CHAP. CV.-An Act to quiet the titles of certain purchasers of lands, between the lines of Ludlow and Roberts, in the state of Ohio. STATUTE I. May 26, 1830. 1831, ch. 19. Appropriation of $62,515 25, to pay Virginia military claimants. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, That the President of the United States be, and he is hereby, authorized to pay, out of any money in the treasury, not otherwise appropriated, to the Virginia military claimants of lands situated between the two lines in the state of Ohio, commonly called Ludlow's and Roberts' lines, and south of the Greenville treaty line, located prior to the twenty-sixth day of June, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and twelve, the sum of sixty-two thousand five hundred and fifteen dollars and twenty-five cents, with interest thereon from the fourth March, eighteen hundred and twenty-five, at six per cent. per annum, until paid; being the amount at which said lands were valued, exclusive of improvements, under the act of Congress, entitled "An act to authorize the President of the United States to enter into certain negotiations relative to the lands located under Vir- 26, 1824, ch. ginia military land warrants, lying between Ludlow's and Roberts' lines, in the state of Ohio;" Provided however, That before the payment of said sum, the said claimant or claimants shall relinquish, by deed or deeds, to the United States, in such manner as the President shall direct, their title or titles to the said lands. SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That the payments aforesaid shall be made as directed to the said claimants, according to the valuation of their respective tracts of land, made under the above-recited act of Congress. APPROVED, May 26, 1830. Act of May 188. Proviso: Titles to be relinquished. Payment to be made according to valuation. CHAP. CVI. An Act to provide for the final settlement of land claims in Florida. (a) STATUTE I. May 26, 1830. Certain claims cept, &c. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, That all the claims and titles confirmed, exto land filed before the register and receiver of the land office, acting as commissioners, in the district of East Florida, under the quantity contained in one league square, which have been decided and recommended for confirmation, contained in the reports, abstracts and opinions, of said register and receiver, transmitted to the Secretary of the Treasury, according to law, and referred by him to Congress, on the fourteenth day of January, one thousand eight hundred and thirty, be, and the same are hereby confirmed, with the exception of such claims as were confirmed by the Spanish government, subsequent to the twenty-fourth of January, one thousand eight hundred and eighteen, which shall be re-examined and reported, with the evidence by the register and receiver, before the next session of Congress, to the Secretary of the Treasury, to be laid before Congress. Report to be laid before Congress. (a) See notes of the decisions of the Supreme Court, as to Florida land claims, vol. iii. p. 709. Where the Supreme Court has affirmed the title to lands in Florida, and referred in its decree to a particular survey, it would not be proper in the court below to open the case for a rehearing, for the purpose of adopting another survey. Chaires v. The United States, 3 Howard, 611. The court below can only execute the mandate of the Supreme Court; it has no authority to disturb the decree, and can only settle what remains to be done. Ib. The act of 26th May, 1830, ch. 106, providing for the final settlement of land claims in Florida, must be construed to contain the same limitation of time, within which claims were to be presented, as that provided by the act of May 23, 1828, ch. 70. United States v. Marvin, 3 Howard, 620. The limitation was one year. The courts of Florida, therefore, had no right to receive a petition for the confirmation of an incomplete concession, after the 26th May, 1831. Ib. Under the Florida treaty, the United States did not succeed to those rights which the king of Spain had held by virtue of his royal prerogative, but possessed the territory, subject to the institutions and laws of its own government. Pollard's Lessee v. Hagan, 3 Howard, 212. Conflicting Spanish claims confirmed as to United States. Act of May 8, 1822, ch. 129, sec. 4. ed. Certain other SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That all the conflicting Spanish claims, reported in obedience to the fourth section of the act of Congress, approved May the eighth, one thousand eight hundred and twentytwo, and recommended for confirmation as valid titles, be, and the same are hereby, confirmed, so far as the United States have any title to the same. SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That all claims derived from the claims confirm former British government, contained in the reports of the commissioners of East Florida, or the register and receiver, acting as such, who did not avail themselves of the provisions of the treaty between Spain and England, signed at Versailles on the twentieth of January, one thousand seven hundred and eighty-three, by leaving said province, but who remained in the same, and became Spanish subjects, and whose titles were approved by the Spanish authorities, and have been recommended for confirmation by said commissioners, or register and receiver, acting as such, be, and the same are hereby, confirmed. Remaining tled. SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That all the remaining claims which claims to be set- have been presented according to law, and not finally acted upon, shall be adjudicated and finally settled upon the same conditions, restrictions, and limitations, in every respect, as are prescribed by the act of Congress, approved twenty-third May, one thousand eight hundred and twenty-eight, entitled "An act supplementary to the several acts providing for the settlement and confirmation of private land claims in Florida." Act of May 23, 1828, ch.70. Disposition of papers relative to claims. Operation of confirmation. Act of May 23, 1828, ch. 70, explained. Time for relinquishment extended. Title-deeds. SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of the register and receiver to deliver over all papers relative to private land claims in East Florida to the keeper of the public archives. SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That all confirmations of land titles, under this act, shall only operate as a relinquishment of the right of the United States to the said lands respectively, and shall not be construed either as a guarantee of any such titles, or in any manner affecting the rights of other persons to the same lands. SEC. 