AN ACT for the relief of John Culbertson, and to papers and documents of every description which refer provide an intepreter for the District Court of the to lands in the State of Louisiana, shall be delivered to United States for the Eastern District of Louisiana. the order of the Surveyor General for that State; and Be it enacted, &c. That the sum of three hundred and such of them as refer to lands in the State of Alabama thirty-three dollars and thirty-three and one-third cents bama; and such of them as refer to lands in the State of shall be delivered to the Surveyor for the State of Alabe paid by the Marshal of the United States for the eastern District of Louisiana to John Culbertson, for his ser- documents in the office of said principal deputy SurveyMississippi, together with such maps, papers, records and vices rendered as interpreter to the United States Court for said District under the provisional appointment of the or, as are not hereby required to be delivered to the SurJudge, for each regular term of said Court, from the De-veyor General of the State of Louisiana or to the Surveycember term of one thousand eight hundred and twenty five, inclusively, up to the time of the passage of this SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That the Judge of act. the District Court of the United States for the eastern District of Louisiana, be and is hereby, authorized to appoint an interpreter to said Court, and to allow him a compensation not exceeding three hundred and thirty-three dollars and thirty-three and one-third cents, for his services at each regular term of said Court, to be holden subsequently to the passage of this act; and the Marshal is authorized to pay the same upon the order of the Judge: Provided always, That it shall be the duty of the said interpreter, during his continuance in office, to attend all and every of the called or irregular sessions of the said Court, without any additional compensation therefor: Provided, also, That the said interpreter shall not receive, under this act, more than one thousand dollars for each year. Approved, March 3, 1831. AN ACT concerning vessels employed in the Whale Be it enacted, &c That all the provisions of the act entitled "An act to authorize the register or enrolment, and license, to be issued in the name of the President or Secretary of any incorporated company owning a steamboat or vessel," passed the third day of March, one thousand eight hundred and twenty-five,shall extend and be applicable to every ship or vessel owned by any incorporated company, and employed wholly in the whale fishery, so long as such ship or vessel shall be wholly employed in the whale fishery. Approved, March 3, 1831. AN ACT to create the office of Surveyor of the Public Lands for the State of Louisiana. Be it enacted, &c. That a Surveyor General of the State of Louisiana shall be appointed, who shall have the same authority, and perform the same duties, respecting public lands and private land claims in the State of Louisiana, as are now vested in, and required of the Survey. or of the lands of the United States, south of the State of Tennessee, or the principal deputy Surveyors in the said State; and that from and after the first day of May next, the office of principal deputy Surveyors, as crea. ted by the ninth section of the act of Congress of the twenty-first day of April, eighteen hundred and six, entitled "An act supplementary to an act entitled "An act for ascertaining and adjusting the titles and claims to lands within the territory of Orleans and district of Louisiana," be and the same are hereby, abolished; and it shall be the duty of said principal deputy Surveyors to surrender to the Surveyor General of Louisiana, or to such person or persons as he may appoint to receive the same, all the maps, books, records, field notes, documents and articles of every description, appertaining or in any wise belonging to their offices respectively. Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That the principal deputy Surveyor of the district east of the island of New Orleans be and he hereby is required to separate and ar range the papers in his office; and all the maps, records, der of the Surveyor of the lands of the United States south of the State of Tennessee; and the office of said principal deputy shall be, and the same is hereby abolished from and after the first day of May next; and the said principal deputy Surveyor shall be vested in and perpowers and duties now exercised and performed by the formed by the aforesaid Surveyors, within their respective States. or for the State of Alabama shall be delivered to the or duty of the Surveyor south of the State of Tennessee to Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the deliver to the Surveyor General of the State of Louisiana all the maps, papers, records, and documents relating to the public lands, and private claims in Louisiana, which may be in his office; and in every case where it shall be impracticable to make a separation of such maps, papers, them relating to lands in Mississippi, it shall be his duty records, and documents, without injury