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judges of the said courts shall respectively prescribe, so as to be most conducive to an impartial trial, and be least burthensome to the inhabitants of the said territory.

. And be it further enacted, That it shall not be lawful for any person or persons to import, or bring into the said territory, from any port or place without the limits of the United States, or cause or procure to be so imported or brought, or knowingly to aid or assist in so importing or bringing, any slave or slaves; and any person so offending, and being thereof convicted, before any court within the said territory, having competent jurisdiction, shall forfeit and pay, for each and every slave, so imported or brought, the sum of three hundred dollars; one moiety for the use of the United States, and the other moiety for the use of the person or persons who shall sue for the same; and every slave, so imported or brought, shall, thereupon, become entitled to, and receive, his or her freedom.

. And be it further enacted, That the citizens of the said territory shall be entitled to one delegate to Congress, for the said territory, who shall possess the same powers heretofore granted to the delegates from the other territories of the United States: Provided, That no person shall be eligible for that office who shall not have resided at least twelve months in the said territory. The delegate shall be elected by such description of persons, at such times, and under such regulations, as the governor and legislative council may, from time to time, ordain and direct, soldiers of the United States excepted, who shall, under no circumstances, be qualified to vote.

. And be it further enacted, That an act, entitled “,” be, and the same is hereby, repealed, so far as the same is inconsistent with the provisions of this act; and that the proceedings of the last session of the legislative council of Florida be, and the same are hereby, confirmed, to remain in full force and effect until the end of the next session of the said council, unless sooner altered, modified, or repealed, with the exception of all revenue laws imposing taxes on the inhabitants or their property, and the law authorizing the governor to borrow five thousand dollars on the credit of the said territory, and the law establishing county courts, which are hereby declared null and void; Provided, That no loan of money already made or obtained, under said law, shall be effected [affected] by this act, and that the act approved the second of September, one thousand eight hundred and twenty-two, by the governor, repealing all the laws and ordinances in force in the said territory, shall be, and is hereby, declared to have effect on the day of its passage by the legislative council, and not of its approval by the governor.

, March 3, 1823.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the powers of the board of commissioners heretofore appointed, for ascertaining claims and titles to lands in the territory of Florida, shall be confined, exclusively, to the examination of titles and claims in that portion of said territory, heretofore known as West Florida; and that, for ascertaining title sand claims in East Florida, the President is hereby authorized, in the recess of the Senate, to appoint three commissioners, which appointments shall be of