7. And be it further enacted, That so much of the act of twentythird of May, one thousand eight hundred and twenty-eight, as directed that the selection of claimants who availed themselves of the first section of said act by accepting a quantity equal to one league square within their respective grants, which confined the selection to sectional lines, shall not be held to extend to the selection by the claimants of a greater quantity than a section, but the said claimants who have, or may hereafter select, under the provisions of said law, any quantity equal to the amount granted in bodies larger than a section in the form of any Spanish survey, or plat of survey, or where the sections are broken by any river, the said land so selected, or which may be so selected, is hereby confirmed to said claimants; and it shall be the duty of the surveyor general to make a survey and certificate of all such claims, to return the same to the commissioner of the general land office, and thereupon a patent shall issue to the original grantee, or to his assignee, if the land has been sold or transferred to any other person, or to the legal owner by purchase or descent. SEC. 8. And be it further enacted, That the claimants, who are entitled to the provisions of that act, or who may avail themselves of the foregoing provisions of this act, by taking a quantity equal to a league square in lieu of the whole grant, shall be, and they are hereby, allowed the further time of one year, from the passage of this act, to execute their relinquishments, and to file their acceptance of the provisions of said law. SEC. 9. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of the registers and receivers to restore to the claimants the title-deeds on which they may have finally rejected the claims. APPROVED, May 26, 1830. CHAP. CVII.-An Act for the distribution of certain books therein mentioned. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, That the copies of the diplomatic correspondence of the American revolution, published in pursuance of a resolution of Congress of twenty-seventh March, one thousand eight hundred and eighteen, which have been or may hereafter be received at the Department of State, be distributed and disposed of in manner following, to wit: To the President and Vice President of the United States, one copy each; to the heads of department, five copies each; to the Postmaster General, the commissioner of the general land office, and the superintendent of the patent office, one copy each; to each member and delegate of the present Congress, one copy; to the library of the Senate, five copies; to the library of the House of Representatives, ten copies; to the attorney general, the judges of the Supreme Court, and of the other courts of the United States, each one copy; to each governor of a state or territory, for the public library of the state or territory, one copy; to the military academy at West Point, and to each incorporated university, college, historical or antiquarian society and athenæum, one copy; to the Secretary of State, one copy for each American legation in foreign countries; to the Secretary of the Navy, five copies for the naval commanders on different stations; and to each person who has been President of the United States, one copy. SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That of the edition of the journals of the House, ordered to be printed by a resolution of this House, of eighteenth May, one thousand eight hundred and twenty-six, the copies be distributed in manner following, to wit: To the President and Vice President of the United States, one copy each; to the heads of department, five copies each; to each member and delegate of the present Congress, one copy; to the library of the Senate, five copies; to the library of the House of Representatives, ten copies; to the Attorney and Postmaster General, one copy each; to each governor of a state or territory, for the public library of the state or territory, one copy; to the military academy at West Point, and to each incorporated university, college, historical, or antiquarian society, and athenæum, one copy; and to each person who has been President of the United States, one copy; and that the residue remain in the custody of the clerk of the House of Representatives, till otherwise ordered by the House. STATUTE I. May 26, 1830. Distribution of diplomatic correspondence. Resolution of March 27, 1818. Vol. 3, p. 475. Distribution of the journals of the House. To be made House of Representatives. SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That the books hereby directed to be distributed, be properly prepared for transmission, under the direction by clerk of of the clerk of the House of Representatives; and that they be forwarded free of postage, by mail, to the persons hereby authorized to receive them; or delivered to the order of said persons in the city of Washington. SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That, of the copies of the diplomatic correspondence of the revolution, which shall remain after the distribution aforesaid, one copy shall be distributed to each new member of each Congress succeeding the present, until all the copies shall have been distributed, with the exception of twenty-five, which shall be retained for the library of Congress. APPROVED, May 26, 1830. Further dis tribution of diplomatic correspondence. STATUTE L May 28, 1830. Certain claims confirmed. 93. Act of May Proviso. CHAP. CXLVI.-An Act to confirm certain claims to lands in the district of Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, That all the claims to lands 24, 1828, ch. reported by the register and receiver of the land office for the district of Jackson courthouse, in the state of Mississippi, under the provisions of the act of Congress, approved on the twenty-fourth day of May, one thousand eight hundred and twenty-eight, entitled "An act supplementary to the several acts providing for the adjustment of land claims in the state of Mississippi," as founded on any order of survey, requette, permission to settle, or other written evidence of claim derived from the Spanish authorities, which ought, in the opinion of the said register and receiver, to be confirmed, and which, by the said reports, appear to be derived from the Spanish government prior to the twentieth of December, one thousand eight hundred and three, and the land claimed to have been cultivated and inhabited on or before that day, shall be confirmed in the same manner as if the title had been completed: Provided, That, in all such claims, where the plat and certificate of survey, made prior to the fifteenth day of April, one thousand eight hundred and thirteen, under the authority of the Spanish