44 THIRTY-NINTH CONGRESS. Sess. I. C11. 74, 75. 1866. . l .— n Ac to enoour e Tel ra ic Communication between the Unite:.
Cmkgzazsxgdgu [sind q;` Cuba anggother ?VeslthIndia Islands and the Bahamas.
Preamble. Whereas James A. Scrymser, Alfred Pell, junior, Alexander Hamilton, junior, Oliver K. King, Maturin L. Delafield, Vllilliam F. Smith, and James M. Digges, their associates, successors, and assigns, persons composing the International Ocean Telegraph Company, an incorporated loompany chartered by the State of New York, are desuous of establishing a line of submarine telegraphic communication between the United States `of America and the West India Islands and the Bahamas: Now, therefore, in order to facilitate the said enterprise- International Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Mzited 3;;*,;* gsézany States of America in Oongress assembled, That the said International w have sole Ocean Telegraph Company, incorporated under the laws of the State of glgfg fggm New _Y0rk, their successors and assigns, shall have the sole privilege for to by aug 0g,,, a period of fourteen years from the approval of this act, to lay, construct, are wlegrap land, maintain, and operate telegraphic or magnetic lines or cables in and ¥;‘:;(;’:;‘;f,°“ over the waters, reefs, islands, shores, and lands, over which the United Cuba, &¤. States have jurisdiction, from the shores of the State of Florida, in the said United States, to the Island of Cuba and the Bahamas, either or both, _ and other West India Islands. The United Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That the said International Ocean t$*°·**’S *° gave h Telegraph Company shall, at all times give the United States the free use ur::,}ls°° °°° of said cable or cables, to a telegraphic operator of its own selection, to transmit any messages to and from its military, naval, and diplomatic or Lines tobe consular agents; and the said company shall keep all its lines open to the
- $l;;;P‘;“;;;d public for the transmission for daily publication of market and commercial
in Omg? of ,,,9,,. reports and intelligence, and all messages, despatches and communications reception. shall be forwarded in the order in which they shall be received: and the Clwg¤¤· said company shall not be permitted to charge and collect for messages transmitted through any of its submarine cables more than the rate of three dollars and fifty cents for messages of ten words, subject, however, to the power of Congress to alter and determine said rates : Provided, lailéipsiggege That the said International Ocean Telegraph Company shall, within the yum, and in period of three. years from the passage of this act, cause the said submaoperation in five rme telegraphic cable or cables to be laid down, and that the said ca- Y€¤¥¤· ble or cables shall be in successful operation for the transmission of messages within the said period of five years; otherwise, this grant to be null an von . b This Mt mw S20. 3. And be it further enacted, That Convress shall have power at t ¤**-·* ·>= an time to alte · 1 1 r · ° ’ repealed. _Y , r or iepea t ie oregoing act. ‘ Aprnovan, May 5, 1866. May 9, 1353, CHAP. LXXV. —An Act to extend the Jurisdiction of the Court of Claims. Court of Be it enacted by the Senate and Emo of Representatives of the glalirgstgv hw Mzited States of America in Congress assembled, That the Court of cgmiz Claims shall have jurisdiction to hear and determine the claim of any paymaster, quartermaster, commissary of subsistence, or other disbursing oflicer of the United States, or of his administrators or executors, for res hef from responsibility on account of losses by capture or otherwise, while in the line of his duty, of government funds, vouchers, records, and papers in his charge, and for which such officer was and is held responsible: APP¤¤l· Provrfded, That an appeal may be taken to the Supreme Court, as in other cases. imbcgcorx, and Sac, 2. And be it_further enacted, That whenever said court shall have ascertamed the facts of any such loss to have been without fault or neglect on the part of any such officer, it shall make a decree, setting forth the amount thereof, upon which the proper accounting officers of the treasury shall allow to such officer the amount so decreed as a credit in the sebtlement of his accounts. Approved, May 9, 1866.
