eighteen hundred and ninety-eight, and before this Act takes effect, shall pay the same duties that are imposed on the same articles when imported into the United States from any foreign country. INVESTIGATION OF FISHERIES. Investigation of SEC. 94. That the Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries of the United States is empowered and required to examine into the entire subject fisheries. of fisheries and the laws relating to the fishing rights in the Territory of Hawaii, and report to the President touching the same, and to recommend such changes in said laws as he shall see fit. REPEAL OF LAWS CONFERRING EXCLUSIVE FISHING RIGHTS. SEC. 95. That all laws of the Republic of Hawaii which confer Repeal of laws exclusive fishing rights upon any person or persons are hereby conferring exclurepealed, and all fisheries in the sea waters of the Territory of Hawaii sive fishing rights. not included in any fish pond or artificial inclosure shall be free to all citizens of the United States, subject, however, to vested rights; but no such vested right shall be valid after three years from the taking effect of this Act unless established as hereinafter provided. PROCEEDINGS FOR OPENING FISHERIES TO CITIZENS. to citizens. SEC. 96. That any person who claims a private right to any such Proceedings for fishery shall, within two years after the taking effect of this Act, file opening fisheries his petition in a circuit court of the Territory of Hawaii, setting forth his claim to such fishing right, service of which petition shall be made upon the attorney-general, who shall conduct the case for the Territory, and such case shall be conducted as an ordinary action at law. That if such fishing right be established, the attorney-general of procedure. the Territory of Hawaii may proceed, in such manner as may be provided by law for the condemnation of property for public use, to condemn such private right of fishing to the use of the citizens of the United States upon making just compensation, which compensation, when lawfully ascertained, shall be paid out of any money in the treasury of the Territory of Hawaii not otherwise appropriated. Stations, regula Honolulu sta SEC. 97. That quarantine stations shall be established at such places in the Territory of Hawaii as the Supervising Surgeon-General of the tions, etc. Marine-Hospital Service of the United States shall direct, and the quarantine regulations for said islands relating to the importation of diseases from other countries shall be under the control of the Government of the United States. The quarantine station and grounds at the harbor of Honolulu, together with all the public property belonging to that service, shall be transferred to the Marine-Hospital Service of the United States, and said quarantine grounds shall continue to be so used and employed until the station is changed to other grounds which may be selected by order of the Secretary of the Treasury. The health laws of the government of Hawaii relating to the harbor of Honolulu and other harbors and inlets from the sea and to the internal control of the health of the islands shall remain in the jurisdiction of the government of the Territory of Hawaii, subject to the quarantine laws and regulations of the United States. SEC. 98. That all vessels carrying Hawaiian registers on the twelfth day of August, eighteen hundred and ninety-eight, and which were owned bona fide by citizens of the United States, or the citizens of tion. health laws remaining in force. American regis ter for certain vessels. Crown land free from trusts, etc. Naturalization. Certificates of Chinese. 1892, May 5, ch. 60 (2 Supp. R. S., 13). Hawaii, together with the following-named vessels claiming Hawaiian register, Star of France, Euterpe, Star of Russia, Falls of Clyde, and Wilscott, shall be entitled to be registered as American vessels, with the benefits and privileges appertaining thereto, and the coasting trade between the islands aforesaid and any other portion of the United States, shall be regulated in accordance with the provisions of law applicable to such trade between any two great coasting districts. SEC. 99. That the portion of the public domain heretofore known as Crown land is hereby declared to have been, on the twelfth day of August, eighteen hundred and ninety-eight, and prior thereto, the property of the Hawaiian government, and to be free and clear from any trust of or concerning the same, and from all claim of any nature whatsoever, upon the rents, issues, and profits thereof. It shall be subject to alienation and other uses as may be provided by law. SEC. 100. That for the purposes of naturalization under the laws of the United States residence in the Hawaiian Islands prior to the taking effect of this Act shall be deemed equivalent to residence in the United States and in the Territory of Hawaii, and the requirement of a previous declaration of intention to become a citizen of the United States and to renounce