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sions, respectively: Provided, however, That the said pensions shall be paid from the proceeds of the privateer pension fund alone, and without recourse to the United States, for any deficiency, should such occur, which may hereafter arise thereon: And provided further, That no such pension shall be paid to any such widow after her intermarriage had, or to be had, after she shall have become such widow.(1)

In all cases where provision has been made by law, for the five years' half pay to widows and children of officers, seamen, and marines, who were killed in battle, or who died in the naval service of the United States; and, also, in all cases where provision has been made for extending the term for five years, in addition to any term of five years, the said provision shall be further extended for an additional term of five years, so far as respects widows only, to commence at the end of the current or last expired term of five years in each case, respectively; which pension shall be paid out of the fund heretofore provided by law. And the pension herein continued shall cease for the causes mentioned in the laws granting the same, respectively.(2)

The provisions of this act shall be extended to the widows of all those who may have died by reason of wounds received during the war.(3) By act 30th of June, 1834, sec. 1, the provisions of the last preceding act are continued for another term of five years, to all those widows who have heretofore had the benefit of the same, and are extended to the widows of officers, seamen, and marines, who have died in the naval service since the first of January, 1824, or who may die in said service by reason of disease contracted, or of casualties by drowning, or otherwise, or of injuries received while in the line of their duty; and the pensions of such widows shall commence from the passage of this act: Provided, That every pension hereby granted, shall cease on the death or marriage of such widow.

If any officer, seaman, or marine have died, or may hereafter die, in the naval service, leaving a widow, and, if no widow, a child or children, such widow, and, if no widow, such child or children, shall be entitled to receive half the monthly pay to which the deceased would have been entitled, under the acts regulating the pay of the navy, in force on the first day of January, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-five, to commence from the time of the death of such officer, seaman, or marine; but in case of the death or intermarriage of such widow, the half pay shall go to the child or children of such deceased officer, seaman, or marine: Provided, That the half pay granted to the child or children shall cease on their death, or on their attaining the age of twenty-one years.(4)

The pensions which may have been granted, or which may hereafter be granted to officers, seamen, and marines, in the naval service, disabled by wounds or injuries received while in the line of their duty, shall be consi dered to commence from the time of their being so disabled, and that the amount of pension to which said officers, seamen, and marines, may be entitled, shall be regulated according to the pay of the navy as it existed on the first day of January, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-five.(5)

All acts and parts of acts, which may be inconsistent with the provisions of this act, are hereby repealed, so far as they may relate hereto.(6)

(1) Act 23d May, 1828, sec. 2. (2) Act 28th June, 1832, sec. 1. (3) Ibid. sec. 2.

(4) Act 3d March, 1837, sec. 1.
(5) Ibid. sec. 2.

(6) Ibid. sec. 3.

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ART. 2569. All money accruing, or which has already accrued, to the United States, from the sale of prizes, shall be and remain for ever a fund for the payment of pensions and half pay, should the same be hereafter granted, to the officers and seamen who may be entitled to receive the same: and if the said fund shall be insufficient for the purpose, the public faith is hereby pledged to make up the deficiency; but if it should be more than sufficient, the surplus shall be applied to the making of further provision for the comfort of the disabled officers, seamen, and marines, and for such as, though not disabled, may merit by their bravery or long and faithful services, the gratitude of their country.(1)

2570. The said fund shall be under the management and direction of the secretary of the navy, the secretary of the treasury, and the secretary of war, for the time being, who are authorized to receive any sums to which the United States may be entitled, from the sale of prizes, and employ and invest the same, and the interest arising therefrom in any manner which a majority of them may deem most advantageous: And it shall be the duty of the said commissioners to lay before congress, annually, in the first week of their session, a minute statement of their proceedings relative to the management of said fund.(2) (See infra art. 2573.)

2571. All the money accruing, or which has already accrued, to the United States, from the capture of prizes authorized by law, and which has not already been paid to the secretary of the navy, the secretary of the treasury, and the secretary of war, as commissioners of the navy pension fund, shall be paid to the treasurer of the United States.(3)

It shall be the duty of the treasurer of the United States to receive all the money so accruing, and to disburse the same, pursuant to warrants from the secretary of the navy, countersigned by the accountant of the navy; and a distinct quarterly account of the moneys thus received and disbursed, shall be rendered by the said treasurer to the accounting officers of the treasury, in the same manner as is provided for other public money, received by him.(4)

It shall be the duty of the accountant of the navy to receive and settle all accounts whatever, in relation to the navy pension fund, and report, from time to time, all such settlements as shall have been made by him, for the inspection and revision of the accounting officers of the treasury, in the same manner as in other cases of public accounts.(5)

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(4) Ibid. sec. 2.
(5) Ibid. sec. 3.

