Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 4.djvu/437



were sold on a credit, and on which a further credit has been taken, under any of the laws passed for the relief of purchasers of public lands, and which lands have reverted to the United States, on account of the balance due thereon not having been paid or discharged agreeably to said relief laws, such persons may avail themselves of any one of the three following provisions contained in this section, to wit: First, They shall have a right of pre-emption of the same lands, until the fourth day of July, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-one, upon their paying into the proper office the sum per acre therefor, which shall, at the time of payment, be the minimum price per acre of the public lands of the United States, in addition to the amount heretofore paid thereon, and forfeited: Provided, That the price, including what has already been paid, and the amount to be paid, shall not, in any case, exceed three dollars and fifty cents per acre: Second, they shall have the right of completing the payment of said lands, by paying the balance of the principal debt due thereon, in cash, subject to a deduction of thirty-seven and a half per cent. as heretofore, at any time previous to the fourth day of July, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-one: Third, They shall have the right, within nine months from the passage of this act, in all cases where the price for which said lands were sold did not exceed two dollars and fifty cents per acre, to draw scrip for the amount paid thereon, in the manner prescribed in the act, approved the twenty-third day of May, one thousand eight hundred and twenty-eight, entitled “;” and which scrip shall be receivable in the same manner as directed by this act, except only that it shall not be taken in payment for lands hereafter bought at public sale.

. And be it further enacted, That all purchasers, their heirs, or assignees, of such of the public lands of the United States as were sold on credit, and which lands have, by such persons, been relinquished under any of the laws passed for the relief of purchasers of public lands, and the amount paid thereon applied in payment of other lands retained by them, and which relinquished lands, or any part thereof, may now be in possession of such persons; or in case the certificate of purchase, and part payment of said lands, has been transferred by the persons now in possession of said lands, or part thereof, or the persons under whom the present occupants may hold such possession, to some other person not in possession thereof, and the payment made thereon applied by such other person, or his assignee, in payment for land held in his own name: in either case, the persons so in possession, shall have the right of pre-emption of the same lands, according to the legal sub-divisions of sections, not exceeding the quantity of two quarter sections, in contiguous tracts, until the fourth day of July, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-one, upon their paying into the proper office, the sum per acre therefor, which shall, at the time of payment, be the minimum price per acre of the United States’ public lands; and in addition thereto, the same amount per acre heretofore paid thereon, and applied to other lands, subject to a deduction of thirty-seven and a half per cent. on the last mentioned sum: Provided, That the sum to be paid shall not, in any case, exceed three dollars and fifty cents per acre: Provided also, That such persons only shall be entitled to the benefits of this section, who shall apply for the same, and prove their possession, to the satisfaction of the register and receiver of the district in which the land may lie, in the manner to be prescribed by the commissioner of the general land office, within nine months from the passage of this act; for which, such register and receiver shall each be entitled to receive from such applicants, the sum of fifty cents each; And provided further, That the provisions of this section shall not extend to any lands that have, in any manner, been disposed of by the United States.