[PUBLIC RESOLUTION—No. 10.]

JOINT RESOLUTION authorizing the building of a railroad bridge over the Ohio river at Paducah, Kentucky.

Be it resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the consent of Congress be, and the same is hereby, given to the erection of a railroad bridge over the Ohio river from the city of Paducah, Kentucky, to the State of Illinois, by the Paducah and Gulf Railroad Company and such others as may associate with them for that purpose under the laws of the States of Kentucky and Illinois: Provided, That said bridge is built with an unbroken or continuous span of not less than four hundred feet in the clear, from pier to pier, over the main channel of the river, and is built in all other respects in accordance with the conditions and limitations of an act entitled "An act to establish certain post roads," approved July fourteenth, eighteen hundred and sixty-two; that said bridge, when completed in the manner specified in this resolution, shall be deemed and taken to be a legal structure, and shall be a post road for the transmission of the mails of the United States; but Congress reserves the right to withdraw the assent hereby given in case the free navigation of said river shall at any time be substantially and materially obstructed by any bridge to be erected under the authority of this resolution, or to direct the necessary modifications and alterations of said bridge.

Approved, April 7, 1869.

[PUBLIC RESOLUTION-NO. 11.]

JOINT RESOLUTION concerning vacancies in the Adjutant General's department. Be it resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the vacancies existing in the Adjutant General's department at the time of the passage of the act approved March third, eighteen hundred and sixty-nine, "making appropriations for the support of the army for the year ending June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and seventy, and for other purposes," be, and the same are hereby, exempted from the operation of said act. Approved, April 10, 1869.

[PUBLIC RESOLUTION-NO. 12.]

JOINT RESOLUTION authorizing the transfer of certain appropriations heretofore made. Be it resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Secretary of the Treasury be, and he is hereby, authorized and directed to cause the sum of seventy-eight thousand dollars to be transferred from the appropriation "for paper for the public printing," contained in the act entitled "An act making appropriations for the legislative, executive, and judicial expenses of the government for the year ending June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and sixty-nine," approved on the twentieth of July, eighteen hundred and sixty-eight, in aid of the appropriations contained in the same act for the following purposes, and in the following proportions, to wit:

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For contingent expenses of the office of Congressional Printer, three thousand dollars.

For the public printing, seventy-five thousand dollars.

Approved. April 10, 1869.

[PUBLIC RESOLUTION-No. 13.]

A RESOLUTION in relation to the Burlington and Missouri River railroad branch of the Union Pacific railroad.

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the act of Congress, approved July [June] two, eighteen hundred and sixty-four, granting certain lands to the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad Company, to aid in extending its road through the then Territory of Nebraska, to connect with the Union Pacific railroad, shall be so construed as to authorize said Burlington and Missouri River Railroad Company to assign and convey to a railroad company, to be organized under the laws of the State of Nebraska, all the rights, powers, and privileges granted and conferred by said act and subject to all the conditions and requirements therein contained.

Approved, April 10, 1869.

[PUBLIC RESOLUTION-No. 14.]

A RESOLUTION respecting the retirement of Brevet Major General S. P. Heintzelman. Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the President of the United States be, and he is hereby, authorized to place the name of Brevet Major General S. P. Heintzelman on the retired list of the army, with the full rank of the command held by him when wounded, in accordance with sections sixteen and seventeen of the act of August, eighteen hundred and sixtyone, and section thirty-two of the act of July twenty-eight, eighteen hundred and sixty-six.

Approved, April 10, 1869.

[PUBLIC RESOLUTION-No. 15.]

A RESOLUTION for the protection of soldiers and their heirs.

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the accounting officers of the treasury and pay department who are charged with the settlement and payment of bounties due to soldiers or their heirs be, and they are hereby, directed to pay or cause to be paid the sums found due to the said soldiers or their heirs in person, or by transmitting the amount to them direct in a draft or drafts, payable to his, her, or their order, or through the Freedmen's Bureau, or State agents appointed specially for that purpose, or governors of national asylums, or pension agent of the district where he, she, or they may reside, and not to any claim agent or upon any power of attorney, transfer, or assignment whatever.

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SEC. 2. And be it further resolved, That any officer or clerk of any of the executive departments of the government who shall be lawfully detailed to investigate frauds, or attempts to defraud, on the government, or any irregularity or misconduct of any officer or agent of the United States, shall have power to administer oaths to affidavits taken in the course of any such investigation.

SEC. 3. And be it further resolved, That the fees allowed by law to attorneys or agents shall be reserved by the pay department or said pension agent and paid to said agent or attorney when any such fees are due for services rendered in procuring such bounty or bounties, and not otherwise.

Approved, April 10, 1869.

PUBLIC RESOLUTION-No. 16.]

A RESOLUTION extending the time for the completion of the Portage Lake and Lake Superior ship canal.

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the time for the completion of the Portage Lake and Lake Superior ship canal be, and the same is hereby, extended to the third day of March, eighteen hundred and seventy-one.

Approved, April 10, 1869.

[PUBLIC RESOLUTION-No. 17.]

A RESOLUTION making San Diego, California, a port of delivery.

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That San Diego, California, be, and is hereby, created a port of delivery in the customs collection district of San Francisco, and that the deputy collector of that port receive the same salary as other deputy collectors of the district.

Approved, April 10, 1869.

[PUBLIC RESOLUTION-No. 18.]

A RESOLUTION enabling bona fide settlers to purchase certain lands acquired from the Great and Little Osage tribe of Indians.

