Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 3.djvu/614



been filed in the proper office, may, from and after the first day of July next, and until the thirty-first day of December thereafter, deliver notices, in writing, and the written evidences, of their claims, to the register of the land district within which such lands may be situate, within the said state, and the said notices and evidences, so delivered, within the time limited by this act, shall, by the said registers, be recorded, in books to be kept for that purpose; for which service a compensation shall be received, from such claimants at the rate of twenty-five cents for every hundred words. And the rights of such persons as shall neglect so doing, within the time limited by this act, shall, so far as they are derived from, or founded on, any act of Congress, ever after be barred, and become void, and the evidences of their claims never after admitted as evidence in any court of the United States, against any grant derived from the United States.

. And be it further enacted, That the said registers shall on the first day of January next, make, to the Secretary of the Treasury, a report of all the claims filed in their respective offices, in pursuance of the provisions of this act, together with the substance of the evidence in support thereof, with their opinion of the credit to which such evidence is entitled.

. And be it further enacted, That every person or persons, claiming lands within that part of Louisiana described in the preceding section, founded upon any Spanish grant, concession, or order of survey, who had filed their notices of claims in the proper office, according to former laws, and whose claims have not been confirmed, may, at any time before the thirty-first day of December next, deliver additional written evidence, or other testimony, in support of their claims, the notice of which had been filed as aforesaid, to the said registers; and the evidence, so delivered, or offered, shall be recorded in books to be kept for that purpose; for which service a compensation shall be received, from such claimants, at the rate of twenty-five cents for every hundred words. And the rights of such persons as shall neglect so doing within the time limited by this act, shall, so far as they are derived from, or founded on, any act of Congress, ever after be barred, and become void, and the evidences of their claims never after admitted as evidence in any court of the United States, against any grant derived from the United States.

. And be it further enacted, That the said registers shall, on the first day of January next, make, to the Secretary of the Treasury, a report of the claims in which additional evidences shall have been filed in their respective offices, together with the substance of the evidence so filed, with their opinion of the credit to which such evidence is entitled, and such other information as the examination of such cases, under any former law, may have placed in their power or possession.

. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of the Secretary of the Treasury, as soon as the reports of the said registers shall be received, to proceed to the examination of the claims aforesaid, and to report to the two houses of Congress a list of the cases, which, in his opinion, ought to be confirmed, together with the reasons upon which his opinion may be founded: Provided, nevertheless, That no claim shall be so recommended for confirmation, which contains more than the quantity contained in a league square.

. And be it further enacted, That the fifth section of the act of the third day of March, eighteen hundred and eleven, entitled “,” be, and the same is hereby revived and continued, for the term of two years, from and after the passing of this act.