STATUTES OF AUTHORIZATION 



There shall be a Hydrographic Office attached to the Bureau of Naviga- 

 tion in the Navy Department for the improvement of the means for navigat- 

 ing safely the vessels of the Navy and of the mercantile marine by providing, 

 under the authority of the Secretary of the Navy, accurate and cheap nautical 

 charts, sailing directions, navigators, and manuals of instructions for the 

 use of all vessels of the United States, and for the benefit and use of navigators 

 generally (R. S. 431). 



The Secretary of the Navy is authorized to cause to be prepared, at the 

 Hydrographic Office attached to the Bureau of Navigation in the Navy 

 Department, maps, charts, and nautical books relating to and required in 

 navigation, and to publish and furnish them to navigators at the cost of print- 

 ing and paper, and to purchase the plates and copyrights of such existing maps, 

 charts, navigators, sailing directions, and instructions as he may consider 

 necessary, and when he may deem it expedient to do so, and under such regula- 

 tions and instructions as he may prescribe (R. S. 432). 



II 



