uniform rule of naturalization; and to repeal the acts heretofore passed on that subject." SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That when any alien who shall have complied with the first condition specified in the first section of the said original act, and who shall have pursued the directions prescribed in the second section of the said act, may die, before he is actually naturalized, the widow and the children of such alien shall be considered as citizens of the United States, and shall be entitled to all rights and privileges as such, upon taking the oaths prescribed by law. APPROVED, March 26, 1804. CHAP. XLVIII.—An Act in relation to the Navy Pension Fund. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That all the money accruing or which has already accrued to the United States, from the capture of prizes authorized by law, and which has not already been paid to the Secretary of the Navy, the Secretary of the Treasury, and the Secretary of War, as commissioners of the navy pension fund, shall be paid to the treasurer of the United States. SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of the treasurer of the United States, to receive all the money so accruing, and to disburse the same pursuant to warrants from the Secretary of the Navy, countersigned by the accountant of the navy; and a distinct quarterly account of the monies thus received and disbursed shall be rendered by the said treasurer to the accounting officers of the treasury, in the same manner as is provided for other public monies received by him. SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of the accountant of the navy to receive and settle all accounts whatever, in relation to the navy pension fund, and report from time to time, all such settlements, as shall have been made by him, for the inspection and revision of the accounting officers of the treasury, in the same manner as in other cases of public accounts. SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That the comptroller of the treasury shall be fully authorized and empowered to direct suits for the recovery of any sums now due, or which may hereafter be due to the United States, for prizes as aforesaid, and to prosecute the same in the name of the United States, in the same manner as in other cases for the recovery of monies due to the United States. SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That the commissioners of the navy pension fund be, and they are hereby authorized to appoint a secretary, who shall perform all such duties in relation to the fund, as they shall require of him; and shall receive for his services, a salary not exceeding two hundred and fifty dollars per annum, to be paid quarter yearly at the treasury of the United States, and charged to the same fund.(a) (a) See note to chapter 53, post, page 297, Navy Pension Fund. By an act passed 10th July, 1832, Congress authorized the appointment of a separate and permanent navy agent at Washington, and directed the performance of the duties, "not only for the navy yard in the City of Washington, but from the navy department, under the direction of the Secretary of the Navy, in the payment of such accounts and claims as the secretary may direct." These duties would not have been so specially stated in this act, if they had been considered by Congress as coming within the ordinary duties of an agent of the navy yard at Washington, under the act of 1804. But independent of this consideration, it is enough to know, that the duties in question were discharged by the defendant, under the construction given to the law by the Secretary of the Navy. United States v. Macdaniel, 7 Peters, 1. The United States instituted a suit to recover a balance charged on the books of the treasury department, against the defendant, who was a clerk in the navy department, upon a fixed annual salary, and acted as agent for the payment of moneys due to the navy pensioners, the privateer pensioners, and for navy disbursements, for the payment of which, funds were placed in his hands by government. He claimed these commissions at the treasury, and the claim had been there rejected by the accounting offi Commission ers to make rules and regu SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That the commissioners of the navy pension fund be, and they are hereby authorized and directed to lations for the make such regulations, as may to them appear expedient, for the admission of persons on the roll of navy pensioners, and for the payment of the pensions. admission of pensioners. STATUTE I. APPROVED, March 26, 1804. March 26, 1804. CHAP. XLIX.-An Act to erect a Lighthouse at the mouth of the Mississippi river, and also a Lighthouse at or near the pitch of Cape Lookout, in the state of North Carolina; and a beacon at the north point of Sandy Hook. Lighthouse to be built at the Mississippi un der contract to be approved by the President. Lighthouse to be built at or near the pitch of Cape Lookout in North Carolina, under contract to be approved by the President. Jurisdiction of the soil to be first conveyed to the United States. Lighthouses at both places to be provided with keepers, &c. &c. Appropriation for the foregoing purposes. A beacon to be erected at the north point of Sandy Hook. Appropriation. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That under the direction of the President of the United States, it shall be the duty of the Secretary of the Treasury to provide by contract, to be approved by the President, for building a lighthouse at the mouth of the river Mississippi, on such site as the President of the United States may deem most proper for the convenience and accommodation thereof. SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That as soon as land sufficient shall be obtained at a reasonable price for the purpose and the jurisdiction of the land so to be obtained shall have been ceded to the United States by the state of North Carolina, it shall be the duty of the Secretary of the Treasury, to provide by contract, for building a lighthouse on or near the pitch of Cape Lookout, in the said state of North Carolina, which contract shall be approved by the President of the United States; and it shall be the duty of the said secretary to furnish the said lighthouses on Cape Lookout and the mouth of the Mississippi with all necessary supplies, and also to agree for the salaries or wages of the person or persons who may be appointed by the President for the superintendence and care of the same. And the President is hereby authorized to make such appointments. SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That the sum of twenty-five thousand dollars be, and is hereby appropriated for the purpose of defraying the charges and expenses which shall accrue in consequence of the two first sections of