For pay of agents and assistants to distribute stamps, and expenses of agency, nine thousand dollars. For manufacture of stamped envelopes, newspaper wrappers, and letter sheets, nine hundred and thirty-three thousand dollars. For pay of agent and assistants to distribute stamped envelopes, newspaper wrappers, and letter sheets, and expense of agency, seventeen thousand eight hundred dollars. For manufacture of postal-cards, two hundred and fourteen thou- Postal-cards. sand dollars. For pay of agent and assistants to distribute postal-cards, and expense of agency, seven thousand eight hundred dollars. For registered package, tag, official, and dead-letter envelopes, one hundred and twenty-seven thousand dollars. For ship, steamboat, and way letters, two thousand five hundred dollars. Distribution. Official, etc., envelopes. ship, etc., letters. Printing, etc., drafts. Officer to sign war For engraving, printing, and binding drafts and warrants four thousand dollars. And the Postmaster-General may from time to time designate any officer of the Post Office Department, above the grade of fourth-class clerk, to sign warrants in his stead, and such rants. warrants when so signed, shall be of the same validity as if they had been signed by the Postmaster General. For miscellaneous items, one thousand dollars. OFFICE OF SUPERINTENDENT OF FOREIGN MAILS. For transportation of foreign mails, one million two hundred and fifty thousand dollars: Provided, That hereafter the Postmaster General shall be authorized to expend such sums as may be necessary, not exceeding fifty-five thousand dollars, to cover one-half of the cost of transportation, compensation, and expense of clerks to be employed in assorting and pouching mails in transit on steamships between the United States and other postal administrations in the International Postal Union. Miscellaneous. Superintendent foreign mails. Transportation. Proviso. Clerks on steamships. Balance due foreign countries. meet deficiencies. For balance due foreign countries, one hundred and sixty thousand dollars. SEC. 2. That if the revenue of the Post-Office Department shall be Appropriation to insufficient to meet the appropriations made by this act a sum equal to such deficiency of the revenues of said Department is hereby appropriated, to be paid out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, to supply said deficiencies in the revenue of the Post-Office Department for the year ending June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and ninety-two. gress may frank of SEC. 3. That the members and members elect of Congress, shall Members of Conhave the privilege of sending free through the mails, and under their ficial letters to Govfrank, letters to any officer of the Government when addressed ernment officers. officially. Approved, March 3, 1891. CHAP. 548.-An act making appropriations for the payment of invalid and pensions of the United States, for the fiscal year ending June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and ninety-two, and for other purposes. March 3, 1891. Pensions appropria Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the following tions sums be, and the same are hereby, appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, for the payment of pensions for the fiscal year ending June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and ninety-two, and for other purposes, namely: For Army and Navy pensions, as follows: For invalids, widows, Invalid, etc., penminor children, and dependent relatives; survivors and widows of sions. Provisos. Accounts. or Naval service. etc., claims. the war of eighteen hundred and twelve and with Mexico, one hundred and thirty-three million one hundred and seventy-three thousand and eighty-five dollars: Provided, That the appropriation aforesaid for Navy pensions shall be paid from the income of the Navy pension fund, so far as the same, may be sufficient for that purpose: And provided further, That the amount expended under each of the above items shall be accounted for separately. And provided further, Pensions not allowed That hereafter no pension shall be allowed or paid to any officer, non to persons in Army commissioned officer, or private in the Army, Navy, or Marine Corps of the United States, either on the active or retired list. Provided also, That hereafter no agent or attorney shall demand, receive, or Fee for increase, be allowed any compensation under existing law exceeding two dollars in any claim for increase of pension on account of the increase of the disability for which the pension has been allowed, or for services rendered in securing the passage of any special act of Congress granting a pension or an increase of pension in any case that has been presented at the Pension Office or is allowable under the general pension laws: And provided further, That any agent, attorney, or other person Penalty for taking instrumental in prosecuting any claim for increase of pension on account of the increase of disability for which pension was