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No. 9. A Resolution to amend a Resolution approved on the 10th August, 1850, relative to the payment of dividends or interest on war bounty scrip. The Secretary of the Treasury is directed, where the principal has been heretofore redeemed of any war bounty scrip, to pay the dividends or interest due to the persons entitled to the same under the resolution to which this is an amendment, in case such scrip shall be hereafter presented for payment or redemption, or to pay the same to the legal representatives. September 26, 1850.

No. 10. A Resolution relating to the publication of the laws of the United States. The Secretary of State is directed to contract with Little & Brown to furnish their annual Statutes at Large printed in conformity with the plan adopted by Congress in 1845, instead of the edition usually issued by his order, under the act of Congress of April 20, 1818. September 26, 1850.

No. 11. A Resolution relative to the public printing. The Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk of the House, and the Clerk of the Joint Committee on Printing, are jointly empowered to examine, audit, and pass upon all accounts for printing, except they shall not audit or allow the account for printing the obituary notices on the death of President Taylor; to make a pro rata reduction in the compensation allowed, or to refuse the work altogether, should it be inferior to the standard, and in all things to possess the same power over the public printing as is conferred upon the Joint Committee on Printing by the joint resolution approved August 3, 1846. The authority hereby conferred shall only be exercised during the next recess of Congress, and shall cease at the commencement of the next session. September 28, 1850.

No. 12. Joint Resolution explanatory of certain acts therein mentioned. The provis ions of the second section of the act entitled "An Act amending the act entitled 'An Act granting half-pay to widows or orphans where their husbands and fathers have died of wounds received in the military service of the United States,"" approved July 21, 1848, and extended by the act of Feb. 22, 1849, shall be construed to embrace the widows and orphans of all persons designated therein, who died while in actual service in the late war with Mexico, or in going to and returning from the same; and also to the widows and, orphans of all such persons as, having been honorably discharged, or having resigned, shall have died after the passage of said last-mentioned act, or who may hereafter die, of wounds received or from disease contracted while in said service. The army rolls, showing the death of any of said persons in the army, shall be sufficient evidence to establish that fact. September 28, 1850.

STATEMENT OF THE GERMAN RAILROADS TO THE CLOSE OF THE YEAR 1849.

Transmitted for the American Almanac, by Dr. J. G. FLÜGEL, Leipsic.

Ar the close of the year 1849, the total length of all the German railroads opened for passengers amounted to about 918 German geographical miles* (of which eighty miles had been opened in the course of 1848). If both the tracks of the Maine-Weser line from Cassel to Frankfort, which were opened during the year, be added to this, there will be about 928 German miles of practicable lines of railroad, of which 335 miles belong to the different governments.

Of the individual German States, Prussia owns an extent of 340 German miles, Austria 187, Bavaria 82, Saxony 55, Hanover 48, Baden 42, the Electorate of Hesse 33, Wurtemberg and Holstein each 25, MecklenburgSchwerin 19, Anhalt 12, Brunswick 112, Saxe-Weimar 10.

The Wurtemberg Railroads, as well as the Budweis-Linz-Gmunder horse line, are at present quite isolated. The Upper Rhenish railroad system, which comprehends the Baden government line, the Maine-Neckar line, the Palatinate Ludwig's line, the Taunus line, and the lines from Frankfort to Offenbach, Hanau, and Friedberg, is separated from the large NorthGerman system of roads by the unbuilt portion between Friedberg and Marburg, as the Bavarian lines are separated by the tract from Plauen to Reichenbach, and the Austrian southern line by the tract from Gloggnitz to Muerzzuschlag (over the Sömmering).

The private lines belong to forty-one joint-stock companies, the funds of which amount to one hundred and fifty-eight and a half millions of thalers, to which other loans to the amount of sixty-two and a half millions should be added.

In the present year the incompleted portions of the Wurtemberg government line, as well as the whole Prague-Dresden Railroad (of which till now only two miles, from Dresden to Koenigstein are practicable), will be opened; in addition to this, probably a further tract of the Maine-Weser line (from Marburg to Giessen), as well as the remaining part of the Mecklenburg Railroad, is expected to be finished.

Leipsic, May, 1850.

