this institution may be assigned and transferred on the books of the company in person or by power of attorney only; but no stockholder indebted to the company shall be permitted to make a transfer, or receive a dividend, until such debt is paid, or secured to the satisfaction of the president and board of directors.

Sec. 23. And be it further enacted, That the president and directors may call a general meeting of the stockholders for any purpose relative to the affairs of the institution, giving at least two weeks' notice thereof in the newspapers of Washington and Georgetown; and any number of stockholders, not less than one hundred, who, together shall be proprietors of twelve hundred shares, may at any time apply to the president and directors to call a general meeting of the stockholders for any purpose relative to the affairs of the institution; and if the president and directors refuse to call such meeting, the said number of stockholders, proprietors of not less than twelve hundred shares, shall have power to call a general meeting of the stockholders, giving at least two weeks' notice in the said newspapers printed in the cities of Washington and Georgetown, specifying in such notice the object of the meeting.

Sec. 24. And be it further enacted, That, should it so happen, from any cause whatsoever, that the annual election of directors should not take place in any year, on the day hereinbefore mentioned for that purpose, this corporation shall not, for that reason, be dissolved, but such election may be lawfully held on such convenient day thereafter as may for that purpose be fixed on by the president and directors, they causing ten days' public notice thereof to be given in one or more of the newspapers printed in the cities of Washington and Georgetown.

Sec. 25. And be it further enacted, That the president and directors shall have power to appropriate such portions of the profits accruing to the company, to the reduction of the stock notes of the stockholders, as the board of directors shall from time to time deem advisable.

Sec. 26. And be it further enacted, That this act shall continue and be in force until the first day of June, one thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.

Sec. 27. And be it further enacted, That it shall be lawful for Congress at any time hereafter to alter, amend, or repeal this act.

Approved March 3, 1837.

AN ACT authorizing the Secretary of the Navy to place the name of Doctor John P. Briggs on the navy pension list.

Be it enacted, &c., That the Secretary of the Navy be, and he hereby is, authorized and required to place upon the list of invalid pensioners of the navy pension fund, at the rate of twenty-five dollars per month, to be paid out of said fund, John P. Briggs, late an acting surgeon on board the ship Saratoga, who was wounded by a splinter in the action with the British fleet on Lake Champlain, on the eleventh of September, eighteen hundred and fourteen; to commence on the first of October, eighteen hundred and thirty-two.

Approved March 3, 1837.

AN ACT for the relief of George Frazar and others. Be it enacted, &c., That the collector of the customs for the district of Plymouth, in Massachusetts, is hereby authorized to pay to George Frazar and others, late owners, and to the surviving heirs of the late crew, of the schooner Quero, of Duxbury, of sixty-one and thirty-six-ninety-fifths tons burden, which was lost on a fishing voyage in eighteen hundred and thirty-three, together with her late crew, such allowance, to be distributed according to law, as they would have been entitled to receive had the said schooner completed her fishing term and returned into port. Approved March 3, 1837.

[24th CoNG. 2d SESS.

AN ACT for the relief of Philip F. Voorhees. Be it enacted, &c., That the Secretary of the Treasury pay to Philip F. Voorhees, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, the sum of six hundred dollars, in full for expenses incurred by him while commanding the ship John Adams, in the Mediterranean, during the years eighteen hundred and thirty-one and eighteen hundred and thirty-two, in conveying our consuls to and from their consulates, and the Tripolitan ambassador from Malta to Tripoli, by orders from Commodores Biddle and Patterson.

Approved March 3, 1837.

AN ACT granting an increase of pension to Empson Hamilton.

Be it enacted, &c., That there be paid to Empsom Hamilton, an invalid pensioner, an increase of pension of one dollar per month, to be paid out of the privateer pension fund, and to commence from the time that he was placed upon the list of pensioners payable out of said fund. Approved March 3, 1837.

AN ACT for the relief of George F. Strother. Be it enacted, &c., That the proper accounting officers of the Treasury be, and they are hereby, authorized and empowered to settle the accounts of George F. Strother, late receiver of public moneys at St. Louis, Missouri, according to the principles of justice and equity. Approved March 3, 1837.

AN ACT to give the approval and confirmation of Congress to three several acts of the Legislative Assembly of the Territory of Wisconsin, incorporating banks. Be it enacted, &c., That the following acts of the Territorial Legislature of the Territory of Wisconsin, viz: an act entitled "An act to incorporate the stockholders of the Bank of Milwaukee," an act entitled "An act to incorporate the stockholders of the Miners' Bank of Dubuque," and an act entitled "An act to incorporate the stockholders of the Bank of Mineral Point," be, and the same are hereby severally and respectively approved and confirmed by Congress, with the following limitations and conditions, that is to say: that neither of said banks shall issue bills or notes for circulation, until one-half of the amount of their respective capitals shall have been actually paid in; and that, to enable the directors named in the said charters respectively to comply with this limitation and restriction, they shall be authorized to make calls, according to the provisions contained in the said charters, to an amount not exceeding, at any one time, forty per cent. upon the whole stock subscribed by each stockholder, and shall not be restricted to ten per cent. at any one call, as is provided in the said charters; and that neither of said banks shall have any authority to enlarge or augment its capital, or to make it larger, at any time, than the sum of two hundred thousand dollars, without the consent and approbation of Congress previously obtained; and that neither of said banks shall, at any time, owe, either by bond, bill, note, or other contract, over and above its actual deposites, an amount to exceed twice the amount of its capital stock actually paid in, instead of the limitation in this respect contained in the said charters respectively; and that each of the said banks shall have complied with all the requirements of their respective churters, as altered, modified, and restricted by this act, so as to enable them to commence the business of banking, and shall actually have commenced banking on or before the first day of January next, or their charters, or the charters of such of them as shall have failed to comply with this limitation, shall be void and of no effect; and the acceptance of said acts of incorporation, by the grantees or stockholders respectively, shall be deemed and taken as acceptances, subject to the conditions and limitations herein pre

