Provision as to suits under that act and the act of 1864, ch. 225. Vol. xiii. p. 375. of seizure under rectionary districts within the United States," that the remedy given in said act, declared cases of seizure made under said act, by preferring claim in the court of to be exclusive. 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 Proviso as to such suit or action: Provided, however, That no judgment, recovered in payment by the accordance with this act, shall be paid by the United States, unless the United States of amount received by the defendant as the proceeds of the transaction which judgments under this act. 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. RESOLUTIONS. [No. 1.] Joint Resolution in Relation to the Printing of the Report of the Postmaster General. Dec. 20, 1867. Three thou the report of the General to be Be it resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That hereafter it shall be the sand copies of duty of the congressional printer to cause to be printed and bound three Postmasterthousand copies of the report of the Postmaster-General, instead of twenty-five hundred copies, as provided by the act approved July twentyseventh, eighteen hundred [and] sixty-six, and that so much of that act as conflicts with the above provision be, and is hereby, repealed; and this resolution shall apply to the report for the present year. APPROVED, December 20, 1867. [No. 2.] Joint Resolution changing the Time of holding the annual Meeting of the Stockholders of the Union Pacific Railroad Company. Vol. xiv. p. 305 Dec. 20, 1867. Time and Pacific Railroad Be it resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the time of holding the place of annual annual meeting of the stockholders of the Union Pacific Railroad Com- meeting of stockpany for the choice of directors is hereby changed from the first Wednes- holders of Union day in October to the first Wednesday following the fourth day of March, Company. and the stockholders are authorized to determine the place at which such annual meeting shall be held at the last annual meeting of the stockholders immediately preceding such annual meeting: Provided, The same shall be held at either of the cities of New York, Washington, Boston, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Cincinnati, Chicago, or Saint Louis: And provided further, That on the election of directors herein provided for, to ent directors to take place in March, anno Domini eighteen hundred and sixty-eight, the cease when, &o. terms of office of all persons then acting or claiming the right to act as directors of said company shall cease and determine. APPROVED, December 20, 1867. in Term of pres Jan. 11, 1868. Work on jail District of Cosuspended for forty days. lumbia to be [No. 3.] A Resolution in Relation to the Erection of a Jail in the District of Columbia. Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Secretary of the Interior be, and hereby is, directed and required to suspend for the period of forty days from the passage of this resolution all work upon the jail to be erected in the District of Columbia, under the act of Congress approved July twenty-five, eighteen hundred and sixty-six, and the amendment 1867, ch. 152. thereto, approved March second, eighteen hundred and sixty-seven; and that the Treasurer of the United States be directed to withhold for the 281, 428. period aforesaid the payment of any money appropriated for the erection of said jail. APPROVED, January 11, 1868. 1866, ch. 236. Vol. xiv. pp. Jan. 11, 1868. [No. 4.] Joint Resolution in Relation to the Sale of Stock in the Dismal Swamp Canal Company. owned by the Be it resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United Sale of stock States of America in Congress assembled, That the Secretary of the United States in Treasury be directed to adjourn the sale of eight hundred shares of the Dismal Swamp stock owned by the United States in the Dismal Swamp Canal Company Canal Company from the second day of January, eighteen hundred and sixty-eight, (to adjourned. which day said sale now stands adjourned,) until Saturday, the eighth day of February, eighteen hundred and sixty-eight, at eleven o'clock, A. M. APPROVED, January 11, 1868. Jan. 11, 1868. Regents of Smithsonian In stitution. Jan. 31, 1868. the South. [No. 5.] A Resolution for the Appointment of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution. Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the vacancies in the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution of the class "other than members of Congress" be filled by the appointment of Theodore D. Woolsey of Connecticut, William B. Astor of New York, John Maclean of New Jersey, and Peter Parker of the city of Washington. APPROVED, January 11, 1868. [No. 7.] Joint Resolution for the Relief of destitute Persons in the South. Be it resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United Relief for des- States of America in Congress assembled, That the Secretary of War titute persons in be hereby authorized to issue, for the relief of any and all classes of destitutes in the South, such desiccated potatoes and desic[c]ated mixed vegetables as have accumulated during the war and are not needed for use in the army; the same to be issued under the direction of the commissioner of the bureau of refugees, freedmen, and abandoned lands. APPROVED, January 31, 1868. Jan. 31, 1868. [No. 8.] A Resolution limiting Contracts for Stationery and other Supplies in the executive Departments to one year. Feb. 8, 1868. Commission Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That it shall not be lawful for any of the executive departments to make contracts for stationery or other supplies for a longer term than one year from the time the contract is made; and that whenever proposals for supplies have been solicited, the parties responding to such solicitation shall be duly notified of the time and place of opening the bids, and be permitted to be present either in person or by attorney, and a record of each bid shall then and there be made. APPROVED, January 31, 1868. [No. 9.] Joint Resolution to provide for a Commission to examine and report on Meters for distilled Spirits. Be it resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled. That a commission, to consist on meters for dis- of five persons, to be appointed by the Secretary of the Treasury, is tilled spirits; when to meet and report. hereby created, whose duty it shall be, in connection with the existing commission of the academy of science, to carefully examine all meters and mechanical contrivances or inventions that may be presented to them, intended to measure, test, and ascertain the productiveness of grain, or other articles prepared for distillation, or the actual quantity and strength of distilled spirits, subject to tax, produced therefrom, giving due notice of the times and places where such examination will be conducted; and that the commission shall meet and proceed to the performance of their duties, under the instructions of the Secretary of the Treasury, at the earliest practicable day, and shall report in detail to the said Secretary, to be communicated to Congress, the