No contract or purchase on behalf of the United States shall be made unless the same is authorized by law or is under an appropriation adequate to its fulfillment, except in the War and Navy Departments, for clothing, subsistence, forage, fuel, quarters, or transportation, which, however, shall not exceed the necessities of the current year.
A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents. Volume 7, Part 1: Ulysses S. Grant · The Wunder Library — complete classics, free to read, with narration.