claims contained therein, although unconfirmed, are embraced in the intent and meaning of the previous laws for the adjustment of land claims as aforesaid, he is hereby authorized to repay to the persons, or the legal representatives of the persons who purchased, such sum or sums as they may have paid for lands of this description, bought by them at the said public sale.

SECT. 5. And be it further enacted, That, in addition to the compensation herein before provided, the said register and receiver shall receive, for the services required of them by this act, the sum of five hundred dollars each, to be paid by the Secretary of the Treasury out of any moneys in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated.

CHAP. 177. An Act for the relief of Edward 3. Meeder.

CHAP. 178. An Act granting a pension to William Scott.

CHAP. 179. An Act for the relief of John Bryant and George W. Howard.

CHAP. 180. An Act for the final adjustment of private land claims in Missouri.

SECT. 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That it shall be the duty of the Recorder of land titles in the State of Missouri, and two commis

in that State, heretofore filed in the office of the said Recorder, according to

CHAP. 170. An Act for the further

relief of John H. Wendell, a captain in the Revolutionary war.

CHAP. 171. An Act for the relief of William P. Gibbs, executor of Benjamin Gibbs, of Kentucky, deceased.

CHAP. 172. An Act to authorize the

Governor of the Territory of Arkansas to select ten sections of land granted to said territory for the purpose of building a legislative house for said Territory, and for other purposes.

Approved, July 4, 1832.

CHAP. 173. An Act to provide for liquidating and paying certain claims of the State of Virginia. CHAP. 174. An Act to provide for the appointment of a commissioner of Indian Affairs, and for other purpo

ses.

CHAP. 175. An Act to enable the

President to extinguish Indian title within the State of Indiana, Illinois, and Territory of Michigan. CHAP. 176. An Act to extend the pe

riod to which the charter of the Provident Association of clerks was limited.

grant, concession, warrant, or order of survey, issued by the authority of France or Spain, prior to the tenth day of March one thousand eight hundred and four; and to class the same so as to show, first, what claims, in their opinion, would in fact have been confirmed, according to the laws, usages, and customs of the Spanish Government, and the practice of the Spanish authorities under them, at New Orleans, if the Government under which said claims originated had continued in Missouri; and secondly what claims in their opinion, are destitute of merit, in law or equity, under such laws, usages, customs, and practice of the Spanish authorities aforesaid; and shall also assign their reasons for the opinions so to be given. And in examining and classing such claims, the Recorder and Commissioners shall take into consideration, as well the testimony heretofore taken by the Boards of Commissioners and Recorder of land titles upon those claims, as such other testimony as may be admissible under the rules heretofore existing for taking such testimony before said boards and Recorder: and all such testimony shall be taken within twelve months after the passage of this act.

SECT. 2. And be it further enacted, That the office of the Recorder shall be open for the purposes of such examination for the term of two years from the date of the organization of the board of Commissioners and no longer; and the Recorder and Commissioners shall pro

ceed in the examination in a summary manner, with or without any new application of the claimants; and shall at the commencement of each session of Congress during said term of examination, lay before the Commissioner of the General Land Office a report of the claims so classed, stating therein the date and quantity of each, whether there be any, and what, conflicting claims, and the evidence upon which each claim depends, and the authority and power under which the said claim was granted by the Spanish or French Governor, Commandant or sub-delegate, to be Jaid before Congress for their final decision upon the claims contained in such first class.

SECT. 3. And be it further enacted, That from and after the final report of the Recorder and Commissioners the lands contained in the second class shall be subject to sale as other public lands; and the lands contained in the first class shall continue to be reserved from sale as heretofore, until the decision of Congress shall be made thereon: and if the decision of Congress shall be against the claims, or any of them, the lands so decided against shall be, in like manner, subject to sale as other public lands: Provided, That actual settlers being housekeepers upon such lands as are rejected. claiming to hold under such rejected claim, or such as may waive their grant, shall have the right of pre-emption to enter within the time of the existence of this act not exceeding the quantity of their claim, which in no case shall exceed six hundred and forty acres, to include their improvements, who shall give notice and prove their right of pre-emption, and in all things conform to the regulations as have been or may be prescribed by the Secretary of the Treasury under the existing laws relative to pre-emption; and it shall be the duty of the Secretary of the Treasury immediately to forward to the several land offices in said State, the manner in which all those who may wish to waive their several grants or claims and avail themselves of the right of preemption, shall renounce or release their said grants.

SECT. 4. And be it further enacted, That the Recorder and Commissioners shall each receive the sum of fifteen hundred dollars per annum, to be paid quarter yearly by the United States, in full compensation for their services under this act; and may, when necessary, employ an interpreter of the French or Spanish language, for a reasonable com

pensation, to be allowed by the Secretary of the Treasury, and paid by the United States.

