Изображения страниц
PDF
EPUB

Sec. 16. And be it further enacted, That each person who, before the passing of this act, shall have erected, or begun to erect, a grist-mill or saw-mill upon any of the lands herein directed to be sold, shall be entitled to the pre-emption of the section including such mill, at the rate of two dollars per acre: Provided, The person or his heirs, claiming such right of preemption, shall produce to the register of the land office satisfactory evidence that he or they are entitled thereto, and shall be subject to and comply with the regulations and provisions by this act prescribed for other purchasers.

Sec. 17. And be it further enacted, That so much of the "act providing for the sale of the lands of the United States in the Territory Northwest of the river Ohio, and above the mouth of Kentucky river," as comes within the purview of this act, be, and the same is hereby, repealed.

39. An Act in addition to the act, entitled "An act to prohibit the carrying on the slave trade from the United States to any foreign place or country""

May 10, 1800

Be it enacted, &c., That it shall be unlawful for any citizen of the United States, or other person residing within the United States, directly or indirectly, to hold or have any right or property in any vessel employed or made use of in the transportation or carrying of slaves from one foreign country or place to another, and any right or property, belonging as aforesaid, shall be forfeited, and may be libelled and condemned for the use of the person who shall sue for the same; and such person, transgressing the prohibition aforesaid, shall also forfeit and pay a sum of money equal to double the value of the right of property in such vessel, which he held as aforesaid; and shall also forfeit

1 Annals of Congress, 6 Cong., 1 Sess., Appendix, pp. 1512–1513.

a sum of money equal to double the value of the interest which he may have had in the slaves, which at any time may have been transported or carried in such vessel, after the passing of this act, and against the form thereof.

Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That it shall be unlawful for any citizen of the United States, or other person residing therein, to serve on board any vessel of the United States employed or made use of in the transportation or carrying of slaves, from one foreign country or place to another; and any such citizen or other person, voluntarily serving as aforesaid, shall be liable to be indicted therefor, and, on conviction thereof, shall be liable to a fine not exceeding two thousand dollars, and be imprisoned not exceeding two years.

Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That if any citizen of the United States shall voluntarily serve on board of any foreign ship or vessel, which shall hereafter be employed in the slave trade, he shall, on conviction thereof, be liable to, and suffer the like forfeitures, pains, disabilities, and penalties, as he would have incurred, had such ship or vessel been owned or employed, in whole or in party, by any person or persons residing within the United States.

Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That it shall be lawful for any of the commissioned vessels of the United States, to seize and take any vessel employed in carrying on trade, business, or traffic, contrary to the true intent and meaning of this or the said act to which this is in addition; and such vessel, together with her tackle, apparel, and guns, and the goods or effects, other than,slaves, which shall be found on board, shall be forfeited, and may be proceeded against in any of the district or circuit courts, and shall be condemned for the use of the officers and crew of the vessel making the seizure, and be divided in the proportion directed in the case of prize: And all persons interested in such vessel, or in the enterprise or voyage in which such vessel shall be employed at the time of such capture, shall be precluded from all right or claim to the slaves found on board such vessel

as aforesaid, and from all damages or retribution on account. thereof: And it shall moreover be the duty of the commanders of such commissioned vessels, to apprehend and take into custody every person found on board of such vessel so seized and taken, being of the officers or crew thereof, and him or them convey, as soon as conveniently may be, to the civil authority of the United States, in some one of the districts thereof, to be proceeded against in due course of law.