allowed, or who has rendered services in procuring the passage of any special act of Congress granting a pension or an increase of pension in any case that has been presented at the Pension Office or is allowable under the general pension laws, who shall directly or indirectly contract for, demand, receive, or retain any compensation for such services, except as hereinbefore provided, shall be deemed guility of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof shall, for each and every such offense, be fined not exceeding five hundred dollars or imprisoned, not exceeding two years or both, in the discretion of the courtPending contracts. Provided, however, That the foregoing provisions in relation to fees of agents or attorneys shall not apply to any case now pending where there is an existing lawful contract express or implied. illegal fee. Examining surgeons fees. Proviso. Examinations. Agents salaries. Clerk hire. Fuel. Stationery. Rent. Agencies to be ar groups. For fees and expenses of examining surgeons for services rendered within the fiscal year eighteen hundred and ninety-two, one million. five hundred thousand dollars. And each member of each examining board shall, as now authorized by law, receive the sum of two dollars for the examination of each applicant whenever five or a less number shall be examined on any one day, and one dollar for the examination of each additional applicant on such day: Provided, That if twenty or more applicants appear on one day no fewer than twenty shall, if practicable, be examined on said day, and that if fewer examinations be then made, twenty or more having appeared then there shall be paid for the first examinations made on the next examination day the fee of one dollar only until twenty examinations shall have been made. For salaries of eighteen agents for the payment of pensions, at four thousand dollars each, seventy-two thousand dollars. For clerk hire, four hundred thousand dollars: Provided, That the amount of clerk hire for each agency shall be apportioned as nearly as practicable in proportion to the number of pensioners paid at each agency, and the salaries paid shall be subject to the approval of the Secretary of the Interior. For fuel, seven hundred and fifty dollars. For lights, seven hundred and fifty dollars. For stationery and other necessary expenses, to be approved by the Secretary of the Interior, thirty-five thousand dollars. For rents, eighteen thousand two hundred dollars. SEC. 2. That the Secretary of the Interior is hereby authorized ranged in three and directed to arrange the various agencies for the payment of pensions in three groups as he may think proper, and may from time to time change any agency from one group to another as he may deem convenient for the transaction of the public business. The first to groups. group shall make their quarterly payments of pensions on January Quarterly payments fourth, April fourth, July fourth, and October fourth of each year; the second group shall make their quarterly payments of pensions on February fourth, May fourth, August fourth, and November fourth of each year; and the third group shall make their quarterly payments of pensions on March fourth, June fourth, September fourth, and December fourth of each year. The Secretary of the Interior is hereby fully authorized to cause payments of pensions to be made for the fractional parts of quarters created by such change, so as to properly adjust all payments as herein provided. forty-seven hundred and sixty-four of the Revised Statutes is hereby so amended as to conform to the changes in the time of payments provided herein, and is made applicable thereto. The sum of fifteen thousand dollars is hereby appropriated to Expenses of change. meet the expenses involved in carrying into effect the changes herein provided for. Section R. S., sec. 4764, p. 926, amended. cers may administer R. S., sec. 4744, p.923. SEC. 3. That the same power to administer oaths and take affida- Investigating offivits, which by virtue of section forty-seven hundred and forty-four oaths, etc. of the Revised Statutes is conferred upon clerks detailed by the Commissioner of Pensions from his office to investigate suspected attempts at fraud on the Government through and by virtue of the pension laws, and to aid in prosecuting any person so offending, shall be, and is hereby, extended to all special examiners or additional special examiners employed under authority of Congress to aid in the same purpose. Approved, March 3, 1891. CHAP. 549.