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aggregate one thousand million dollars of like bonds, the same in all respects, but payable at the pleasure of the United States, after thirty years from the date of their issue, and bearing interest at the rate of four per cent. per annum; all of which said several classes of bonds and the interest thereon shall be exempt from the payment of all taxes or duties of the United States, as well as from taxation in any form by or under State, municipal, or local authority; and the said bonds shall have set forth and expressed upon their face the above-specified conditions, and shall, with their coupons, be made payable at the treasury of the United States. But nothing in this act, or in any other law now in force, shall be construed to authorize any increase whatever of the bonded debt of the United States.

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authorized to sell and dispose of any of the bonds issued under this act, at not less than their par value for coin, and to apply the proceeds thereof to the redemption of any of the bonds of the United States outstanding, and known as five-twenty bonds, at their par value, or he may exchange the same for such five-twenty bonds, par for par; but the bonds hereby authorized shall be used for no other purpose whatso

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SEC. 3. [Payment of bonds, in what amounts, how determined, &c.]

SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authorized, with any coin in the treasury of the United States which he may lawfully apply to such purpose,

1 An act of January 25, 1879, provided "that the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authorized in the process of refunding the national debt under existing laws to exchange directly at par the bonds of the United States bearing interest at four per centum per annum authorized by law for the bonds of the United States commonly known as five-twenties outstanding and uncalled, and, whenever all such five-twenty bonds shall have been redeemed, the provisions of this section and all existing provisions of law authorizing the refunding of the national debt shall apply to any bonds of the United States bearing interest at five per centum per annum or a higher rate, which may be redeemable. In any exchange made under the provisions of this section interest may be allowed, on the bonds redeemed, for a period of three months."

or which may be derived from the sale of any of the bonds, the issue of which is provided for in this act, to pay at par and cancel any six per cent. bonds of the United States of the kind known as five-twenty bonds, which have become or shall hereafter become redeemable by the terms of their issue.

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SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authorized, at any time within two years from the passage of this act, to receive gold coin of the United States on deposit for not less than thirty days, in sums of not less than one hundred dollars, with the Treasurer, or any assistant treasurer of the United States authorized by the Secretary of the Treasury to receive the same, who shall issue therefor certificates of deposit, made in such form as the Secretary of the Treasury shall prescribe, and said certificates of deposit shall bear interest at a rate not exceeding two and a half per cent. per annum; and any amount of gold coin so deposited may be withdrawn from deposit at any time after thirty days from the date of deposit, and after ten days' notice and on the return of said certificates: Provided, That the interest on all such deposits shall cease and determine at the pleasure of the Secretary of the Treasury. And not less than twenty-five per cent. of the coin deposited for or represented by said certificates of deposits shall be retained in the treasury for the payment of said certificates; and the excess beyond twenty-five per cent. may be applied at the discretion of the Secretary of the Treasury to the payment or redemption of such outstanding bonds of the United States heretofore issued and known as the five-twenty bonds, as he may designate under the provisions of the fourth section of this act; and any certificates of deposit issued as aforesaid, may be received at par with the interest accrued thereon in payment for any bonds authorized to be issued by this act.

SEC. 6. [Bonds purchased and held in the treasury under act of February 25, 1862, and other bonds hereafter purchased and held, &c., to be destroyed.]

APPROVED, July 14, 1870.

No. 89.

Act for the Restoration of Georgia
July 15, 1870

A BILL for the restoration of Georgia, similar in purport to the acts for the restoration of Mississippi and Texas, was reported in the House, February 25, 1870, by Butler of Massachusetts, from the Committee on Reconstruction, and passed, March 8, by a vote of 115 to 71, 34 not voting. The Senate added section 2 of the act, and further amendments declaring the existing government of the State provisional, directing the holding of a new election, and authorizing the President to suppress disorder. The amended bill passed the Senate, April 19, by a vote of 27 to 25. The bill was left without further action until June 24, when the House Committee on Reconstruction reported in favor of the passage of the House bill with amendments. The Senate refused to concur, and the final form of the bill was settled by a conference committee. The report of the committee was accepted by both houses, July 14, without a division.

REFERENCES. Text in U.S. Statutes at Large, XVI, 363, 364. For the proceedings see the House and Senate Journals, 41st Cong., 2d Sess., and the Cong. Globe. On political conditions in Georgia see House Exec. Doc. 288.

An Act relating to the State of Georgia.