government, in pursuance of such claim, has not been filed with the said register and receiver, such claim shall not be confirmed to any one person for more than twelve hundred and eighty acres; and that for all the other claims comprised in the reports as aforesaid, and which ought, in the opinion of the register and receiver, to be confirmed, the claimant to such land shall be entitled to a grant therefor, as a donation not to exceed twelve hundred and eighty acres to any one person: And provided also, That the claim of the representatives of Louis Boisdore, numbered four, in report numbered three, shall not be confirmed to more than twelve hundred and eighty acres; and all the confirmations of the said incomplete titles and grants of donations, hereby provided to be made, shall amount only to a relinquishment for ever, on the part of the United States, of any claim whatever to the tract of land so confirmed or granted without prejudice to the interests of third persons. Proviso. Lands inhabited before April 15, 1813. Proviso. Pre-emption granted to certain persons. SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That every person, or his or her legal representatives, whose claim is embraced by the said register and receiver in their reports numbers five, six, and seven, of actual settlers, or their legal representatives, not having any written evidence of claim, shall, where it appears by the said reports that the land claimed or settled on had been actually inhabited and cultivated by such person or persons, in whose right the same is claimed, on or before the fifteenth day of April, one thousand eight hundred and thirteen, be entitled to a grant for the land so claimed or settled on, as a donation: Provided, That not more than one tract shall be granted to any one person, and the same shall not exceed six hundred and forty acres, to include his or her improvements, and to be bounded by sectional or divisional lines; and that no lands shall be thus granted which are claimed or recognised by the preceding section. SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That every person, or his or her legal representatives, comprised in the aforesaid reports of actual settlers, not having any written evidence of claim, who, on the third day of March, one thousand eight hundred and nineteen, did, as appears by those reports, actually inhabit and cultivate a tract of land in the said district, not claimed under any written evidence of title legally derived from the French, British, or Spanish, governments, or granted as a donation, shall be entitled to become the purchaser of the quarter section, or two eighths of any section, on which the improvements may be, and including the same, at the same price for which other public lands are sold at private sale: Provided, That the same shall be entered with the register of the land office, within the term of two years, or before, if the same shall be offered at public sale: And provided also, That, where any such person is settled on, and has improved any school lands in said district, such person shall be governed by the provisions of the fourth section of the act approved on the twenty-second day of April, one thousand eight hundred and twenty-six, entitled "An act giving the right of pre-emption, in the purchase of lands, to certain settlers in the states of Alabama, Mississippi, and territory of Florida.” SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That the register and receiver of the said district shall possess the same powers, and perform the same duties, in relation to the claims confirmed by this act, as are given to, and required of them by the act of Congress of the eighth of May, one thousand eight hundred and twenty-two, entitled "An act supplementary to the several acts for adjusting the claims and titles to lands, and establishing land offices, in the district east of the island of New Orleans. APPROVED, May 28, 1830. Proviso. Proviso. Act of April 22, 1826, ch. 28. Powers, &c. of and register receiver. Act of May 8, 1822, ch. 128. CHAP. CXLVII.-An Act for ne more effectual collection of the impost duties. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, That the President of the United States, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, is hereby authorized to appoint an additional appraiser of merchandise for the port of New York, who shall take a similar oath, and have like power and compensation, and perform the same duties, with the appraisers now authorized by law to be appointed at that place. Eight assist ant appraisers. Oath and du ants. SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That the Secretary of the Treasury may appoint, not exceeding four assistant appraisers in New York, two in Philadelphia, and two in Boston, who shall be practically acquainted with the quality and value of some one or more of the chief articles of importation, subject to appraisement, to be employed in appraising goods in such manner as shall be directed by the Secretary of the Treasury, and who shall take and subscribe an oath diligently and faithfully to examine and inspect such goods, wares, or merchandise, as the principal ties of assistappraisers may direct, and truly to report to them, to the best of their knowledge and belief, the true value thereof, according to law; whereupon the principal appraisers shall revise and correct the same as they may judge proper, and report to the collector their decision thereon: but, if the collector shall deem any appraisement of goods too low, he shall order re-aphave power to order a re-appraisement, either by the principal appraisers, or by three merchants designated by him for that purpose, who shall be citizens of the United States, and cause the duties to be charged accordingly. Of principals. Collector praisement. Rules as Appeal. to to SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That, from and after the thirtieth day of September next, whenever goods of which wool or cotton is a average value. component part, of similar kind, but different quality, are found in the same package, if not imported from beyond the Cape of Good Hope, it shall be the duty of the appraisers to adopt the value of the best article contained in such package, as the average value of the whole; and if the owner, importer, consignee, or agent, for any goods appraised, shall consider any appraisement, made by the appraisers, or other persons designated by the collector, too high, he may apply to the collector in writing, stating the reasons for his opinion, and having made oath that the said appraisement is higher than the actual cost and proper charges on which duty is to be charged, and also, that he verily believes it is higher than the curVOL. IV.-52 2 M |