Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 3.djvu/732



of, in, and to, such building lots, or any number thereof, at public sale, on such conditions of improvement, and on such terms, as the said corporation shall prescribe; but no change shall be made in the direction of said canal, unless the consent, in writing, of the president and directors of the Washington Canal Company be first had and obtained; and the change that shall be made, in pursuance of any contract that may be entered into under this act, shall be made by the said company out of the moneys to be paid to and the said company by the said corporation; and the said company shall, during the time the proposed alteration is in progress, be entitled to receive the same rates of wharfage that are secured to them by any former act or acts; but no landing shall be permitted for the purposes of wharfage between the west side of Third and the east side of Sixth streets west.

. And be it further enacted, That, upon the payment of the purchase money, and upon the compliance with the conditions of improvement by the purchaser or purchasers, or his or their heirs or assigns, the mayor of the said city, for the time being, shall be, and he is hereby, empowered to execute a deed or deeds in fee to such purchaser or purchasers, his or their heirs or assigns, under his hand and the seal of the said corporation; which deed or deeds shall be recorded among the land records of the county of Washington, within the time prescribed for the recording of conveyances of real estates.

. And be it further enacted, That if, after the aforesaid objects shall be effected, a balance shall remain unexpended in the hands of the said corporation, from the proceeds of the sale of the said lots, the said corporation is authorized and empowered to appropriate and apply, from time to time, as the same may be collected, the whole or any part of such balance, to enclosing, planting, or otherwise improving the public reservation between the Capitol square and Sixth street west, and building one or more bridges over that part of the canal lying in or between the Second and Sixth streets west; but the said corporation is hereby expressly prohibited from undertaking any of the improvements contemplated by this section, unless the said improvements shall be effected out of the funds created by this act, or out of the corporate funds of the said corporation; and the corporation of the said city shall have the control and management of the public reservation between the botanic garden and Sixth street west, with the view to the improvement and preservation of the same, until Congress shall otherwise direct.

. And be it further enacted, That the residue of the fund, created by the sales of lots, authorized by this act, after effecting the objects contemplated by the foregoing sections, shall, from time to time, as the same may be collected, be paid by the mayor of Washington into the treasury of the United States.

. And be it further enacted, That it shall be lawful for the legal representative of any former proprietor of the land directed to be disposed of by this act, or persons lawfully claiming title under them, and they are hereby, permitted and authorized, at any time within one year from the passing of this act, to institute a bill in equity in the nature of a petition of right against the United States, in the circuit court of the United States for the district of Columbia, in which they may set forth the grounds of their claim to the land in question.

. And be it further enacted, That a copy of said bill shall be served on the attorney general of the United States, and it shall be his duty to prepare and put in the proper pleas and answers, and make all proper defence thereto, in behalf of the United States.

. And be it further enacted, That the said suit shall be conducted according to the rules of a court of equity; and the said court shall have full power and authority to hear and determine upon the claim of the plaintiff of plaintiffs, and what proportion, if any, of the money