TWENTY-SEVENTH CONGRESS. Sess.II. Ch. 202. 1842.

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tract and give such security within a reasonable time, to be fixed insuch advertisement, then the contract shall be given to the next lowestbidder who shall enter into such contract and give such security. Andin case of a failure to supply the articles or to perform the work, by theperson entering into such contract, he and his sureties shall be liablefor the forfeiture specified in such contract, as liquidated damages, tobe sued for in the name of the United States , in any court having juris-diction thereof.

Sec. 18. And be it further enacted, That all such bids or proposalsshall be returned by the person authorized, as aforesaid, to receive thesame, to the Executive Department from which such authority is de-rived, and shall be preserved in said Department, subject to such ex-amination as Congress may at any time order and direct.

Sec. 19. And be it further enacted, That no part of the contingentfund appropriated to any department, bureau, or office, shall be appliedto the purchase of books, periodicals, pictures, or engravings, or otherthing, except such books, periodicals, and maps, or other thing, as thehead of such department shall deem necessary and proper to carry onthe business of such department, and shall, by written order, direct tobe procured for that purpose.

Sec. 20. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of theSecretary of the Senate , at the commencement of every regular sessionof Congress, to report to the Senate, and of the Clerk of the House ofRepresentatives to report to the House , and of the head of each De-partment to report to Congress , a detailed statement of the manner inwhich the contingent fund for each House , and of their respective De-partments, and for the bureaus and offices therein, has been expended,giving the names of every person to whom any portion thereof has beenpaid; and if for any thing furnished, the quantity and price ; and if forany services rendered, the nature of such service, and the time em-ployed, and the particular occasion or cause, in brief, that renderedsuch service necessary; and the amount of all former appropriations ineach case on hand, either in the Treasury or in the hands of any dis-bursing officer or agent. And they shall require of the disbursing offi-cers, acting under their direction or authority, the return of preciseand analytical statements and receipts for all the moneys which mayhave been, from time to time during the next preceding year, expendedby them ; and the results of such returns and the sums total shall becommunicated annually to Congress , by the said officers, respectively.

Sec. 21. And be it further enacted, That the act entitled “An act toprovide for the publication of the laws of the United States , and forother purposes,” approved April twentieth, eighteen hundred and eigh-teen, so far as the same authorizes or requires the laws, resolutions,treaties, and amendments of the Constitution of the United States , tobe published in any paper or papers printed in the different States orTerritories of the United States, -is hereby repealed; and in lieu there-of, it shall be the duty of the Secretary of State to publish such laws,resolutions, treaties, and amendments, in not less than two nor morethan four of the principal newspapers published in the city of Washing-ton for country subscribers, giving the preference to such papers as havethe greatest number of permanent subscribers and the most extensivecirculation; for which the proprietor of each paper shall receive, as fullcompensation, at the rate of one dollar for each page of the laws, reso-lutions, treaties, and amendments, as published in pamphlet form. Andif it shall appear, on the examination of any account, that there has beenany unreasonable delay or intentional omission in the publication of thelaws aforesaid, the proper accounting officer of the Treasury is herebyauthorized and required to deduct from such account such sum as shallbe charged therein for the publication of any laws which shall have been

Bids and pro-posals to bepreserved, &c.

Relative to thepurchase ofbooks, &c.

Detailed state-ment of themanner inwhich the con-tingent fundshave been ex-pended, to bereported toCon-gress.

Act 20th Sept.1818, ch. 80, re-quiring the Tawsto be publishedin the states andterritories, re-pealed ; and iniieu thereof,they shall bepublished innot less thantwo or morenewspapers inWashington.

Compensationfor publishing.

In case of de-lay, &c. in thepublication, adeduction to bemade, &c.