TITLE IX.

THE POST OFFICE DEPARTMENT.

§ 448a. Readjustment of salaries; assignment of employees to duties.In making readjustments hereunder, the salary of any clerk in any class may be fixed by the Postmaster General at $100 below the salary fixed by law for such class and the unused portion of such salary shall be used to increase the salary of any clerk in any class entitled thereto by not less than $100 above the salary fixed by law for such class. The Postmaster General shall assign to the several bureaus, offices, and divisions of the Post Office Department such number of the employees herein authorized as may be necessary to perform the work required therein; and he shall submit a statement showing such assignments and the number employed at the various salaries in the annual Book of Estimates following the estimates for salaries in the Post Office Department. (Act May 29, 1920, c. 214, § 1.)

§ 451. Purchasing agent for Department.

Note.-Act Feb. 28, 1919, c. 69, § 4, provides: "The Postmaster General and other responsible officials in expending appropriations contained in this Act, so far as possible shall purchase material, supplies, and equipment, when needed and funds are available, from the various services of the Government of the United States possessing material, supplies, and equipment no longer required because of the cessation of war activities. It shall be the duty of the Postmaster General and other officials, before purchasing ony of the articles described herein, to ascertain from the other services of the Government whether they have articles of the character described that are serviceable. And articles purchased from other services of the Government, if the same have not been used, shall be paid for at a reasonable price not to exceed actual cost, and if the same have been used, at a reasonable price based upon length of usage. The various services of the Government are authorized to sell such articles to the Postal Service under the condition specified and the proceeds of such sales shall be covered into the Treasury as a miscellaneous receipt."

§ 455. Rewards for detection of crime.-For payment of rewards for the detection, arrest, and conviction of post-office burglars, robbers, and highway mail robbers: Provided, That rewards may be paid, in the discretion of the Postmaster General, when an offender of the class mentioned was killed in the act of committing the crime or in resisting lawful arrest: And provided further, That of the amount herein appropriated not to exceed $5,000 may be expended, in the discretion of the Postmaster General, for the purpose of securing information concerning violations of the postal laws and for services and information looking toward the apprehension of criminals, $25,000. (Acts July 28, 1916, c. 261, § 1, 39 Stat. 413; March 3, 1917, c. 162, §1, 39 Stat. 1059; July 2, 1918, c. 117, §1, 40 Stat. 742; Feb. 28, 1919, c. 69, § 1; April 24, 1920, c. 161, § 1.)

§ 478a. Report as to cost of mail under frank.-Hereafter the Postmaster General shall in his annual report submit a detailed statement of the cost to the postal establishment of the matter mailed under frank by each department and independent establishment of the Government and the revenue which would be derived therefrom if carried at the ordinary rates of postage. (Act June 5, 1920, c. 253.)

TITLE X.

THE DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY.

§ 483. Clerks and employees.

Note 1.-Act Feb. 25, 1919, c. 39, § 1. provides: "The limitation specified in the legislative, executive, and judicial appropriation Act for the fiscal year 1919 upon the amount which may be expended for the services of skilled draftsmen and other technical services in the Bureau of Yards and Docks is increased by the sum of $150,000. 8

"The limitation specified in the legislative, executive, and judicial appropriation Act for the fiscal year 1919 on expenditures for clerks, draftsmen, and other technical services from the appropriation 'Ordnance and ordnance stores' is increased by the sum of $20,000."

"The limitation specified in the naval appropriation Act for the fiscal year 1918 on expenditures for pay of clerical, inspection, storemen,_store laborers, and messenger service from the appropriation 'Maintenance, Bureau of Supplies and Accounts,' is increased further by $15,000."

"The limitation specified in the naval appropriation Act for the fiscal year 1919 on expenditures for pay of clerical, inspection, storemen, store laborers, and messenger service from the appropriation 'Maintenance, Bureau of Supplies and Accounts,' is increased by the sum of $300,000."

Note 2.-Act July 11, 1919, c. 9, § 1, provides that "all former Government employees who have entered the military or naval service of the United States in the war with the German Government shall be reinstated on application to their former positions if they have received an honorable discharge and are qualified to perform the duties of the position." (Acts July 11, 1919, c. 9, § 1.)

