Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 2.djvu/340



commissioners appointed for the purpose of ascertaining the claims to lands lying west of Pearl river, shall, in every respect, extend and apply to claims which may be made by virtue of this section; and the same proceedings shall thereupon be had as are prescribed by the act aforesaid, in relation to claims which shall have been exhibited on or before the last day of March, in the year one thousand eight hundred and four.

. And be it further enacted, That the commissioners aforesaid, appointed to adjust the claims to lands lying west of Pearl river, shall have power to adjourn from time to time, and for such time as they may think fit: Provided however, that they shall meet on the first day of December, in the year one thousand eight hundred and four, and shall not afterwards adjourn for a longer time than three days, nor until they shall have completed the business for which they were appointed: And provided also, that nothing contained in this act, nor in, shall be construed to prevent the said commissioners, nor those appointed to adjust the claims to lands lying east of Pearl river, from acting and deciding at any time, on any claim which has been exhibited in the manner prescribed by law, although the evidence of the same may not, at that time, have been transcribed on the books of the register.

. And be it further enacted, That when any Spanish grant, warrant, or order of survey, shall be produced to either of the said boards of commissioners, for lands which were not, at the date of such grant, warrant, or order of survey, or within one year thereafter, inhabited, cultivated, or occupied by, or for the use of the grantee: or whenever either of the said boards shall not be satisfied, that such grant warrant, or order of survey, did issue, at the time when the same bears date, the said commissioners shall not be bound to consider such grant, warrant, or order of survey, as conclusive evidence of the title, but may require such other proof of its validity as they may deem proper: and the said boards shall make a full report to the Secretary of the Treasury, to be by him laid before Congress, for their final decision of all claims grounded on such grants, warrants, or orders of survey, as may have been disallowed by the said boards, on suspicion of their being antedated, or otherwise fraudulent.

. And be it further enacted, That the Secretary of the Treasury shall be, and he is hereby authorized to employ an agent, whose compensation shall not exceed one thousand five hundred dollars in full for all his services, for the purpose of appearing before the said commissioners, in behalf of the United States, to investigate the claims for lands, and to oppose all such as he may deem fraudulent and unfounded. And each of the said boards of commissioners shall have the same powers to compel the attendance of witnesses, as are now vested in the courts of the United States.

. And be it further enacted, That the board of commissioners, appointed to adjust the claims to lands lying west of Pearl river, shall be authorized to employ an assistant clerk, and also a translator of the Spanish language, to assist them in the despatch of the business which may be brought before them, and for the purpose of recording Spanish grants, deeds, or other evidences of claims on the register’s books; the said translator shall receive for the recording done by him, the fees already provided by law, and may be allowed, not exceeding fifty dollars, for every month he shall be employed, provided that the whole compensation, other than that arising from fees, shall not exceed six hundred dollars: the assistant clerk shall be allowed a sum not exceeding five hundred dollars for his services; and each of the commissioners of the said board, in addition to the compensation now fixed by law, shall be allowed six dollars for every day he shall attend on the board, after the last day of November, in the year one thousand eight hundred and four: