turesManner in which estimates are to be communicated to Congress. and appropriations to Congress, and to any of the committees thereof, to specify, as nearly as may be convenient, the sources from which such estimates are derived, and the calculations upon which they are founded; and, in so doing, to discriminate between such estimated as are conjectural in their character, and such as are framed upon actual information and application from disbursing officers; and, in communicating the several estimated, reference shall be given to the laws and treaties by which they are authorized, the dates thereof, and the volume, page, and section, in which the necessary provisions are contained.
Employment of extra clerks.Sec. 15. And be it further enacted, That no extra clerk shall be employed, in any department, bureau, or office, at the seat of Government, except during the session of Congress, or when indispensably necessary to enable such department, bureau, or office, to answer some call made by either House of Congress at one session, to be answered at another; and not then, except by order of the head of the department in which, or in some bureau or office which, such extra clerk shall be employed; and no such extra clerk, for copying, shall receive more than three dollars per day, or for any other service more than four dollars per day, for the time actually and necessarily employed.
Employment of messengers, laborers, &c.Sec. 16. And be it further enacted, That no messenger, assistant messenger, laborer, or other person, shall be employed in any department, bureau, or office at the seat of Government, or paid out of the contingent fund appropriated to such department, bureau, or office, unless such employment shall be authorized by law, or shall become necessary to carry into effect some object for which appropriations may be specifically made; and not exceeding one hundred dollars per annum shall be applied by each department (except the Department of State,)Purchase of newspapers. for the purchase of newspapers for such department, and all the bureaus and offices connected therewith; and such papers shall be preserved as filed for said department.
Stationery and job printing to be furnished and performed by contract.Sec. 17. And be it further enacted, That all stationery, of every name and nature, for the use of the two Houses of Congress, and all stationery and job printing, of every name and nature, for the use of the several departments of Government, and for the bureaus and offices in those departments at Washington, including all stationery, blanks, wrapping paper, and twine, and mail bags, furnished the post offices and collectors’ offices throughout the United States, shall hereafter be furnished and performed by contract, by the lowest bidder, as follows: the Secretary of the Senate, the Clerk of the House of Representatives, the head of each department, and such deputy postmasters in the Post Office establishment, and such collectors in the custom-house establishment, as the Postmaster General and the Secretary of the Treasury shall respectively designate for that purpose, shall respectively advertise, once a week, for at least four weeks, in one or more of the principal papers published in the places where such articles are to be furnished, or such printing done, for sealed proposals for furnishing such articles, or the whole of any particular class of articles, or for doing such printing, or the whole of any specified job thereof, to be done at such place, specifying in such advertisement the amount, quantity, and description of each kind of articles to be furnished, and, as near as may be, the nature, amount, and kind of printing to be done; and all such proposals shall be kept sealed until the day specified in such advertisement for opening the same, when they shall be opened, by or under the direction of the officer making such advertisement, in the presence of at least two persons; and the person offering to furnish any class of such articles, or to perform any specified portion or job of said work, and giving satisfactory security for the performance thereof, under a forfeiture not exceeding twice the contract price in case of failure, shall receive a contract for doing the same; and in case the lowest bidder shall fail to enter into such con-