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thirteenth, eighteen hundred and sixty-two, and renewed March thirtieth, eighteen hundred and sixty-three, by which the said island was leased to the United States, and is now occupied by the same. Approved, February 18, 1867.

VIII..[PUBLIC-No. 37.]

AN ACT to establish and to protect national cemeteries.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That in the arrangement of the national cemeteries established for the burial of deceased soldiers and sailors, the Secretary of War is hereby directed to have the same enclosed with a good and substantial stone or iron fence; and to cause each grave to be marked with a small headstone, or block, with the number of the grave inscribed thereon, corresponding with the number opposite to the name of the party, in a register of burials to be kept at each cemetery and at the Office of the Quartermaster General, which shall set forth the name, rank, company, regiment, and date of death of the officer or soldier; or if unknown, it shall be so recorded.

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That the Secretary of War is hereby directed to cause to be erected at the principal entrance of each of the national cemeteries aforesaid a suitable building to be occupied as a porter's lodge; and it shall be his duty to appoint a meritorious and trustworthy superintendent, who shall be selected from enlisted men of the army, disabled in service, and who shall have the pay and allowances of an ordnance sergeant, to reside therein, for the purpose of guarding and protecting the cemetery and giving information to parties visiting the same. The Secretary of War shall detail some officer of the army, not under the rank of major, to visit annually all of said cemeteries, and to inspect and report to him the condition of the same, and the amount of money necessary to protect them, to sod the graves, gravel and grade the walks and avenues, and to keep the grounds in complete order; and the said Secretary shall transmit the said report to Congress at the commencement of each session, together with an estimate of the appropriation necessary for that purpose.

SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That any person who shall wilfully destroy, mutilate, deface, injure, or remove any monument, gravestone,

or other structure, or shall wilfully destroy, cut, break, injure, or remove any tree, shrub, or plant, within the limits of any of said national cemeteries, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof before any district or circuit court of the United States within any State or district where any of said national cemeteries are situated, shall be liable to a fine of not less than twenty-five nor more than one hundred dollars, or to imprisonment of not less than fifteen nor more than sixty days, according to the nature and aggravation of the offence. And the superintendent in charge of any national cemetery is hereby authorized to arrest forthwith any person engaged in committing any misdemeanor herein prohibited, and to bring such person before any United States commissioner or judge of any district or circuit court of the United States within any State or district where any of said cemeteries are situated, for the purpose of holding said person to answer for said misdemeanor, and then and there shall make complaint in due form.

SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of the Secretary of War to purchase from the owner or owners thereof, at such price as may be mutually agreed upon between the Secretary and such owner or owners, such real estate as in his judgment is suitable and necessary for the purpose of carrying into effect the provisions of this act, and to obtain from said owner or owners title in fee simple for the same. And in case the Secretary of War shall not be able to agree with said owner or owners upon the price to be paid for any real estate needed for the purpose of this act, or to obtain from said owner or owners title in fee simple for the same, the Secretary of War is hereby authorized to enter upon and appropriate any real estate which, in his judgment, is suitable and necessary for the purposes of this act.

SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That the Secretary of War, or the owner or owners of any real estate thus entered upon and appropriated, are hereby authorized to make application for an appraisement of said real estate thus entered upon and appropriated to any district or circuit court within any State or district where such real estate is situated; and any of said courts is hereby authorized and required, upon such application, and in such mode and under such rules and regulations as it may adopt, to make a just and equitable appraisement of the cash value of the several interests of each and every owner of the real estate and improvements thereon entered upon and appropriated for the purposes of this act, and in accordance with its provisions.

SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That the fee simple of all real estate thus entered upon and appropriated for the purposes of this act, and of which appraisement shall have been made under the order and direction of any of said courts, shall, upon payment to the owner or owners, respectively, of the appraised value, or in case said owner or owners refuse or neglect for thirty days after the appraisement of the cash value of the said real estate or improvements by any of said courts to demand the same from the Secretary of War, upon depositing the said appraised value in the said court, making such appraisement to the credit of said owner or owners, respectively, be vested in the United States, and its jurisdiction over said real estate shall be exclusive and the same as its jurisdiction over real estate purchased, ceded, or appropriated for the purposes of navy yards, forts, and arsenals. And the Secretary of War is hereby authorized and required to pay to the several owner or owners, respectively, the appraised value of the several pieces or parcels of real estate, as specified in the appraisement of any of said courts, or to pay into any of said courts by deposit, as hereinbefore provided, the said appraised value; and the sum necessary for such purpose may be taken from any moneys appropriated for the purposes of this act.

SEC. 7. And be it further enacted, That the sum of seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars is hereby appropriated to carry out the purposes of this act out of any moneys in the treasury not otherwise appropriated.

Approved, February 22, 1867.

IX..[PUBLIC-No. 47.]

AN ACT to amend section twelve, chapter two hundred and ninety-nine of the laws of the first session of the Thirty-ninth Congress.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the last clause of section twelve, of chapter two hundred and ninety-nine, of the laws of first session Thirty-ninth Congress, approved July twenty-eighth, eighteen hundred and sixty-six, is hereby amended by repealing all after and including the words "until otherwise provided by law," so as to place the judge advocates thereby authorized to be retained in service upon

the same footing in respect to tenure of office and otherwise as other officers of the army of the United States.

Approved, February 25, 1867.

BY ORDER OF THE SECRETARY OF WAR:

E. D. TOWNSEND, Assistant Adjutant General.

OFFICIAL:

Assistant Adjutant General.

GENERAL ORDERS,

WAR DEPARTMENT,
ADJUTANT GENERAL'S OFFICE,

No. 9.

Washington, March 7, 1867.

The following Act of Congress is published for the information and government of all concerned:

[PUBLIC-No. 60.]

AN ACT to provide for a temporary increase of the pay of officers in the army of the United States, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That for two years from the first day of July, eighteen hundred and sixty-six, all officers of the army below the rank of major general, including the professors at West Point, shall be paid an addition of thirty-three and one-third per centum to their present pay proper; and the pay and emoluments of all field and other mounted officers shall hereafter be the same as is now provided by law for cavalry officers of like grades.

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That section one of the act entitled "An act to increase the pay of soldiers in the United States army, and for other purposes," approved June twenty, eighteen hundred and sixtyfour, be, and the same is hereby, continued in full force and effect for three years from and after the close of the rebellion, as announced by the President of the United States by proclamation bearing date the twentieth day of August, eighteen hundred and sixty-six.

SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That the provisions of the joint resolution approved July twenty-fifth, eighteen hundred and sixty-six, entitled "A joint resolution in regard to rations of Union soldiers held as prisoners of war," shall be extended so as to allow commutation of rations at cost prices in the settlement of the accounts of all enlisted men of the army, navy, and marine corps who died while held as prisoners of war in the rebel States, or who, having been so held as prisoners of war, have died or may die subsequent to release; to be paid, however, only to the widow of such deceased person, if such widow remain unmarried; or, in case there be no such widow, then to the surviving children of the deceased; or, if there be no such widow or children, then to the parent or parents of the deceased; or, if there be no such widow, children, parent, or parents, then to the brothers and sisters of the deceased.

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