scribed; and any infringement upon, or violation of, the provisions and requirements of this act, or of the limitations and restrictions therein contained, on the part of either of the said institutions, shall forfeit its charter, and put an end to its corporate powers and privileges. Approved March 3, 1837.

AN ACT for the relief of John P. Becker. Be it enacted, &c., That the Secretary of War be authorized and directed to place the name of John P. Becker on the pension-roll of the United States, and that he pay the said Becker the sum of twenty dollars per annum, to commence the fourth day of March, eighteen hundred and thirty-one, and to continue for and during his natural life. Approved March 3, 1837.

RESOLUTIONS.

A RESOLUTION to enable the Postmaster General more readily to change the commencement of the contract year in the Post Office Department.

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Postmaster General be, and he is hereby authorized and empowered to let the contracts for the transportation of the mails in those sections of the United States where they expire on the thirty-first days of December, eighteen hundred and thirty-seven, eighteen hundred and thirty-eight, and eighteen hundred and thirty-nine, respectively, for four years and six months, so as to cause them to terminate on the thirtieth day of June, eighteen hundred and forty-two, eighteen hundred and forty-three, and eighteen hundred and forty-four, to the end that the contract may commence on the first day of July, instead of the first day of January. Approved March 2, 1837.

RESOLUTION granting a pension to Susan Decatur, widow of the late Stephen Decatur.

Resolved, &c., That Mrs. Susan Decatur, widow of the late Commodore Stephen Decatur, be paid from the navy pension fund, a pension for five years, commencing from the thirtieth of June, eighteen hundred and thirty-four, in conformity with the provisions of the act concerning naval pensions and the navy pension fund, passed thirtieth June, eighteen hundred and thirty-four, and that she be allowed from said fund the arrearages of the half pay of a post captain, from the death of Commodore Decatur to the thirtieth of June, eighteen hundred thirty-four, together with the pension hereby allowed her, and that the arrearage of said pension be vested in the Secretary of the Treasury, in trust for the use of the said Susan Decatur: Provided, That the said pension shall cease on the death or marriage of the said Susan Decatur.

Approved March 3, 1837.

RESOLUTION to authorize a settlement of the accounts of Orange H. Dibble.

Resolved, &c., That the claims of Orange H. Dibble, for

labor, materials, and all other expenses incurred, and losses sustained by him in making preparations to execute his contract for the construction of the bridge across the Potomac, and which have not heretofore been settled and paid, be examined and ascertained by the Secretary of the Treasury, as nearly as the same can be done, and be laid before Congress at its next session for examination. And the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby directed to apply, in part payment of the same to him, the unexpended balance of the appropriation made for said purpose by the act of the thirtieth of June, eighteen hundred and thirty-four: Provided, That the Secretary of the Treasury is not authorized to make any allowance to the said O. H. Dibble for the purchase of stone or stone quarries, nor any further sum for his personal services.

Approved March 3, 1837.

RESOLUTION authorizing the Secretary of the Treasury to correct a clerical error in the award of the Commissioners under the treaty with France of eighteen hundred and thirty-one.

Resolved, &c., That the Secretary of the Treasury be, and he hereby is, authorized and directed, in making payment of the two last instalments to the claimants under the treaty with France of July four, eighteen hundred and thirtyof the Commissioners in the case of the claim of the Union one, to correct a clerical mistake which occurred in the award Bank of Maryland; by which mistake, the sum of ten thou

sand dollars, awarded to said bank, has gone to the use of all the other claimants; and that he correct such mistake by making the proper alteration in the proportion to be paid to the several claimants in the two last instalments, so that all

the claimants shall obtain their just proportion of the whole indemnity, and no more.

Approved March 3, 1837.

A RESOLUTION authorizing the Secretary of the Treas ury to receive from the Bank of the United States, under the Pennsylvania charter, payment for the stock of the United States, in the late Bank of the United States.

Resolved, &c., That the Secretary of the Treasury be directed to accept the terms of settlement proposed by the president and directors of the Bank of the United States, under the Pennsylvania charter, in their memorial to Congress, presented at the present session, for the payment to the United States of the capital stock owned by them in the late Bank of the United States, and the final adjustment and settlement of the claims connected with or arising out of the same; and to take such obligation for the payment of the several instalments in said proposed terms of settlement mentioned, as he may think proper: Provided, That nothing herein contained shall prejudice or affect in any way the question between the General Government of the United States and the late Bank of the United States, respecting the claim for damages on account of the protest of the bill of exchange drawn on the French Government. Approved March 3, 1837.