§ 483a. Draftsmen and other special services in bureaus.-The services of draftsmen and such other technical services as the Secretary of the Navy may deem necessary may be employed only in the Bureau of Steam Engineering and at rates of compensation not exceeding those paid hereunder prior to January 1, 1918, to carry into effect the various appropriations for "Increase of the Navy" and "Engineering," to be paid from the appropriation "Engineering": Provided, That the expenditures on this account for the fiscal year 1921 shall not exceed $184,000. A statement of the persons employed hereunder, their duties, and the compensation paid to each shall be made to Congress each year in the annual estimates.

The services of draftsmen and such other technical services as the Secretary of the Navy may deem necessary may be employed only in the Bureau of Construction and Repair and at rates of compensation not cxceeding those paid hereunder prior to January 1, 1918, to carry into effect the various appropriations for "increase of the Navy," and "Construction and Repair," to be paid from the appropriation "Construction and Repair": Provided, That the expenditures on this account for the fiscal year 1921 shall not exceed $275,000. A statement of the persons employed hereunder, their duties, and the compensation paid to each shall be made to Congress each year in the annual estimates.

The services of draftsmen and such other technical services as the Secretary of the Navy may deem necessary may be employed only in the Bureau of Ordnance, and at rates of compensation not exceeding those paid hereunder prior to January 1, 1918, to carry into effect the various appropriations for "Increase of the Navy," and "Ordnance and ordnance stores," to be paid from the appropriation "Ordnance and ordnance stores": Provided, That the expenditures on this account for the fiscal year 1921 shall not exceed $70,000. A statement of the persons employed hereunder, their duties and the compensation paid to each, shall be made to Congress cach year in the annual estimates.

The services of skilled draftsmen and such other technical services as the Secretary of the Navy may deem necessary may be employed only in the Bureau of Yards and Docks to carry into effect the various appropriations and allotments thereunder and be paid from such appropriations and allotments: Provided, That the expenditures on this account for the fiscal year 1921 shall not exceed $200,000. A statement of the persons employed hereunder, their duties, and the compensation paid to each shall be made to Congress each year in the annual estimates. (Acts March 1, 1919, c. 86, § 1; May 29, 1920, c. 214, § 1.)

§ 512a. Claims for damages from aircraft. The Secretary of the Navy is hereby authorized to consider, ascertain, adjust, determine, and pay out of this appropriation the amounts due on claims for damages which have occurred or may occur to private property growing out of the operations of naval aircraft, where such claim does not exceed the sum of $500: Provided further, That all claims adjusted under this authority during any fiscal year shall be reported in detail to the Congress by the Secretary of the Navy. (Acts July 11, 1919, c. 9, § 1; June 4, 1920, c. 228.)

§ 512b. Claims for damage to property from general naval operations.The Secretary of the Navy is authorized to consider, ascertain, adjust, determine, and pay the amounts due in all claims for damages (other than

such as are occasioned by vessels of the Navy), to and loss of privately owned property, occurring subsequent to April 6, 1917, where the amount of the claim does not exceed $500, for which damage or loss men in the naval service or Marine Corps are found to be responsible, all payments in settlement of said claims to be made out of the appropriation "Pay, miscellaneous": Provided further, That all claims adjusted under this authority during any fiscal year shall be reported in detail to the Congress by the Secretary of the Navy. (Acts July 11, 1919, c. 9, § 1.)

§ 513a. Details to Hydrographic Office.-The Secretary of the Navy is authorized to detail such naval officers as may be necessary to the Hydrographic Office. (Acts July 11. 1919, c. 9, § 1; June 4. 1920, c. 228.)

§ 514a. Sale of publications of Hydrographic Office. All sums received from the sale of maps, charts, and other publications issued by the Hydrographic Office after June 30, 1921, shall be covered into the Treasury of the United States as miscellaneous receipts. (Act May 29, 1920, c. 214, § 1.)

TITLE XI.

THE DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR.

CHAPTER 3.

THE GENERAL LAND OFFICE.

§ 540. Hearings by order of Commissioner. This statute is repeated in Act July 11, 1919, c. 24, § 1.)

CHAPTER 6.

THE PATENT OFFICE.

§ 585. Price of specifications and drawings.

Note.-Act Nov. 4, 1919, c. 93, § 1, provides "for producing copies of weekly issue of patents, designs, and trade-marks; production of copies of drawings and specifications of exhausted patents and other papers; and for expense of transporting publications of patents issued by the Patent Office to foreign governments, $15,000: Provided, That hereafter 10 cents per copy shall be charged for uncertified printed copies of specifications and drawings of patents." See also § 8986.