* A German mile is equal to 4.60 English miles.

either by writ of certiorari, or by a transfer of the original papers, properly exemplified; the costs of transfer to be primarily paid by the party applying therefor. Sept. 28, 1850. No. 53. An Act granting bounty land to certain officers and soldiers who have been engaged in the military service of the United States. Each of the surviving, or the widow or minor children of deceased, commissioned and non-commissioned officers, musicians, or privates, whether regulars, volunteers, rangers, or militia, who performed military service in any regiment, company, or detachment in the service of the United States, in the war of 1812, or in any of the Indian wars since 1790, and each of the commissioned officers who was engaged in the military service of the United States in the late war with Mexico, shall be entitled to lands as follows. Those who engaged to serve 12 months, or during the war, and actually served 9 months, shall receive 160 acres; those who engaged to serve 6 months, and actually served 4 months, shall receive 80 acres; and those who engaged to serve for any, or an indefinite period, and actually served 1 month, shall receive 40 acres. If any officer or soldier was honorably discharged, in consequence of disability in the service, before the expiration of his period of service, he shall receive the amount to which he would have been entitled if he had served his full period, and all time spent in captivity shall be estimated and added to the actual service. If any one deserted, or was dishonorably discharged, or if he has received or is entitled to any military land bounty under any act of Congress heretofore passed, he shall not receive said lands. Each person so entitled to land shall receive a warrant therefor from the Department of the Interior, and either he or his heirs may locate the same at any land-office of the United States, in one body, and in conformity to the legal subdivisions of the public lands, upon any of the public lands in such district then subject to private entry; and upon the return of such warrant, with evidence of a legal location thereof, to the General Land-Office, a patent shall be issued therefor. In the event of the death of any commissioned or non-commissioned officer, musician, or private, prior or subsequent to the passage of this act, who shall have served as aforesaid, and who shall not have received bounty land for said services, a like certificate or warrant shall be issued to enure to the benefit of his widow, if unmarried at the date of her application, who shall receive 160 acres of land in case her husband was killed in battle, but it shall not enure to her heirs. No land warrant issued under the provisions of this act shall be laid upon any land of the United States to which there shall be a preemption right, or upon which there shall be an actual settlement and cultivation, except with the consent of such settler, to be satis. factorily proven to the proper land officer.

All sales, mortgages, letters of attorney, or other instruments of writing, going to affect the title or claim to any warrant issued, or to be issued, or any land granted, or to be granted, under the provisions of this act, made or executed prior to the issue, shall be null and void, to all intents and purposes whatsoever; nor shall such warrant, or the land obtained thereby, be in anywise affected by, or charged with, or subject to, the payment of any debt or claim incurred by such officer or soldier prior to the issuing of the patent. It shall be the duty of the Commissioner of the General Land-Office, under such regulations as may be prescribed by the Secretary of the Interior, to cause to be located, free of expense, any warrant which the holder may transmit to the General Land-Office for that purpose, in such State and land district as the said holder or warrantee may designate, and upon good farming land, so far as the same can be ascertained from the maps, plats, and field notes of the surveyor, or from any other information in the possession of the local office; and upon the location being made, as aforesaid, the Secretary shall cause a patent to be transmitted to such warrantee. No patent issued under this act shall be delivered upon any power of attorney or agreement dated before the passage of this act; and all such powers of attorney or agreements shall be considered and treated as null and void. The benefits of this act shall not accrue to any person who is a member of the present Congress. Sept. 28, 1850. No. 54. An Act making appropriations for the civil and diplomatic expenses of gov ernment for the year ending June 30, 1851, and for other purposes. Sept. 30, 1850.

No. 55. An Act making appropriations for the current and contingent expenses of the Indian Department, and for fulfilling treaty stipulations with various Indian tribes, for the year ending June 30, 1851. September 30, 1850.

PUBLIC RESOLUTIONS.

No. 1. A Resolution for binding the public documents. The additional copies of all executive documents which have been during the present session, or may be during either session of the present Congress, ordered, containing not less than 300 printed pages, shall be bound, the cost of binding not to exceed 12 cents a volume for the whole number ordered. February 12, 1850.

No. 2. A Resolution authorizing the purchase of the Manuscript Farewell Address of George Washington. The Joint Committee on the Library is authorized to purchase the manuscript of the Farewell Address to the People of the United States, of George Washingif the purchase can be effected on fair and just terms, in the opinion of the committee. February 12, 1850.

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No. 3. A Resolution limiting the expense of collecting the revenue from customs for the present fiscal year. After making appropriations for the expenses of collecting the revenue for the half of the fiscal year ending June 1st, 1850, it provides that the Secretary of the Treasury may dispose of the bonded warehouses now leased by government, on or before January 1, 1851, on the best practicable terms for the government; but he may retain such parts of said houses, or lease such other houses, at his discretion, as may be necessary for the storage of unclaimed goods, or goods which for any other reason are required by law to be stored by the government. Nothing in the act of March 3, 1849, shall be so construed as to prevent the importer from transporting merchandise under bond from one district to another, and of re-warehousing the same according to the provisions of the act of Aug. 6, 1846, § 2. February 14, 1850.

