Acts of Congress. and sixty-three, or of any legal grant made by the prepare two transcripts of all the decisions made British Government, subsequent to the said treaty. by the said commissioners in favor of the claimand prior to the Treaty of Peace between the Uni-ants to land, both of which shall be signed by the ted States and Great Britain, of the third of Sep- said commissioners, and one of which shall be tember, one thousand seven hundred and eighty- transmitted to the surveyor general, and the other three, or of any resolution, or act of Congress, sub- to the Secretary of the Treasury; and the lands, sequent to the said treaty of peace, shall, on or the claims to which shall have been thus affirmed before the first day of January, one thousand eight by the commissioners, shall not be otherwise dishundred and five, deliver to the register of the land posed of, until the decision of Congress thereupon office, within whose district the land may lie, a shall have been made. It shall likewise be the notice in writing, stating the nature and extent of duty of the said commissioners to make to the Sechis claims, together with a plot of the tract or retary of the Treasury a full report of all the tracts claimed, and may also, on or before that day, claims filed with the register of the proper land deliver to the said register, for the purpose of be- office, as above directed, which they may have reing recorded, every grant, order of survey, deed, jected, together with the substance of the evidence conveyance, or other written evidence of his claim; adduced in support thereof, and such remarks as and the same shall be recorded by the said register, they may think proper: which reports, together in books to be kept for that purpose, on receiving with the transcripts of the decisions of the comfrom the parties at the rate of twelve and a half cents missioners in favor of the claimants, shall be laid for every hundred words contained in such written by the Secretary of the Treasury before Congress evidence of their claim; and if such person shall at their next ensuing session. Each of the comneglect to deliver such notice, in writing, of his missioners and clerks aforesaid shall be allowed claim, or to cause to be recorded such written evi- a compensation of five hundred dollars in full for dence of the same, all his right, so far as the same his services as such; and each of the said clerks is derived from any resolution or act of Congress, shall, previous to his entering on the duties of his shall become void, and forever be barred. office, take and subscribe the following oath or affirmation, to wit: "I, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will truly and faithfully discharge the duties of a clerk to the board of commissioners for examining the claims to land, as enjoined by an act of Congress, entitled "An act making provision for the disposal of the public lands in the Indiana Territory; and for other purposes." SEC. 4. And be it further enacted. That the register and receiver of public moneys, of the three above mentioned land offices, shall, for the land respectively lying within their districts, be commissioners for the purpose of examining the claims of persons claiming lands by virtue of the preceding sections. Each of the said commissioners shall, previous to the entering on the duties of his appointment respectively, take and subscribe the following oath or affirmation, before some person qualified to administer the same: "I,— do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will impartially exercise and discharge the duties imposed upon me, as commissioner for examining the claims to land, by an act of Congress, entitled "An act making provision for the disposal of the pub-tracts of country or districts, to be located by the lic lands in the Indiana Territory; and for other purposes." It shall be the duty of the said commissioners to meet at the places where the said land offices are by this act established, respectively, on or before the first day of January, one thousand eight hundred and five; and each board shall, in their respective districts, have power to hear in a summary manner all matters respecting such claims; also to compel the attendance of witnesses, to administer oaths, and examine witnesses, and such other testimony as may be adduced, and to decide thereon according to justice and equity, which decision shall be made before Congress in the manner hereinafter directed, and be subject to their decision thereon. The said boards, respectively, shall have power to appoint a clerk. whose duty it shall be to enter in a book to be kept for that purpose, full and correct minutes of their proceedings and decisions, together with the evidence on which such decisions are made; which books and papers, on the dissolution of the boards, shall be deposited in the respective offices of the registers of the land offices; and the said clerk shall SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That all the lands aforesaid, not excepted by virtue of the preceding section, 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 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 of the President of the United States, be designated for that purpose. The sales shall remain open at each place for three weeks and no longer: the lands shall not be sold for less than two dollars an acre, and shall, in every other respect, be sold in tracts of the same size and on the same terms and conditions as have been or may be by law provided for the lands sold north of the river Ohio and above the mouth of Kentucky river. All lands, other than the reserved sections and those excepted as above-mentioned, remaining unsold at the closing of the public sales, may be disposed of at private sale by the registers of the respective land offices, in the same manner, under Acts of Congress. the same regulations, for the same price, and on the same terms and conditions, as are or may be provided by law for the sale of the lands of the United