GENERAL ORDERS, No. 52. HEADQUARTERS OF THE ARMY, Washington, April 11, 1867. The Headquarters of the Third Military District is hereby transferred from Montgomery, Alabama, to Atlanta, Georgia. BY COMMAND of General GRANT: OFFICIAL: E. D. TOWNSEND, Assistant Adjutant General. Assistant Adjutant General. GENERAL ORDERS, WAR DEPARTMENT, ADJUTANT GENERAL'S OFFICE, No. 53. Washington, April 11, 1867. The following Resolution of Congress is published for the information and government of all concerned: [PUBLIC RESOLUTION-NO. 25.] A RESOLUTION in reference to the collection and payment of moneys due colored soldiers, sailors, and marines, or their heirs. Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That all checks and treasury certificates to be issued in the settlement of claims for pay, bounty, prize money, or other moneys due to colored soldiers, sailors, or marines, or their legal representatives now residing, or who may have resided, in any State in which slavery existed in the year eighteen hundred and sixty, the claim for which has been or may be prosecuted by an agent or attorney, shall be made payable to the Commissioner of the Freedmen's Bureau, who shall pay the said agent or attorney his lawful fees and expenses, and shall hold the balance subject to the order of the claimants on satisfactory identification; but no money shall be paid to any person except the claimant or his or her legal representatives, if deceased; nor shall any power of attorney, transfer, or assignment of the amount of said claims, or any part thereof, be recognized or allowed by the Commissioner, or by any officer or agent acting under him; and it shall be the duty of the said Commissioner, the officers and agents of the Freedmen's Bureau, to facilitate as far as possible the discovery, identification, and payment of the claimants. SEC. 2. And be it further resolved, That the Commissioner of the Freedmen's Bureau shall be held responsible for the safe custody and faithful disbursment of the funds hereby intrusted to him. In settling with the attorney or agent of the claimant strict compliance with the scale of fees prescribed by the second section of a joint resolution approved June twenty-six, eighteen hundred and sixty-six, entitled "Joint resolution amendatory of a joint resolution respecting bounties to colored soldiers and the pensions, bounties, and allowances to their heirs,” approved June fifteen, eighteen hundred and sixty-six, will in every case 1 2 be required and enforced; and if any attorney or agent shall, in addition to notarial fees and expenses of collecting such claim, demand repayment for money loaned or advanced to any claimant, he shall be required to make oath to the date and amount of such loan or advance, or payment of the fees and expenses shall be withheld; and when the claimant shall have been properly identified, and his account is ready for settlement, the balance due shall be paid in current funds, and not in checks or drafts. SEC. 3. And be it further resolved, That all money held or disbursed under the provisions of this resolution shall be held and disbursed under the same rules and regulations governing other disbursing officers of the army. Approved, March 29, 1867. BY ORDER OF THE SECRETARY OF WAR: E. D. TOWNSEND, Assistant Adjutant General. OFFICIAL: Assistant Adjutant General. |