Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 2.djvu/428



till the first day of January next; and persons delivering such notices and evidences, shall be entitled to the same benefits as if the same had been delivered prior to the first day of March last; but the rights of such persons, as shall neglect so doing, within the time limited by this act, shall be barred, and the evidences of their claims never after admitted as evidence, in the same manner as had been provided by the fourth section of the, in relation to claims, notices, and written evidences of which, should not be delivered, prior to the said first day of March last.

. And be it further enacted, That the registers of the land-offices in the territory of Orleans, respectively, be, and they are hereby authorized to appoint so many deputies, not exceeding one for each county, in their respective districts, as they may think necessary; whose duty it shall be to receive, enter, and file notices, and to receive and record written evidences of claims to lands lying in the county, or counties, to them respectively assigned, in the same manner as the register might do; and also, to transmit to the register the said notices and evidences, or such transcripts of abstracts of the same, as the said register, or the commissioners, may direct; and generally to do and perform all such acts, in relation to such claims, as the said register may direct. Persons having claims to land, may deliver the notices and evidences of the same, at their option, either to the register of the proper land-office, or to his deputy, for the county in which such land lies; and each of the said deputies shall be entitled to receive the recording fees, allowed to the register, by the, and in addition thereto, (or a compensation of five hundred dollars in full for all his services,) at the rate of one dollar for every claim filed with him, to be paid out of the monies appropriated for carrying into effect the act to which this is a supplement.

. And be it further enacted, That the commissioners, appointed for the purpose of ascertaining the rights of persons, claiming lands in the territory of Orleans shall, in their respective districts, have the same powers, and perform the same duties, in relation to the claims thus filed before the first day of January next, as if notice of the same had been given before the first day of March last, and as was provided by the, in relation to the claims therein described. Transcripts of the decisions of the said commissioners, and reports of the claims filed in conformity with the provisions of this act, shall be made and transmitted, as was provided by the act to which this act is a supplement, in relation to the claims therein described. It shall likewise be the duty of the said commissioners, to inquire into the nature and extent of the claims which may arise from a right, or supposed right, to a double or additional concession on the back of grants or concessions heretofore made, or from grants or concessions heretofore made to minors, and not embraced by the provisions of this act, or from grants or concessions made by the Spanish government, subsequent to the first day of April, one thousand eight hundred, for lands which were actually settled and inhabited on the twentieth day of December, one thousand eight hundred and three; and to make a special report thereon to the Secretary of the Treasury; which report shall be, by him, laid before Congress at their next ensuing session. And the lands which may be embraced by such report, shall not be otherwise disposed of, until a decision of Congress shall have been had thereupon.

. And be it further enacted, That each of the registers aforesaid, shall, in addition to his other emoluments, receive a compensation of five hundred dollars for the services to be performed, under this act, prior to the first day of January next; and each of the commissioners aforesaid, shall receive at the rate of six dollars a day for every day’s