States north of the river Ohio and above the mouth of Kentucky river. And patents shall be obtained for all lands granted or sold in the Indiana Territory, in the same manner and on the same terms as is or may be provided by law for lands sold in the State of Ohio, and in the Mississippi Territory. SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That all the navigable rivers, creeks, and waters, within the Indiana Territory, shall be deemed to be and remain public highways; and the several salt springs in the said Territory, together with as many contiguous sections each as shall be deemed necessary by the President of the United States, shall be reserved for the future disposal of the United States: And any grant which may hereafter be made for a tract of land, containing a salt spring which had been discovered previous to the purchase of such tract from the United States, shall be considered as fraudulent and null. SEC. 7. And be it further enacted, That the several provisions made in favor of persons who have contracted for lands with John Cleves Symmes and his associates, by an act, entitled "Án act to extend and continue in force the provisions of an act, entitled 'An act giving a right of pre-emption to certain persons who have contracted with John Cleves Symmes or his associates, for lands lying between the Miami rivers in the Territory Northwest of the Ohio, and for other purposes," shall be, and the same are hereby continued in force until the first day of June next: Provided, That the register of the land office and receiver of the public moneys at Cincinnati shall perform the same duties, exercise the same powers, and enjoy the same emoluments, which by the last recited act were enjoined on or vested in the commissioners designated by the said act: And provided also, That no certificate for a right of pre-emption shall be granted, except in favor of persons who had, before the first day of January, one thousand eight hundred, made contracts in writing with John Cleves Symmes or with any of his associates, and who had made to him or them any payment or payments of money for the purchase of such lands; nor unless at least one-twentieth part of the purchase money of the land claimed, shall have previously been paid to the receiver of public moneys, or shall be paid prior to the first day of January next. And every person who shall obtain a certificate of pre-emption, shall be allowed until the first day of January, one thousand eight hundred and six, to complete the payment of his first instalment: And provided also, That where any person or persons shall, in virtue of a contract entered into with John Cleves Symmes, have entered and made improvements on any section or half section prior to the first day of April last, (having conformed with all the foregoing provisions in this section.) which improvements by the running of the lines subsequently thereto shall have fallen within any section or half section, other than the one pur chased as aforesaid, and other than section number sixteen, such section or half section shall in that case be granted to the person or persons who shall have so entered, improved, and cultivated the same, on payment of the purchase money, agreeably to the provisions made by law for lands sold at private sale; but nothing herein contained shall be construed to give to any such person or persons a greater number of acres than he or they had contracted for with John Cleves Symmes as aforesaid. SEC. 8. And be it further enacted, That every person who may have heretofore obtained from the commissioners a certificate of a right of preemption for lands lying between the two Miami rivers, on account of contracts with, or purchase from, John Cleves Symmes or his associates, and who has paid his first instalment; and every person who may obtain a similar certificate by virtue of the preceding section, and shall, on or before the first day of January, one thousand eight hundred and six, pay his first instalment, be permitted to pay the residue of the purchase money in six annual equal payments. SEC. 9. And be it further enacted. That fractional sections of the public lands of the United States, either north of the river Ohio, or south of the State of Tennessee, shall, under the directions of the Secretary of the Treasury, be either sold singly, or by uniting two or more together, any act to the contrary notwithstanding: Provided, That no fractional sections shall be sold in that manner until after they shall have been offered for sale to the highest bidder, in the manner hereinafter directed. SEC. 10. And be it further enacted, That all the public lands of the United States, the sale of which is authorized by law, may, after they shall have been offered for sale to the highest bidder in quarter sections, as hereinafter directed, be purchased at the option of the purchaser, either in entire sections, in half sections, or in quarter sections; in which two last cases the sections shall be divided into half sections by lines running due north and south, and the half sections shall be divided into quarter sections by lines running due east and west. And in every instance in which a subdivision of the lands of the United States, as surveyed in conformity with law, shall be necessary to ascertain the boundaries or true contents of the tract purchased, the same shall be done at the expense of the purchaser. SEC. 11. And be it further enacted, That no interest shall be charged on any instalment which may hereafter become due, in payment for any of the public lands of the United States, wherever situated, and which have been sold in pursuance of the act, entitled "An act to amend the act, entitled 'An act providing for the sale of the lands of the United States, in the Territory Northwest of the Ohio, and above the mouth of Kentucky river," or which may hereafter be sold by virtue of that, or of any other act of Congress: Provided, That such instalments shall be paid on the day on which the same shall become due; but the