Acts of Congress.

An Act supplementary to the act, entitled, "An act to prescribe the mode in which the public acts, records and judicial proceedings in each State shall be authenticated, so as to take effectin every other State." Beitenacted, &c., That from and after the passage of this act, all records and exemplifications of office books, which are or may be kept in any public office of any State, not appertaining to a court, shall be approved or admitted in any other court or of fice in any other State, by the attestation of the keeper of the said records or books, and the seal of his office thereto annexed, if there be a seal, together with a certificate of the presiding justice of the court of the county or district, as the case may be, in which such office is or may be kept; or of the Governor, the Secretary of State, the Chancellor, or the Keeper of the Great Seal of the State, that the said attestation is in due form and by the proper officer; and the said certificate, if given by the presiding justice of a court, shall be further authenticated by the clerk or prothonotary of the said court, who shall certify, under his hand and the seal of his office, that the said presiding justice is du duly commissioned and qualified; or if the said certificate be given by the Governor, the Secretary of State, the Chancellor or Keeper of the Great Seal, it shall be under the great seal of the State in which the said certificate is made. And the said records and exemplifications, authenticated as aforesaid, shall have such faith and credit given to them in every court and office within the United States, as they bave by law or usage in the courts or offices of the State from whence the same are or shall be taken.

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That all the provisions of this act, and the act to which this is a supplement, shall apply as well to the public acts, records, office books, judicial proceedings, courts, and offices, of the respective Territories of the United States, and countries subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, as to the public acts records, office books, judicial proceedings, courts, and offices, of the several States. Approved, March 27, 1804.

An Act for imposing more specific duties on the importation of certain articles; and also, for levying and collecting light money on foreign ships or vessels, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted, &c., That, from and after the thirtieth day of June next, the following articles, in addition to those already exempted from duty, shall and may be imported free from any duty; namely, rags of linen, of cotton, of woollen, and of hempen cloth; bristles of swine, regulus of antimony, unwrought clay, unwrought burr stones, and the bark of the cork tree.

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That, from and after the thirtieth day of June next, the duties now in force upon the articles hereinafter enumerated and described, at their importation into the United States, shall cease; and that, in lieu thereof, there shall be thenceforth laid, levied and collected upon the said articles, at their said importation, the several and respective rates or duties following, that is to say:

On foreign caught dried fish, fifty cents per quintal. On for foreign caught pickled fish, as follows, to

wit:

On salmon, one hundred cents per barrel; on mackerel, sixty cents per barrel; on all other pickled fish, forty cents per barrel.

On cables, tarred cordage, white lead, red lead, almonds, currants, prunes and plums, figs, raisins imported in jars and boxes, and muscadel raisins, two cents per pound.

On all other kinds of raisins, one cent and a half per pound.

On tallow, yellow ochre in oil, anchors, and sheet iron, one cent and a half per pound.

On Spanish brown, dry yellow ochre, slit and hoop iron, one cent per pound.

On starch, three cents per pound.

On hair powder, glue, and seines, four cents per pound. On pewter plates and dishes, four cents per pound.

On untarred cordage, two cents and a half per pound.

On quicksilver, six cents per pound. On Chinese cassia and gunpowder, four cents per pound.

On cinnamon and cloves, twenty cents per pound.

On mace, one dollar and twenty-five cents per pound.

On nutmegs, fifty cents per pound.

On black glass quart bottles, sixty cents per gross. On window glass, as follows: On all not above eight inches by ten, one dollar and sixty cents per hundred square feet; not above ten inches by twelve, one dollar and seventy-five cents per hundred square feet; and on all above ten inches by twelve, two dollars and twenty-five cents per hundred square feet.

On cigars, two dollars per thousand. On kid and Morocco shoes, fifteen cents a pair. On foreign lime, fifty cents per cask containing sixty gallons; and on Sicily wine, thirty cents per gallon.

Acts of Congress.

SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That an addition of ten per centum shall be made to the several rates of duties above specified and imposed in respect to all such goods, wares, and merchandise as aforesaid, as shall, after the said thirtieth day of June. be imported in ships or vessels not of the United States.

nor of the said Territory, from the time when he shall enter into the functions of his office, in conformity with the provisions of the said act, until the end of the next session of Congress, and no longer.

Approved, March 27, 1804.

An Act relative to the compensations of certain officers of the customs, and to provide for appointing a Surveyor in the district therein mentioned.