former allegiance shall not apply to persons who have resided in said islands at least five years prior to the taking effect of this Act; but all other provisions of the laws of the United States relating to naturalization shall, so far as applicable, apply to persons in the said islands. SEC. 101. That Chinese in the Hawaiian Islands when this Act takes residence for effect may within one year thereafter obtain certificates of residence as required by "An Act to prohibit the coming of Chinese persons into the United States," approved May fifth, eighteen hundred and ninety-two, as amended by an Act approved November third, eighteen hundred and ninety-three, entitled "An Act to amend an Act entitled 'An Act to prohibit the coming of Chinese persons into the United States,' approved May fifth, eighteen hundred and ninety-two," and until the expiration of said year shall not be deemed to be unlawfully in the United States if found therein without such certificates: 1893, Nov. 3, ch. 14 (2 Supp. R. S., 153). Chinese laborers Provided, however, That no Chinese laborer, whether he shall hold denied entrance such certificate or not, shall be allowed to enter any State, Territory, into United States. or District of the United States from the Hawaiian Islands. Savings Bank. Hawaiian laws SEC. 102. That the laws of Hawaii relating to the establishment and as to postal savings conduct of any postal savings bank or institution are hereby abolished. banks abolished., And the Secretary of the Treasury, in the execution of the agreement Hawaiian Postal of the United States as expressed in an Act entitled "Joint Resolution Payments to de- to provide for annexing the Hawaiian Islands to the United States," positors author- approved July seventh, eighteen hundred and ninety-eight, shall pay ized, etc. the amounts on deposit in the Hawaiian Postal Savings Bank to the Res. No. 55 (2 persons entitled thereto, according to their respective rights, and he Supp. R. S., 895). shall make all needful orders, rules, and regulations for paying such -appropriation. persons and for notifying such persons to present their demands for 1898, July 7, -procedure. payment. So much money as is necessary to pay said demands is hereby appropriated out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, to be available on and after the first day of July, nineteen hundred, when such payments shall begin, and none of said demands shall bear interest after said date, and no deposit shall be made in said bank after said date. Said demands of such persons shall be certified to by the chief executive of Hawaii as being genuine and due to the persons presenting the same, and his certificate shall be sealed with the official seal of the Territory, and countersigned by its secretary, and shall be approved by the Secretary of the Interior, who shall draw his warrant for the amount due upon the Treasurer of the United States, and when the same are so paid no further liabilities shall exist in respect of the same against the governments of the United States or of Hawaii. SEC. 103. That any money of the Hawaiian Postal Savings Bank that Surplus, etc., in shall remain unpaid to the persons entitled thereto on the first day of Postal Savings Bank to be paid July, nineteen hundred and one, and any assets of said bank shall be into United States turned over by the government of Hawaii to the Treasurer of the Treasury. United States, and the Secretary of the Treasury shall cause an account to be stated, as of said date, between such government of Hawaii and the United States in respect to said Hawaiian Postal Savings Bank. SEC. 104. This Act shall take effect forty-five days from and after the date of the approval thereof, excepting only as to section fifty-two, relating to appropriations, which shall take effect upon such approval. Ante, p. 1150. [April 30, 1900.] Effect. CHAP. 344.—An Act To amend an Act authorizing the terms of the district court of the May 3, 1900. 31 Stat. L., 165. Be it enacted, &c., That the first section of chapter three hundred and fifty-one of the United States Statutes at Large, entitled "An Act authorizing the terms of the district court of the United States for the 351, § 1 (2 Supp. R. southern district of Mississippi to be held hereafter at Biloxi," approved S., 960). March second, eighteen hundred and ninety-nine, be amended as fol- -terms of cirlows, to wit: After the words "district court" insert the words "and cuit court at Bicircuit court." SEC. 2. That this Act take effect from and after its passage. [May 3, 1900.] NOTE.-(1) See note to 1899, March 2, ch. 351 (2 Supp. R. S., 960), for a review of legislation affecting the courts and judicial districts of Mississippi. loxi. CHAP. 349.