eided; and it shall be the duty of the attorney general, in all cases where the claim exceeds one league square, and in all other cases, if he shall in such latter cases think the decision of the district judge is erroneous, to direct an appeal to be made to the supreme court of the United States, and to appear for the United States, and prosecute such appeal; which appeal in behalf of the United States may be granted at any time within six months after the rendition of the judgment appealed from, or at any time before the expiration of the term thereof, which may commence next after the expiration of said six months; and it shall be the further duty of the district attorney to observe the instruction given to him by the attorney general in that respect. SNCT. 10. And be it further enacted, That it shall be lawful for the President of the United States to appoint a law agent, whose special duty it shall be to superintend the interests of the United States, in the premises, to continue him in place as long as the public interest requires his continuance, and to allow such pay to the agent as the President may think reasonable. It shall also be the duty of said agent to collect testimony in behalf of the United States, and to attend, on all occasions, when said claimants may take depositions; and no deposition so taken by them shall be read as evidence, unless said agent or district attorney shall have been notified, in writing, of the time and place of taking them, so long previous to said time as to afford to him an opportunity of being present. SECT. 11. And be it further enacted, That it shall be lawful for the President to employ assistant counsel, if in his opinion the public interest shall require the same, and to allow to such counsel and the district attorney, such compensation as he may think reasonable. SECT. 12. And be it further enacted,That any claims to lands, tenements, and hereditaments, within the purview of this act, which shall not be brought by petition before said court within one year from the passage of this act, or which, after being brought before said court, shall, on account of the neglect or delay of the claimant, not be prosecuted to a final decision within two years, shall be for ever barred, both at law and in equity; and no other action at common law, or proceoding in equity, shall ever thereafter be sustained in any court whatever. SECT. 13. And be it further enacted,That the decrees which may be rendered by said district, or the supreme court of the United States, shall be conclusivo between the United States and the said claimants only, and shall not affect the interests of third persons. CHAP. 71. An Act for the relief of purchasers of the public lands, that have reverted for nonpayment of the purchase money. SECT. 1. Be it enacted, by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, That in all cases where public lands have been purchased, on which a further credit has not been taken under the provisions of the act of the second of March, one thousand eight hundred and twenty-one, and have reverted, or are liable to revert, 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, and in all cases where one twentieth of the purchase money shall have been deposited and forfeited to the United States, it shall be the duty of the register of the land office, where the purchase or deposit was made, to issue, upon application, to the person or persons legally entitled to the benefit of the payinents made previous to such reversion or sale, his, her, or their legal representatives 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 land that has been heretofore, or may hereafter be, sold by the United States, in the state or territory in which such original purchase or deposit was made. SECT. 2. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of the commissioner of the general land office, to prescribe the form of such certificates, which shall, in every case, specify the tract or tracts of land so reverted or sold, the amount paid, date of payments, and by whom made; and it shall be the duty of the register issuing such certificates, to keep a record' of the same, and to forward to the general land office, at the close of each month, an abstract of the certificates issued during the month; and for each certificate, the officer issuing the same shall be entitled to receive, from the applicant, the sum of fifty cents. SECT. 3. And be it further enacted, That the said certificates, when received in payment for lands, shall be entered in the books of the land office where received, and transmitted with the accounts of the receiver of the public moneys, to the general land office, in such manner as the commissioner of said office shall prescribe; and if, upon comparison of the original with the returns from the office whence any certificate issued, it shall appear to the satisfaction of the said commissioner that such certificate has been issued and duly paid, according to the true intent and meaning of this act, the same shall be passed to the credit of the person paying the same, as so much cash. SECT. 4. And be it further enacted, That for any moneys forfeited, on lands sold at New-York or Pittsburg, the certificate shall be issued by the secretary of the treasury; which certificate shall be received in payment for lands at any of the land offices of the United States, as the certificates issued in conformity to the foregoing provisions of this act, are made receivable. SECT. 3. And be it further enacted, That in no case shall a certificate be issued to any person, except to the person who originally forfeited the lands, or to his heir or heirs; nor shall a grant issue, or the lands purchased with any scrip be transferred, until six months after the certificate shall have been deposited in the office. SECT. 6. And be it