CHAP. 76.—An act authorizing the Secretary of the Treasury to employ temporary clerks, and making an appropriation for the same; also making appropriations for detecting trespass on public lands, and for bringing into market public lands in certain States, and for other purposes. April 30, 1878. 20 Stat. L., 46. Collections for Be it enacted, &c. * SEC. 2. * [Par. 1.] That all moneys heretofore, and that shall hereafter be, collected for depredations depredations on upon the public lands shall be covered into the Treasury of the lands to be covUnited States as other moneys received from the sale of public R. S., §§ 2461, ered into Treasury. lands: * 4751. 17 Opins., 592. 1878, June 3, ch. 151, § 5, post, p. 169. [Par. 2.] That if any timber cut on the public lands shall be ex- Timber cut on ported from the Territories of the United States, it shall be liable public lands exported from Territo seizure by United States authority wherever found. [April tories liable to sei30, 1878.] * * zure. 1878, June 3, ch. 150, § 1; ch. 151, §§ 4, 5; post, pp. 166, 168, 169. CHAP. 77.—An act for the allowance of certain claims reported by the accounting officers of the Treasury Department. April 30, 1878. 20 Stat. L., 524. Be it enacted, &c. SEC. 2. No claim shall hereafter be alCertain claims lowed by the accounting-officers, under the provisions of the act of not allowed where congress, approved June sixteenth, eighteen hundred and seventy- more is fraudufour, or by the Court of Claims, or by Congress, to any person, where tently claimed such claimant, or those under whom he claims, shall willfully, know- R. S., SS 300 A, ingly, and with intent to defraud the United States, have claimed 300 B, 1086. more than was justly due in respect of such claim, or presented any 1874, June 16, ch. false evidence to Congress, or to any department or court, in sup- 15 C. Cis., 453. 285, §2, ante, p.14. port thereof. [April 30, 1878.] than is due. CHAP. 88.—An act to extend the provisions of section thirty-two hundred and ninety-seven of the Revised Statutes to other institutions of learning. May 3, 1878. 20 Stat. L., 48. Alcohol in bond Be it enacted, &c., That the Secretary of the Treasury, be and is hereby authorized to grant permits, as provided for in section thirty- may be withdrawn two hundred and ninety-seven of the Revised Statutes of the United for scientific purStates passed at the first session of the Forty-third Congress, to any ment of tax by cerposes without payscientific university, or college of learning created and constituted tain institutions, such by any State or Territory under its laws, though not incorpo- though not incorrated or chartered, upon the same terms and subject to the same re- porated. strictions and penalties, already provided by said section thirty-two R. S., § 3297. hundred and ninety-seven: Bond; how Provided further, That the bond required thereby may be executed by any officer of such university or college, or by any other person signed. for it, and on its behalf, with two good and sufficient sureties, upon like conditions, and to be approved as by said section is provided. [May 3, 1878.] CHAP. 91.—An act making appropriations for the naval service for the year ending June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and seventy-nine, and for other purposes. * May 4, 1878. 20 Stat. L., 48. Secretaries or clerks to Admiral, Be it enacted, &c. [Par. 1.] That on and after the first day of July, eighteen hundred and seventy-eight, there shall be no appointments made from civil life of secretaries or clerks to the Vice-Admiral,and Admiral, or Vice-Admiral, when on sea service, commanders of squadrons, or of clerks to commanders of vessels; And an officer not above the grade of lieutenant shall be detailed to perform the duties of secretary to the Admiral or Vice-Admiral, commanders of vessels, &c., not to be appointed from civil life; how detailed from Navy. R. S., § 1556, 2d when on sea service, and one not above the grade of master to pered., p. 267. form the duties of clerk to a rear-admiral or commander, and one not above the grade of ensign to perform the duties of clerk to a captain, commander, or lieutenant-commander when afloat: Charts to per sons not in public for at cost. * * [Par. 2.] That (1) all charts hereafter furnished to mariners or others not in the government service shall be paid for at the cost price of paper and printing paid by the government. * * [May 4, 1878.] NOTE. (1) This provision is repeated in 1879, Feb. 14, ch. 68 (20 Stat. L., 286). It would appear to relate only to charts issued by the Navy Department. R. S. § 216 relates to sale by Secretary of War of charts of northwestern lakes. Distribution of Coast Survey Charts is regulated by 1878, June 20, ch. 359, par. 4, post, p. 202, and 1879, March 3, ch. 182, par. 2, post, p. 250. Pacific Railways. Preamble 1862, ch. 120 (12 Stat. L., 489). 1864, ch. 216 (13 Stat. L., 356). R. S., §§ 5256 5262. Pacific Railways. Preamble. CHAP. 96.