Be it enac enacted, &c., That, from and after the last

the several day as

SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That the duties laid by this act, shall be levied and collected in the same manner, and under the same regulations and allowances as to drawbacks, mode of security, and time of payment, respectively, duties now in force on the respective articles herein before enumerated: Provided, however, That no drawbacks shall be allowed on the exportation of foreign fish, or fish oil, or of playing cards.

SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That all duties and drawbacks which, by virtue of this act, shall be payable and allowable on any specific quantity of goods, wares, and merchandise, shall be deemed to apply, in proportion, to any quantity greater or less than such specific quantity.

SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That a duty of fifty cents per ton, to be denominated "lightmoney," shall be levied and collected on all ships or vessels not of the United States, which, after the aforesaid thirtieth day of June next, may enter the ports of the United States: Provided, however, That nothing in this act shall be so construed as to contravene any provision of the treaty or conventions concluded between the United States of America and the French Republic, on the thirtieth day of April, one thousand eight hundred and three: And provided, also, That the said light-money shall be levied and collected in the same manner, and under the same regulations, as the tonnage duties now imposed by law.

of June, in the present year, the salaries heretotore allowed, by law, to the several collectors of the customs for the districts of Bath, Portsmouth, Newport, Middletown, New Haven, Delaware, Richmond, Wilmington, in North Carolina, Newbern and Edenton, shall cease and be discontinued. And there shall be allowed and paid, annually, to the officers of the customs hereafter named, the following sums, respectively, viz:

To the collector for the district of Natchez, in addition to the fees and other emoluments of office, the sum of two hundred and fifty dollars; and to each of the surveyors at New London, Middletown, New Haven, and Alexandria, in addition to the allowances already established by law, the sum of fifty dollars.

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That, from and after the said last day of June, in lieu of the commissions heretofore allowed by law, there shall be allowed to the collector of the customs for Wilmington, in North Carolina, and Newbern, two and a half per cent.

To the collectors for Petersburg and Richmond, two per cent.

To the collectors for Kennebunk and New London, one and three-quarters per cent.

To the collector for Bath, one and a half per

cent.

To the collectors for New Haven and Middletown, one and three-eighths per cent.

To the collectors for Providence and Alexan

dria, one and one-quarter per cent.

To the collector for Newport, one and oneeighth per cent.

To the collector for Portland, three-quarters of one per cent.

And to the collectors for Salem and Beverly, five-eighths of one percent., on all moneys by them respectively received on account of the duties arising on goods, wares, and merchandise, imported into the United States, and on the tonnage of ships and vessels.

SEC. 7. And be it further enacted, That the person exercising the powers which, under the Spanish Government, were vested in the Intendant of the province of Louisiana, shall, until a district court of the United States shall be established in the Territory of Orleans, in conformity with the provisions of the act, entitled "An act erecting Louisiana into two Territories, and providing for the temporary government thereof," have and exercise, in all cases whatever arising within the said Territory, under the laws regulating and providing for the collection of duties on imports and tonnage, or under any other revenue laws of the United States, the same jurisdiction and powers which, by law, are given to the district and circuit courts of the United States. And the powers to remit fines, penalties, or forfeitures, and to remove disabilities, which, by law, are vested in the Secretary of the Treasury, may and shall, in all cases of such fines, penalties, forfeitures, or disabilities, incurred within the Territory of Orleans, and until a Governor of the said Territor Territory shall be appointed, and shall enter into the functions of his office. be exercised by the person exercising the powers, which, under the Spanish Government, were vested in the Governor of the province of Louisiana; An Act for the appointment of an additional Judge for and the said powers to remit fines, penalties, or the Missisippi Territory, and for other purposes. forfeitures, and to remove disabilities, may and Be it enacted, &c., That there shall be appointshall, in like manner, be exercised by the Govered an additional judge for the Mississippi Terri

SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That there shall be appointed a surveyor for the district of Marblehead, to reside at Marblehead, who shall be entitled to receive, in addition to the other emoluments allowed by law, a salary of one hundred dollars annually.

Approved, March 27, 1804.

Acts of Congress.

ritory.

Approved, March 27, 1804.

An Act to provide for a more extensive distribution of

the Laws of the United States.

tory, who shall reside at or near the Tombigbee set- of the said superior court of the Mississippi Tertlement, and who shall possess and exercise, within the district of Washington, as fixed and ascertained by an act of the General Assembly of the Mississippi Territory, entitled "An act for the more convenient organization of the courts of said Territory," the jurisdiction heretofore possessed and exercised by the superior court of the said Territory within the said district of Washington, and to the exclusion of the original jurisdiction of the said superior court within the same: Provided, always, That the said superior court shall have full power and authority to issue writs of error to the court established by this act, and to hear and determine the same, when sitting, for the district of Adams, as fixed and ascertained by the act of the General Assembly of the Mississippi Territory, herein before mentioned.