to the portion of to cause copies thereof certified by him to be furnished to the Surveyor General of Louisiana, and which copies shall be of the same validity as the originals. General of Louisiana shall appoint a sufficient number of Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That the Surveyor skilful and experienced Surveyors as his deputies, who, with one or more good and sufficient sureties, to be approved by said Surveyor General, shall enter into bond for the faithful performance of all surveying contracts confided to them in the penalty of double the amount of money accruing under the said contracts at the rate per mile stipulated to be paid therein, and who, before entering on the performance of their duties, shall take an oath, or make affirmation, truly, faithfully, and impartially, to the utmost of their skill and ability, to execute the trust confided to them; and, in the event of the failure of a deputy to comply with the terms of his contract, unless such failure shall be satisfactorily shown by him to have arisen from causes beyond his control, he shall forfeit the penalty of his bond on due process of law, and ever afterwards be debarred from receiving a contract for surveying public lands in Louisiana or elsewhere. Sec. 5. And be it further enacted, That the Surveyor General to be appointed in pursuance of this act shall es tablish his office at such place as the President of the United States may deem most expedient for the public service; and that he shall be allowed an annual salary of two thousand dollars, and that he be authorized to employ one skilful draughtsman and recording clerk, whose aggregate compensation shall not exceed one thousand five hundred dollars per annum ; and that the fees heretofore authorized by law for examining and recording surveys be, and the same are hereby, abolished; and any copy of a plat of survey, or transcript from the records of the office of the said Surveyor General, shall be admitted as evidence in any of the courts of the United States or Territories thereof; and for every copy of a plat of sur. vey there shall be paid twenty five cents, and for any transcript from the records of said office, there shall be paid at the rate of twenty-five cents for every hundred words by the individuals requiring the same. Sec. 6. And be it further enacted, That, in relation to all such confirmed claims as may conflict, or in any manner interfere with each other, the Register of the Land Office and Receiver of Public Moneys for the proper land district are hereby authorized to decide between the parties, and shall in their decision be governed by such conditional lines or boundaries as have been or may be agreed upon between the parties interested, either verbally or in writing; and in case no lines or boundaries be agreed upon between the parties interested, then the said Register and Receiver are hereby authorized to decide between the parties in such manner as may be consistent with the principles of justice; and that it shall be the duty of the Surveyor General of the said State to have those claims surveyed and platted in accordance with the decisions of the Register and Receiver: Provided, That the said decisions and surveys, and the patents which may be issued in conformity thereto, shall not in any wise be considered as precluding a legal in vestigation and decision by the proper judicial tribunal between the parties to any such interfering claims, but shall only operate as a relinquishment on the part of the United States of all title to the land in question. Sec. 7. And be it further enacted, That all the lands to which the Indian title has been extinguished lying north of the northern boundary of the State of Illinois, west of Lake Michigan, and east of the Mississippi River, shall be surveyed in the same manner, and under the same regulations, provisions, restrictions, and reservations as the other public lands are surveyed. Sec. 8. And be it further enacted, That the Legislature of the State of Missouri be, and is hereby, authorized to sell and convey in fee simple all or any part of the lands heretofore reserved and appropriated by Congress for the use of a seminary of learning in said State, and to invest the money arising from the sale thereof in some productive fund, the proceeds of which shall be forever applied by the Legislature of said State solely to the use of such seminary, and for no other use or purpose whatsoever. And that the Legislature of said State of Missouri shall be, and is hereby, authorized to sell and convey in fee simple all or any part of the salt springs not exceeding twelve in number, and six sections of land adjoining to each granted to said State by the United States for the use thereof, and selected by the Legislature of said State, on or before the first day of January, one thousand eight hundred and twenty-five, and to invest the money arising from the sale thereof in some productive fund, the proceeds of which shall be forever applied, under the direction of said Legislature, for the purpose of education in said State, and for no other purpose whatsoever. Approved, March 