-An act to alter and amend the 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, and also to alter and amend the act of Congress approved July second, eighteen hundred and sixty-four, in amendment of said first-named act. Whereas, on the first day of July, anno Domini eighteen hundred and sixty-two, Congress passed 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"; and Whereas afterward, on the second day of July, anno Domini eighteen hundred and sixty-four, Congress passed an act in amendment of said first-mentioned act; and Whereas the Union Pacific Railroad Company, named in said acts, and under the authority thereof, undertook to construct a railway, after the passage thereof, over some part of the line mentioned in said acts; and Whereas, under the authority of the said two acts, the Central Pacific Railroad Company of California, a corporation existing under the laws of the State of California, undertook to construct a railway, after the passage of said acts, over some part of the line mentioned in said acts; and Whereas the United States, upon demand of said Central Pacific Railroad Company, have heretofore issued, by way of loan and as provided in said acts, to and for the benefit of said company, in aid of the purposes named in said acts, the bonds of the United States, payable in thirty years from the date thereof, with interest at six per centum per annum, payable half yearly, to the amount of twenty-five million eight hundred and eighty-five thousand one hundred and twenty dollars, which said bonds have been sold in the market or otherwise disposed of by said company; and Whereas the said Central Pacific Company has issued and disposed of an amount of its own bonds equal to the amount so issued by the United States, and secured the same by mortgage, and which are, if lawfully issued and disposed of, a prior and paramount lien, in the respect mentioned in said acts, to that of the United States, as stated, and secured thereby; and Whereas, after the passage of said acts, the Western Pacific Railroad Company, a corporation then existing under the laws of California, did, under the authority of Congress, become the assignee of the rights, duties and obligations of the said 1865, ch. 88 (13 Central Pacific Railroad Company, as provided in the act of Congress passed on Stat. L., 504). the third of March, anno Domini eighteen hundred and sixty-five, and did, under the authority of the said act and of the acts aforesaid, construct a railroad from the city of San Jose to the city of Sacramento, in California, and did demand and receive from the United States the sum of one million nine hundred and seventy thousand five hundred and sixty dollars of the bonds of the United States, of the description before mentioned as issued to the Central Pacific Company, and in the same manner and under the provisions of said acts; and upon and in respect of the bonds so issued to both said companies, the United States have paid interest to the sum of more than thirteen and a half million dollars, which has not been reimbursed; and Whereas said Western Pacific Railroad Company has issued and disposed of an amount of its own bonds equal to the amount so issued by the United States to it, and secured the same by mortgage, which are, if lawfully issued and disposed of, a prior and paramount lien to that of the United States, as stated and secured thereby; and Whereas said Western Pacific Railroad Company has since become merged in, and consolidated with, said Central Pacific Railroad Company, under the name of the Central Pacific Railroad Company, whereby the said Central Pacific Railroad Company has become liable to all the burdens, duties, and obligations before resting upon said Western Pacific Railroad Company: and divers other railroad companies have been merged in and consolidated with said Central Pacific Railroad Company; and Whereas the United States, upon the demand of the said Union Pacific Railroad Company, have heretofore issued by way of loan to it and as provided in said acts, the bonds of the United States, payable in thirty years from the date thereof, with interest at six per centum per annum, payable half-yearly, the principal sums of which amount to twenty-seven million two hundred and thirty-six thousand five hundred and twelve dollars; on which the United States have paid over ten million dollars interest over and above all reimbursements; which said bonds have been sold in the market or otherwise disposed of by said corporation; and Whereas said corporation has issued and disposed of an amount of its own bonds equal to the amounts so issued to it by the United States as aforesaid, and secured the same by mortgage, and which are, if lawfully issued and disposed of, a prior and paramount lien, in the respect mentioned in said acts, to that of the United States, as stated, and secured thereby; and Whereas the total liabilities (exclusive of interest to accrue) to all creditors, including the United States, of the said Central Pacific Company, amount in the aggregate to more than ninety-six million dollars, and those of the said Union Pacific Railroad Company to more than eighty-eight million dollars; and Whereas the United States, in view of the indebtedness and operations of said several railroad companies respectively, and of the disposition of their respective incomes, are not and cannot, without further legislation, be secure in their interests in and concerning said respective railroads and corporations, either as mentioned in said acts or otherwise; and Whereas a due regard to the rights of said several companies respectively, as mentioned in said act of eighteen hundred and sixty-two, as well as just security to the United States in the premises, and in respect of all the matters set forth in said act, require that the said act of eighteen hundred and sixty-two be altered and amended as hereinafter enacted; and Whereas, by reason of the premises also, as well as for other causes of public good and justice, the powers provided and reserved in said act of eighteen hundred and sixty-four for the amendment and alteration thereof ought also to be exercised as hereinafter enacted: Therefore, ascertained. ways; net earn- Be it enacted, &c., That the net earnings mentioned in said act of Pacific raileighteen hundred and sixty-two, of said railroad companies respectively, shall be ascertained by deducting from the gross amount of their earnings respectively the necessary expenses actually paid within the year in operating the same and keeping the same in a state of repair, and also the sum paid by them respectively within the year in discharge of interest on their first mortgage bonds, whose lien has priority over the lien of the United States, and excluding from consideration all sums owing or paid by said companies respectively for interest upon any other portion of their indebtedness; 20 C. Cls., 102. 