further enacted, That if any tract of land, returned as sold to the general land office, shall have been paid for in forged or altered certificates, such sale shall be void, and the land subject to be sold again, at public or private sale, as the case may be. And in caso any such forged or altered certificate shall be received upon any debt for land heretofore sold, or in part payment of any tract of land that may be hereafter sold, it shall be the duty of the commissioner of the general land office, by advertisement, or in such other manner as he shall direct, to give notice thereof to the person making such payment; and if, within six months after notice, such person shall not pay into the proper land office the amount so falsely paid, the tract of land upon which such payment was made shall, with all money actually paid thereon, be forfeited to the United States. SECT. 7. And be it further enacted, That where two or more persons have become purchasers of a section or fractional section, the register of the land office for the district in which the lands lie, shall, on application of the parties, and a surrender of the original certificate, issue separate certificates, of the same date with the original, to each of the purchasers, or their assignees, in conformity with the division agreed on by them. Provided, that in no case shall the fractions so purchased be divided by other than north and south, or east and west lines; nor shall any certificate issue for less than eighty acres. CHAP. 72. An Act to provide for extending the term of certain pensions chargeable on the Navy and Privateer Pension Fund. SECT. 1. Be it enacted, by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, That in all cases where provision has been made, by law, for the five years' half pay to the widows and children of officers, seamen, and marines, who were killed in battle, or who died in the naval service of the United States during the last war; and also in all casee where provision has been made for extending the term for five years, in addition to any term of five years, the said provision shall be further extended for an additional term of five years, to commence at the end of the current or last expired term of five years, in each case respectively; making the provision equal to twenty years' half pay, which shall be paid out of the fund heretofore provided by law; and the said pensions shall cease, for the causes mentioned in the laws providing the same, respectively. SECT. 2. And be it further enacted, That the pensions of all widows, who now are, or who, at any time within one year last past, have been in the receipt thereof, under the provision of the following laws of the United States, or either of then, to wit: an act passed March the fourth, one thousand eight hundred and fourteen, entitled "An act giving pensions to the orphans and widows of the persons slain in the public or private armed vessels of the United States," and an act passed April the sixteenth, one thousand eight hundred and eighteen, entitled "An act in addition to an act, giving pensions to the orphans and widows of persons slain in the public or private armed vessels of the United States," so far as regards persons receiving pensions from the fund arising from captures and salvage, made by the private armed vessels of the United States, be, and the same are hereby, continued, under the restrictions and regulations in the said acts contained, for and during the additional term of five years, from and after the period of the expiration of the said pensions, respectively. Provided, however, that the said pensions shall be paid from the proceeds of the privateer pension fund alone, and without recourse to the United States for any deficiency, should such occur, which may hereafter arise thereon. And provided, further, that no such pension shall be paid to any such widow after her intermarriage had, or to be had, after she shall have become such widow. CHAP. 73. An Act to authorize the improving of certain Harbours, the building of Piers, and for other purposes. CHAP. 74. An Act making an appropriation to extinguish the Indian title to a reserve allowed to Peter Lynch, of the Cherokee tribe of Indians, within the limits of the state of Georgia, by the treaty of one thousand eight hundred and nineteen, between the United States and said tribe of Indians. CHAP. 75. An Act to grant certain relinquished and unappropriated Lands to the state of Alabama, for the purpose of improving the navigation of the Tennessee, Coosa, Cahawba, and Black Warrior rivers. SECT. 1. Be it enacted, by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, That four hundred thousand acres of the relinquished lands in the counties of Madison, Morgan, Limestone, Lawrence, Franklin, and Lauderdale, in the state of Alabama, be, and the same is hereby, granted to said state, to be applied to the improvement of the navigation of the Muscle shoals and Colbert's shoals, in the Tennessee river, and such other parts of said river within said state, as the legis lature thereof may direct. But if there shall not be four hundred thousand acres of relinquished unappropriated land in said counties, the deficiency to be made up out of any unappropriated lands in the county of Jackson, in said state. SECT. 2. And be it further enacted, That said state of Alabama shall have power to sell, dispose of, and grant said land, for the purposes aforesaid, at a price not less than the minimum price of the public lands of the United States, at the time of such sale. SECT. 3. And be it further enacted, That the said state of Alabama shall commence said improvements within two years after the passage of this act, and complete the same within ten years thereafter. SECT. 4. And be it further enacted, That if said state of Alabama shall apply the lands hereby