interest shall be charged and demanded in Acts of Congress. conformity with the provisions heretofore in force, from the date of the purchase on each instalment which shall not be paid on the day on which the same shall become due: Provided, however, That on the instalments which are or may become due before the first day of October next, interest shall not be charged, except from the time they became due until paid, but in failure to pay the said instalments on the said first of October, interest shall be charged thereon, in conformity with the provisions heretofore in force, from the date of the purchase. SEC. 12. And be it further enacted, That the sections which have been heretofore reserved, and are by this act directed to be sold, also, the fractional sections, classed as is by the ninth section of this act directed, and all the other lands of the United States north of the Ohio, and above the mouth of Kentucky river, shall be offered for sale in quarter sections, to the highest bidder, under the directions of the register of the land office, and of the receiver of public moneys, at the places, respectively, where the land offices are kept, that is to say, the lands in the district of Chilicothe, on the first Monday of May; the lands in the district of Marietta, on the second Monday of May; the lands in the district of Zanesville, on the third Monday of May; the lands in the district of Steubenville, on the second Monday of June; and the lands in the district of Cincinnati, on the first Monday of September. The sales shall remain open at each place no longer than three weeks; the lands which may be thus sold, shall not be sold for less than two dollars per acre; and shall, in every other respect, be sold on the same terms and conditions, as is provided for the sale of lands sold at private sale. And all the other public lands of the United States, either north of the Ohio, or south of the State of Tennessee, which are directed to be sold at public sale, shall be offered for sale to the highest bidder, in quarter sections: Provided, however, That section number twenty-six of the third township of the second fractional range, within the grant made by the United States to John C. Symmes, on which is erected a mill-dam, is hereby granted to Joseph Vanhorne, the proprietor of the said dam; and, also, that section number twenty-nine, of the second township of the fourth entire range, be granted to James Sutton; and, also, that section number twenty-one, of the ninth township of the twentyfirst range, be granted to Christian Van Gundy, on their payment of the purchase money, agreeably to the provisions made by law, for lands sold at private sale. SEC. 13. And be it further enacted, That whenever any of the public lands shall have been surveyed in the manner directed by law, they shall be divided by the Secretary of the Treasury into convenient surveying districts; and a deputy surveyor shall, with the approbation of the said Secretary, be appointed by the surveyor general for each district, who shall take an oath or affirmation, truly and faithfully to perform the duties of his office; and whose duty it shall be to run and mark such lines as may be necessary for subdividing the lands surveyed as aforesaid, into sec tions, half sections, or quarter sections, as the case may be; to ascertain the true contents of such subdivisions; and to record in a book to be kept for that purpose, the surveys thus made. The surveyor general shall furnish each deputy surveyor with a copy of the plat of the townships and fractional parts of townships contained in his district, describing the subdivisions thereof, and the marks of the corners. Each deputy surveyor shall be entitled to receive from the purchaser of any tract of land, of which a line or lines shall have teen run and marked by him, at the rate of three dollars for every mile thus surveyed and marked, before he shall deliver to him a copy of the plat of such tract, stating its contents. The fees payable by virtue of former laws for surveying expenses, shall, after the first day of July next, be no longer demandable from and paid by the purchasers. And no final certificate shall thereafter be given by the register of any land office to the purchaser of any tract of land, all the lines of which shall not have been run, and the contents ascertained by the surveyor general or his assistants, unless such purchaser shall lodge with the said register a plat of such tract, certified by the district surveyor. SEC. 14. And be it further enacted, That from and after the first day of April next, each of the registers and receivers of public moneys of the several land offices established by law, either north of the river Ohio, or south of the State of Tennessee, shall, in addition to the commission heretofore allowed, receive one-half per cent. on all the moneys paid for public lands sold in their respective offices, and an annual salary of five hun-. dred dollars, the register and receiver of the land office at Marietta excepted, the annual salary of whom shall be two hundred dollars. And from and after the same day the fees payable by virtue of former laws, to the registers of the several land offices, for the entry of lands and for certificate of moneys paid, shall no longer be demandable from, nor paid by, the purchasers of public lands. And it shall be the duty of the Secretary of the Treas ury to cause, at least once every year, the books of the officers of the land offices to be examined, and the balance of public moneys in the hands of the several receivers of public moneys of the said offices, to be ascertained. SEC. 15. And be it further enacted, That, from and after the first day of April next, the fees heretofore payable for patents for lands, shall no longer be paid by the purchasers. And it shall be the duty of every register of a land office, on application of the party, to transmit, by mail, to the register of the Treasury, the final certificate granted by such register to the purchaser of any tract of