this act, to be paid out of any monies in the treasury not otherwise appropriated. SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of the Secretary of the Treasury, as soon as the fee of the soil shall have vested in the United States, to cause a beacon to be erected on the north point of Sandy Hook, and the sum of two thousand dollars out of any unap propriated monies is hereby appropriated for that purpose. APPROVED, March 26, 1804. cers, and if they had allowed the same, he was not now indebted to the government. The United States, on the trial of the case in the circuit court, denied the right of the defendant to these commissions, as they had not been allowed to him by any department of the government, and asserted that the jury had not power to allow them on the trial. By the Court-The rejection of the claim to commissions by the treasury department, formed no objection to the admission of it as evidence of offset before the jury. Had the claim never been presented to the department, it could not have been admitted as evidence by the court. But, as it had been made out in form and presented to the proper accounting officers, and had been rejected, the circuit court did right in submitting it to the jury, if the claim was considered as equitable. Ibid. It would be a novel principle to refuse payment to the subordinates of a department because their chief, under whose direction they had faithfully served the public, had given an erroneous construction to the law. Ibid. The Secretary of the Navy, in authorizing the defendant to make the disbursements on which the claim for compensation is founded, did not transcend those powers, which, under the circumstances of the case, he might well exercise. Ibid. STATUTE I. CHAP. L.-An Act supplementary to the act intituled "An act relative to the elec- March 26, 1804. tion of a President and Vice President of the United States, and declaring the officer who shall act as President, in case of vacancies in the offices both of President and Vice President." Twelfth amendment to the constitution of the U. States, 22. Act of March vol. i. 239. The secretary of state to notify the executives of the proposed amendment when ratified and to have it published. Transcripts of the notification to be delivered who are to give their votes conformably with to the electors; the amendment. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That whenever the amendment proposed during the present session of Congress, to the constitu- 1, 1792, ch. 8, tion of the United States, respecting the manner of voting for President and Vice President of the United States, shall have been ratified by the legislatures of three fourths of the several states, the Secretary of State shall forthwith cause a notification thereof to be made to the executive of every state, and shall also cause the same to be published, in at least one of the newspapers printed in each state, in which the laws of the United States are annually published. (a) The executive authority of each state shall cause a transcript of the said notification to be delivered to the electors appointed for that purpose, who shall first thereafter meet in such state, for the election of a President and Vice President of the United States: and whenever the said electors shall have received the said transcript of notification, or whenever they shall meet more than five days subsequent to the publication of the ratification of the abovementioned amendment, in one of the newspapers of the state, by the Secretary of State, they shall vote for President and Vice President of the United States, respectively, in the manner directed by the abovementioned amendment, and having made and signed three certificates of all the votes given by them, each of which certificate shall contain two distinct lists, one, of the votes given for President, and the other, of the votes given for Vice President: they shall seal up the said certificates, certifying on each, that lists of all the votes of such state given for President, and of all the votes given for Vice President, is contained therein, and shall cause the said certificates to be transmitted and disposed of, and in every other respect act in conformity with the provisions of the act to which this is a supplement. And every other provision of the act to which this is a supplement, and which is not virtually repealed by this act, shall extend and apply to every election of a President and Vice President of the United States, made in conformity to the abovementioned amendment to the constitution of the United States. And whereas, the above-mentioned amendment may be ratified by the legislatures of three fourths of the states, and thereupon become immediately valid, to all intents and purposes, as part of the constitution, on a day so near the day fixed by law for the meeting of the electors in the several states, that the electors shall not in every state be apprised of the said ratification, and may vote in a manner no longer conformable with the constitution, as amended, whereby several states might be deprived of their vote in the election of a President and Vice President: for remedy whereof, SEC. 2. Be it further enacted, That the electors who shall be appointed in each state for the election of a President and Vice President of the United States, shall at every such election, unless they shall have received a transcript of the notification of the ratification of the abovementioned amendment to the constitution, or unless they shall meet more than five days subsequent to the publication of the said ratification by the Secretary of State, in one of the newspapers of the state, vote for President and Vice President of the United States, in the following manner, that is to say: they shall vote for two persons as President and Vice President, in conformity with the first section of the second article of the constitution. And in other respects act in conformity with the How certifi. cates of their made, and forwarded. votes are to be Provisions of a former, not inconsistent with this act ex tended to all future elections. Act of March 1, 1792, ch. 8, vol. i. 239. Electors to vote by distinct ballots for Pre sident and Vice President, cording to the ac 1st sec. of the constitution, they be unin- of the amend (a) The amendment was proposed in October 1803, and was ratified before September 1804. provisions of the act to which this act is a supplement; and they shall likewise vote for one person as President, and for one person as Vice President, in conformity with the above-mentioned amendment of the constitution; and in other respects act in conformity with the provisions of the first section of this act. But those certificates only, of votes given for President and Vice President of the United States, shall be opened by the president of the Senate, for the purpose of being counted, which shall contain the list or lists of votes given in conformity with the constitution, as in force on the day fixed by law for the meeting of the electors, by whom the said votes shall have been given. SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That whenever, by the provisions of the second section of this act, it shall be the duty of the electors for any state, to vote in conformity, both with the constitution, and of the proposed amendment thereto, the executive authority of such state shall cause six lists of the names of the electors for the state, to be made and certified, and to be delivered to the said electors, on or before the day fixed by law for them to meet and vote for President and Vice President; and the said electors shall enclose one of the said lists in each of the certificates by them made and sealed, in conformity with the provisions of this act, and of the act to which this is a supplement. APPROVED, March 26, 1804. CHAP. LI.