priated for the said compensation during the year one thousand eight hundred and twelve, to be paid out of any moneys in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated. And the said Commissioner shall have the same privilege with the Comptroller of the Treasury, of sending and receiving letters and packages, and also final certificates and patents for land, free of postage.

SEC. 12. And be it further enacted, That the Commissioner of the Land Office shall be authorized to employ a sufficient number of clerks: Provided, That their annual compensation shall not exceed, in the whole, seven thousand dollars; and the said compensation shall be paid in the following manner, during the year one thousand eight hundred and twelve, that is to say: Three thousand eight hundred dollars shall be paid out of the moneys appropriated for the compensation of clerks, during said year, in the office of the Secretary of the Treasury; one thousand four hundred dollars shall be paid out of the moneys appropriated for the compensation of clerks, during said year, in the office of the Secretary of State; and three hundred dollars shall be paid out of the moneys appropriated for the compensation of clerks during said year, in the office of the Secretary of War. Approved, April 25, 1812.

No. 9.-An Act providing for the division of certain quarter sections in future sales of the public lands.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That, from and after the first day of September next, the sections designated by number two, five, twenty, twenty-three, thirty, and thirty-three, in each and every township of the public lands the sale of which is now, or hereafter may be, authorized by law, shall be offered for sale either in quarter sections or half-quarter sections, at the option of the purchaser; and in every case of the division of a quarter section, the partition shall be made by a line running due north and south, and in every other respect the said sections shall be offered, whether at public or private sale, on the same terms and conditions as have been or may be by law provided for the sale of the other public lands of the United States.

Approved, February 22, 1817.

No. 10.-An Act for changing the compensation of receivers and registers of the land offices.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That, instead of the compensation now allowed by law to the receivers of public moneys for the lands of the United States, they shall receive an annual salary of five hundred dollars each, and a commission of one per centum on the moneys received, as a compensation for clerk hire, receiving, safe keeping, and transmitting, such moneys to the Treasury of the United States: Provided always, That the whole amount which any receiver of public moneys shall receive, under

the provisions of this act, shall not exceed, for any one year, the sum of three thousand dollars.

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That, instead of the compensation now allowed by law to the registers of the land offices, they shall receive an annual salary of five hundred dollars each, and a commission of one per centum on all the moneys expressed in the receipts by them filed and entered, and of which they shall have transmitted an account to the Secretary of the Treasury: Provided always, That the whole amount which any register of the land offices shall receive, under the provisions of this act, shall not exceed, for any one year, the sum of three thousand dollars. Approved, April 20, 1818.

No. 11.-An Act providing for the correction of errors in making entries of land at the land offices.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That, in every case of a purchaser of public lands, at private sale, having entered at the land office a tract different from that he intended to purchase, and being desirous of having the error in his entry corrected, he shall make his application for that purpose to the register of the land office; and if it shall appear, from testimony satisfactory to the register and receiver of public moneys, that an error in the entry has been made, and that the same was occasioned by original incorrect marks made by the surveyor, or by the obliteration or change of the original marks and numbers at corners of the tract of land; or that it has, in any otherwise, arisen from mistake or error of the surveyor, or officers of the land office; the said register and receiver of public moneys shall report the case, with the testimony, and their opinion thereon, to the Secretary of the Treasury, who shall have power to direct, if in his opinion it shall be proper, that the purchaser shall be at liberty to withdraw the entry so erroneously made, and that the moneys which have been paid shall be applied in the purchase of other lands in the same district, or credited in the payment for other lands which shall have been purchased at the same office.

Approved, March 3, 1819.*

No. 12.-An Act making further provision for the sale of the public lands.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That, from and after the first day of July next, all the public lands of the United States, the sale of which is or may be authorized by law, shall, when offered at public sale to the highest bidder, be offered in half-quarter sections; and, when offered at private sale, may be purchased, at the option of the purchaser, either in entire sections, half sections, quarter sections, or half-quarter sections; and in every case of the division of a quarter section, the line

*See Nos. 14, 17, 19, and Act of February 28, 1859.

for the division thereof shall run north and south, and the corners and contents of half-quarter sections which may thereafter be sold shall be ascertained in the manner and on the principles directed and prescribed by the second section of an act entitled "An act concerning the mode of surveying the public lands of the United States," passed on the eleventh day of February, eighteen hundred and five; and fractional sections, containing one hundred and sixty acres or upwards, shall, in like manner, as nearly as practicable, be subdivided into half-quarter sections, under such rules and regulations as may be prescribed by the Secretary of the Treasury; but fractional sections containing less than one hundred and sixty acres shall not be divided, but shall be sold entire: Provided, That this section shall not be construed to alter any special provision made by law for the sale of land in town lots.

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That credit shall not be allowed for the purchase-money on the sale of any of the public lands which shall be sold after the first day of July next, but every purchaser of land sold at public sale thereafter shall, on the day of purchase, make complete payment therefor; and the purchaser at private sale shall produce to the register of the land office a receipt from the Treasurer of the United States, or from the receiver of public moneys of the district, for the amount of the purchase-money on any tract, before he shall enter the same at the land office; and if any person, being the highest bidder at public sale for a tract of land, shall fail to make payment therefor on the day on which the same was purchased, the tract shall be again offered at public sale on the next day of sale, and such person shall not be capable of becoming the purchaser of that or any other tract offered at such public sales.

SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That, from and after the first day of July next, the price at which the public lands shall be offered for sale shall be one dollar and twenty-five cents an acre; and at every public sale, the highest bidder, who shall make payment as aforesaid, shall be the purchaser; but no lands shall be sold, either at public or private sale, for a less price than one dollar and twenty-five cents an acre; and all the public lands which shall have been offered at public sale before the first day of July next, and which shall then remain unsold, as well as the lands that shall thereafter be offered at public sale according to law, and remain unsold at the close of such public sales, shall be subject to be sold at private sale, by entry at the land office, at one dollar and twenty-five cents an acre, to be paid at the time of making such entry as aforesaid; with the exception, however, of the lands which may have reverted to the United States for failure in payment, and of the heretofore reserved sections, for the future disposal of Congress, in the States of Ohio and Indiana, which shall be offered at public sale as hereinafter directed.

SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That no lands which have reverted or which shall hereafter revert and become forfeited to the United States, for failure in any manner to make payment, shall after the first day of July next, be subject to entry at private sale, nor until the same shall have been first offered to the highest bidder at public sale; and all such lands which shall have reverted before the said first day of July next, and which shall then belong to the United States, together with the sections and parts of sections heretofore reserved for the future disposal of Congress, which shall, at the time aforesaid, remain unsold, shall be offered at public sale to the highest bidder, who shall make payment therefor, in half-quarter sections, at the land office for the respective districts, on such day or days as shall, by proclamation of the President of the United States, be designated for that purpose; and all lands which shall revert and become for

feited for failure of payment, after the said first day of July next, shall be offered in like manner at public sale, at such time or times as the President shall, by his proclamation, designate for the purpose: Provided, That no such lands shall be sold, at any public sales hereby authorized, for a less price than one dollar and twenty-five cents an acre, nor on any other terms than that of cash payment; and all the lands offered at such public sales, and which shall remain unsold at the close thereof, shall be subject to entry at private sale, in the same manner and at the same price with the other lands sold at private sale at the respective land offices.

SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That the several public sales authorized by this act shall, respectively, be kept open for two weeks, and no longer; and the registers of the land office and the receivers of public moneys shall each, respectively, be entitled to five dollars for each day's attendance thercon.

SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That, in every case hereafter, where two or more persons shall apply for the purchase, at private sale, of the same tract at the same time, the register shall determine the preference by forthwith offering the tract to the highest bidder. Approved, April 24, 1820.

No. 13.-An Act to enable the proprietors of lands held by titles derived from the United States to obtain copies of papers from the proper department, and to declare the effect of such copies.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That whenever any person, claiming to be interested in or entitled to land under any grant or patent from the United States, shall apply to the Treasury Department for copies of papers filed and remaining therein, in any wise affecting the title to such land, it shall be the duty of the Secretary of the Treasury to cause such copies to be made out, and authenticated under his hand and seal, for the person so applying; and such copies, so authenticated, shall be evidence equally as the original papers.

Approved, January 23, 1823.

No. 14.-An Act supplementary to an act approved on the third day of March, one thousand eight hundred and nineteen, entitled "An act providing for the correction of errors in making entries of land at the land offices."

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That where any mistake, in relation to the correct numbers of any tract of land, not exceeding in quantity one half section, may have been heretofore made by any purchaser of the public lands of the United States at private sale, and where one or more payments shall have been made by the person making the entry on any tract entered by mistake, and where such payment has not been forfeited, previously to the passing of this act, for a failure to complete the payments on such tract; and where the purchaser or purchasers may not, in relation to said tract, have in any way taken advantage of the provisions

of the act of the second of March, eighteen hundred and twenty-one, entitled "An act for the relief of the purchasers of the public lands prior to the first day of July, eighteen hundred and twenty," or of the act supplementary thereto, or the act continuing in force said supplementary act, and where the person or persons making the purchase has not, in any way, transferred his, her, or their right to the certificate of purchase, or the tract so purchased, and where no patent shall have issued for the tract so erroneously purchased; and, also, in all cases of an entry hereafter made of a tract of land not intended to be entered, by a mistake of the true numbers of the tract intended to be entered, where the tract thus erroneously entered does not in quantity exceed one half section; and where the certificate of the original purchaser or purchasers has not been assigned, or the right of the original purchaser or purchasers in any way transferred, and where six months from the time the entry shall have been made may not have elapsed, or the patent issued for the tract erroneously entered, the purchaser or purchasers, or, in case of his, her, or their death, the legal representatives (not being assignees or transferees) may, either in the cases of entry before or after the passing of this act, and in any case coming within its provisions, file his, her, or their own affidavit or affidavits, with such additional evidence as can be procured, showing the mistake of the numbers of the tract intended to be entered, and that every reasonable precaution and exertion had been used to avoid the error, with the register and receiver of the land district within which such tract of land is situated, who shall transmit the evidence submitted to them in each case, together with their written opinion or opinions, both as to [the] existence of the mistake and the credibility of each person testifying thereto, to the Commissioner of the General Land Office, who, if he be entirely satisfied [that] the mistake has been made, and that every reasonable precaution and exertion had been made to avoid it, shall be authorized to change the entry and transfer the payment from the tract erroneously entered to that intended to be entered, if unsold; but if sold, to any other tract liable to entry: Provided, That the oath of the person or persons interested shall in no case be deemed sufficient, in the absence of other corroborating testimony, to authorize any such change of entry: And provided also, That nothing herein contained shall affect the right of third persons.

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That either the register or receiver may administer all oaths to be made under the provisions of this act, and every person, knowingly, wilfully, and corruptly, swearing falsely, on any oath administered to him or her under the provisions of this act, shall, on indictment and conviction for such offence before any court having competent jurisdiction to try the same, suffer the pains and penalties of wilful and corrupt perjury.

SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That for every oath administered under the provisions of this act, the register and receiver shall be allowed the sum of twenty-five cents, and twenty-five cents for every hundred words of the evidence received and transmitted to the Commissioner of the General Land Office; to be paid by the party making the application for a change of entry.

Approved, May 24, 1824.*

* See Nos. 11, 17, 19.