land sold at his office: and it shall be the duty of the register of the Treasury, on receiving any such certificate, to obtain and transmit by mail, to the register of the proper land office, the patent to which such purchaser is entitled; but in every such instance the party shall previously pay to the proper deputy postmaster the postage accruing on the transmission of such certificate and patent. Acts of Congress. SEC. 16. And be it further enacted. That the President of the United States shall have full power to appoint and commission the several registers and receivers of public moneys of the land offices established by this act, in the recess of Congress; and their commissions shall continue in force until the end of the session of Congress next ensuing such appointment. SEC. 17. And be it further enacted, That the several superintendents of the public sales directed by this act, shall receive six dollars each for each day's attendance on the said sales. SEC. 18. And be it further enacted. That a sum not exceeding twenty thousand dollars, be, and the same is hereby appropriated for the purpose of carrying this act into effect; which sum shall be paid out of any unappropriated moneys in the Treasury. Approved, March 26, 1804. An Act erecting Louisiana into two Territories, and providing for the Temporary Government thereof. Be it enacted, &c., That all that portion of country ceded by France to the United States, under the name of Louisiana, which lies south of the Mississippi Territory, and of an east and west line, to commence on the Mississippi river, at the thirty-third degree of north latitude, and to extend west to the western boundary of the said cession, shall constitute a Territory of the United States, under the name of the Territory of Orleans; the government whereof shall be organized and administered as follows: to the President of the United States. In case of the vacancy of the office of Governor, the government of the said Territory shall devolve on the Secretary. SEC. 4. The legislative powers shall be vested in the Governor, and in thirteen of the most fit and discreet persons of the Territory, to be called the Legislative Council, who shall be appointed annually by the President of the United States from among those holding real estate therein, and who shall have resided one year at least in the said Territory, and hold no office of profit under the Territory or the United States. The Governor, by and with advice and consent of the said Legislative Council, or of a majority of them, shall have power to alter, modify, or repeal the laws which may be in force at the commencement of this act. Their Legislative powers shall also extend to all the rightful subjects of legislation; but no law shall be valid which is inconsistent with the Constitution and laws of the United States, or which shall lay any person under restraint, burden, or disability, on account of his religious opinions, professions, or worship; in all which he shall be free to maintain his own, and not burdened for those of another. The Governor shall publish throughout the said Territory all the laws which shall be made, and shall from time to time report the same to the President of the United States, to be laid before Congress; which, if disapproved of by Congress, shall thenceforth be of no force. The Governor or Legislative Council shall have no power over the primary disposal of the soil, nor to tax the lands of the United States, nor to interfere with the claims to land within the said Territory. The Governor shall convene and prorogue the Legislative Council, whenever he may deem it expedient. It shall be his duty to obtain all the information in his power in relation to the customs, habits, and dispositions of the inhabitants of the said Territory, and communicate the same from time to time to the President of the United States. SEC. 2. The Executive power shall be vested in a Governor, who shall reside in the said Territory, and hold his office during the term of three SEC. 5. The judicial power shall be vested in a years, unless sooner removed by the President of superior court, and in such inferior courts, and the United States. He shall be commander-in-justices of the peace, as the Legislature of the Terchief of the militia of the said Territory, shall have power to grant pardons for offences against the said Territory, and reprieves for those against the United States, until the decision of the President of the United States thereon shall be made known; and to appoint and commission all officers, civil and of the militia, whose appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by law. He shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed. SEC. 3. A Secretary of the Territory shall also be appointed, who shall hold his office during the term of four years, unless sooner removed by the President of the United States, whose duty it shall be, under the direction of the Governor, to record and preserve all the papers and proceedings of the Executive, and all the acts of the Governor and Legislative Council, and transmit authentic copies of the proceedings of the Governor in his Executive Department, every six months, ritory may from time to time establish. The judges of the superior court and the justices of the peace shall hold their offices for the term of four years. The superior court shall consist of three judges, any one of whom shall constitute a court; they shall have jurisdiction in all criminal cases, and exclusive jurisdiction in all those which are capital; and original and appellate jurisdiction in all civil cases of the value of one hundred dollars. Its sessions shall commence on the first Monday of every month, and continue till all the business depending before them shall be disposed of. They shall appoint their own clerk. In all criminal prosecutions which are capital, the trial shall be by a jury of twelve good and lawful men of the vicinage; and in all cases, criminal and civil, in the superior court, the trial shall