-An Act To amend an Act entitled "An Act to prevent forest fires on the May 5, 1900. public domain," approved February twenty-fourth, eighteen hundred and ninety- 31 Stat. L., 159. seven. (1) Be it enacted, &c., That an Act entitled "An Act to prevent forest fires on the public domain," approved February twenty-fourth, eighteen hundred and ninety-seven, be, and the same is hereby, amended so as to read as follows: "That any person who shall willfully or maliciously set on fire, or cause to be set on fire, any timber, underbrush, or grass upon the public domain, or shall leave or suffer fire to burn unattended near any timber or other inflammable material, Public domain. Substitute for 1897, Feb. 24, ch. 313 (2 Supp. R. S., 562). -setting fire to timber, etc. leaving fire unattended. Fires to be ex shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction -penalty. thereof in any district court of the United States having jurisdiction of the same shall be fined in a sum not more than five thousand dollars or be imprisoned for a term of not more than two years, or both. "SEC. 2. That any person who shall build a fire in or near any forest, timber, or other inflammable material upon the public domain shall, tinguished. before leaving said fire, totally extinguish the same. Any person fail- -penalty. ing to do so shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof in any district court of the United States having jurisdiction of the same shall be fined in a sum not more than one thousand dollars or be imprisoned for a term of not more than one year, or both. "SEC. 3. That in all cases arising under this Act the fines collected shall be paid into the public-school fund of the county in which the lands where the offense was committed are situated." [May 5, 1900.] NOTE. (1) The amendment consists in the omission from the present act in the third paragraph after the words "or shall," the words "carelessly or negligently;" and in § 2, in the first line, the words "camp fire or other," and in the third line of the same section after the word "before" of the words "breaking camp or." Fines to be paid into school fund. May 7, 1900. 31 Stat. L., 170. Indian Territory. -United States Wewoka. CHAP. 384.—An Act For the appointment of an additional United States commissioner in the northern judicial district of the Indian Territory. (1). Be it enacted, &c., That the judge of the United States court in the Indian Territory presiding in the northern judicial district thereof is commissioner for hereby authorized and empowered to appoint an additional United States commissioner within said district, who shall be permanently located at Wewoka, in the Seminole Nation, and to prescribe by metes and bounds the portion of the district for which such commissioner is appointed. [May 7, 1900.] R. S., §627. NOTE. (1) By 1890, May 2, ch. 182, §§ 39, 40 (1 Supp. R. S., 737); 1895, March 1, ch. 145, §4 (2 Supp. R. S., 394), and 1897, June 7, ch. 3, par. 6 (2 Supp. R. S., 630), provision is made for the appointment and powers of United States commissioners in Indian Territory. By 1897, February 19, ch. 265, par. 17 (2 Supp. R. S., 557), the act of 1896, May 28, ch. 252, $19, 21, 22 (2 Supp. R. S., 485), relating to the appointment and duties of United States commissioners in general, is made inapplicable to the Indian Territory. May 9, 1900. 31 Stat. L., 170. Pensions. 1890, June 27, ch. 634, §§ 2, 3 (1 Supp. R. S., 760). -for service of CHAP. 385.-An Act In amendment of sections two and three of an Act entitled "An Act granting pensions to soldiers and sailors who are incapacitated for the performance of manual labor, and providing for pensions to widows, minor children, and dependent parents," approved June twenty-seventh, eighteen hundred and ninety. (1) Be it enacted, &c., That sections two and three of an Act entitled "An Act granting pensions to soldiers and sailors who are incapacitated for the performance of manual labor, and providing for pensions to widows, minor children, and dependent parents," be, and the same are hereby, amended so as to read as follows: "SEC. 2. That all persons who served ninety days or more in the 90 days or more. military or naval service of the United States during the late war of the rebellion and who have been honorably discharged therefrom, and who are now or who may hereafter be suffering from any mental or physical disability or disabilities of a permanent character, not the result of their own vicious habits, which so incapacitates them from the performance of manual labor as to render them unable to earn a support, shall, upon making due proof of the fact, according to such rules and regulations as the Secretary of the Interior may provide, be placed -maximum and upon the list of invalid pensioners of the United States, and be entitled to receive a pension not exceeding twelve dollars per month and not less than six dollars per month, proportioned to the degree of inability to earn a support; minimum rate. -rating. -from date of filing. Pensioners un and in determining such inability each and every infirmity shall be duly considered, and the aggregate of the disabilities shown be rated, and such pension shall commence from the date of the filing of the