result of their examination, with such recommendation as they may deem expedient and most to the interest of the government, on or before the first of March next. Work on con struction of me SEC. 2. And be it further resolved, That pending the action of said commission, and until their report be made and a meter shall be by law ters suspended, adopted, all work on the construction of meters, under the direction of the and no further Treasury Department, be, and is hereby, suspended. And in the mean contract for time no further contract for meters shall be made by the Secretary of the Treasury under the fifteenth section of the act entitled "An act to amend § 15. existing laws relating to internal revenue, and for other purposes," approved March second, eighteen hundred and sixty-seven. them, until, &c. 1867, ch. 169, Vol. xiv. p. 481. commission un SEC. 3. And be it further resolved, That the Secretary of the Treasury Expenses of is hereby authorized and directed to pay, out of any money in the treas- der this resoluury not otherwise appropriated, the expenses incident to the carrying tion. out of this joint resolution, and also a reasonable compensation for the services of such of the said commissioners as are not now officers of the United States or members of the said academy. APPROVED, February 3, 1868. [No. 10.] Joint Resolution providing for the Sale of Iron-Clads. Be it resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Secretary of the Navy be, and he is hereby, authorized to dispose of such iron-clad vessels, except those of the " Dictator," " Kalamazoo," " Monadnock," and "Passaic" classes, as in his judgment are not required by the interests of the service, at a price to be determined by appraisal, to be made by a board of not less than five naval officers, two of whom shall be engineers; and report shall be made to Congress, as fast as said vessels are sold, of the amounts realized from such sales, and the parties to whom sold: Provided, That after such appraisal public notice shall be given that proposals will be received for thirty days for the purchase of said vessels; and that the highest price so proposed, being not less than the appraisal, shall be accepted: And provided further, That the proceeds of all such sales shall be paid into the treasury of the United States. APPROVED, February 3, 1868. Feb. 3, 1868. Sale of iron clads. Mode of sale. Public notice. Proceeds of sale. [No. 11.] Joint Resolution for reducing the Expenses of the War Department, and for Feb. 21, 1868. other Purposes. Expenses of army and of War Depart Be it resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Secretary of War be, and he is hereby, authorized and directed to take immediate measures for the reduction of the expenses of the army and of the War Department ment at New at and in the vicinity of New York City at as early a day as practicable, York to be rednced, and how. by concentrating the business of the quartermaster, commissary, clothing, ordnance, and medical bureaus, and recruiting service in said city, and that for this purpose there shall be hired and used at some convenient and proper point in said city one suitable building in which shall be accommodated all the offices connected with and required for the transaction of such public business, at a cost to the government not exceeding twenty-five thousand dollars per annum ; and also a suitable building or prop offices, storage, erty within the harbor of New York, or on the navigable waters thereof, &c. which shall have sufficient accommodation of warehouse, pier, dock, and basin room for the safe and convenient receiving, storing, and care of all army stores of every kind and description belonging to either of said bureaus or branches of the service, at an annual cost to the government not Buildings for Governor's Island, &c. not affected. exceeding fifty thousand dollars: Provided, however, That nothing herein contained shall be construed to prevent the storage or keeping of ordnance stores or other property at Governor's Island, or the use in any way for the purposes of the government of any property or building which actually belongs to the United States. APPROVED, February 21, 1868. Feb. 22, 1868. [No. 12.] A Resolution to authorize the Secretary of War to employ Counsel in certain Cases. Secretary of War may em ploy counsel to defend officers, &c. against suits for certain acts under reconstruction laws. Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Secretary of War be, and he is hereby, authorized to employ counsel for the defence of the General of the army, Major-General George G. Meade, and Brevet Brigadier-General Thomas H. Ruger, provisional governor of Georgia, and any other officer or person intrusted with the enforcement of the reconstruction acts, or either of them, against any suit or proceedings, in any court, in relation to their official acts. SCHUYLER COLFAX, Speaker of the House of Representatives. B. F. WADE, President of the Senate pro tempore. Endorsed by the President: "Received February 11, 1868." [NOTE BY THE DEPARTMENT OF STATE. The foregoing resolution having been presented to the President of the United States for his approval, and not having been returned by him to the house of Congress in which it originated within the time prescribed by the Constitution of the United States, has become a law without his approval.] Feb. 28, 1868. [No. 13.] A Resolution directing that the Government of Great Britain be supplied with certain Volumes of the Narrative of the exploring Expedition. Volumes of Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the librarian of Congress Narrative of Ex-be, and is hereby, directed to deliver to the Secretary of State a set ploring Expedition for British of Dana's Crustacea, being volumes thirteen and fourteen of the narraGovernment. tive of the exploring Expedition under Captain Wilkes; and that the Secretary of State is hereby directed to deliver them to the government of Great Britain. APPROVED, February 28, 1868. March 2, 1868. [No. 14.] Joint Resolution authorizing the Transmission through the Mails, free of Postage, of certain Testimonials by the Adjutant-Generals of the several States. Medals, &c. awarded by States to soldiers may be sent by mails free of postage. Be it resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the adjutant-generals of the several States and Territories be authorized to transmit through the mails, free of postage, any medals, certificates of thanks, or other testimonials, awarded, or which may be awarded, by the legislatures of said States and Territories to the soldiers thereof, under such regulations as the Postmaster-General may direct. APPROVED, March 2, 1868. March 2, 1868. [No. 15.] Joint Resolution authorizing the Comptroller of the Currency to revoke the Appointment of Receiver for the Farmers' and Citizens' National Bank of Williamsburg, New York, and to restore said Bank to its Owners under certain Conditions. Be it resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United Appointment States of America in Congress assembled, That the Comptroller of the of receiver for Currency be authorized, with the approval of the Secretary of the |