Be it enacted..., That the State of Georgia having complied with the reconstruction acts, and the fourteenth and fifteenth articles of amendments to the Constitution of the United States having been ratified in good faith by a legal legislature of said State, it is hereby declared that the State of Georgia is entitled to representation in the Congress of the United States. But nothing in this act contained shall be construed to deprive the people of Georgia of the right to an election for members of the general assembly of said State, as provided for in the Constitution thereof; and nothing in this or any other act of Congress shall be construed to affect the term to which any officer has been appointed or any member of the general assembly elected as prescribed by the Constitution of the State of Georgia.

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That so much of the act entitled "An act making appropriations for the support of the army for the year ending June thirty, eighteen hundred and

sixty-eight, and for other purposes," approved March two, eighteen hundred and sixty-seven, as prohibits the organization, arming, or calling into service of the militia forces in the States of Georgia, Mississippi, Texas, and Virginia, be, and the same is hereby, repealed.

APPROVED, July 15, 1870.

No. 90.

San Domingo Commissioners

January 12, 1871

THE question of the annexation of the island of Dominica, or San Domingo, began to be widely discussed in 1869. A commissioner, Orville E. Babcock, was sent to the island by President Grant, and November 29 a treaty of annexation was concluded. The treaty was ratified by San Domingo, but the opposition in the United States was strong. In a special message of May 31, 1870, Grant, who had throughout strongly favored annexation, urged ratification, but June 30 the treaty was rejected by the Senate. In his annual message of December 5 Grant discussed the matter at length, and suggested that Congress authorize the appointment of a commission to negotiate for the acquisition of the island. December 9 Sumner submitted in the Senate a resolution calling for papers and correspondence, and also for a considerable variety of information about San Domingo. On the 12th a resolution substantially identical with the one finally agreed upon was introduced by Oliver P. Morton of Indiana, and on the 21st, after an all-night session, passed by a vote of 32 to 9, 30 not voting. The House, by a vote of 108 to 76, 50 not voting, added the proviso of section 3, and on January 10 agreed to the resolution as amended, the vote being 123 to 63, 47 not voting. The next day the Senate, by a vote of 57 to o, concurred. Sumner's resolution was agreed to January 4. The report of the commissioners was transmitted to Congress April 5; but Grant, though still maintaining his opinion in favor of annexation, recognized the divided state of public opinion, and recommended that Congress take no immediate action beyond printing the report. REFERENCES. Text in U.S. Statutes at Large, XVI, 591. For the proceedings see the House and Senate Journals, 41st Cong., 3d Sess., and the Cong. Globe. The report of the commissioners is Senate Exec. Doc. 9, 42d Cong., Ist Sess.; see also Senate Misc. Doc. 35, ibid.; Senate Exec. Doc. 53, 42d Cong., 2d Sess.; Senate Exec. Doc. 17 and House Exec. Docs. 42 and 43, 41st Cong., 3d Sess.; Pierce, Sumner, IV, chaps. 55 and 56.

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A Resolution authorizing the Appointment of Commissioners in Relation to the Republic of Dominica.

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Resolved That the President of the United States be authorized to appoint three commissioners, and also a secretary, the latter to be versed in the English and Spanish languages, to proceed to the island of San Domingo, and to such other places, if any, as such commissioners may deem necessary, and there to inquire into, ascertain, and report the political state and condition of the republic of Dominica, the probable number of inhabitants, and the desire and disposition of the people of the said republic to become annexed to and to form part of the people of the United States; the physical, mental, and moral condition of the said people, and their general condition as to material wealth and industrial capacity; the resources of the country; its mineral and agricultural products; the products of its waters and forests; the general character of the soil; the extent and proportion thereof capable of cultivation; the climate and health of the country; its bays, harbors, and rivers; its general meteorological character, and the existence and frequency of remarkable meteorological phenomena; the debt of the government and its obligations, whether funded, and ascertained, and admitted, or unadjusted and under discussion; treaties or engagements with other powers; extent of boundaries and territory; what proportion is covered by foreign claimants or by grants or concessions, and generally what concessions or franchises have been granted, with the names of the respective grantees; the terms and conditions on which the Dominican government may desire to be annexed to and become part of the United States as one of the Territories thereof; such other information with respect to the said government or its territories as to the said commissioners shall seem desirable or important with reference to the future incorporation of the said Dominican republic into the United States as one of its Territories.

SEC. 2. And be it further resolved, That the said commissioners shall, as soon as conveniently may be, report to the

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