The comptroller of the treasury shall be fully authorized and empowered to direct suits for the recovery of any sums now due, or which may hereafter be due, to the United States, for prizes as aforesaid, and to prosecute the same in the name of the United States, in the same manner as in other cases for the recovery of moneys due to the United States.(1)

2572. In all cases of prizes captured by the public armed ships of the United States, which shall be sold under the order of the proper prize court by interlocutory or final decree, it shall be the duty of the marshal of the United States, making the sale, to pay the proceeds thereof into the registry of the proper court, within thirty days after such sale shall be made and closed, and immediately upon the payment into the registry of the proceeds, as aforesaid, it shall be the duty of the clerk of the court to deposite the same in some bank to be designated by the judge or judges of the court, subject to the order and distribution of the court, as in other cases, and when the said prizes shall have been duly condemned, it shall be the duty of the court to direct the share of such prizes belonging to the United States, to be forthwith carried in the account with such bank, to the credit of the treasurer of the United States, on account of the navy pension fund, and copies of the certificate of such deposite and credit shall be thereupon transmitted to the treasurer of the United States, and to the secretary of the navy, and as soon as may be, by the clerk of such court; and the share of such prizes belonging to the captors, deposited as aforesaid, shall be paid over to the parties entitled, or to their authorized agent or agents, upon the order of the proper court in term, or of the judge or judges of such court in vacation.(2)

It shall be the duty of the marshals of the several districts of the United States, and of the clerks of the respective courts of the United States, to state and settle their respective accounts in all cases of prizes captured as aforesaid, specifying therein all costs and charges taxed, claimed, and paid by them, and to submit the same to the proper court, having cognizance thereof, for examination and allowance, within sixty days after a final adjudication of such causes, unless a different time shall be assigned by such court; and thereupon such courts in term, or any judge thereof in vacation, may proceed summarily to hear, examine, and allow the same accounts, and, after such allowance, one copy of the same accounts shall be filed among the records of the court, and another copy shall be transmitted by the clerk of the court to the secretary of the navy, within thirty days after the allowance thereof.(3)

It shall be the duty of the district attorneys of the respective districts of the United States to transmit to the secretary of the navy, a statement of all prizes captured as aforesaid, which shall be libelled, condemned, or restored, at each term of the district and circuit courts, within their respective districts, as soon as may be after the conclusion of each term, and to accompany such list with a schedule and invoice of the various articles composing the cargoes of such prizes.(4)

The respective courts of the United States, before whom a libel against any prizes captured as aforesaid, shall be pending, or by whom a decree of condemnation and distribution of prizes shall have been awarded, shall have full power and authority, in the exercise of their admiralty and maritime jurisdiction, to issue a monition and other proper process to compel the marshal and clerk to perform, and obey the requisitions of this act; and upon the complaint of the United States, or any person interested in the premises, summarily to hear and examine the same, and to make such award, order, and decree therein, as to justice and law shall appertain. And if the mar

(1) Act 26th March, 1804, sec. 4. (2) Act 16th April, 1816, sec. 1.

(3) Ibid. sec. 2.
(4) Ibid. sec. 3.

shal or clerk shall wilfully refuse, or unreasonably neglect to perform and obey any of the requisitions of this act, the party so refusing or neglecting shall further forfeit and pay to the United States the sum of five hundred dollars for every such refusal or neglect.(1)*

2573. The commissioners of the navy pension and navy hospital funds are hereby directed to close all their accounts as trustees of said funds, and to pay over the balance of cash in their hands, and to assign over and transfer all the certificates of stock, and other property belonging to said funds, and to the privateer pension fund, to the treasurer of the United States, for the use of the secretary of the navy, for the payment of navy and privateer pensions, and for expenditures on account of navy hospitals, et cetera: and as soon as said assignment and transfer shall be made, the said commissioners are hereby released and discharged from all further trust connected with said funds, and the secretary of the navy is hereby constituted the trustee of said funds; and as such, it shall be his duty to receive applications for pensions, and to grant the same according to the terms of the acts of congress, in such case made and provided, and to direct and control the expenditures out of the navy hospital fund.(2)