—An act authorizing the Secretary of the Treasury, in his discretion, to suspend for a period of one year from March twenty-ninth, eighteen hundred and ninety-one, the provisions of an act approved March second, eighteen hundred and eighty-nine, entitled "An act to amend sections forty-four hundred and eighty-eight and forty-four hundred and eighty-nine of the Revised Statutes, requiring life-saving appliances on steamers," so far as they relate to steamers plying exclusively upon any of the lakes or bays of the United States; March 3, 1891. quiring line - carrying Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Suspension as to United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Secretary lakes, etc., of law reof the Treasury be, and he is hereby, authorized, in his discretion, to projectiles on steamsuspend for a period of one year from the twenty ninth day of March, eighteen hundred and ninety-one, so far as they relate to steamers plying exclusively upon any of the lakes or bays of the United States, the provisions of an act to amend sections forty-four hundred and R. S., secs. 4488, 4489 eighty eight and forty-four hundred and eighty nine of the Revised P68. Statutes, of the United States, approved, March second, eighteen Laws, 1st Sess., 51st hundred and eighty-nine, requiring line-carrying projectiles and the Cong, p. 33. means of propelling them to be carried on steamers, and the rules and regulations relating thereto adopted by the Board of Supervising Inspectors, approved by the Secretary of the Treasury March second eighteen hundred and ninety. The Secretary of the Treasury is hereby directed to make a series p. Vol. 25, p. 1012. of experiments with such line carrying projectiles and the means of of life-saving appli propelling them as may be submitted, and to report the same to ances. Congress, at the beginning of the first session of the Fifty-second Congress, and also his opinion as to whether necessity exists for such life-saving appliances as are now required by the regulations of the Treasury Department under the aforesaid sections of the Revised Statutes, as amended, and as to what changes, if any, in such law or regulations may be deemed advisable by him to meet the interests of life-saving and the shipping interests alike. Approved, March 3, 1891. March 3, 1891. Public printing. CHAP. 550. An act to revise the wages of certain employees in the Government Printing Office. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the pay of all Pay for night work, the employees of the Government Printing Office engaged on night Government Printing work (between the hours of five o'clock postmeridian and eight o'clock antemeridian) shall be twenty per centum in addition to the amount paid for day labor. Office. March 3, 1891. gration. mission. SEC. 2. That all acts and parts of acts conflicting herewith are hereby repealed. Approved, March 3, 1891. CHAP. 551.-An act in amendment to the various acts relative to immigration and the importation of aliens under contract or agreement to perform labor. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Alien labor immi- United States of America in Congress assembled, That the following classes of aliens shall be excluded from admission into the United Classes denied ad- States, in accordance with the existing acts regulating immigration, other than those concerning Chinese laborers: All idiots, insane persons, paupers or persons likely to become a public charge, persons suffering from a loathsome or a dangerous contagious disease, persons who have been convicted of a felony or other infamous crime Assisted immigrants. or misdemeanor involving moral turpitude, polygamists, and also any person whose ticket or passage is paid for with the money of another or who is assisted by others to come, unless it is affirmatively and satisfactorily shown on special inquiry that such person does not belong to one of the foregoing excluded classes, or to the class of contract laborers excluded by the act of February twenty-sixth, eighteen hundred and eighty-five, but this section shall not be held to exclude persons living in the United States from sending for a relative or friend who is not of the excluded classes under such regulations as the Secretary of the Treasury may prescribe: Provided, That nothing in this act shall be construed to apply to or exclude persons convicted of a political offense, notwithstanding said political offense may be designated as a "felony, crime, infamous crime, or misdemeanor, involving moral turpitude" by the laws of the land whence he came or by the court convicting. Under contract. Relatives. Proviso. Political offenders. Compromise of suits. Response to foreign advertisements deemed contract. Proviso. State Bureaus. Soliciting immigration forbidden. Violation. SEC. 2. That no suit or proceeding for violations of said act of February twenty-sixth, eighteen hundred and eighty-five, prohibiting the importation and migration of foreigners under contract or agreement to perform labor, shall be settled, compromised, or discontinued without the consent of the court entered of record with reasons therefor. SEC. 3. That it shall be deemed a violation of said act of February twenty-sixth, eighteen hundred and eighty-five, to assist or encourage the importation or migration of any alien by promise of employment through advertisements printed and published in any foreign country; and any alien coming to this country in consequence of such an advertisement shall be treated as coming under a