CHAPTER 10.

THE BUREAU OF MINES.

§ 607. Director and employees.

Note. Act July 19, 1919, c. 24. § 1. provides that "persons employed during the fiscal year 1920 in field work, outside of the District of Columbia, under the Bureau of Mines, may be detailed temporarily for service in the District of Columbia, for purposes of preparing results of their field work: all persons so detailed shall be paid in addition to their regular compensation only their actual traveling expenses or per diem in lieu of subsistence in going to and returning therefrom: Provided, That nothing herein shall prevent the payment to employees of the Bureau of Mines their necessary expenses or per diem, in lieu of subsistence while on temporary detail in the District of Columbia, for purposes only of consultation or investigations on behalf of the United States. All details made hereunder, and the purposes of each. during the preceding fiscal year, shall be reported in the annual estimates of appropriations to Congress at the beginning of each regular session thereof." § 613a. Investigations of lignite coals and peat.-The Secretary of the Interior is hereby authorized and directed to make experiments and investigations, through the Bureau of Mines, of lignite coals and peat, to determine the commercial and economic practicability of their utilization in producing fuel oil, gasoline substitutes, ammonia, tar, solid fuels, gas for power and other purposes; and there is hereby appropriated, out of the funds in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, the sum of $100,000,

or so much thereof as may be needed, to conduct such experiments and investigations, including personal services in the District of Columbia and elsewhere, and including supplies, equipment, expenses of traveling and subsistence, and for every other expense incident to this work. (Act Feb. 25, 1919, c. 22, § 1.)

§ 613b. Disposition of such plant and property.-The Secretary of the Interior is authorized and directed to sell or otherwise dispose of any property, plant, or machinery purchased or acquired under the provisions of this Act, as soon as the experiments and investigations hereby authorized have been concluded, and report the results of such experiments and investigations to Congress. (Act Feb. 25, 1919, c. 22, § 2.)

TITLE XII.

THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

§ 628a. Employees in Virgin Islands.-Hereafter employees of the Department of Agriculture assigned to permanent duty in the Virgin Islands shall be entitled to the same privileges as to leave of absence as are conferred upon employees assigned to Alaska, Hawaii, Porto Rico, and Guam by the Act of June 30, 1914 (Thirty-eighth Statutes at Large, page 441), and if any employee of the agricultural experiment stations of the United States in Alaska, Hawaii, Porto Rico, Guam, or the Virgin Islands shall elect to postpone the taking of any or all of the annual leave to which he may be entitled under the said Act of June 30, 1914, he may, in the discretion of the Secretary of Agriculture, subject to the interests of the public service, be allowed to take at one time unused annual leave which may have accumulated within not to exceed four years, and be paid at the rate prevailing during the year such leave of absence has accumulated. (Acts July 24, 1919, c. 26, § 1.)

§ 639. Purchase and distribution of seeds and plants.-The Secretary of Agriculture, after due advertisement and on competitive bids, is authorized to award the contract for the supplying of printed packets and envelopes and the packeting, assembling, and mailing of the seeds, bulbs, shrubs, vines, cuttings, and plants, or any part thereof, for a period of not more than five years nor less than one year, if by such action he can best protect the interests of the United States. An equal proportion of fivesixths of all seeds, bulbs, shrubs, vines, cuttings, and plants, shall upon their request, after due notification by the Secretary of Agriculture, that the allotment to their respective districts is ready for distribution, be supplied to Senators, Representatives, and Delegates in Congress for distribution among their constituents, or mailed by the department upon the receipt of their addressed franks, in packages of such weight as the Secretary of Agriculture and the Postmaster General may jointly determine: Provided, however, That upon each envelope or wrapper containing packages of seeds the contents thereof shall be plainly indicated, and the Secretary shall not distribute to any Senator, Representative, or Delegate seeds entirely unfit for the climate and locality he represents, but shall distribute the same so that each Member may have seeds of equal value, as near as may be, and the best adapted to the locality he represents: Provided also, That the seeds allotted to Senators and Representatives for distribution in the districts embraced within the twenty-fifth and thirtyfourth parallels of latitude shall be ready for delivery not later than the 10th day of January: Provided also, That any portion of the allotments to Senators, Representatives, and Delegates in Congress remaining uncalled for on the 1st day of April shall be distributed by the Secretary of Agriculture, giving preference to those persons whose names and addresses have been furnished by Senators and Representatives in Congress and who have not before during the same season been supplied by the departments: And provided also, That the Secretary shall report, as provided in this Act, the place, quantity, and price of seeds purchased, and the