SECT. 5. And be it further enacted, That it shall be lawful for the heirs of Carlos de Villemont to submit the evidence of their claim to a tract of land in Arkansas Territory, to a place called

Chicot point' to the said Recorder and Commissioners, and it shall be the duty of said Recorder and Commissioners to report upon said claim in the manner that other claims provided for in this act, are to be reported and proceeded upon.

CHAP. 181. An Act to amend an act

entitled An act for the relief of purchasers of the public lands that have reverted for non-payment of the purchase money,' passed twen tythird day of May, one thousand eight hundred and twentyeight.

SECT. 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Con gress assembled, That in all cases where public lands have been purchas ed, on which a further credit has been taken under the provisions of the act of the second March, one thousand eight hundred and twentyone, or under any other act of Congress granting relief to the purchasers of the public lands, and have reverted to the United States for failure to pay the purchase money, or have been sold by the United States by reason of such failure to pay, it shall be the duty of the Register of the land of fice where the purchase was made, to issue upon application, to the person or persons legally entitled to the benefit of payments made previous to such reversion or sale, his, her or their legal rep resentatives or assigns, a certificate for the amount so paid and not refunded, which shall be received and credited as cash in payment of any public lands that may hereafter be sold by the United States, in the State or Territory in which such original purchase was made.

SECT. 2. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of the Commissioner of the General Land Office and of the Registers as aforesaid, to conform to, and be governed by, the provisions of the act aforesaid, to which this is an amendment, passed the twen tythird day of May, one thousand eight hundred and twentyeight as aforesaid.

SECT. 3. And be it further enacted, That where the lands have been relinquished to the United States under the

provisions of the act of second March, one thousand eight hundred and twentyone, as aforesaid, or other acts of Congress, and the money paid thereon has, in part been applied in the payment of other lands, if the payment so made on lands retained be less than the amount paid on the relinquished lands when such excess exceeds the sum of ten dollars, it shall be the duty of the Register of the land office where the transfer of payment was made, to issue a certificate for such excess to the person or persons entitled thereto, and in the manner pointed out in the first section of this act; which certificate shall be received in payment of the purchase of the public lands as pointed out in said section.

SECT. 4. And be it further enacted, That on proof being made, satisfactory to the Secretary of the Treasury, that any certificate issued under this act, or that has been, or may be, issued under the said act of the twentythird of May, Anno Domini one thousand eight hundred and twentyeight, has been lost or destroyed by accident, he is hereby authorized to issue to the legal owner, thereof, a duplicate of such original certificate, which shall be, in all respects as available to the owner, as the original certificate would have been.

CHAP. 182. An Act to alter the times

of holding the district court of the United States for the State of Illinois.

CHAP. 183. An Act for the relief of Timothy Risley.

CHAP. 184. An Act to authorize the

Secretary of the Treasury to compromise the claim of the United States on the Farmers and Mechanics Bank of Indiana.

CHAP. 191. An Act to carry into effect the act to provide for a survey of the coast of the United States.

CHAP. 192. An Act to provide iron tanks for the use of the Navy of the United States.

CHAP. 193. An Act to establish additional land districts in the State of Alabama, and for other purposes. CHAP. 194. An Act for the regulation of the navy and Privateer Pension and Navy Hospital Funds.

CHAP. 195. An Act for the relief of

John Anderson, assignee of Jean
B. Jerome and George McDougall.

CHAP. 196. An Act to extend the

provisions of the act, entitled 'An act regulating commercial intercourse with the islands of Martinique and Guadaloupe,' approved the ninth of May, one thousand eight hundred and twentyeight, and to refund the tonnage duties on the French ship Victorine.

SECT. 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress Assembled, That the privileges which are extended by the act, entitled 'An act regulating commercial intercourse with the islands of Martinique and

Joseph Chamberlain.

+

CHAP. 186. An Act to finish the re

building of the frigate Macedonian.

CHAP. 187. An Act to provide for paying certain arrearages for surveys made by naval officers, and for other purposes.

CHAP. 188. An Act to provide for re

building the frigate Java and the sloop Cyane.

CHAP. 189. An Act to provide for completing the Navy Hospital at

May, one thousand eight hundred and twentyeight to French vessels laden and coming direct from those islands, shall be extended to vessels coming in the same manner, in ballast, subject, nevertheless, to the proviso contained in said act.

SECT. 2. And be it further enacted, That the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authorized to refund, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, such amount of tonnage duty as may have been collected, by the collector of the port of New York, upon the French ship Victorine, and which is referred to in the letter of the French

CHAP. 197. An Act giving the assent of Congress to an act of the Legis. lature of North Carolina, entitled 'An act to incorporate a company entitled the Roanoke Inlet Company, and for other purposes;' and also, to an act amendatory thereof, which passed in one thousand eight hundred and twentyeight.

CHAP. 198. An Act making appropriations for a custom-house in the city of New York, and for other purposes.

CHAP. 199. An Act to carry into ef

fect the convention between the United States and his Majesty the King of the French, concluded at Paris on the fourth of July, one thousand eight hundred and thirty

one.