138 U.S. 84. 1874, June 22, ch. 414, ante, p. 40. 1878, June 19, ch. And the foregoing provision shall be deemed and taken as an amendment of said act of eighteen hundred and sixty-four, as well 816, post, p. 194. as of said act of eighteen hundred and sixty-two. When section This section shall take effect on the thirtieth day of June next, and be applicable to all computations of net earnings thereafter; but it takes effect. shall not affect any right of the United States or of either of said railroad companies existing prior thereto. 1879, March 3, SEC. 2. That the whole amount of compensation which may, from Compensation time to time, be due to said several railroad companies respectively from United for services rendered for the Government shall be retained by the States to be reUnited States, one-half thereof to be presently applied to the liqui- tained, &c. dation of the interest paid and to be paid by the United States upon ch. 183, par. 5, the bonds so issued by it as aforesaid, to each of said corporations post, p. 254. severally, and the other half thereof to be turned into the sinking- 21 C. Cls., 182. fund hereinafter provided for the uses therein mentioned. 118 U.S., 237. 16 Opins., 516. Sinking-fund. 1887, March 3, SEC. 3. That there shall be established in the Treasury of the United States a sinking-fund, which shall be invested by the Secretary of the Treasury in bonds of the United States; and the semi- ch. 345, § 5, post, annual income thereof shall be in like manner from time to time p. 557. invested, and the same shall accumulate and be disposed of as hereinafter mentioned. And in making such investments the Secretary shall prefer the five per centum bonds of the United States, unless, for good reasons appearing to him, and which he shall report to Con gress, he shall at any time deem it advisable to invest in other bonds of the United States. All the bonds belonging to said fund shall, as fast as they shall be obtained, be so stamped as to show that they belong to said fund, SUP R S-11 Credits to, and payments into, sinking-fund. 1878, June 19.ch. 316, 4, 5, post, p. 195. 1882, Aug. 5, ch. 390, par. 1, ante, p. 375. and that they are not good in the hands of other holders than the Secretary of the Treasury until they shall have been indorsed by him, and publicly disposed of pursuant to this act. SEC. 4. That there shall be carried to the credit of the said fund, on the first day of February in each year, the one-half of the compensation for services herein before named, rendered for the Government by said Central Pacific Railroad Company, not applied in liquidation of interest; And, in addition thereto, the said company shall, on said day in each year, pay into the Treasury, to the credit of said sinking-fund, the sum of one million two hundred thousand dollars, or so much thereof as shall be necessary to make the five per centum of the net earnings of its said road payable to the United States under said act of eighteen hundred and sixty-two, and the whole sum earned by it as compensation for services rendered for the United States, together with the sum by this section required to be paid, amount in the aggregate to twenty-five per centum of the whole net earnings of said railroad-company, ascertained and defined as hereinbefore provided, for the year ending on the thirty-first day of December next preceding. That there shall be carried to the credit of the said fund, on the first day of February in each year, the one-half of the compensation for services herein before named, rendered for the Government by said Union Pacific Railroad Company, not applied in liquidation of interest; And, in addition thereto, the said company shall, on said day in each year, pay into the Treasury, to the credit of said sinking-fund, the sum of eight hundred and fifty thousand dollars, or so much thereof as shall be necessary to make the five per centum of the net earnings of its said road payable to the United States under said act of eighteen hundred and sixty-two, and the whole sum earned by it as compensation for services rendered for the United States, together with the sum by this section required to be paid, amount in the aggregate to twenty-five per centum of the whole net earnings of said. railroad company, ascertained and defined as herein before provided, for the year ending on the thirty-first day of December next preceding. SEC. 5. That whenever it shall be made satisfactorily to appear to Treasury to remit the Secretary of the Treasury, by either of said companies, that percentage on net seventy-five per centum of its net earnings as hereinbefore defined, for any current year are or were insufficient to pay the interest for such year upon the obligations of such company, in respect of which obligations there may exist a lien paramount to that of the United States, and that such interest has been paid out of such net earnings, said Secretary is hereby authorized, and it is made his duty, to remit for such current year so much of the twenty-five per centum of