Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 12.djvu/71

 THIRTYLSIXTH CONGRESS. Sess. L Ch. 137. 1860. 41 exceeding one year from the date of their being landed on the coast of Af- rica, at a price in no case to exceed one hundred dollars for each person so clothed, sheltered, and provided with food: Provided, That any contract so made as aforesaid may be renewed by the President from time to b£':;f;°efl’¥;{¤¤ time 2:1. found necessary for periods not to exceed live years on each timsmtgma renew Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That the President of the United States be, and he is hereby, authorized to issue instructions to the commanders of the armed vessels of the United States, directing them when- vegglfg Sfgggzd ever it shall be practicable, and under such rules and regulations as he at (mc, mpcgggt may prescribe, to proceed directly to the coast of Africa, and there de- of A&i<¤5 ¤¤<i liver to the agent or agents of the United States all negroes, mulattoes, g;;l:n°;?Q§:; &°_ and persons of color delivered from on board vessels seized in the prosecu- ° tion of the slave trade, afterwards bringing the captured vessels and persons engaged in prosecuting the slave trade to the United States for trial and adjudication. Sec. 3. Am! be it further enacted, That the President of the United a  “tf,“A"g_il’° States be, and he is hereby, authorized to take immediate measures in his ,,2, umnuy discretion in accordance with existing laws, and with the provisions of landed in Florida, the first section of this ·act, for removing to the coast of Africa, and there mg fgggfggw providing with food, shelter, and clothing for a term not exceeding one year from the date of landing in Africa the captured Africans recently landed in the southern district of Florida, and that the sum of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars be appropriated for that purpose out of any moneys in the treasury not otherwise appropriated by law. Approved, June 16, 1860. Cnn. CXXXVII.-An Act tofamlitate Communication between the Atlantic and Pacryic June 16, 1860. States by Electric Telegraph. Be it enacted ky the Senate and .Hause` af Representatives of the United Bgfmw PP- 53% States of America in Congress assembled, That the Secretary of the Treasury, under the direction of the President of the United States, is Pmyossrswbe hereby authorized and directed to advertise for sealed proposals, to be “d"°’“‘°°d f°'· received for sixty days after the passage of this act, (and the fuliilment of which shall be guaranteed by responsible parties, as in the case of bids for mail contracts,) for the use by the government of a line or lines of magnetic telegraph, to be constructed within two years from the thirty- first day of July, eighteen hundred and sixty, from some point or points on the west line of the State of Missouri, by any route or routes which the said contractors may select, (connecting at such point or points by telegraph with the cities of Washington, New Orleans, New York, Charleston, Philadelphia, Boston, and other cities in the Atlantic, Southern, and Western States,) to the city of San Francisco, in the State of California, for a period of ten years, and shall award the contract to the lowest re- _C<>¤¤‘=¢* *0 56 sponsible bidder or bidders, provided such proffer does not require a §;S";§n§;,:{L"°“ larger amount per year from the United States than forty thousand dollars; bidder, Sw. and permission is hereby granted to the said parties to whom said contract may be awarded, or a majority of them, and their assigns, to use until the end of the said term, such unoccupied public lands of the United States _ as may be necessary for the right. of way and for the purpose of estab- &cR*€h* °*` "¤Y· lishing stations for repairs along said line, not exceeding at any station ° one quarter-section of land, such stations not to exceed one in fifteen miles on an average of the whole distance, unless said lands shall be required by the government of the United States for railroad or other purposes, and provided that no right to preém [p]!; any of said lands under the laws of the United States shall inure to said company, their agents or servants, or to any other person or persons whatsoever: Pr0videoL That no such contract shall be made until the said line shall be in actual operation, and von. xu. Pos.-6