SECT. 1. 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, shall appoint three commissioners, who shall form a board, whose duty it shall be to receive and examine all claims which may be presented to them under the convention between the United States and France, of the fourth of July, one thousand eight hundred and thirtyone, which are provided for by the said convention, according to the provisions of the same, and the principles of justice, equity, and the law of nations. The said board shall have a secretary, versed in the English, French, and Spanish languages, and a clerk, both to be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate; and the commissioners, secretary, and clerk, shall, before they enter on the duties of their offices, take oath well and faithfully to perform the duties thereof.

SECT. 2. And be it further enacted, That the said commissioners shall be, and they are hereby, authorized to make all needful rules and regulations, not contravening the laws of the land, the provisions of this act, or the provisions of the said convention, for carrying their said commission into full and complete effect.

SECT. 3. And be it further enacted,

on the first Monday of August next at the city of Washington; and, within two years from the time of its meeting, shall terminate its duties. And the Secretary of State is required forthwith after the passing of this act, to give notice of the said meeting; to be published in two newspapers in Washington, and in such other papers as he may think proper.

SECT. 4. And be it further enacted, That all records, documents, or other papers, which now are in, or hereafter, during the continuance of this commission, may come into the possession of the Department of State, in relation to such claims, shall be delivered to the commission aforesaid.

SECT. 5. And be it further enacted, That the compensation of the respective officers, for whose appointment provi sion is made by this act, shall not exceed the following sums, namely: to each of the said commissioners, at the rate of three thousand dollars per annum; to the secretary of the board at the rate of the clerk at the rate of fifteen hundred two thousand dollars per annum; and to dollars per annum. And the President of the United States shall be, and he is hereby, authorized to make such provision for the contingent expenses of the said commission, as shall appear to him reasonable and proper; and the said salaries and expenses shall be paid out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated.

SECT. 6. And be it further enacted, That the said commissioners shall report to the Secretary of State a list of the several awards inade by them; a certified copy whereof shall be by him transmitted to the Secretary of the Treasury, who shall thereupon distribute, in rateable proportions, among the persons in whose favor the awards shall have been made, such moneys as may have been received into the Treasury in virtue of this act, according to the proportions which their respective awards shall bear to the whole amount then received, first deducting such sums of money as may be due the United States from said persons in whose favor said awards shall be made; and shall also cause certificates to be issued by the Secretary of the Treasury, in such form as he may prescribe, showing the proportion to which each may be entitled of the amount that may thereafter be received; and, on the presentation of the said certificates at the Treasury, as the

net proceeds of the general instalments payable by the French Government, shall have been received, such proportions thereof shall be paid to the legal holders of the said certificates.

SECT. 7. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of the Secretatary of the Treasury to cause the several instalments, with the interest thereon payable to the United States in virtue of the said convention, to be received from the French Government, and transferred to the United States, in such manner as he may deem best, and the net proceeds thereof to be paid into the Treasury; and, on the payment of the proceeds of each of the said instalments there shall be set apart of the money in the Treasury, such further sum as would have been received from the net proceeds of such instalment, if the reservation stipulated by the fourth article of the said convention had not been de. ducted, and the moneys which may be thus set apart, together with those which may be received into the treasury under this act, shall be, and the same are hereby, appropriated, to satisfy the awards herein provided for.

SECT. 8. And be it further enacted, That all communications to or from the secretary of the board of commissioners, on the business of the commission, shall pass by mail free of post

age.

entry of vessels and merchandize arriving from the Cape of Good Hope, or beyond the same, at the port of Edgartown, in Massachu

setts.

CHAP. 203. An Act concerning the issuing of patents to aliens, for useful discoveries and inventions. SECT. 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the privileges granted to the aliens described in the first section of the act, to extend the privilege of obtaining patents for useful discoveries and inventions to certain persons therein mentioned, and to enlarge and define the penalties for violating the rights of patentees, approved April seventeenth, eighteen hundred; be extended, in like manner, to every alien, who, at the time of petitioning for a patent, shall be resident in the United States, and shall have declared his intention, according to law, to become a citizen thereof: Provided, That every patent granted by virtue of this act and the privileges thereto appertaining, shall cease and determine and become absolutely void without resort to any legal process to annul or cancel the same in case of a failure on the part of any patentee for the space of one year from the issuing thereof, to introduce into public use in the United States the invention or improvement for which the patent shall be issued ; or in case the same for any period of six months after such introduction shall not continue to be publicly used and applied in the United States, or in case of failure to become a citizen of the United States, agreeably to notice given at the earliest period within which he shall be entitled to become a citizen of the Uni

CHAP. 204. An Act to enforce the Quarantine Regulations.

SECT. 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That if in the opinion of the Secretary of the Treasury, the revenue cutters, revenue boats, or revenue officers, employed or authorized to be employed for the purposes of the revenue, should be insufficient to aid in the execution of the quarantine and health laws of any State, or the regulations made pursuant thereto, the said Secretary may cause to be employed such ad