be by a jury, if either of the parties require it. The inhabitants of the said Territory shall be entitled to the benefits of the writ of habeas corpus; they shall be Acts of Congress. bailable, unless for capital offences, where the proof shall be evident, or the presumption great; and no cruel and unusual punishments shall be inflicted. ents for useful discoveries and inventions to certain persons therein mentioned, and to enlarge and define the penalties for violating the rights of patentees. An act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of maps, charts, and books to the authors and proprietors of such copies, during the time therein mentioned. An act, supplementary to an act, entitled an act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of maps. charts, and books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies, during the times therein mentioned; and extending the benefits thereof to the arts of designing, engraving, and etching historical and other prints. An act providing for salvage in cases of recapture. An act respecting alien enemies. SEC. 6. The Governor, Secretary, Judges. District Attorney, Marshal, and all general officers of the militia, shall be appointed by the President of the United States in the recess of the Senate; but shall be nominated at their next meeting for ther advice and consent. The Governor, Secretary, Judges, members of the Legislative Council, justices of the peace, and all other officers, civil and of the militia, before they enter upon the duties of their respective offices, shall take an oath or affirmation to support the Constitution of the United States, and for the faithful discharge of the duties of their office; the Governor, before the President of the United States, or before a judge of the supreme or district court of the Uni- An act to prescribe the mode in which the pubted States, or before such other person as the Pres-lic acts, records, and judicial proceedings in each ident of the United States shall authorize to ad- State shall be authenticated, so as to take effect minister the same; the Secretary, Judges, and in every other State. members of the Legislative Council, before the Governor; and all other officers before such persons as the Governor shall direct. The Governor shall receive an annual salary of five thousand dollars; the Secretary of two thousand dollars, and the judges of two thousand dollars each; to be paid quarter yearly out of the revenues of impost and tonnage, accruing within the said Territory. The members of the Legislative Council shall receive four dollars each per day during their attendance in Council. SEC. 7. And be it further enacted, That the following acts, that is to say: An act for the punishment of certain crimes against the United States. An act in addition to an act for the punishment of certain crimes against the United States. An act to prevent citizens of the United States from privateering against nations in amity with, or against citizens of the United States. An act, for the punishment of certain crimes therein specified. An act respecting fugitives from justice, and persons escaping from the service of their masters. An act to prohibit the carrying on the slave trade from the United States to any foreign place or country. An act to prevent the importation of certain persons into certain States, where, by the laws thereof, their admission is prohibited. An act to establish the post office of the United States. An act further to alter and establish certain post roads, and for the more secure carriage of the mail of the United States. An act for the more general promulgation of the laws of the United States. An act in addition to an act, entitled "An act for the more general promulgation of the laws of the United States." An act to promote the progress of useful arts, and to repeal the act heretofore made for that purpose. An act to extend the privilege of obtaining pat An act for establishing trading houses with the Indian tribes. An act for continuing in force a law, entitled an act for establishing trading houses with the Indian tribes. And An act making provision relative to rations for Indians, and to their visits to the seat of Government:-shall extend to, and have full force and effect in the above-mentioned Territories. SEC. 8. There shall be established in the said Territory a district court, to consist of one judge, who shall reside therein, and be called the district judge, and who shall hold, in the city of Orleans, four sessions annually; the first to commence on the third Monday in October next, and the three other sessions, progressively, on the third Monday of every third calender month thereafter. He shall in all things have and exercise the same jurisdiction and powers, which are by law given to, or may be exercised by the judge of Kentucky district; and shall be allowed an annual compensation of two thousand dollars, to be paid quarter yearly out of the revenues of impost and tonnage accruing within the said Territory. He shall appoint a clerk for the said district, who shall reside, and keep the records of the court, in the city of Orleans, and shall receive for the services performed by him, the same fees to which the clerk of Kentucky district is entitled for similar services. There shall be appointed in the said district, a person learned in the law, to act as attorney for the United States, who shall, in addition to his stated fees, be paid six hundred dollars, annually, as a full compensation for all extra services. There shall also be appointed a marshal for the said district, who shall perform the same duties, be subject to the same regulations and penalties, and be entitled to the same fees to which marshals in other districts are entitled for similar services; and shall moreover be paid two hundred dollars, annually, as a compensation for all extra services: SEC. 9. All free male white persons, who are house-keepers, and who shall have resided one year, at least, in the said Territory, shall be quali |