Homestead sonal preliminary acts at the district land-office which the preceding sections require; and whose family, or some member thereof, is residing on the land which he desires to enter, and upon which a bona-fide improvement and settlement have been made, such person may make the affidavit required by law before the officer commanding in the branch of the service in which the party is engaged, which affidavit shall be as binding in law, and with like penalties, as if taken before the register or receiver; and upon such affidavit being filed with the register by the wife or other representative of the party, the same shall become effective from the date of such filing, provided the application and affidavit are accompanied by the fee and commissions as required by law. 21 March, 1864, s. 4, v. 13, p. 35. SEC. 2296. No lands acquired under the provisions of this chapter lands not to be shall in any event become liable to the satisfaction of any debt consubject to prior tracted prior to the issuing of the patent therefor. debts. When lands en stead revert to Government. 20 May, 1862, s. 4, v. 12, p. 393. SEC. 2297. If, at any time after the filing of the affidavit, as required tered for home- in section twenty-two hundred and ninety, and before the expiration of the five years mentioned in section twenty-two hundred and ninety-one, it is proved, after due notice to the settler, to the satisfaction of the register of the land-office, that the person having filed such affidavit has actually changed his residence, or abandoned the land for more than six months at any time, then and in that event the land so entered shall revert to the Government. Limitation of amount entered for homestead. What minors 20 May, 1862, s. 5, v. 12, p. 393. [An act approved 21 April, 1876, chap. 72, v. 19, p. 35, provides for the confirmation of entries of land grants prior to notice of withdrawal of lands.] SEC. 2298. No person shall be permitted to acquire title to more than one quarter-section under the provisions of this chapter. 20 May, 1862, s. 6, v. 12, p. 393. SEC. 2300. No person who has served, or may hereafter serve, for a may have the period not less than fourteen days in the Army or Navy of the United privileges of this chapter. States, either regular or volunteer, under the laws thereof, during the existence of an actual war, domestic or foreign, shall be deprived of the benefits of this chapter on account of not having attained the age of twenty-one years. Payment before expiration of five years; rights of applicant. Soldiers' and stead. Ibid. SEC. 2301. Nothing in this chapter shall be so construed as to prevent any person who has availed himself of the benefits of section twentytwo hundred and eighty-nine, from paying the minimum price for the quantity of land so entered, at any time before the expiration of the five years, and obtaining a patent therefor from the Government, as in other cases directed by law, on making proof of settlement and cultivation as provided by law, granting pre-emption rights. Ibid., s. 8. SEC. 2304. Every private soldier and officer who has served in the sailors' home Army of the United States during the recent rebellion, for ninety days, and who was honorably discharged, and has remained loyal to the Government, including the troops mustered into the service of the United States by virtue of the third section of an act approved February thirteen, eighteen hundred and sixty-two, and every seaman, marine, and officer who has served in the Navy of the United States, or in the Marine Corps, during the rebellion, for ninety days, and who was honorably discharged, and has remained loyal to the Government, shall, on compliance with the provisions of this chapter, as hereinafter modified, be entitled to enter upon and receive patents for a quantity of public lands not exceeding one hundred and sixty acres, or one quarter-section, to be taken in compact form, according to legal subdivisions, including the alternate reserved sections of public lands along the line of any railroad or other public work, not otherwise reserved or appropriated, and other lands subject to entry under the homestead laws of the United States; but such homestead settler shall be allowed six months after locating his homestead, and filing his declaratory statement, within which to make his entry and commence his settlement and improvement. 