respective districts, and appoint the time and place of holding court in each of said districts, not exceeding two terms in each district in any one year.

Approved, July 27, 1868.

[PUBLIC-No. 128.]

AN ACT regulating judicial proceedings in certain cases, for the protection of officers and agents of the government, and for the better defence of the treasury against unlawful claims.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That all the provisions of section eight of the act of July twenty-eight, eighteen hundred and sixty-six, entitled "An act to protect the revenue, and for other purposes," and the forms and modes by that section and the twelfth section of the act of March three, eighteen hundred and sixty-three, therein referred to, prescribed for prosecuting suits, withholding executions, and paying judgments against officers of the United States, or other persons engaged in executing the acts relative to captured and abandoned property, shall extend and be applied to all suits and proceedings (except those in behalf of the United States) which have been brought, or may hereafter be brought, against any officer or agent of the government, civil or military, for acts done during the rebellion while acting by virtue or under color of his office or employment; and every defendant in such suit or proceeding having made full defence thereto, and having notified the Attorney General of the United States to appear and defend the same, shall be entitled to the full benefit and protection provided in said section for officers and agents of the government engaged in the collection of the public revenue; and any defendant being aggrieved by any order or direction, certificate, ruling, or judgment of any court made or had in any such proceeding, may except thereto and appeal therefrom to the Supreme Court of the United States, and have the questions arising there heard and determined.

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That no action or suit shall be maintained in any court of the United States, or of any State thereof, in the name or in the behalf or interest of any alien, against the United States, or any person, for or on account of any act done or omitted to be done by such person as an officer or agent of the United States, in the administration of the act of Congress entitled "An act to provide for the collection of abandoned property and for the prevention of frauds in insurrectionary districts within the United States," approved March twelve, eighteen hundred and sixty-three, or of the act of Congress entitled "An act in addition to the several acts concerning commercial intercourse between loyal and insurrectionary States, and to provide for the collection of captured and abandoned property, and the prevention of frauds in States declared in insurrection," approved July two, eighteen hundred and sixty-four, or in virtue or under color of the acts of Congress aforesaid, or any other acts of Congress relative to the said insurrectionary States, or to persons or property therein; and to any action or suit which may have been heretofore, or shall hereafter be, instituted by any alien against the United States, or any such person as aforesaid, on account of any act done or omitted to be done as aforesaid, the defendant may and shall plead or allege in bar thereof, that such act was done, or

omitted to be done, in the administration of one of the acts of Congress aforesaid, or in virtue or under color thereof, and such plea or allegation, if the fact be sustained by the proof, shall be, and shall be deemed and adjudged in law to be, a complete and conclusive bar to any such suit or action: Provided, That this section shall not be construed so as to deprive aliens who are citizens or subjects of any government which accords to citizens of the United States the right to prosecute claims against such government in its courts, of the privilege of prosecuting claims against the United States in the Court of Claims, as now provided by law.

SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That it is hereby declared to have been the true intent and meaning of the act approved March twelfth, eighteen hundred and sixty-three, entitled "An act to provide for the collection of abandoned property and for the prevention of frauds in insurrectionary districts within the United States," that the remedy given in cases of seizure made under said act, by preferring claim in the Court of Claims, should be exclusive, precluding the owner of any property taken by agents of the Treasury Department as abandoned or captured property in virtue or under color of said act from suit at common law, or any other mode of redress whatever, before any court or tribunal other than said Court of Claims; and in all cases in which suits of trespass, replevin, detinue, or any other form of action may have been brought and are now pending, or shall hereafter be brought against any person for or on account of private property taken by such person as an officer or agent of the United States, in virtue or under color of the act aforesaid, or the act approved July second, eighteen hundred and sixty-four, entitled "An act in addition to the several acts concerning commercial intercourse between loyal and insurrectionary States, and to provide for the collection of captured and abandoned property, and the prevention of frauds in States declared in insurrection," the defendant may and shall plead or allege in bar thereof that such act was done or omitted to be done by him as an officer or agent of the United States in the administration of one of the acts of Congress aforesaid, or in virtue or under color thereof, and such plea or allegation, if the fact be sustained by the proof, shall be, and shall be deemed and adjudged in law to be, a complete and conclusive bar to any such suit or action: Provided, however, That no judgment, recovered in accordance with this act, shall be paid by the United States, unless the amount received by the defendant as the proceeds of the transaction which was the foundation of the suit shall have been paid into the treasury, except upon an appropriation duly made therefor after a full examination of the claim upon its merits.

Approved July 27, 1868.