application in the Bureau of Pensions, after the passage of this Act, upon proof that the disability or disabilities then existed, and shall continue during the existence of the same: Provided, That persons who are now receiving pensions under existder other acts may ing laws, or whose claims are pending in the Bureau of Pensions, may, apply. by application to the Commissioner of Pensions, in such form as he may prescribe, showing themselves entitled thereto, receive the benefits of this Act; and nothing herein contained shall be so construed as to prevent any pensioner thereunder from prosecuting his claim and receiving his pension under any other general or special Act: -to have but one Provided, however, That no person shall receive more than one pension at a time. pension for the same period: -rank not to be considered. And provided further, That rank in the service shall not be considered in applications filed under this Act. "SEC. 3. That if any officer or enlisted man who served ninety days or more in the Army or Navy of the United States during the late war of the rebellion, and who was honorably discharged has died, or shall hereafter die, leaving a widow without means of support other than her daily labor, and an actual net income not exceeding two hundred and fifty dollars per year, or minor children under the age of sixteen years, such widow shall, upon due proof of her husband's death, without proving his death to be the result of his army service, be placed on the pension roll from the date of the application therefor under this Act, at the rate of eight dollars per month during her widowhood, and shall also be paid two dollars per month for each child of such officer or enlisted man under sixteen years of age; and in case of the death or remarriage of the widow, leaving a child or children of such officer or enlisted man under the age of sixteen years, such pension shall be paid such child or children until the age of sixteen: Dependent wid ow and children. 4703. -children. -to continue to Provided, That in case a minor child is insane, idiotic, or otherwise physically or mentally helpless, the pension shall continue during the helpless child, etc. life of said child, or during the period of such disability; and this proviso shall apply to all pensions heretofore granted or hereafter to be granted under this or any former statute; and such pensions shall commence from the date of application therefor after the passage of this Act: Widow fore act. must And provided further, That said widow shall have married said soldier prior to the passage of the said Act of June twenty-seventh, have married beeighteen hundred and ninety." [May 9, 1900.] NOTE. (1) The principal change in § 2 of the act amended is in the insertion of the words "or disabilities" and in requiring the aggregation of disabilities in fixing the rate of pension. In § 3 the words "and an actual net income not exceeding two hundred and fifty dollars per year” are added. CHAP. 387.-An Act Authorizing the Secretary of War to make regulations governing the running of loose logs, steamboats, and rafts on certain rivers and streams. (1) May 9, 1900. waters. 31 Stat. L., 172. Be it enacted, &c., That the prohibition contained in section fifteen Floating logs, of the river and harbor Act, approved March third, eighteen hundred etc., on navigable and ninety-nine, against floating loose timber and logs, or sack rafts, 1899, Mar. 3, ch. so called, of timber and logs in streams or channels actually navigated 425, § 15 (2 Supp. by steamboats, shall not apply to any navigable river or waterway of R. S., 997). the United States or any part thereof whereon the floating of loose when not fortimber and logs and sack rafts of timber and logs is the principal method of navigation. bidden. But such method of navigation on such river or waterway or part subject to regthereof shall be subject to the rules and regulations prescribed by the ulations. Secretary of War as hereinafter provided. Regulations to SEC. 2. That the Secretary of War shall have power, and he is hereby authorized and directed, within the shortest practicable time be prescribed. after the passage hereof, to prescribe rules and regulations, which he may at any time modify, to govern and regulate the floating of loose timber and logs, and sack rafts, (so called) of timber and logs and other methods of navigation on the streams and waterways, or any thereof, of the character, as to navigation, in section one hereof described. The said rules and regulations shall be so framed as to equitably publication. adjust conflicting interests between the different methods or forms of NOTE. (1) The provisions of the act of 1899, March 3, ch. 425, § 15 (2 Supp. R. S., 997), referred to, is as follows: "or to float loose timber and logs, or to float what is known as sack rafts of timber and logs in streams or channels actually navigated by steamboats, in such a manner as to obstruct, impede, or endanger navigation." |