[§ 667b date of purchase; but nothing in this paragraph shall be construed tɔ prevent the Secretary of Agriculture from sending seeds to those who apply for the same. And the amount herein appropriated shall not be diverted or used for any other purpose but for the purchase, testing, propagation, and distribution of valuable seeds, bulbs, mulberry and other rare and valuable trees, shrubs, vines, cuttings, and plants. (R. S. § 527; Acts June 25, 1864, c. 147, § 1, 13 Stat. 145, 155; March 2, 1865, c. 73, § 1, 13 Stat. 445, 455; July 23, 1866, c. 208, § 1, 14 Stat. 101, 201; March 2, 1867, c. 166, § 1, 14 Stat. 440, 452; April 25, 1896, c. 140, § 1, 29 Stat. 106; Aug. 11, 1916, c. 313, 39 Stat. 455; March 4, 1917, c. 179, 39 Stat. 1144; July 24, 1919, c. 26, §1.)

§ 643a. Cotton and cotton seed from Mexico.-To prevent the movement of cotton and cotton seed from Mexico into the United States, including the regulation of the entry into the United States of railway cars and other vehicles, and freight, express, baggage, or other materials from Mexico, and the inspection, cleaning, and disinfection thereof, $148,560; any moneys received in payment of charges fixed by the Secretary of Agriculture on account of such cleaning and disinfection at plants constructed therefor out of any appropriation made on account of the pink bollworm of cotton to be covered into the Treasury as miscellaneous receipts. (Act July 24, 1919, c. 26, § 1.)

§ 647. Rental or sale of films.-The Secretary of Agriculture is authorized, under such rules and regulations and subject to such conditions as he may prescribe, to loan, rent, or sell copies of films: Provided, That in the sale or rental of films educational institutions or associations for agricultural education not organized for profit shall have preference; all moneys received from such rentals or sales to be covered into the Treasury of the United States as miscellaneous receipts. (Acts March 4, 1917, c. 179, 39 Stat. 1157; July 24, 1919, c. 26, § 1.)

§ 667a. Overtime of employees.-Hereafter, the Secretary of Agriculture is authorized, in his discretion, to pay employees of the Bureau of Animal Industry employed in establishments subject to the provisions of the Meat Inspection Act of June 30, 1906, for all overtime work performed at such establishments, at such rates as he may determine, and to accept from such establishments wherein such overtime work is performed reimbursements for any sums paid out by him for such overtime work. (Act July 24, 1919, c. 26, § 1.)

$ 667aa. Investigations of fruits and vegetables at markets. For enabling the Secretary of Agriculture to investigate and certify to shippers and other interested parties the quality and conditions of fruits, vegetables, poultry, butter, hay, and other perishable farm products, when received in interstate commerce at such important central markets as the Secretary of Agriculture may from time to time designate, under such rules and regulations as he may prescribe, including payment of such fees as will be reasonable and as nearly as may be to cover the cost for the service rendered: Provided, That certificates issued by the authorized agents of the department shall be received in all ports of the United States as prima facie evidence of the truth of the statements therein contained, $150,000. (Acts July 24, 1919, c. 26, § 1.)

§ 667b. Motor vehicles for field work.-Not to exceed $75,000 of the lumpsum appropriations herein made for the Department of Agriculture shall be available for the purchase, maintenance, repair, and operation of motorpropelled and horse-drawn passenger-carrying vehicles necessary in the conduct of the field work of the Department of Agriculture outside the District of Columbia: Provided, That not to exceed $15,000 of this amount shall be expended for the purchase of such vehicles, and that such vehicles shall be used only for official service outside the District of Columbia, but this shall not prevent the continued use for official service of motor trucks in the District of Columbia: Provided further, That the Secretary of Agriculture shall, on the first day of each regular session of Congress, make a report to Congress showing the amount expended under the provisions of this paragraph during the preceding fiscal year. (Acts July 24, 1919, c. 26, § 1.)