2574. The balance of cash now on hand, and all moneys that may hereafter arise to said pension funds from stocks redeemed, or from any other source, shall be immediately invested, under the direction of the secretary of the navy, in the stock of the bank of the United States: and the secretary of the treasury is authorized to sell so much of the stock of the United States in said bank, at the par value thereof, as said navy pension funds will pay for; and to receive said navy pension funds, in payment thereof; the said bank stock to be held in the name of the treasurer of the United States for the aforesaid purposes.(3)

2575. The secretary of the navy is authorized and required to cause books to be opened, and regular accounts to be kept, showing the condition of the navy and privateer pension funds, the receipts and expenditures thereof, the names of the pensioners, and the dates and amount of their respective pensions, with a statement of the act or acts of congress under which the same may be granted; and he shall annually report to congress an abstract, showing the condition of these funds in all these particulars, and the receipts and expenditures during the year; and cause a similar account of the receipts and expenditures of the navy hospital fund to be kept and reported to congress, annually, in like manner, and at the same time, with the reports upon the pension funds.(4)

2576. The secretary of the navy is hereby authorized to appoint a clerk who shall perform all the duties which shall be required of him in relation to said funds; and shall receive as a full compensation for his services,

(1) Act 16th April, 1816, sec. 4. (2) Act 10th July, 1832, sec. 1.

(3) Ibid. sec. 2.
(4) Ibid. sec. 3.

The president is authorized to enter into an arrangement with the government of France for the payment of an annual sum of twice the amount receivable by the navy pensioners of the same or a similar class to the wounded who survive, and to such relatives of those who were unhappily killed as aforesaid, as the president may deem it expedient to include in this provision, which said sum shall be paid on the earliest day practicable after the proposed arrangement shall be concluded, and on the same day in each year thereafter, during the respective lives of the persons to whom granted.-Act 28th June, 1834, sec. 1.

A sum of money sufficient to enable the president to carry the aforesaid arrangement into effect, is appropriated, &c.—Ibid. sec. 2.

and in lieu of all commissions or other allowances, a salary of one thou sand six hundred dollars, to be paid quarter-yearly, out of the treasury of the United States.(1)

2577. All the powers conferred and duties imposed by laws now in force, on the commissioners of the navy and privateer pension and navy hospital funds, are transferred to the secretary of the navy; and all acts, and parts of acts, contrary to the provisions of this act are repealed.(2)

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ART. 2578. The proceeds of all ships and vessels, and the goods taken on board of them, which shall be adjudged good prize, shall, when of equal or superior force to the vessel or vessels making the capture, be the sole property of the captors; and when of inferior force, shall be divided, equally, between the United States and the officers and men making the capture.(3) 2579. The prize money belonging to the officers and men, shall be distributed in the following manner :

1. To the commanding officers of fleets, squadrons, or single ships, three-twentieths, of which the commanding officer of the fleet or squadron shall have one-twentieth, if a prize be taken by a ship or vessel acting under his command, and the commander of single ships, two-twentieths; but where the prize is taken by a ship acting independently of such superior officer, the three-twentieths shall belong to her commander.

2. To sea lieutenants, captains of marines, and sailingmasters, twotwentieths; but where there is a captain, without a lieutenant of marines, these officers shall be entitled to two-twentieths and one-third of a twentieth, which third, in such case, shall be deducted from the share of the officers mentioned in article No. 3, of this section.

3. To chaplains, lieutenants of marines, surgeons, pursers, boatswains, gunners, carpenters, and master's mates, two-twentieths.

4. To midshipmen, surgeon's mates, captain's clerks, school-masters, boatswain's mates, gunner's mates, carpenter's mates, ship's stewards, sailmakers, masters at arms, armorers, cockswains, and coopers, three-twentieths and an half.

5. To gunner's yeomen, boatswain's yeomen, quartermasters, quartergunners, sailmaker's mates, sergeants and corporals of marines, drummers, fifers, and extra petty officers, two-twentieths and a half.

6. To seamen, ordinary seamen, marines, and all other persons doing duty on board, seven-twentieths.

7. Whenever one or more public ships or vessels are in sight at the time any one or more ships are taking a prize or prizes, they shall all share equally in the prize or prizes, according to the number of men and guns on board each ship in sight.

(1) Act 10th July, 1832, sec. 4. (2) Ibid. sec. 5.

(3) Act 23d April, 1800, sec. 5.

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