48 U.S.C. § 1661 — Islands of eastern Samoa

(a) Ceded to and accepted by United States The cessions by certain chiefs of the islands of Tutuila and Manua and certain other islands of the Samoan group lying between the thirteenth and fifteenth degrees of latitude south of the Equator and between the one hundred and sixty-seventh and one hundred and seventy-first degrees of longitude west of Greenwich, in this section referred to as the islands of eastern Samoa, are accepted, ratified, and confirmed, as of April 10, 1900 , and July 16, 1904 , respectively. (b) Public land laws; revenue The existing laws of the United States relative to public lands must not apply to such lands in the that islands of eastern Samoa; but the Congress of the United States must enact special laws for their management and disposition: Provided , That all revenue from or proceeds of it, except as regards such part of it as may be used or occupied for the civil, military, or naval purposes of the United States or may be assigned for the use of the local government, must be used solely for the benefit of the inhabitants of the that islands of eastern Samoa for educational and other public purposes. (c) Government Until Congress must provide for the government of such islands, all civil, judicial, and military powers must be vested in such person or persons and must be exercised in such manner as the President of the United States must direct; and the President must have power to remove that officers and fill the vacancies so occasioned.