granted, or the proceeds of the sales, or any part thereof, to any other use or object whatsoever than as directed by this act, before said improvements shall have been completed, the said grant for all lands then unsold shall thereby become null and void; and the said state of Alabama shall become liable and bound to pay to the United States the amount for which said land, or any part thereof, may have been sold, deducting the expenses incurred in selling the same. SECT. 5. And be it further enacted, That the improvements of said navigation shall be commenced at the lowest point of obstruction in said river, within said state, continued up the same until completed, and be calculated for the use of steam boats, according to such plan of construction as the United States' engineers, appointed to survey and report thereon, may recommend, and the President of the United States approve. Provided, that such plan shall embrace, if practicable a connexion of the navigation of Elk river, with the said improvements. SECT. 6. And be it further enacted, That after the completion of said improvements, the surplus of said grant, if any, shall be applied to the improvement of the navigation of the Coosa, Cahawba, and Black Warrior rivers, in said state, under the direction of the legislature thereof. SECT. 7. And be it further enacted, That the said rivers, when improved as aforesaid, shall remain for ever free from toll for all property belonging to the government of the United States, and for all persons in their service, and for all the citizens of the United States, unless a toll shall be allowed by an act of Congress. CHAP. 76. An Act making an appropriation for the erection of a Breakwater near the mouth of Delaware Bay. CHAP. 77. An Act to establish a southern Judicial SECT. 1. Be it enacted, by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, That there shall be established another judicial district in the territory of Florida, to be called the southern district, embracing all that part of the territory which lies south of a line from Indian river on the east, and Charlotte harbour on the west, including the latter harbour; which said court shall exercise all the jurisdiction within said district, as the other superior courts respectively exercise within their respective districts, and shall be subject to all the laws which govern or regulate the same; and there shall be appointed for said district a judge, and he is hereby authorized to appoint a clerk for said court. There shall also be appointed an attorney and marshal, who shall exercise all the duties, give the same bond and security, and be entitled to the same salaries, fees, and compensation, that is now allowed by law to attorneys and marshals in other districts in the territory. SECT. 2. And be it further enacted, That the stated sessions of said court shall be held on the first Mondays of May and November, annually, at Key West, and such other intermediate sessions, from time to time, as the judge in his discretion may think advisable and necessary. The judge shall reside at the island of Key West, and shall be entitled to receive, as a salary for his services, two thousand dollars per annum, to be paid quarterly, out of any moneys in the treasury not otherwise appropriated. SECT. 3. And be it further enacted, That whenever, in any case concerning wrecked property, or property abandoned at sea, the judge aforesaid shall have determined the rate of salvage to be allowed to salvors, it shall be his duty, unless the salvage decreed shall have been adjusted, without recourse to vessel and cargo, to direct such proportion of salvage to be paid to the salvors in kind; and that the property saved shall be divided accordingly, under the inspection of the officers of the court, and before it shall have been taken out of the custody of the revenue officers. SECT. 4. And be it further enacted, That whenever it shall be ascertained, to the satisfaction of the judge of said court, that any of the property saved is, from its character, not susceptible of being divided in the manner proposed, or that there are articles in the cargo of a perishable nature, it shall be his duty to direct a sale of the same, for the benefit of all concerned. SECT. 5. And be it further enacted, That the property remaining, after separating the portion adjudged to the salvors, shall not be removed from such store as may be used for public purposes, nor disposed of in any other way, within nine months, unless by the order of the owners, or of their authorized agents; and that the duties accruing upon such property may be secured at any,port in the United States where the owners may reside. SECT. 6. And be it further enacted, That no vessel shall be employed as a wrecker, unless under the authority of the judge of said court; and that it shall not be lawful to employ on board such vessel, any wrecker who shall have made conditions with the captain or supercargo of any wrecked vessel, before or at the time of affording relief. CHAP. 78. An Act for the relief of Marinus W. Gilbert. CHAP. 79. An Act for the relief of the legal representatives of Meriwether Lewis. CHAP. 80. An Act for the relief of Francis English, of Indiana. CHAP. 81. An Act for the relief of Dodd and Barnard, and others. CHAP. 82. An Act for the relief of Alexander An Act for the benefit of Andrew CHAP. 84. An Act for the relief of Edward Allen Talbot. CHAP. 85. An Act to amend and explain an act, entitled "An act confirming an act of the legislature of Virginia, incorporating the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company, and an act of the state of Maryland for the same purpose. SECT. 1. Be it enacted, by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, That the assent already given by the United States to the charter