40. An act making provision for the disposal of the public lands in the Indiana Territory; and for other purposes1

March 26, 1804

Be it enacted, &c. That the power vested by law in the surveyor general, shall extend over all the public lands of the United States to which the Indian title has been or shall hereafter be extinguished, north of the river Ohio, and east of the river Mississippi; and it shall be the duty of the said surveyor general to cause the said lands to be surveyed into townships, six miles square, and divided in the same manner and under the same regulations; and to do and perform all such other acts in relation to the said lands, as is provided by law in relation to the lands of the United States, situate northwest of the river Ohio and above the mouth of Kentucky river: Provided, That the whole expense of surveying and marking the line shall not exceed three dollars for every mile that shall be actually run, surveyed, and marked: And provided also, That such tracts of land as are lawfully claimed by individuals within the said boundaries, and the title whereto has been or shall be recognised by the United States, shall be laid out and surveyed at the expense of the parties respectively, in conformity with the true boundaries of

1 Annals of Congress, 8 Cong., 1 Sess., Appendix, pp. 1285–1293.

such tracts. And it shall also be the duty of the said surveyor general to cause to be run, surveyed, and marked such of the Indian boundary lines of the said lands, as have not yet been surveyed; and with the approbation of the President of the United States to ascertain by astronomical observations the positions of such places north of the river Ohio and east of the river Mississippi, as may be deemed necessary for the correctness of the surveys, and to the most important points of the geography of the country.

Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That, for the disposal of the lands of the United States north of the river Ohio and east of the river Mississippi, in the Indiana Territory, three land offices shall be established in the same, one at Detroit, for the lands lying north of the State of Ohio to which the Indian title has been extinguished; one at Vincennes for the lands to which the Indian title has been extinguished, and which are included within the boundaries fixed by the treaty lately held with the Indian tribes of the Wabash; and one at Kaskaskia, for so much of the lands included within the boundaries fixed by the treaty of the thirteenth of August, one thousand eight hundred and three, with the Kaskaskia tribe of Indians, as is not claimed by any other Indian tribe; and for each of the said offices a register and a receiver of public moneys shall be appointed, who shall give security in the same manner, in the same sums, and whose compensation, emoluments and duties, and authority, shall, in every respect, be the same in relation to the lands which shall be disposed of at their offices, as are or may be by law provided, in relation to the registers and the receivers of public moneys in the several offices established for the disposal of the lands of the United States north of the river Ohio, and above the mouth of Kentucky river.

Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That every person claiming lands within any of the three tracts of land described in the preceding section, by virtue of any legal grant made by the French Government, prior to the Treaty of Paris, of the tenth of February, one thousand seven hundred and sixty-three, or of

any legal grant made by the British Government, subsequent to the said treaty, and prior to the Treaty of Peace between the United States and Great Britain, of the third of September, one thousand seven hundred and eighty three, or of any resolution, or act of Congress, subsequent to the said treaty of peace, shall, on or before the first day of January, one thousand eight hundred and five, deliver to the register of the land office, within whose district the land may lie, a notice in writing, stating the nature and extent of his claims, together with a plot of the tract or tracts claimed, and may also, on or before that day, deliver to the said register, for the purpose of being recorded, every grant, order of survey, deed, conveyance, or other written evidence of his claim; and the same shall be recorded by the said register, in books to be kept for that purpose, on receiving from the parties at the rate of twelve and a half cents for every hundred words contained in such written evidence of their claim; and if such person shall neglect to deliver such notice, in writing, of his claim, or to cause to be recorded such written evidence of the same, all his right, so far as the same is derived from any resolution or act of Congress, shall become void, and forever be barred.

Sec. 5. And be it further enacted, That all the lands aforesaid, not excepted by virtue of the preceding sections, shall, with the exception of the section "number sixteen," which shall be reserved in each township for the support of schools within the same, with the exception also of an entire township in each of the three above described tracts of country or districts, to be located by the Secretary of the Treasury, for the use of a seminary of learning, and with the exception also of the salt springs and lands reserved for the use of the same as hereinafter directed, be offered for sale to the highest bidder, under the direction of the surveyor general, or Governor of the Indiana Territory, of the register of the land office, and of the receiver of public moneys, at the places respectively where the land offices are kept, and on such day or days as shall, by a public proclamation

« ПредыдущаяПродолжить »