Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 18 Part 3.djvu/365

 FORTY THIRD CONGRESS. Sess. II. Ch. 99, 108,114. 1875. 335 United States as not being in fact swamp and overflowed lands; and it shall be the duty of the Secretary of the Interior to make such rules and regulations as may be necessary to carry into effect the provisions of this aet: Provided, That nothing herein contained shall prejudice the rights of any person who may have made actual settlement upon such lands under the preemption or homestead laws prior to the passage of this act. Approved, February 23, 1875. CHAP. 108.-An act to provide for settlements with certain railway companies. p6b_gy’18y5,_ Be it enacted by the Senate and House 0 resentatives o the United "`°*§§'”`" States of America in Congress assembled, Claliglhe Seeretaryjof War and ¤ eadlilletm Situ:} Attorney-General are hereby authorized and empowered jointly to ad- ¢T<¤m¤ of, Umcd just and settle the claims of the United States against E’°$;"‘:af1§g;_’:,? °°" The Alexandria, Loudon and Hampshire, ° ' The Edgeiield and Kentucky, The Knoxville and Kentucky, The McMinnville and Manchester, The Mobile and Ohio, i, The Memphis, Clarksville and Louisville, l The Memphis and Little Rock, The Nashville and Northwestern, The Southwestern Branch Pacific Railroad of Missouri, and The Selma, Rome and Dalton Railroad Companies, and all persons and corporations having any interest in the subject growing out of the sale and transfer by the United States of any rights or property to said railway companies above named, respectively, in the years eighteen hundred and sixty-five and eighteen hundred and sixty-six, or both, by making such abatement in the amount of such claims, respectively, as shall be deemed just, in respect of an overvaluation, if any, of the prop crty sold, not exceeding twenty-five per centum of the valuation of the property in each case, as made under the authority of the War Department on the occasion of such sales: Provided, That such settlements Limit oftimo for shall be made within one year next after the passage of this act ; and ¤<>¢t1¤¤¤¤¤¤· that good and sufficient security be given to the United States by or on _ behalf of the parties in interest, respectively, who do not pay in cash at S°f“'”*Y *`°' PW the time of settlement, for the payment, with interest, of such sums "'°" °' as shall, on such settlements, be so found due, at such times within ten years as may be agreed upon. . Sno, 2. That this not shall not be construed so as to produce or Prosecution or authorize any delay in the prosecution of said claims respectively other claims not to be dcthan as aforesaid; and each of said claims not so settled and disposed 1**-l’°d· of as aforesaid shall be prosecuted and enforced according to existing Wh t U obligations. In such settlements no allowance shall be made in respect to be ;fd:w°‘°°°S of any matter occurring prior to such sales and transiers, nor otherwisc, except such paymepts as may have been made in cash, and such credits for transportation as the general course of the business regulations of the Departments authorizes. And in any such settlements, the said Release of claims Secretary and Attorney-General shall, as a condition thereof, take a full g¤¤¤¤¤¤ U ¤ 1 Wd rolcase trom the other parties, respectively, of all claims and demands "“"°°‘ of every name and nature theretofore existing, if any such there be, against the United States. Approved, February 27, 1875. · I CHAP. 114.-An act to protect all citizens in their civil and legal rights. M‘“°h I- 1875- Whereas, itis essential to just government we recognize the equality of all men before the law, and hold that it is the duty of government in its dealings with the people to mete out equal and exact justice to all, of whatever nativity,rac>e, color, or persuasion, religious or political; and it being the appropriate object of legislation; to enact great fundamental principles into law: Therefore,