3, 1831. AN ACT for the relief of George B. Dameron and Wil liam Howze, of Mississippi. Be it enacted, &c. That the Secretary of the Treasury be and he is hereby, authorized to make a reasonable allowance to the Register and Receiver of the land office at Jackson Court House, Mississippi, for extra services performed by them under the third section of the set of the third March, eighteen hundred and twenty-seven. Approved, March 3, 1831. AN ACT for the relief of James Thomas, late Quartermaster General in the Army of the United States. Be it enacted, &c. That the proper accounting officers of the Treasury Department be, and they are hereby authorized and directed to adjust and settle the accounts and claims of Col. Jas. Thomas, late Quartermaster General of the Army of the U. States, and allow him a credit for all vouchers which he shall satisfactorily prove to have been lost for the expenditure of money duly authorized and not heretofore placed to his credit, and that they al dents of the Treasury Department: Provided, however, That no allowance shall be made in the settlement afore said greater than the amount for which the said Thomas is now held liable to the United States. Approved March 3, 1831. AN ACT for the relief of Christopher Bechtler. Be it enacted, &c. That the Secretary of State be, and he is hereby authorized and required to issue letters patent, in the usual form, to Christopher Bechtler, for each of his two machines for the purpose of washing gold ores, upon his compliance with all the provisions of the several acts of Congress relative to the issuing of letters patent for inventions and improvements, except so far as the said acts require, on the part of aliens, à residence of two years in the United States. Approved: March 3, 1831. AN ACT for the relief of James Hogland. Be it enacted, &c. That James Hogland, of the State of Indiana, be, and he is hereby authorized to surrender and cancel, at the land office at Indianapolis; in such form as the Secretary of the Treasury may prescribe, his patent for the east half of the southeast quarter of section seventeen, in township fourteen, north, of range three, east, in the district of lands offered for sale at Indiananolis; and that he be permitted to enter, in lieu thereof, and without paying for the same, any other half quarter section in said district, subject to entry at private sale. Approved: March 3, 1831. AN ACI granting a pension to Martin Miller. Be it enacted, &c. That the Secretary of War be authorized and directed to place the name of Martin Miller on the list of revolutionary pensioners, at the rate of eight dollars per month, to commence on the first day of January, one thousand eight hundred and twenty-eight. Approved, March 3, 1831. AN ACT for the relief of Joseph S. Cannon. Be it enacted, &c. That the Secretary of the Navy be, and he is hereby, authorized and required to place the name of Joseph S. Cannon on the Navy Pension List, st the rate of ten dollars per month, payable from the first day of January, eighteen hundred and twenty-nine. Approved: March 3, 1831. AN ACT for the relief of Antoine Dequindre, and the legal representatives of Louis Dequindre, deceased. Be it enacted, &c. That the Secretary of the Treasury be, and he is hereby authorized and directed to release and discharge Antoine Dequindre, and the legal repre sentatives of Louis Dequindre, deceased, from the pay. ment of three several bonds given to the collector of De troit, on the twenty-sixth day of February, one thousand eight hundred and seventeen, for the payment of duties on a quantity of goods transported through Canada, from Buffalo to Detroit, amounting, together, to the sum of five hundred and seventy-nine dollars and forty-nine cents: Provided, That, if any costs have arisen, by the com mencement of suits on either of the said bonds, the same shall be first paid and satisfied by the said Antoine De quindre, and the legal representatives of Louis Dequin. dre, deceased. Approved March 3, 1831. : AN ACT for the relief of Samuel Coburn of the State of Mississippi. low him such compensation for all extra official duties Be it enacted, &c. That the Surveyor General of the performed and services rendered by him as he is entitled public lands south of the State of Tennessee, be, and he to, if any, according to former regulations and prece- is hereby, authorized and required to cause to be sur veyed by the proper officer, a certain tract of land, claim- or any part thereof, shall have been sold, pated, or ed by Samuel Coburn, lying on the waters of Chubby's confirmed, to any person, previous to the passage of this Fork, of the Bayou Pierre, Claiborne county, Mississippi, act, then and in that case, the said Woodson Wren shall originally claimed by William Thomas, by virtue of a Spa- be allowed to enter the same number of acres of the 5 nish warrant or order of survey, granted to said Thomas claim thus sold, patented, or confirmed, to any other on the twenty-first of March, one thousand seven hun-person, or any of the unappropriated lands in the State dred and ninety-five; and that a correct return and plat of Mississippi that may be subject to private entry, conof the same be made to his office, stating how much of forming, in such entry, to the divisions and subdivisions said claim has been sold or confirmed by the United States established by law. to Abraham Barnes or any other person. Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That the said Samuel Coburn is authorized to locate, on any of the public lands within the State of Mississippi, so many acres of the claim above referred to as may be ascertained by said survey and plat, to be sold or confirmed to Abraham Barnes or any other person; and that the remainder of the original Spanish grant to Thomas be, and the same is hereby con firmed to Samuel Coburn: Provided, That such confirmation shall only operate as a relinquishment of all right and title on the part of the United States to said land.” Approved: March 3, 1831. AN ACT for the relief of Woodson Wren, of Mississippi. Be it enacted, &c. That Woodson Wren of the State of Mississippi, be, and he is hereby, confirmed to a tract of land containing eight hundred arpens, situated on the east side of the bay of Biloxi, in the county of Jackson, and State of Mississippi, between Bellfontaine and the old French fort, claimed by virtue of a purchase from Little berry Robertson, and reported for confirmation by the Register and Receiver of the land office at Jackson Courthouse, Mississippi, dated July the twelfth, one thousand eight hundred and twenty-three. Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That the Commissioner of the General Land Office, upon being presented with plats and certificates of survey of the said tract of land, legally executed by a proper officer, shall issue a patent for the same; which patent shall operate only as a reliquishment, on the part of the United States, of all right and title to said land. Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That, if it shall appear to the satisfaction of the Commissioner of the General Land Office that the claim herein above alluded to, Approved, March 3, 1831. RESOLUTION, in relation to the transmission of public documents printed by order of either House of Congress. Resolved, &c. That nothing contained in the act to reduce into one the several acts establishing and regulating the Post Office Department, approved March third, one thousand eight hundred and twenty-five, shall be construed to repeal or limit the operation of the act authorizing the transmission of certain documents free of postage, approved December nineteenth, one thousand eight hundred twenty-one. Approved, January 13, 1831. A RESOLUTION directing the Secretary of State to subscribe for seventy copies of Peters' condensed reports of decisions of the Supreme Court. Resolved, That the Secretary of the Department of State be, and he is hereby, authorized and directed to subscribe for and receive seventy copies of the condensed reports of cases in the Supreme Court of the United States, edited by Richard Peters, and cause to be distributed one copy thereof to the President of the United States, each of the Justices of the Supreme Court, each of the Judges of the District Courts, the Attorney General of the United States, each of the Heads of Departments, each of the Judges of the several Territories of the United States, five copies thereof for the use of each House of Congress; and the residue of the copies shall be deposited in the Library of Congress: Provided, however, That the cost of each volume shall not exceed five dollars. Approved, March 2, 1831. INDEX TO THE DEBATES IN THE SENATE. Adams, Mr. of Mississippi, death of announced, and re- Appropriations for internal improvements, surveys, &c. Geyer, Henry S. a witness on the trial of Judge Peck, 22. Impeachment, (see Peck, James H.) Indians, bill to provide for the payment of an annuity to Bates, Edward, deposition of, received on the trial of Indian intercourse act, resolution submitted in relation to Bank of the United States, leave asked to introduce a leave refused, 78. Bent, John, deposition of, received on the trial of Judge Benton, Thomas H. examined as a witness on the trial of excused from voting on the trial of Judge Peck, 45. letter of, to the President of the U. S. read, 165. Carr, W. C. a witness on the trial of Judge Peck, 28, 33. Charless, Edward, a witness on the trial of Judge Peck, 23. Congressional documents, bill authorizing a subscription Constitution, resolution, joint, introduced to amend the, in Cumberland road, law of Ohio in relation to the repair of, Current coins, resolution introduced in relation to the, 1; Davis, Wm. A. letter from, proposing to furnish copies of VOL. VII.- the enforcement of the provisions of, 204; de- Johns, Rev. H. Van Dyke, elected chaplain, 4. memorial of inhabitants of New Jersey, praying a Internal improvements, surveys, &c. (see Appropriations.) Lawless, Luke E. a witness on the trial of Judge Peck, 19. Lindell, Jesse E. a witness on the trial of Judge Peck, 28. Magennis, Arthur L. a witness on the trial of Judge Peck, 22. Meredith, Mr. appears as counsel for Judge Peck, 3. McLean, Mr. of Illinois, death of announced, and resolu |