8 June, 1872, s. 1, v. 17, p. 333. SEC. 2305. The time which the homestead settler has served in the Deduction of Army, Navy, or Marine Corps shall be deducted from the time hereto- military and naval service from fore required to perfect title, or if discharged on account of wounds re- time, &c. ceived or disability incurred in the line of duty, then the term of enlistment shall be deducted from the time heretofore required to perfect title, without reference to the length of time he may have served; but no patent shall issue to any homestead settler who has not resided upon, improved, and cultivated his homestead for a period of at least one year after he shall have commenced his improvements. Ibid. Persons who SEC. 2306. Every person entitled, under the provisions of section twenty-three hundred and four, to enter a homestead who may have have entered less heretofore entered, under the homestead laws, a quantity of land less than 160 acres. rights of. than one hundred and sixty acres, shall be permitted to enter so much land as, when added to the quantity previously entered, shall not exceed one hundred and sixty acres. Ibid., s. 2. persons entitled SEC. 2307. In case of the death of any person who would be entitled Widow and mito a homestead under the provisions of section twenty-three hundred nor children of and four, his widow, if unmarried, or in case of her death or marriage, to homestead, &c. then his minor orphan children, by a guardian duly appointed and officially accredited at the Department of the Interior, shall be entitled to all the benefits enumerated in this chapter, subject to all the provisions as to settlement and improvements therein contained; but if such person died during his term of enlistment, the whole term of his enlistment shall be deducted from the time heretofore required to perfect the title. Ibid., s. 3. to residence, &c. SEC. 2308. Where a party at the date of his entry of a tract of land Actual service under the homestead laws, or subsequently thereto, was actually en- in the Army or listed and employed in the Army or Navy of the United States, his Navy equivalent services therein shall, in the administration of such homestead laws, be construed to be equivalent, to all intents and purposes, to a residence for the same length of time upon the tract so entered. And if his entry has been canceled by reason of his absence from such tract while in the military or naval service of the United States, and such tract has not been disposed of, his entry shall be restored; but if such tract has been disposed of, the party may enter another tract subject to entry under the homestead laws, and his right to a patent therefor may be determined by the proofs touching his residence and cultivation of the first tract and his absence therefrom in such service. Ibid., s. 4. SEC. 2309. Every soldier, sailor, marine, officer, or other person coming Who may enter within the provisions of section twenty-three hundred and four, may, as by agent. well by an agent as in person, enter upon such homestead by filing a declaratory statement, as in pre-emption cases; but such claimant in person shall within the time prescribed make his actual entry, commence settlements and improvements on the same, and thereafter fulfill all the requirements of law. Ibid., s. 5, p. 334. trees on home. stead tracts. SEC. 2317. Every person having a homestead on the public domain, Cultivation of under the provisions of this chapter, who, at the end of the third year of his residence thereon, shall have had under cultivation, for two years, one acre of timber, the trees thereon not being more than twelve feet apart each way, and in a good, thrifty condition, for each and every sixteen acres of such homestead, shall, upon due proof of the fact by two credible witnesses, receive his patent for such homestead. 3 March, 1873, s. 4. v. 17, p. 606. Sec. 1624. Importing in public vessels. IMPORTATIONS, &c. Sec. 2505. Articles exempt from duty. 2491. Prohibition upon importation of obscene ar- 2791. Public vessels need not enter. ticles. Title 15,Chap. 10. SEC. 1624, Art. 12. No person connected with the Navy shall, under Importing in any pretense, import in a public vessel any article which is liable to the public vessels. payment of duty. [Sec. 2760, REVENUE-CUTTER SERVICE.] 30 July, 1846, s. 10, v. 9, p. 44. Title 33. SEC. 2491. All persons are prohibited from importing into the United Prohibition upStates, from any foreign country, any obscene book, pamphlet, paper, on importation of writing, advertisement, circular, print, picture, drawing, or other repreobscene articles. sentation, figure, or image on or of paper or other material, or any cast, instrument, or other article of an immoral nature, or any drug or medicine, or any article whatever, for the prevention of conception, or for causing unlawful abortion. Articles ex * * # 2 March, 1857, v. 11, p. 168. 3 March, 1873, ss. 1, 3, v. 17, p. 598. empt from duty. from duty: SEC. 2503. The following articles, when imported, shall be exempt Articles imported for the use of the United States: Provided, That the price of the same did not include the duty. Books, engravings, bound or unbound, etchings, maps, and charts, which shall have been printed and manufactured more than twenty years at the date of importation. Books, maps and charts imported by authority or for the use of the Books, household effects, or libraries or parts of libraries, in use of persons or families from foreign countries, if used abroad by them not less than one year, and not intended for any other person or persons, nor for sale. Cabinets of coins, medals, and all other collections of antiquities: coins, gold, silver, and copper; coffee and tea. Diamonds, rough or uncut, philosophical and scientific apparatus, instruments and preparations, statuary, casts of marble, bronze, alabaster, plaster of Paris, paintings, drawings, and etchings, specially imported in good faith for the use of any society or institution incorporated or established for religious, philosophical, educational, scientific or literary purposes, or encouragement of the fine arts, and not intended for sale. Regalia and gems, statues, statuary, and specimens of sculpture. where specially imported, in good faith, for the use of any society incorporated or established for philosophical, literary or religious purposes, or for the encouragement of the fine arts, or for the use or by order of any college, academy, school, seminary of learning, or public library in the United States. Specimens of natural history, botany, and mineralogy, when imported for cabinets or as objects of taste or science, and not for sale. * Furs, undressed; furskins of all kinds, not dressed in any manner: wearing apparel, in actual use, and other personal effects (not merchandise), professional books, implements, instruments, and tools of trade, occupation, or employment of persons arriving in the United States. But this exemption shall not be construed to include machinery or other articles imported for use in any manufacturing establishment, or for sale. Works of art, paintings, statuary, fountains, and other works of art, the production of American artists. But the fact of such production must be verified by the certificate of a consul or minister of the United States indorsed upon the written declaration of the artist; paintings, statuary, fountains, and other works of art, imported expressly for presentation to national institutions, or to any State, or to any municipal corporation, or religious corporation or society. 3 March, 1883, chap. 121, P. E. L., p. 514. SEC. 2791. It shall not be necessary for the master of any vessel of Title 34, Chap. 4. war, or of any vessel employed by any prince, or state, as a public packet Public vessels for the conveyance of letters and dispatches, and not permitted by the need not enter. laws of such prince or state to be employed in the transportation of merchandise, in the way of trade, to make report and entry. 2 March, 1799, s. 31, v. 1, p. 651. LIFE-SAVING SERVICE. Establishment of life-saving stations. Powers and compensation of keepers. General superintendent. Assistant superintendent. Revenue Marine officers as inspectors. Employment of That the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authorized to employ 20 June, 1874. crews of experienced surfinen at such of the stations herein denominated complete stations, and at such of the life-boat stations on the Pacific crews of surfcoast as he may deem necessary and proper, for such periods, and at such men. compensation, not to exceed forty dollars per month, as he may deem necessary and reasonable. 20 June, 1874, chap. 344, s. 5, v. 18, p. 125. That the Secretary of the Treasury may accept the services of volun- Volunteer teer crews of any of the life-boat stations herein authorized, who shall crews. be subject to the rules and regulations governing the Life-Saving service; and a list of the names of each crew shall be kept in the office of the Secretary of the Treasury. Such volunteers shall receive no compensation, except a sum of not more than ten dollars each for every occasion upon which they shall have been instrumental in saving human life, and such of the medals herein authorized as they may be entitled to under the provisions hereinafter made: Provided, That no payment shall be made to any person who shall not have actually participated in the efforts to save the life or lives rescued. [See June 18, 1878.] Ibid., s. 6. That the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby directed to cause to be prepared medals of honor, with suitable devices, to be distinguished as life-saving medals of the first and second class, which shall be bestowed upon any persons who shall hereafter endanger their own lives in saving, or endeavoring to save lives from perils of the sea, within the United States, or upon any American vessel: Provided, That the medal of the first class shall be confined to cases of extreme and heroic daring; and that the medal of the second class shall be given in cases not sufficiently distinguished to deserve the medal of the first class: Provided, also, That no award of either medal shall be made to any person until sufficient evidence of his deserving shall have been filed with the Secretary of the Treasury and entered upon the records of the Department. [See June 18, 1878.] Medals of hon or Of the first Second class. June 18, 1878. Keepers; pow" Hereafter the compensation of the keepers of life-saving and life-boat stations and houses of refuge shall be at the rate of four hundred dollars per annum; and they shall have the powers of inspectors of customs, ers and compenbut shall receive no additional compensation for duties performed as sation. such: Provided, That said keepers shall have authority and be required Custodians of to take charge of and protect all property saved from shipwreck at property saved. which they may be present, until it is claimed by parties legally authorized to receive it, or until otherwise instructed to dispose of it by the Secretary of the Treasury; and keepers of life-saving stations shall Residence. Stations to be be required to reside continually at or in the immediate vicinity of their respective stations. 