No. 4. Joint Resolution authorizing the President of the United States to accept and attach to the Navy two vessels offered by Henry Grinnell, Esq., of New York, to be sent to the Arctic Seas in search of Sir John Franklin and his companions. The President may detail from the Navy such commissioned and warrant officers and seamen as may be necessary for said expedition, and who may be willing to engage therein. The said officers and men shall be furnished with suitable rations, for a period not exceeding three years, and shall have the use of such necessary instruments as are now on hand and can be spared from the Navy, to be accounted for or returned by the officers who shall receive the same. The said vessels, officers, and men shall be in all respects under the laws and regulations of the Navy of the United States until their return, when the vessels shall be delivered to Henry Grinnell: Provided, That the United States shall not be liable to any claim for compensation in case of the loss, damage, deterioration, use, or risk of the vessels. May 2, 1850. No. 5. A Resolution expressing the condolence of Congress for Mrs. Margaret S. Taylor. July 18, 1850.

No. 6. Joint Resolution for restoring the settlement of the "three months' extra pay" claims to the accounting officers of the Treasury. From and after this date, the unsettled claims of the officers, non-commissioned officers, musicians, and privates for three months' extra pay for services in the war with Mexico, shall be settled by the Second Auditor, and certified by the Second Comptroller of the Treasury. July 29, 1850.

No. 7. A Resolution relative to the payment of dividends or interest on war bounty scrip. The Secretary of the Treasury is directed, in redeeming and discharging the obligations upon the government for war bounty scrip which are made assignable, to pay to the assignee and holder of such obligations all dividends or interests which have been or shall be declared and passed to the credit of the obligee upon the books of the Treasury, subsequent to the date of the assignment, unless such interest or dividends have been paid to the obligee before the transfer of the scrip upon the books in the office of the Register of the Treasury, or the presentation thereof for final payment. August 10, 1850.

No. 8. Joint Resolution instructing the Secretary of State to furnish the State of Alabama duplicates of the books and documents heretofore supplied by Congress, and which were destroyed by the recent burning of the State Capitol of said State. September 9,

No. 9. A Resolution to amend a Resolution approved on the 10th August, 1850, relative to the payment of dividends or interest on war bounty scrip. The Secretary of the Treasury is directed, where the principal has been heretofore redeemed of any war bounty scrip, to pay the dividends or interest due to the persons entitled to the same under the resolution to which this is an amendment, in case such scrip shall be hereafter presented for payment or redemption, or to pay the same to the legal representatives. September 26, 1850.

No. 10. A Resolution relating to the publication of the laws of the United States. The Secretary of State is directed to contract with Little & Brown to furnish their annual Statutes at Large printed in conformity with the plan adopted by Congress in 1845, instead of the edition usually issued by his order, under the act of Congress of April 20, 1818. September 26, 1850.

No. 11. A Resolution relative to the public printing. The Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk of the House, and the Clerk of the Joint Committee on Printing, are jointly empowered to examine, audit, and pass upon all accounts for printing, except they shall not audit or allow the account for printing the obituary notices on the death of President Taylor; to make a pro rata reduction in the compensation allowed, or to refuse the work altogether, should it be inferior to the standard, and in all things to possess the same power over the public printing as is conferred upon the Joint Committee on Printing by the joint resolution approved August 3, 1846. The authority hereby conferred shall only be exercised during the next recess of Congress, and shall cease at the commencement of the next session. September 28, 1850.

No. 12. Joint Resolution explanatory of certain acts therein mentioned. The provisions of the second section of the act entitled "An Act amending the act entitled 'An Act granting half-pay to widows or orphans where their husbands and fathers have died of wounds received in the military service of the United States,'" approved July 21, 1848, and extended by the act of Feb. 22, 1849, shall be construed to embrace the widows and orphans of all persons designated therein, who died while in actual service in the late war with Mexico, or in going to and returning from the same; and also to the widows and orphans of all such persons as, having been honorably discharged, or having resigned, shall have died after the passage of said last-mentioned act, or who may hereafter die, of wounds received or from disease contracted while in said service. The army rolls, showing the death of any of said persons in the army, shall be sufficient evidence to establish that fact. September 28, 1850.

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