contract as contemplated by such act; and the penalties by said act imposed shall be applicable in such a case: Provided This section shall not apply to States and Immigration Bureaus of States advertising the indu cements they offer for immigration to such States. SEC. 4. That no steamship or transportation company or owners of vessels shall directly, or through agents, either by writing, printing, or oral representations, solicit, invite or encourage the immigration of any alien into the United States except by ordinary commercial letters, circulars, advertisements, or oral representations, stating the sailings of their vessels and the terms and facilities of transportation therein; and for a violation of this provision any such steamship or transportation company, and any such owners of vessels, and the agents by them employed, shall be subjected to the penalties imposed by the third section of said act of February twenty-sixth, Vol. 23, p. 233. eighteen hundred and eighty-five, for violations of the provision of the first section of said act. Additional excep tions to SEC. 5. That section five of said act of February twenty-sixth, eighteen hundred and eighty-five, shall be, and hereby is, amended hibited classes proby adding to the second proviso in said section the words "nor to Vol. 23, p. 233. ministers of any religious denomination, nor persons belonging to any recognized profession, nor professors for colleges and seminaries," and by excluding from the second proviso of said section the words "or any relative or personal friend." SEC. 6. That any person who shall bring into or land in the United States by vessel or otherwise, or who shall aid to bring into or land in the United States by vessel or otherwise, any alien not lawfully entitled to enter the United States shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall, on conviction, be punished by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars, or by imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year, or by both such fine and imprisonment. Penalty for aiding, etc., illegal landing. pointed. SEC. 7. That the office of superintendent of immigration is hereby, Superintendent of created and established, and the President, by and with the advice immigration to be apand consent of the Senate, is authorized and directed to appoint such officer, whose salary shall be four thousand dollars per annum, payable monthly. The superintendent of immigration shall be an officer in the Treasury Department, under the control and supervision of the Secretary of the Treasury, to whom he shall make annual reports in writing of the transactions of his office, together with Reports, etc. such special reports, in writing, as the Secretary of the Treasury shall require. The Secretary shall provide the superintendent with a suitable furnished office in the city of Washington, and with such office, etc. of two thousand dollars per annum, and two first-class clerks. tion. SEC. 8. That upon the arrival by water at any place within the Inspection of immiUnited States of any alien immigrants it shall be the duty of the grants on arrival. commanding officer and the agents of the steam or sailing vessel by which they came to report the name, nationality, last residence, and destination of every such alien, before any of them are landed, to the proper inspection officers, who shall thereupon go or send competent assistants on board such vessel and there inspect all such aliens, or the inspection officers may order a temporary removal of such aliens for examination at a designated time and place, and then and there detain them until a thorough inspection is made. But such removal shall not be considered a landing during the pendency of such examination. The medical examination shall be made by Medical examinasurgeons of the Marine Hospital Service. In cases where the services of a Marine Hospital Surgeon can not be obtained without causing unreasonable delay the inspector may cause an alien to be examined by a civil surgeon and the Secretary of the Treasury shall fix the compensation for such examination. The inspection officers and their assistants shall have power to administer oaths, and to take and consider testimony touching the right of any such aliens to enter the United States, all of which shall be entered of record. During such inspection after temporary removal the superintendent shall cause such aliens to be properly housed, fed, and cared for, and also, in his discretion, such as are delayed in proceeding to their destination after inspection. All decisions made by the inspection officers or their assistants touching the right of any alien to land, when adverse to such right, shall be final unless appeal be taken to the superintendent of immigration, whose action shall be subject to review by the Secretary of the Treasury. It shall be the duty of the aforesaid officers and agents of such vessel to adopt due precautions to prevent the ing before inspection. Powers, etc., of inspection officers. Prevention of land |