Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 3.djvu/757



Monday of January thereafter, at St. Augustine, for the ascertaining and determining of all claims to land within said territories; notice of which shall be given, by said commissioners, in some newspaper printed at each place, or if there be no newspaper, at the most public places in said cities, respectively, of the time at which their sessions will commence, requiring all persons to bring forward their claims, with evidence necessary to support them. The session at St. Augustine shall terminate on the thirtieth of June, one thousand eight hundred and twenty-three, when said commissioners shall forward to the Secretary of the Treasury, to be submitted to Congress, a detail of all they have done, and deliver over to the surveyor all the archives, documents, and papers, that may be in their possession.

. And be it further enacted, That every person, or the heirs or representatives of such persons, claiming title to lands under any patent, grant, concession, or order of survey, dated previous to the twenty-fourth day of January, one thousand eight hundred and eighteen, which were valid under the Spanish government, or by the law of nations, and which are not rejected by the treaty ceding the territory of East and West Florida to the United States, shall file, before the commissioners, his, her, or their, claim, setting forth, particularly, its situation and boundaries, if to be ascertained, with the deraignment of title, where they are not the grantees, or original claimants; which shall be recorded by the secretary, and who, for his services, shall be entitled to demand from the claimants ten cents for each hundred words contained in said papers so recorded; he shall be also entitled to twenty-five cents for each subpœna issued: Provided, That if the amount so received shall exceed one thousand two hundred and fifty dollars, which is hereby declared the compensation for his services, the excess shall be reported to the commissioners, and be subject to their disposition; and said commissioners shall proceed to examine and determine on the validity of said patents, grants, concessions, and orders of survey, agreeably to the laws and ordinances heretofore existing of the governments making the grants, respectively, having due regard, in all Spanish claims, to the conditions and stipulations contained in the eighth article of a treaty concluded at Washington, between his Catholic majesty, and the United States, on the twenty-second day of February, one thousand eight hundred and nineteen; but any claim not filed previous to the thirty-first day of May, one thousand eight hundred and twenty-three, shall be deemed and held to be void and of none effect: Provided, nevertheless, and be it further enacted, That in all claims submitted to the decision of the commissioners, where the same land, or any part thereof, is claimed by titles emanating both from the British and Spanish governments, the commissioners shall not decide the same, but shall report all such cases, with an abstract of the evidence, to the Secretary of the Treasury.

. And be it further enacted, That the commissioners shall have power to inquire into the justice and validity of the claims filed with them; and shall be, and are hereby, authorized to administer oaths, to compel the attendance of witnesses by subpœnas issued by the Secretary, and the adduction of such testimony as may be wanted; they shall have access to all papers and records of a public nature relative to any land titles within said provinces, and to make transcripts thereof. They shall examine into claims arising under patents, grants, concessions, and orders