Public Law 22–LXVII

That for the gradual improvement of the navy of the United States, the sum of five hundred thousand dollars, out of any money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated, be, and the same is hereby appropriated, annually, for six years, from and after the third day of March, eighteen hundred and thirty-three, when the present appropriation expires.

Sec. 2.

To be applied as directed by act of March 3, 1827, ch. 94.

And be it further enacted, That the President of the United States be, and he is hereby, authorized and empowered to cause the above-mentioned appropriation to be applied, as directed and prescribed by the act of the third of March, eighteen hundred and twenty-seven, to which this is in addition, the provisions whereof are hereby continued in force for the term above mentioned, and to be applied also to the purchase of other necessary materials as well as timber suitable for the construction of vessels of war.

Sec. 3.

And be it further enacted, That, in addition to the provisions

Provisions for preservation of live oak.

now in force on the subject of the live oak growing on the public lands, it shall be the duty of all collectors of the customs within the territory of Florida, and the states of Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana, before allowing a clearance to any vessel laden in whole or in part with live oak timber, to ascertain satisfactorily that such timber was cut from private lands, or, if from public ones, by consent of the Navy Department. And it is hereby made the duty of all officers of the customs, and of the land officers within said territory and states, to cause prosecutions to be seasonably instituted against all persons known to be guilty of depredations on, or injuries to, the live oak growing on the public lands.