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That any bona fide settler residing upon any portion of the lands sold to the United States, by virtue of the first and second articles of the treaty concluded between the United States and the Great and Little Osage tribe of Indians, September twenty-ninth, eighteen hundred and sixty-five, and proclaimed January twenty-first, eighteen hundred and sixty-seven, who is a citizen of the United States or shall have declared his intention to become a citizen of the United States, shall be, and hereby is, entitled to purchase the same in quantity not exceeding one hundred and sixty acres, at the price of one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre, within two years from the pas

sage of this act, under such rules and regulations as may be prescribed by the Secretary of the Interior: Provided, however, That both the odd and even numbered sections of said lands shall be subject to settlement and sale as above provided: And provided further, That the sixteenth and thirty-sixth sections in each township of said lands shall be reserved for State school purposes in accordance with the provisions of the act of admission of the State of Kansas: Provided, however, That nothing in this act shall be construed in any manner affecting any legal rights heretofore vested in any other party or parties.

Approved, April 10, 1869.

[PUBLIC RESOLUTION-No. 19.]

JOINT RESOLUTION for the protection of the interests of the United States in the Union Pacific Railroad Company, the Central Pacific Railroad Company, and for other purposes. Be it resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the stockholders of the Union Pacific Railroad Company, at a meeting to be held on the twentysecond day of April, eighteen hundred and sixty-nine, at the city of Boston, (with power to adjourn from day to day,) shall elect a board of directors for the ensuing year; and said stockholders are hereby authorized to establish their general office at such place in the United States as they may select at said meeting: Provided, That the passage of this resolution shall not confer any other right upon said Union Pacific Railroad Company than to hold such election, or be held in any manner to relinquish or waive any rights of the United States to take advantage of any act or neglect of said Union Pacific Railroad Company heretofore done or omitted whereby the rights of the general government have been or may be prejudiced: And provided further, That the common terminus of the Union Pacific and the Central Pacific railroads shall be at or near Ogden; and the Union Pacific Railroad Company shall build, and the Central Pacific Railroad Company pay for and own the railroad from the terminus aforesaid to Promontory summit, at which point the rails shall meet and connect and form one continuous line.

SEC. 2. And be it further resolved, That, to ascertain the condition of the Union Pacific railroad and the Central Pacific railroad, the President of the United States is authorized to appoint a board of eminent citizens, not exceeding five in number, and who shall not be interested in either road, to examine and report upon the condition of, and what sum or sums, if any, will be required to complete each of said roads, for the entire length thereof, to the said terminus as a first-class railroad, in compliance with the several acts relating to said roads; and the expense of such board, including an allowance of ten dollars to each for their services for each day employed in such examination or report, to be paid equally by said companies.

SEC. 3. And be it further resolved, That the President is hereby authorized and required to withhold from each of said companies an amount of subsidy bonds authorized to be issued by the United States under said acts sufficient to secure the full completion as a first-class road of all sections of such road upon which bonds have already been issued, or in lieu of such bonds he may receive as such security an equal amount of the first mortgage bonds of such company; and if it shall appear to the President that the amount of subsidy bonds yet to be issued to

either of said companies is insufficient to insure the full completion of such road, he may make requisition upon such company for a sufficient amount of bonds already issued to said company, or in his discretion of their first mortgage bonds, to secure the full completion of the same. And in default of obtaining such security as [is] in this section provided, the President may authorize and direct the Attorney General to institute such suits and proceedings on behalf and in the name of the United States, in any court of the United States having jurisdiction, as shall be necessary or proper to compel the giving of such security, and thereby, or in any manner otherwise, to protect the interests of the United States in said road, and to insure the full completion thereof as a first-class road, as required by law and the statutes in that case made.

SEC. 4. And be it further resolved, That the Attorney General of the United States be, and he is hereby, authorized and directed to investigate whether or not the charter and all the franchises of the Union Pacific Railroad Company and of the Central Pacific Railroad Company have not been forfeited, and to institute all necessary and proper legal proceedings; also to investigate whether or not said companies have or have not made any illegal dividends upon their stock, and if so to institute the necessary proceedings to have the same reimbursed; and also to investigate whether any of the directors or any other agents or employees of said companies have or not violated any penal law, and if so to institute the proper criminal proceedings against all persons who have violated such laws.

Approved, April 10, 1869.

[PUBLIC RESOLUTION-No. 20.]

JOINT RESOLUTION granting right of way for the construction of a railroad from a point at or near Portland, Oregon, to a point west of the Cascade mountains, in Washington Territory.

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Be it resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of América in Congress assembled, That the Northern Pacific Railroad Company be, and hereby is, authorized to extend its branch line from a point at or near Portland, Oregon, to some suitable point on Puget sound, to be determined by said company, and also to connect the same with its main line west of the Cascade mountains, in the Territory of Washington; said extension being subject to all the conditions and provisions, and said company in respect thereto being entitled to all the rights and privileges conferred by the act incorporating said company, and all acts additional to and amendatory thereof: Provided, That said company shall not be entitled to any subsidy in money, bonds, or additional lands of the United States, in respect to said extension of its branch line as aforesaid, except such lands as may be included in the right of way on the line of such extension as it may be located: And provided further, That at least twenty-five miles of said extension shall be constructed before the second day of July, eighteen hundred and seventy-one, and forty miles per year thereafter until the whole of said extension shall be completed.

Approved, April 10, 1869.