-An Act to repeal a part of the act intituled "An act supplementary to the act concerning Consuls and Vice Consuls, and for the further protection of American seamen." Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the ninth section of the act, intituled "An act supplementary to the act concerning consuls and vice consuls, and for the further protection of American seamen," passed the twenty-eighth of February, one thousand eight hundred and three, be, and the same is hereby repealed. SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That all powers of attorney for the transfer of any stock of the United States, or for the receipt of interest thereon, executed in a foreign country, since the thirtieth day of June one thousand eight hundred and three, according to the forms in use at the treasury of the United States prior to the said thirtieth day of June, one thousand eight hundred and three, shall be valid to all intents and purposes: any provision in the aforesaid section hereby repealed to the contrary notwithstanding. APPROVED, March 27, 1804. March 27, 1804. CHAP. LII.—An Act to amend the act intituled "An act concerning the registering and recording of ships and vessels." Act of Dec. 31, 1792, ch. 1. a No ship or vessel to be registered as vessel of the U. States, if owned by persons residing in foreign countries a certain length of time. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That no ship or vessel shall be entitled to be registered as a ship or vessel of the United States, or if registered, to the benefits thereof, if owned in whole or in part by any person naturalized in the United States, and residing for more than one year in the country from which he originated, or for more than two years in any foreign country, unless such person be in the capacity of a consul or other public agent of the United States :(a) Provided, that (a) A naturalized citizen, who in time of peace, returns to his native country for the purposes of trade, but with the intention of returning again to his adopted country, continuing in the former country a year after the commencement of hostilities, for the purpose of winding up his business, engaging in no new commercial transactions with the enemy, and then returning to his adopted country, has gained a domicil in his native country, and his goods are subject to capture and condemnation. The Frances, 8 Cranch, 335; 3 Cond. Rep. 154. See also the Dos Hermanos, 2 Wheat. 76; 4 Cond. Rep. 39. nothing herein contained shall be construed to prevent the registering Any ship or vessel before re gistered, &c. Satisfactory proof of the citizenship of the purchaser to be first exhibited to the collector. Proviso in a former act ex tended to the representatives of a deceased owner of a ship. Act of June 27, 1797, ch. 5. STATUTE I. CHAP. LIII.—An Act supplementary to the act, intituled "An act providing for March 27, 1804. a Naval Peace Establishment, 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 President of the United States be, and he is hereby authorized to attach to the navy yard at Washington, and to the frigates and other vessels laid up in ordinary in the Eastern Branch, a captain of the navy, who shall have the general care and superintendence of the same; and shall perform the duties of agent to the navy department, and shall be entitled to receive for his services, the pay and emoluments of a captain commanding a squadron on separate service. (a) And the President of the United States is hereby further authorized to attach permanently to the said navy yard and vessels, one other commissioned officer of the navy, who shall receive for his services, the pay and emoluments of a captain commanding a twenty gun ship, one surgeon and one surgeon's mate of the navy, who shall be severally allowed for their services, the same pay, rations and emoluments, as are allowed to a surgeon and to a surgeon's mate in the army of the United States; one sailing master, one head carpenter, one plumber, one head block maker, one head cooper, two boatswains, two gunners, one sail maker, one store keeper, one purser, one clerk of the yard, and also, such seamen and marines, as in the opinion of the President shall be deemed necessary: Provided, that the number of seamen or marines, shall not at any time be greater than what is at present authorized by the act to which this is a supplement. SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That that part of the act to which this is a supplement, which attaches to each frigate laid up in ordinary, one sailing master, one boatswain, one gunner, one carpenter, and one cook, one serjeant or corporal of marines and eight marines, and to the large frigates twelve, and to the small frigates ten seamen, and which declares that the sailing master shall have the care of the ship, and shall execute such duties of a purser as may be necessary, shall be, and hereby is repealed. APPROVED, March 27, 1804. A captain of the navy to be navy yard and vessels in ordiington. His duties, pay and emoluments. attached to the nary at Wash Who else are to be attached to the navy yard and vessels in ordinary at Washington. Proviso. Repeal of a part of a former act. STATUTE I. CHAP. LIV. An Act supplementary to the act, intituled "An act concerning the March 27, 1804. City of Washington." Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the several compensa (a) The act of March 27, 1804, by which the President of the United States was authorized to attach to the navy yard at Washington, a captain in the navy, for the performance of certain duties, was correctly construed by the navy department until 1829, allowing to the defendant commissions on sums paid by him as special agent of the navy department in making the disbursements. United States v. M'Daniel, 7 Peters, 1. VOL. II,-38 |