net earnings required to be paid into the sinking-fund, as aforesaid, as may have been thus applied and used in the payment of interest as aforesaid. Secretary of into sinking-fund earnings. No dividend to be voted, &c., in case of default. Liabilities of SEC. 6. That no dividend shall be voted, made, or paid for or to any stockholder or stockholders in either of said companies respectively at any time when the said company shall be in default in respect of the payment either of the sums required as aforesaid to be paid into said sinking-fund, or in respect of the payment of the said five per centum of the net earnings, or in respect of interest upon any debt the lien of which, or of the debt on which it may accrue, is paramount to that of the United States; And any officer or person who shall vote, declare, make, or pay, officers, &c., to re- and any stockholder of any of said companies who shall receive any pay dividends il- such dividend contrary to the provisions of this act, shall be liable legally made. to the United States for the amount thereof, which, when recovered, shall be paid into said sinking-fund. And every such officer, person, or stockholder who shall know- Penalty on offiingly vote, declare, make, or pay any such dividend, contrary to the cers, &c., for votprovisions of this act, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and, ing, &c., to pay illegal dividends. on conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine not exceeding ten thousand dollars, and by imprisonment not exceeding one year. Application of Priorities in ap SEC. 7. That the said sinking-fund so established and accumulated shall, at the maturity of said bonds so respectively issued by the sinking-fund. United States, be applied to the payment and satisfaction thereof, according to the interest and proportion of each of said companies in said fund, and of all interest paid by the United States thereon, and not reimbursed, subject to the provisions of the next section. SEC. 8. That said sinking-fund so established and accumulated shall, according to the interest and proportion of said companies re- plication of sinkspectively therein, be held for the protection, security, and benefit ing-fund. of the lawful and just holders of any mortgage or lien debts of such companies respectively, lawfully paramount to the rights of the United States, and for the claims of other creditors, if any, lawfully chargeable upon the funds so required to be paid into said. sinking-fund, according to their respective lawful priorities, as well as for the United States, according to the principles of equity, to the end that all persons having any claim upon said sinking-fund may be entitled thereto in due order; But the provisions of this section shall not operate or be held to impair any existing legal right, except in the manner in this act provided, of any mortgage, lien, or other creditor of any of said companies respectively, nor to excuse any of said companies respectively from the duty of discharging, out of other funds, its debts to any creditor except the United States. Liabilities to United States con SEC. 9. That all sums due to the United States from any of said companies respectively, whether payable presently or not, and all stitute lien on sums required to be paid to the United States or into the Treasury, property of comor into said sinking-fund under this act, or under the acts hereinbe- panies. fore referred to, or otherwise, are hereby declared to be a lien upon all the property, estate, rights, and franchises of every description granted or conveyed by the United States to any of said companies respectively or jointly, and also upon all the estate and property, real, personal, and mixed, assets, and income of the said several railroad companies respectively, from whatever source derived, subject to any lawfully prior and paramount mortgage, lien, or claim thereon. But this section shall not be construed to prevent said companies respectively from using and disposing of any of their property or assets in the ordinary, proper and lawful course of their current business, in good faith and for valuable consideration. SEC. 10. That it is hereby made the duty of the Attorney-General of the United States to enforce, by proper proceeding against the said several railroad companies respectively or jointly, or against either of them, and others, all the rights of the United States under this act and under the acts herein before mentioned, and under any other act of Congress or right of the United States; And in any suit or proceeding already commenced, or that may be hereafter commenced, against any of said companies, either alone or with other parties, in respect of matters arising under this act, or under the acts or rights herein before mentioned or referred to, it shall be the duty of the court to determine the very right of the matter without regard to matters of form, joinder of parties, multifariousness, or other matters not affecting the substantial rights and duties arising out of the matters and acts herein before stated and referred to. Companies not prevented from disposal of property in ordinary Enforcement of rights of United States, manner. SEC. 11. That if either of said railroad companies shall fail to per- Forfeiture of form all and singular the requirements of this act and of the acts franchises on failherein before mentioned, and of any other act relating to said com- ure to comply with pany, to be by it performed, for the period of six months next after 1878.June 19,ch. such performance may be due, such failure shall operate as a for- 316, post, p. 194. this act. |