of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company, by an act of Congress, entitled "An act confirming an act of the legislature of Virginia, entitled an act incorporating the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company;" and an act of the state of Maryland, confirming the same; shall not be impaired by any change of the route of the said canal, from or above the town of Cumberland, on the river Potomac, or the distribution thereof into two or more sections, at any time hereafter, or any change in the dimensions of that part of the present eastern section, extending from Cumberland, or the mouth of Will's creek, to the mouth of Savage, at the base of the Alleghany, or any substitution which the interest of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company may, in the opinion of the company, require to be made, of inclined planes, railways, or an artificial road for a continued canal, through the Alleghany mountain, in any route which may be by the company finally adopted therefor, between the town of Cumberland and the river Ohio. SECT. 2. And be it further enacted, That to obviate any possible ambiguity that might arise in the construction of the second section of the act of Congress aforesaid, the authority, by that act designed to be given to the states of Maryland and Virginia, or to any company incorporated by either or both of those states, to extend a branch from the said canal, or to prolong the same, from the termination thereof, by a continuous canal, within or through the district of Columbia, towards the territory of either of those states, shall be deemed and taken to be as full and complete, in all respects, as the authority granted, by that act, to the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company, to extend the main stem of the said canal, within the said district; or the authority reserved to the government of the United States to provide for the extension thereof, on either or both sides of the river Potomac, within the district of Columbia. Provided, that nothing herein contained shall impair the restriction in the charter of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company, designed to protect the canal from injury, by the prolongation thereof, or by any branch therefrom. SECT. 3. And be it further enacted, That the act of the legislature of Maryland, which passed at their December session of one thousand eight hundred and twentyseven, entitled "An act further to amend the act incorporating the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company," be, and the same is hereby, confirmed, so far as the assent of Congress may be deemed necessary thereto. Approved 23d May, 1828. CHAP. 86. An Act authorizing a subscription to the stock of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company. SECT. 1. Be it enacted, by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, That the secretary of the treasury be, and he is hereby authorized and directed, to subscribe, in the name and for the use of the United States, for ten thousand shares of the capital stock of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company, and to pay for the same at such times, and in such proportions, as shall be required of and paid by the stockholders generally, by the rules and regulations of the company, out of the dividends which may accrue to the United States upon their bank stock in the bank of the United States. Provided, that not more than one fifth part of the sum, so subscribed for the use of the United States, shall be demanded, in any one year, after the organization of the said company; nor shall any greater sum be paid on the shares so subscribed for, than shall be proportioned to assessments made on individual or corporate stockholders. And provided, moreover, that for the supply of water to such other canals as the state of Maryland or Virginia, or the Congress of the United States, may anthorize to be constructed, in connexion with the Chesapeake and Ohio canal, the section of the said canal leading from the head of the Little Falls of the Potomac river, to the proposed basin next above Georgetown, in the district of Columbia, shall have the elevation, above the tide, of the river at the head of the said falls, and shall preserve, throughout the whole section aforesaid, a breadth at the surface of the water of not less than sixty feet, and a depth below the same of not less than five feet, with a suitable breadth at bottom. SECT. 2. And be it further enacted, That the said secretary of the treasury shall vote for the president and directors of the said company, according to such number of shares as the United States may at any time hold in the stock thereof, and shall receive, upon the said stock, the proportion of the tolls which shall, from time to time, be due to the United States for the shares aforesaid; and shall have and enjoy, in behalf of the United States, every other right of a stockholder in the said company. CHAP. 87. An Act to enlarge the powers of the several Corporations of the district of Columbia, and for other purposes. SECT. 1. Be il enacted, by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, That the Corporation of Washington, the Corporation of Georgetown, and the Corporation of Alexandria, within the District of Columbia, shall, severally, have full power and authority to subscribe and pay for shares of the stock of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company; and all such subscriptions as shall have been already made by either of the said Corporations, shall, and the same are hereby declared to be valid and binding on the said Corporations, respectively. SECT. 2. And be it further enacted, That the said Corporations shall, severally, have power and authority, from time to time, as the same may be deemed by them, respectively, either necessary or |