18 June, 1878, chap. 265, s. 4, v. 20, p. 163. That hereafter the life-saving stations upon the sea and gulf coasts open, how long. at which crews are employed shall be manned and the stations opened for active service on the first day of September in each year, and so continue until the first day of May succeeding, and upon the lake coasts from the opening to the close of navigation, except such stations as, in the discretion of the Secretary of the Treasury, are not necessary to be manned during the full period specified; and the crews shall reside at the stations during said periods. Residence of crews. General superintendent. Idem, s. 5. That the President of the United States may, by and with the consent of the Senate, appoint a suitable person, who shall be familiar with the various means employed in the Life-Saving Service for the saving of life and property from shipwrecked vessels, as general superintendent of the Life-Saving Service, who shall, under the immediate direction of the Secretary of the Treasury, have general charge of the service and of all administrative matters connected therewith, and whose compensation shall be at the rate of four thousand dollars per annum; and Assistant su- the Secretary of the Treasury is authorized to appoint an assistant to perintendent. the general superintendent, whose compensation shall be two thousand five hundred dollars per aunum. ent. Idem, s 6. Duties of gen That it shall be the duty of the general superintendent to supervise eral superintend- the organization and government of the employés of the service; to prepare and revise regulations therefor as may be necessary; to fix the number and compensation of surfmen to be employed at the several stations within the provisions of law; to supervise the expenditure of all appropriations made for the support and maintenance of the LifeSaving Service; to examine the accounts of disbursements of the district superintendents, and to certify the same to the accounting officers of the Treasury Department; to examine the property returns of the keepers of the several stations, and see that all public property thereto belonging is properly accounted for; to acquaint himself, as far as practicable, with all means employed in foreign countries which may seem to advantageously affect the interests of the service, and to cause to be properly investigated all plans, devices, and inventions for the improvement of life-saving apparatus for use at the stations, which may appear to be meritorious and available; to exercise supervision over the selection of sites for new stations the establishment of which may be authorized by law, or for old ones the removal of which may be made necessary by the encroachment of the sea or by other causes; to prepare and submit to the Secretary of the Treasury estimates for the support of the service; to collect and compile the statistics of marine disasters contemplated by the act of June twentieth, eighteen hundred and seventy-four; and to submit to the Secretary of the Treasury, for transmission to ConAnnual report. gress, an annual report of the expenditures of the moneys appropriated for the maintenance of the Life-Saving Service, and of the operations of said service during the year. 1874, ch. 344. 18 Stat., 126. Revenue Ma spectors. Idem, s. 7. That the Secretary of the Treasury may detail such officer or officers rine officers as in- of the Revenue Marine Service as may be necessary, to act as inspector and assistant inspectors of stations, who shall perform such duties in connection with the conduct of the service as may be required of them by the general superintendent. Investigation of loss of life. Idem, s. 8. That upon the occurrence of any shipwreck within the scope of the shipwrecks with operations of the Life-Saving Service, attended with loss of life, the general superintendent shall cause an investigation of all the circumstances connected with said disaster and loss of life to be made, with a view of ascertaining the cause of the disaster, and whether any of the officers or employés of the service have been guilty of neglect or misconduct in the premises; and any officer or clerk in the employment of the Treasury Department who may be detailed to conduct such investigation, or to examine into any alleged incompetency or misconduct of any of the officers or employés of the Life-Saving Service, shall have |