Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 17.djvu/441

 FORTY-SECOND CONGRESS. Sess. IH. Ch. 13. 1873. 401 Provided, That the said drawbridges shall be so constructed as not to D¤“'b*d€"· interfere with the free or to materially or substantially obstruct the free Eg,:c;;di?° °"“` navigation of said streams, beyond what is necessary in order to carry into i effect the rights and privileges hereby granted; and in case of any litiga- litigation, tion arising from any obstruction, or alleged obstruction, to the free navigation of said river, the cause may be tried before the district court of the United States of the State of Alabama in which any portion of said obstruction or bridges touches: And provided also, That said drawbridges to be opened shall be opened promptly, upon reasonable signal, for the passage of P*°“‘P“Y° boats, and in no case shall unnecessary delay occur in opening the said draw during or after the passage of trains. Sec. 2. That any bridge constructed under this act, and according to to beiawun its limitations, shall be a lawful structure, and shall he known and recog- s2`;f;;‘;‘;;“d nizcd as a post-route, upon which, also, no higher charge shall be made P charges, ’ for the transmission over the same of the mails, the troops, and the munitions of war of the United States than the rate per mile paid for their transportation over the railroads or public highways leading to said bridges. Sec. 3. That all railway companies desiring to use said bridges shall have and be entitled to equal rights and privileges in the passage of the All railroad same, and in the use of the machinery and fixtures thereof, and of all the §‘;’;‘g’*;“f;,t; hw approaches thereto, under and upon such terms and conditions as shall be to use (2],,, q prescribed by the Secretary of War, upon hearing the allegations and bridgesproofs of the parties in case they shall not agree. Sec. 4. That the right to alter or amend this act so as to prevent or remove all material obstructions to the navigation of said river by the This gqtmgy construction of bridges is hereby expressly reserved; and that any bridge be **l*°*¤d» &¤· or bridges constructed under this act shall be built under and subject to Bridges howto such regulations for the security of the navigation of said river as the b°l:1“il§;m°“é Secretary of War shall prescribe; and the said bridges shall be, at all gg ’° imge ’ times, so kept and managed as to offer reasonable and proper means for the passage of vessels through and under them; and the said bridges shall he changed, at the cost and expense of the owners thereof, from time to time, as Congress may direct, so as to preserve the free and convenient navigation of said river; and theauthority to erect and continue said bridges shall be subject to revocation by law whenever the public good shall, in the judgment of Congress, so require. Approved, December 24, 1872. CHAP. XIII. ——-An Act for the Redugion of Qgfiicers and Expenses of the internal Doo, 24, 1872, GUETIIIB. LT Be it enacted 6g the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That on the first day of July, Offices of as— eighteen hundred and seventy-three, or at such time prior thereto, in the districts respectively, as the commissioner of internal revenue may ,,,,c,,,,i,Z€,,e,,,,, find practicable, the offices of assessor and assistant assessor of internal f<> cease on or revenue shall cease to exist; thereupon all duties imposed by law on J"lY1· assessors and assistant assessors, except as hereinafter otherwise provided, be, and the same are hereby, transferred to and imposed upon <><>llrs,l&c·, collectors of internal revenue, to be performed by them or their deputies;   frm t W"` and that all returns and reports required by law to be made to the said transfer of assessors and assistant assessors shall be made to the said collectors, or bggjs md P”°‘ to their deputies; and that each of said assessors shall, prior to the date P ' aforesaid, and at the time set therefor by the commissioner of internal revenue, transfer to such revenue officer as may be designated by the commissioner of internal revenue for that purpose all books, papers, and other property belonging to the government in his possession, or in that of any of his assistant assessors, and shall file with his final account an inventory thereof in detail, with the receipt of said revenue officer there- VOL. xvrr. Pon.- 26