decide upon the amount and validity of all such claims as may be presented to them, and are provided for by the convention referred to, according to the merits of the several cases, and to justice, equity, and the law of nations, and according to the provisions of said convention. Documents. Day of first SEC. 2. 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. SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That the said commissioners, or a majority of them, with their secretary, whose appointment is hereinafter meeting. provided for, shall convene in this city on the first Monday of April next, and shall proceed to execute the duties of their commission; and Notice thereof. the Secretary of State shall be, and he is hereby, authorized and required forthwith, after the passing of this act, to give notice of the said intended meeting, to be published in one or more public gazettes in the city of Washington, and in such other public papers, published elsewhere in the United States, as he may designate. Claims to be Time for pro SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That the said commissioners shall proceed immediately after their meeting in the city of Washington, with examined, &c. all convenient despatch, to arrange and docket the several claims, and to consider the evidence which shall have been, or which may be offered by the respective claimants, allowing such further time for the production of such further evidence as may be required, and as they shall think rea- ducing evisonable and just; and they shall thereupon proceed to determine the said claims, and to award distribution of the sums to be received by the United States from the King of Denmark under the stipulations of the convention aforesaid, among the several claimants according to their respective rights. SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That the said commissioners shall be, and they are hereby, authorized and empowered 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. SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That the President of the United States be, and he is hereby, authorized, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to appoint a secretary to the said commission. SEC. 7. And be it further enacted, That the said commissioners and secretary shall severally take an oath for the faithful performance of the duties of their respective offices. SEC. 8. And be it further enacted, That the compensation of the respective officers for whose appointment provision is made by this act shall not exceed the following sums: to each of the said commissioners at the rate of three thousand dollars per annum, and to the secretary of the board at the rate of two thousand 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. SEC. 9. And be it further enacted, That all moneys to be received from the Danish government under the convention aforesaid, shall be paid into the treasury of the United States, and shall constitute a fund for satisfying the awards of the commission provided for by this act. SEC. 10. 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 postage. SEC. 11. And be it further enacted, That as soon as the said commission shall be executed and completed, the records, documents, and all other papers in the possession of the commission or its officers, shall be deposited in the office of the Secretary of State. APPROVED, February 25, 1831. dence. Powers to make rules. Secretary. Oath. Compensation. Contingent expenses. Money received from the Danish govern ment. Postage. STATUTE II. March 2, 1831. Offences. Punishment. Manslaughter, &c. Arson. 1852, ch. 55. Assault and mit rape. CHAP. XXXVII.-An Act for the punishment of crimes in the District of Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, That, from and after the passage of this act, every person who shall be convicted, in any court in the District of Columbia, of any of the following offences, to wit: manslaughter, assault and battery with intent to kill, arson, rape, assault and battery with intent to commit a rape, burglary, robbery, horse stealing, mayhem, bigamy, perjury, or subornation of perjury, larceny, if the property stolen is of the value of five dollars or upwards, forgery, obtaining by false pretences any goods or chattels, money, bank note, promissory note, or any other instrument in writing for the payment or delivery of money or other valuable thing, or of keeping a faro bank or other common gaming-table, petty larceny upon a second conviction, committed after the passage of this act, shall be sentenced to suffer punishment by imprisonment and labour, for the time and times hereinafter prescribed, in the penitentiary for the District of Columbia. SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That every person duly convicted of manslaughter, or of any assault and battery with intent to kill, shalı be sentenced to suffer imprisonment and labour, for the first offence for a period not less than two nor more than eight years, for the second offence for a period not less than six nor more than fifteen years. SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That every person duly convicted of the crime of maliciously, wilfully, or fraudulently burning any dwelling-house, or any other house, barn, or stable, adjoining thereto, or any store, barn, or out-house, having goods, tobacco, hay or grain therein, although the same shall not be adjoining to any dwelling-house; or of maliciously and wilfully burning any of the public buildings in the cities, towns, or counties, of the District of Columbia, belonging to the United States, or the said cities, towns or counties; or any church, meeting-house or other building for public worship, belonging to any voluntary society, or body corporate; or any college, academy, school-house, or library; or any ship or vessel, afloat or building; or as being accessary thereto; shall be sentenced to suffer imprisonment and labour, for a period of not less than one, nor more than ten years for the first offence, and not less than five nor more than twenty years for the second offence. SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That every free person, duly convicted of rape, or as being accessary thereto before the fact, shall be sentenced to suffer imprisonment and labour, for the first offence for a period not less than ten nor more than thirty years, and for the second offence for and during the period of his natural life. SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That every free person duly conbattery to com- victed of an assault and battery with intent to commit a rape, shall be punished for the first offence by undergoing confinement in the penitentiary for a period not less than one nor more than five years, and for the second for a period not less than five nor more than fifteen years. SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That every person duly convicted of burglary, or as accessary thereto before the fact, or of robbery, or as accessary thereto before the fact, shall be sentenced to suffer imprisonment and labour, for the first offence for a period not less than three nor more than seven years, and for the second offence for a period not less than five nor more than fifteen years. Burglary. Horse theft, SEC. 7. And be it further enacted, That every person convicted of mayhem, biga horse stealing, mayhem, bigamy, or as being accessary to any of said crimes before the fact, shall be sentenced to suffer imprisonment and my. (a) See an act more effectually to provide for the punishment of certain crimes against the United States, and for other purposes, March 3, 1825, ch. 65, and the notes. labour, for the first offence for a period not less than two nor more than seven years, and for the second offence for a period not less than five nor more than twelve years. SEC. 8. And be it further enacted, That every person convicted of perjury, or subornation of perjury, shall be sentenced to suffer imprisonment and labour, for the first offence for a period not less than two nor more than ten years, and for the second offence for a period not less than five nor more than fifteen years. SEC. 9. And be it further enacted, That every person convicted of feloniously stealing, taking, and carrying away, any goods or chattels, or other personal property, of the value of five dollars or upwards, or any bank note, promissory note, or any other instrument of writing, for the payment or delivery of money or other valuable thing, to the amount of five dollars or upwards, shall be sentenced to suffer imprisonment and labour, for the first offence for a period not less than one nor more than three years, and for the second offence for a period not less than three nor more than ten years. SEC. 10. And be it further enacted, That every person convicted of receiving stolen goods, or any article, the stealing of which is made punishable by this act, to the value of five dollars or upwards, knowing them to have been stolen, or of being an accessary after the fact in any felony, shall be sentenced to suffer imprisonment and labour, for the first offence for a period not less than one nor more than five years, and for the second offence for a period not less than two nor more than ten years. SEC. 11. And be it further enacted, That every person duly convicted of having falsely forged and counterfeited any gold or silver coin, which now is, or shall hereafter be, passing or in circulation within the District of Columbia; or of having falsely uttered, paid, or tendered in payment, any such counterfeit or forged coin, knowing the same to be forged and counterfeit; or of having aided, abetted or commanded the perpetration of either of the said offences; or of having falsely made, altered, forged, or counterfeited, or caused or procured to be falsely made, altered, forged, or counterfeited, or having willingly aided or assisted in falsely making, altering, forging, or counterfeiting, any paper, writing, or printed paper, to the prejudice of the right of any other person, body politic or corporate, or voluntary association, with intent to defraud such person, body politic or corporate, or voluntary association, or of having passed, uttered or published, or attempted to pass, utter, or publish, as true, any such falsely made, altered, forged, or counterfeited paper, writing or printed paper, to the prejudice of the right of any other person, body politic or corporate, or voluntary association, knowing the same to be falsely made, altered, forged, or counterfeited, with intent to defraud such person, body politic or corporate, or voluntary association, shall be sentenced to suffer imprisonment and labour, for the first offence for a period not less than one year nor more than seven years, for the second offence for a period not less than three nor more than ten years. SEC. 12. And be it further enacted, That every person duly convicted of obtaining by false pretences any goods or chattels, money, bank note, promissory note, or any other instrument in writing, for the payment or delivery of money or other valuable thing, or of keeping a faro bank or gaming table, shall be sentenced to suffer imprisonment and labour for a period not less than one year, nor more than five years; and every person, so offending, shall be a