Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 3.djvu/654



United States, any town, a part or the whole of the lots whereof have been sold, shall be entitled to the benefits of this act in relation to any half quarter, or quarter section of land, on which such town may be situated, and of all land by him or them owned, contiguous to, and adjoining said half quarter, quarter section, or section, on which said town is situated, upon condition only, that each and every person who has purchased of him, or them, a town lot, or part of a lot, or land in and adjoining the same, shall be entitled to a remission of all interest that has accrued, and to a discount of twenty per centum on the amount unpaid, and to discharge their debt by bonds, with security, in equal annual instalments of four years from the thirtieth day of December next. Nor shall the provisions of this act be construed to extend to any person or persons claiming title to land under the provisions of an act passed the third day of March, one thousand eight hundred and seventeen, entitled “.”

. And be it further enacted, That, for failure to pay the several debts aforesaid, in manner aforesaid, and for the term of three months after the day appointed for the payment of the last instalment thereof, in each of the classes aforesaid, the land so purchased or held by the respective persons indebted to the United States as aforesaid, shall, ipso facto, become forfeited, and revert to the United States.

. And be it further enacted, That no person shall be deemed to be included within, or entitled to, the benefit of any of the provisions of this act, who shall not, on or before the thirtieth day of September next, sign, and file in the office of the register of the land office of the district where the land was purchased, or where the residue of the purchase money is payable, a declaration in writing, expressing his consent to the same; and shall pay to the register, for receiving, recording, and filing the same, fifty cents.

. And be it further enacted, That it shall be, and hereby is made, the duty of the several registers and receivers of the land offices of the United States, according to the forms and instructions which shall be given in that behalf by the Treasury Department, to assist in carrying this act in[to] execution, to keep full and faithful accounts and records of all proceedings under the same; and, within the term of three months after the said thirtieth day of September next, to transmit to the said department a correct report of the quantity of land relinquished to the United States; the quantity on which full payment shall have been made; and the quantity on which a further credit shall have been given, distinguishing the amount of the debt on which a further credit shall have been allowed; and the registers and receivers, respectively, shall be entitled to receive fifty cents from the party relinquishing, for each half quarter section, quarter section, half section, section, or legal subdivision of a fractional section, so relinquished.

. And be it further enacted, That no lands purchased from the United States on or before the first day of July, eighteen hundred and twenty, which are not already forfeited, shall be considered as forfeited to the government, for failure in completing the payment thereon, until the said thirtieth day of September next; and all the lands which shall be relinquished to the United States, as aforesaid, shall be deemed and held to be forfeited, and, with all other lands which may become forfeited under this act, shall be sold according to the provisions of the act, entitled “,” passed the twenty-fourth day of April, eighteen hundred and twenty.

. And be it further enacted, That no land which shall be surrendered under the provisions of this act, shall be offered for sale for the term of two years after the surrender thereof.

, March 2, 1821.