52. An Act concerning Navigation1

April 18, 1818

Be it enacted, &c. That, from and after the thirtieth of September next, the ports of the United States shall be and remain closed against every vessel owned wholly or in part by a subject or subjects of His Britannic Majesty, coming or arriving from any port or place in a colony or territory of His Britannic Majesty that is or shall be, by the ordinary laws of navigation and trade, closed against vessels owned by citizens of the United States; and such vessel, that, in the course of the voyage, shall have touched at, or cleared out from, any port or place in a colony or territory of Great Britain, which shall or may be, by the ordinary laws of navigation and trade aforesaid, open to vessels owned by citizens of the United States, shall, nevertheless, be deemed to have come from the port or place in the colony or territory of Great Britain, closed as aforesaid against vessels owned by citizens of the United States, from which such vessel cleared out and sailed before touching at, and clearing out from, an intermediate and open port or place as aforesaid; and every such vessel, so excluded from the ports of the United States, that shall enter, or attempt to enter, the same, in violation of this act, shall, with her tackle, apparel, and furniture, together with the cargo on board such vessel, be forfeited to the United States.

Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That, from and after the aforesaid thirtieth of September next, the owner, consignee, or agent, of every vessel, owned wholly or in part by a subject or subjects of His Britannic Majesty, which shall have been duly entered in any port of the United States, and on board of which shall have been there laden for exportation any article or articles,

1 Annals of Congress, 15 Cong., 1 Sess., Appendix, pp. 2548–2549.

of the growth, produce, or manufacture, of the United States, other than provisions and sea stores necessary for the voyage, shall, before such vessel shall have been cleared outward at the custom-house, give bond, in a sum double the value of such articles, with one or more sureties, to the satisfaction of the collector, that the article or articles so laden on board such vessel for exportation, shall be landed in some port or place other than a port or place in a colony or territory of His Britannic Majesty, which, by the ordinary laws of navigation and trade, is closed against vessels owned by citizens of the United States; and any such vessel that shall sail, or attempt to sail, from any port of the United States, without having complied with the provision aforesaid, by giving bond as aforesaid, shall, with her tackle, apparel, and furniture, together with the article or articles aforesaid, laden on board the same as aforesaid, be forfeited to the United States: Provided always, That nothing in this act contained shall be so deemed or construed, so as to violate any provision of the convention to regulate commerce between the territories of the United States and of His Britannic Majesty, signed the third day of July, one thousand eight hundred and fifteen.

Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That the form of the bond aforesaid shall be prescribed by the Secretary of the Department of the Treasury; and the same shall and may be discharged, and not otherwise, by producing, within one year after the date thereof, a like certificate to that required by and under the regulations contained in the eighty-first section of the act "to regulate the collection of duties on imports," passed the second day of March, seventeen hundred and ninety-nine, that the articles of the growth, produce, and manufacture, of the United States, laden as aforesaid, were unladen and landed conformably to the provisions of this act, or in cases of loss by sea, by capture, or other unavoidable accident, by the production of such other proofs as the nature of the case will admit, according to the provisions of the said eighty-first section of the act aforesaid.

Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That all penalties and forfeitures incurred by force of this act, shall be sued for, recovered, distributed, and accounted for, and may be mitigated or remitted, in the manner and according to the provisions of the revenue laws of the United States.

53. An Act making further provision for the sale of the Public Lands1

April 24, 1820

Be it enacted, &c., That, from and after the first day of July next, all the public lands of the United States, the sale of which is, or may be, authorized by law, shall, when offered at public sale, to the highest bidder, be offered in half quarter sections; and, when offered at private sale, may be purchased, at the option of the purchaser, either in entire sections, half sections, quarter sections, or half quarter sections; and in every case of the division of a quarter section, the line for the division thereof shall run north and south, and the corners and contents of halfquarter sections, which may thereafter be sold, shall be ascertained in the manner, and on the principles, directed and prescribed by the second section of an act, entitled "An act concerning the mode of surveying the public lands of the United States," passed on the eleventh day of February, eighteen hundred and five; and fractional sections, containing one hundred and sixty acres, or upwards, shall, in like manner, as nearly as practicable, be subdivided into half quarter sections, under such rules and regulations as may be prescribed by the Secretary of the Treasury; but fractional sections, containing less than one hundred and sixty acres, shall not be divided, but shall be sold entire Provided, That this section shall not be construed to alter any special provision made by law for the sale of land in town lots.

1 Annals of Congress, 16 Cong., 1 Sess., vol. 2, Appendix, pp. 2578–2580.

Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That credit shall not be allowed for the purchase money on the sale of any of the public lands which shall be sold after the first day of July next, but every purchaser of land sold at public sale thereafter, shall, on the day of purchase, make complete payment therefor; and the purchaser at private sale shall produce to the register of the land office, a receipt from the Treasurer of the United States, or from the receiver of public moneys of the district, for the amount of the purchase money on any tract, before he shall enter the same at the land office, and if any person, being the highest bidder, at public sale, for a tract of land, shall fail to make payment therefor, on the day on which the same was purchased, the tract shall be again offered at public sale, on the next day of sale, and such person shall not be capable of becoming the purchaser of that or any other tract offered at such public sales.

Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That from and after the first day of July next, the price at which the public lands shall be offered for sale, shall be one dollar and twenty-five cents an acre; and at every public sale, the highest bidder, who shall make payment as aforesaid, shall be the purchaser; but no lands shall be sold, either at public or private sale, for a less price than one dollar and twenty-five cents an acre; and all the public lands which shall have been offered at public sale before the first day of July next, and which shall then remain unsold, as well as the lands that shall thereafter be offered at public sale, according to law, and remain unsold at the close of such public sale, shall be subject to be sold at private sale, by entry at the land office, at one dollar and twenty-five cents an acre, to be paid at the time of making such entry as aforesaid, with the exception, however, of the lands which may have reverted to the United States, for failure in payment, and of the heretofore reserved sections for the future disposal of Congress, in the States of Ohio and Indiana, which shall be offered at public sale, as hereinafter directed.

Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That no lands which have reverted, or which shall hereafter revert and become forfeited

to the United States, for failure in any manner to make payment, shall, after the first day of July next, be subject to entry at private sale, nor until the same shall have been first offered to the highest bidder at public sale; and all such lands, which shall have reverted before the said first day of July next, and which shall then belong to the United States, together with the sections, and parts of sections, heretofore reserved for the future disposal of Congress, which shall, at the time aforesaid, remain unsold, shall be offered at public sale to the highest bidder, who shall make payment therefor, in half quarter sections, at the land office for the respective districts, on such day or days as shall, by proclamation of the President of the United States, be designated for that purpose; and all lands which shall revert and become forfeited for failure of payment after the said first day of July next, shall be offered, in like manner, at public sale, at such times as the President shall, by his proclamation, designate for the purpose: Provided, That no such lands shall be sold at any public sales hereby authorized, for a less price than one. dollar and twenty-five cents an acre, nor on any other terms than that of cash payment; and all the lands offered at such public sales, and which shall remain unsold at the close thereof, shall be subject to entry at private sale, in the same manner, and at the same price, with the other lands sold at private sale at the respective land offices.

Sec. 5. And be it further enacted, That the several public sales authorized by this act shall, respectively, be kept open for two weeks, and no longer; and the registers of the land office, and the receivers of public money, shall each, respectively, be entitled to five dollars for each day's attendance thereon.

Sec. 6. And be it further enacted, That, in every case hereafter, where two or more persons shall apply for the purchase, at private sale, of the same tract, at the same time, the register shall determine the preference, by forthwith offering the tract to the highest bidder.