SEC. 2. Be it further enacted, That the said superior court are hereby authorized, upon the reversal of a judgment of the court established by this act, to render such judgment as the said court ought to have rendered or passed, except where the reversal is in favor of the plaintiff in the original suit, and the debt or damages to be assessed are uncertain, in which case the cause shall be remanded in order to a final determination.

SEC. 3. Be it further enacted, That when any person, not being an executor or administrator, applies for a writ of error, such writ of error shall be no stay of proceedings in the court to which it issues, unless the plaintiff in error shall give security, to be approved of by a judge of the said superior court, that the plaintiff in error shall

prosecute his writ to effect, and pay the condem

nation money and all costs, or otherwise abide the judgment in error, if he fail to make his plea

good.

SEC. 4. Be it further enacted, That all pleas, process, and proceedings whatever, which may have been commenced in the said superior court, within the aforesaid district of Washington, shall be, and the same are hereby, transferred to the court established by this act, and the officers appointed to issue or execute the process of the said superior court within the district of Washington, and to record the proceedings of the same, are, hereby, authorized and required to issue and execute the process of the court established by this act, and to record the proceedings thereof.

SEC. 5. Be it further enacted, That the court established by this act shall hold two terms in each and every year, at the place where the courts for Washington county, within the said Territory, shall be held, to commence on the day following, to wit: on the first Monday in May and September, annually, and shall then and there proceed to hear and determine the pleas, process, and proceedings depending before them, in the same manner as the said superior court, within the district of Washington aforesaid, might or could have done, in case this act had not been passed.

SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That the judge to be appointed by virtue of this act shall receive the same salary, and payable in the same manner, which is established by law for judges

Sth CON.-42

Be it enacted, &c., That the Secretary for the Department of State be, and he hereby is, authorized and empowered to procure four hundred copies of the laws of the United States: one hundred copies of which shall be distributed in just proportions in the Territory of Orleans and district of Louisiana, the other three hundred copies to be reserved for the disposal of Congress.

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That one thousand copies of the laws of the United States which shall be printed at the close of each session, shall be reserved for the disposal of Congress, and that the distribution of the remainder shall be extended to the Territory of Orleans and district of Louisiana, and to such other Territories as are or may hereafter be established, in the same manner and proportion as is already provided by law for distributing them among the several States and Territories; and the Secretary of State shall cause to be published in one newspaper in each of the Territories of the United States where

newspapers are printed, the laws which have passed during the present session, and which may hereafter be passed by by Congress.

SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That there shall be transmitted, by the Secretary of State, to each member of the Senate and House of Repre

sentatives, and to each Territorial Delegate, as

soon as may be after the expiration of each session of Congress, a copy of all the laws which shall have been passed at such session.

SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That the sum of two thousand dollars be, and the same

hereby is, appropriated for defraying the expense authorized by this act, payable out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated. Approved, March 27, 1804.

An Act supplementary to the act, entitled "An act regulating the grants of land, and providing for the disposal of the lands of the United States south of the State of Tennessee."

Be it enacted, &c., That persons claiming lands in the Mississippi Territory, by virtue of any British or Spanish grant, or by virtue of the three first sections of the act to which this is a supplement, or of the articles of agreement and cession with the State of Georgia, may, after the last day of March, in the year one thousand eight hundred and four, and until the last day of November, then next following, give notice in writing, of their claims, to the register of the land office, for the lands lying west of Pearl river, and have the same recorded, in the manner prescribed by the fifth section of the act to which this is a supplement: Provided, however, That where lands are claimed by virtue of a complete Spanish or British grant, in conformity with the articles of agreement and cession between the United States

Acts of Congress.

Secretary of the Treasury shall be, and he is hereby is, repealed:

hereby, authorized to employ an agent, whose conpensation shall not exceed one thousand five hundred dollars in full for all his services, for the purpose of appearing before the said Commissioners, in behalf of the United States, to investigate the

Acts of Congress.

SEC. 12. And be it further enacted, That transcripts of the records of the British province of West Florida, to claims for land therein, and which have been delivered to the Government of the United States, may be produced as evidence, and shall be entitled to the same weight in any court of the United States, as if the same had been delivered, or shall be delivered to either of the Registers of the land offices in the Mississippi Territory, before the last of March, one thousand of Congress; and to state the variance between