competent witness against every other person offending in the same transaction, and may be compelled to appear and give evidence in the same manner as other persons: but the testimony so given shall not be used in any prosecution or proceeding, civil or criminal, against the person so testifying. SEC. 13. And be it further enacted, That every person, upon a second Perjury, subornation of perjury. Theft. Receiving stolen goods. Forgery. Obtaining by false pretences. Keeping gam ing table. Larceny. conviction of larceny, where the property stolen is under the value of five dollars, or upon a second conviction of receiving stolen goods, knowing them to be stolen, where the property stolen is under the value of five dollars, shall be sentenced to suffer imprisonment and labour for a period not less than one year nor more than three years. Capital crimes SEC. 14. And be it further enacted, That all capital felonies and crimes not specially in the District of Columbia, not herein specially provided for, except provided for. murder, treason, and piracy, shall hereafter be punished by imprisonment and labour in the penitentiary of said district, for a period not less than seven nor more than twenty years. Other offences. Former provisions, &c. to re main in force. Abduction of free &c. SEC. 15. And be it further enacted, That every other felony, misdemeanor, or offence not provided for by this act, may and shall be punished as heretofore, except that, in all cases where whipping is part or the whole of the punishment, except, in the cases of slaves, the court shall substitute there for imprisonment in the county jail, for a period not exceeding six months. SEC. 16. And be it further enacted, That all definitions and descriptions of crimes: all fines, forfeitures, and incapacities, the restitution of property, or the payment of the value thereof; and every other matter not provided for in this act, be and the same shall remain, as heretofore. SEC. 17. And be it further enacted, That if any free person shall, in negroes, the said district, unlawfully, by force and violence, take and carry away, or cause to be taken and carried away, or shall, by fraud, unlawfully seduce, or cause to be seduced, any free negro or mulatto, from any part of the said district to any other part of the said district, or to any other place, with design, or intention to sell or dispose of such negro or mulatto, or to cause him or her to be kept and detained as a slave for life, or servant for years, every such person so offending, his or her counsellors, aiders, and abettors, shall, on conviction thereof, be punished by fine, not exceeding five thousand dollars, and imprisonment and confinement to hard labour, in the penitentiary, for any time not exceeding twelve years, according to the enormity of the offence. This law not applicable slaves. SEC. 18. And be it further enacted, That nothing herein contained shall to be construed to apply to slaves not residents of the District of Columbia; but such slaves shall, for all offences committed in said district, be punished agreeably to the laws as they now exist: Provided, That this act shall not be construed to extend to slaves. APPROVED, March 2, 1831. STATUTE II. March 2, 1831. [Obsolete.] George's Island. Fort Adams. Fort Monroe. CHAP. XXXVIII.—An Act making appropriations for certain fortifications during the year one thousand eight hundred and thirty-one. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, That the following sums be, and the same are hereby, appropriated, to be paid out of any unappropriated money in the treasury, for certain fortifications, viz: For the preservation of George's island, Boston harbour, five thousand dollars. For fort Adams, Rhode Island, one hundred thousand dollars. For fort Monroe, Virginia, eighty thousand dollars. For fort Calhoun, Virginia, eighty thousand dollars. For the completion of fort Macon, seventy thousand dollars. For the completion of the fort on Oak island, North Carolina, ninetyfive thousand dollars. For fortifications at Charleston, South Carolina, forty-five thousand dollars. For fortifications at Pensacola, Florida, one hundred thousand dollars. For repairs of the battery at Bienvenu, Louisiana, three thousand four dollars. For repairs of fort Wood, Louisiana, three thousand six hundred dollars. For contingencies of fortifications, ten thousand dollars. CHAP. XXXIX.-An Act for the relief of certain importers of foreign merchandise. CHAP. XL.-An Act for the sale of the lands in the state of Illinois reserved for March 2, 1831. the use of the salt springs on the Vermillion river, in that state. State of Illi to sell certain lands. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, That the state of Illinois shall nois authorized be, and is hereby, authorized and empowered to cause to be sold and conveyed, in such manner and on such terms and conditions as the legislature of said state has or may direct, the whole or any part of the lands reserved and set apart by the President of the United States, on the twenty-ninth day of March, eighteen hundred and twenty-five, for the use of the salt works on the Vermillion river, in said state, and to apply the proceeds of such sale to such objects as the legislature of said state has or may direct: Provided, Said land shall not be sold for less than one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre. APPROVED, March 2, 1831. Proviso. CHAP. XLI.—An Act for the relief of the citizens of Shawneetown. (a) STATUTE II. March 2, 1831. [Obsolete.] (a) An act concerning Shawneetown, vol. iii. p. 113. Instalments due on certain lots in Shawneetown remitted, vol. iii. p. 778. |