sissippi and the State of Alabama; from Tuscaloosa to the Mobile railroad within Mississippi; and from Brandon to the Gulf of Mexico, every alternate section of land designated by even numbers; for six sections in width on each side of each of said roads. But in case it shall appear that Grant in lieu the United States have, when the lines or routes of said roads are defi- of sections sold or preempted. nitely fixed, sold any sections or any parts thereof granted as aforesaid, or that the right of preemption has attached to the same, then it shall be lawful for any agent or agents, to be appointed by the governor of said State, to select, subject to the approval of the Secretary of the Interior, from the lands of the United States nearest to the tiers of sections above specified, so much land in alternate sections or parts of sections as shall be equal to such lands as the United States shall have sold or otherwise appropriated, or to which the right of preemption has attached as aforesaid; which lands (thus selected in lieu of those sold, and to which preemption rights have attached as aforesaid, together with the sections and parts of sections designated by even numbers as aforesaid, and appropriated as aforesaid) shall be held by the said State for the use and purpose aforesaid: Provided, That the lands to be so located shall in no case be further than fifteen miles from the lines of said roads, and selected for, and on account of each of said roads: Provided further, That the lands Application of hereby granted shall be exclusively applied in the construction of that said lands. road for and on account of which said lands are hereby granted, and shall be disposed of only as the work progresses, and the same shall be applied to no other purpose whatsoever: And provided further, That any and all lands heretofore reserved to the United States by any act of ply (except as to Congress, or in any other manner, by competent authority, for the right of way) to purpose of aiding in any object of internal improvement, or for any other purpose whatsoever, be and the same are hereby reserved to the United States from the operation of this act, except so far as it may be found necessary to locate the routes of said railroads through such reserved lands, in which case, the right of way only shall be granted, subject to the approval of the President of the United States. Act not to ap reserved lands. Price of alter doubled. SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That the sections and parts of sections of land which, by such grant, shall remain to the United States, nate sections within six miles on each side of said roads, shall not be sold for less than double the minimum price of the public lands when sold; nor shall any of the said lands become subject to private entry until the same have been first offered at public sale at the increased price. SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That the said lands hereby granted Disposal of to the said State, shall be subject to the disposal of the legislature thereof, said lands. for the purpose aforesaid and no other; and the said railroads shall be Railroads to be a public highand remain public highways for the use of the government of the United way for governStates, free from toll or other charge upon the transportation of any ment. property or troops of the United States. SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That the lands hereby granted to the Disposal of said said State shall be disposed of by said State only in manner following, that lands. is to say: That a quantity of land not exceeding one hundred and twenty sections for each of said roads, and included within a continuous length of twenty miles of each of said roads, may be sold; and when the governor of said State shall certify to the Secretary of the Interior that any continuous twenty miles of either of said roads is completed, then another like quantity of land hereby granted, not exceeding one hundred and twenty sections for such road may be sold; and so from time to time until said roads are completed; and if said roads are not completed within ten years no further sales shall be made, and the lands unsold shall revert to the United States. of mails. SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That the United States mail shall Transportation be transported over said railroads, under the direction of the Post-Office Department, at such orice as Congress may, by law, direct: Provided, Similar grant for a railroad from Mobile to New Orleans. That until such price is fixed by law, the Postmaster-General shall have the power to determine the same. SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That a like grant to the same extent, and on the same terms and conditions in all respects, is hereby made to aid in constructing a railroad from the city of Mobile to New Orleans, such grant to be made to the several States through which said road shall pass, so far as said road is within their respective limits. APPROVED, August 11, 1856. Aug. 11, 1856. CHAP. LXXXIV.—An Act to amend the Charter of Georgetown in the District of Columbia. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United Poll tax author States of America in Congress assembled, That the Corporation of Georgeized in Georgetown, for schools. town, in the District of Columbia, shall have full power and authority to lay and impose the present year and annually thereafter, a school tax upon every free white male citizen, of the age of twenty-one years and upwards, of one dollar per annum; said tax to be levied and collected under such regulations as the said corporation may prescribe. for electors in Georgetown. SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That from and after the passage of Qualifications this act, every free white male citizen of the United States, who shall have attained the age of twenty one years, and shall have resided within the corporate limits of Georgetown, in the District aforesaid, one year immediately preceding the day of election, and shall have been returned on the books of the corporation during the year ending on the thirty-first day of December next preceding the day of election, as subject to a school tax for that year, (except persons non compos mentis, vagrants, paupers, and persons who shall have been convicted of any infamous crime,) and who shall have paid the school taxes due from him, shall be entitled to vote for mayor, members of the board of aldermen and board of common council, and for every officer authorized to be elected at any election under the acts of said corporation: Provided, That if, during the year ending on the thirty-first day of December next preceding the day of the first election after the passage of this act, no person shall have been returned on the books of the said corporation as subject to a school tax, then all persons who shall have been returned on the books of the said corporation as subject to a school tax before the day of the said first election, and who shall in all other respects be qualified under this act to vote, and who shall have paid the said school tax, shall be entitled to vote at the Penalties for said first election after the passage of this act; and if any person shall buy buying or selling or sell a vote, or shall vote more than once at any corporation election, held votes, or violat- in pursuance of law, or shall give or receive any consideration therefor in ing election laws. money, goods, or any other thing of value, or shall promise any valuable consideration, or vote in consideration of such promise, he shall be disqualified forever thereafter from voting or holding any office under said corporation; and on complaint thereof to the attorney of the United States for the District of Columbia, it shall be the duty of said attorney to proceed against said offender or offenders by indictment and trial, as in other criminal cases; and if found guilty it shall be the duty of the court to sentence him to pay a fine of not less than ten dollars, and to imprisonment not more than two months, nor less than ten days. Evidence of furnished on demand. SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of the elections to be clerk of said corporation, on the presentation of the corporation tax collector's receipt showing that the applicant has paid his school tax for that year, to enter the name of such school tax payer on the books of said corporation, and to furnish the judges of elections to be held under the laws of said corporation at each precinct, before or on the morning of any election, before the hour for opening the polls, with a list of the names of all persons who shall have paid their school taxes for that year. SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That the school tax which shall be School tax dislevied and collected under this act shall constitute a fund, or be added to posed of. any other fund now or hereafter to be constituted by any act of said corporation for the establishment and support of common schools, and for no other purpose, under such regulations as the corporation may prescribe. Election pre tions. SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of said corporation to provide or establish at least two election precincts within cincts and the limits of the corporation of Georgetown, and to appoint not less than judges of eleothree judges of election for each precinct, and to adopt such other regulations as may be necessary to give full force and effect to this section. SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That all acts or parts of acts in conflict with this act be and the same are hereby repealed. APPROVED, August 11, 1856. Inconsistent acts repealed. CHAP. LXXXV.-An Act to confirm to certain Persons therein named, their Titles to cer- Aug. 11, 1856. tain Lots in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin. at Prairie du Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That all those farm and vil- Certain farm lage lots at Prairie du Chien, in the State of Wisconsin, as designated and village lots upon the plat of the private land claims at said place, in volume four of Chien confirmed. the public lands American Statę Papers, which plat was made in the year of our Lord eighteen hundred and twenty, by Isaac Lee, Esquire, the agent appointed by the commissioners to adjust land titles at Green Bay and Prairie du Chien, which have not heretofore been confirmed and patented to the claimants, are hereby confirmed unto the several persons named upon said plat and the report of said Lee, and to their assigns and legal representatives; and village lots numbers six, ten, and eleven, in the main village, as designated upon said plat, are hereby confirmed to Hercules L. Dousman; and lot number nine, in said village, to Edward W. Pelton; and patents to the lots hereby confirmed, shall issue to such persons as now own, or as shall have the right to the same: Provided, That the confirmation hereby made shall not interfere with any tion to be only a heretofore made, and that such confirmation shall only operate as a relin- relinquishment of title. quishment of title on the part of the United States, and shall in no manner interfere with any valid adverse right of any persons, if such exist, to the same land. This confirma APPROVED, August 11, 1856. CHAP. LXXXVI. —An Act to provide for the Public Instruction of Youth in Primary Aug. 11, 1856. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the levy court of the Commission county of Washington, in the District of Columbia, at their first meeting ers of primary after the passage of this act, shall appoint seven intelligent inhabitants schools in Washington County, of the said county, who shall reside without the limits of the cities of D. C., to be apWashington and Georgetown, two of whom shall be residents of that pointed. portion of the said county lying and being west of Rock Creek, three between Rock Creek and the Eastern Branch, and two east and south of the Eastern Branch, to be commissioners of primary schools for said county, which said commissioners shall hold their offices until the second Monday in May, in the year one thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, Term of office. and until others are appointed in their places; and in case any of the said commissioners thus appointed or to be appointed, as aforesaid, shall refuse to serve, or die, or remove from the county, or become incapable of serving, the vacancy or vacancies shall be filled by the levy court as soon as practicable. Vacancies, how filled. Oath to be commissioners. SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That each of the said commissiontaken by said ers, before he enters upon the execution of his office, and within fifteen days after notification of his appointment by the said levy court, shall take and subscribe an oath before some justice of the peace of the said county, in the form following, that is to say: I, -, do solemnly and sincerely promise and swear, (or affirm, as the case may be,) that I will in all things, to the best of my knowledge and ability, well and truly execute the trust reposed in me as commissioner of primary schools for the county, without favor or partiality; and every justice of the peace before whom such oath shall be taken, shall, without fee or reward, certify the same in writing, and, within eight days thereafter, transmit or deliver said certificate to the clerk of the levy court for record. County to be divided into school districts. lated. SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of the commissioners of primary schools, or a majority of them, to divide the county into seven suitable and convenient school districts, two of which shall be located west of Rock Creek; three between Rock Creek and the Eastern Branch, and two east and south of the Eastern Branch, and May be al- to alter and regulate the same as hereinafter provided. And it shall be tered and regu- the further duty of the commissioners of primary schools aforesaid, immediately after the formation or alteration of any such school districts Description in said county, to describe and number the same, and deliver the descripand number to tion and number thereof, in writing, to the clerk of the levy court, who be recorded. is hereby required to receive and record the same in the records of that Farms not to court without fee or reward; and Provided, That in laying off said school be divided in districts, or in altering the same, no tracts, or parts of tracts, of land constituting said districts. lying contiguous and forming one farm, shall be divided so that portions of the same property shall be included in two separate districts. Districts may be altered. Proviso. County collector to notify officers of their appointment. SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That the said commissioners may alter and change the school districts, with a view to their better arrangement and the more general convenience of the people: Provided, however, That unless the trustees of the districts so to be altered or changed shall assent thereto, no such alteration or change shall be made. SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of the county collector to notify the different officers to be appointed, in virtue of the provisions of this act, of their appointments, within ten days after his having received notice of such appointments from the appointing power, whose duty it shall be to give such notice to the county collector aforesaid. Meetings of SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That the said commissioners shall Commissioners. hold two stated meetings in each year, which meetings shall be held at such place and at such times as shall be determined on by said commissioners, and of which they shall give public notice in each of said school districts, and such other meetings as circumstances may from time to time require; but if less than three members attend any meeting, no business shall be transacted thereat, except that of adjourning to some time and place, to be agreed on by the commissioners present; and at all Treasurer to meetings of said commissioners, the treasurer of the school fund of the county, hereinafter to be appointed, shall attend and lay before them his books and accounts for their inspection and examination. attend. Record to be kept. Clerk. SEC. 7. And be it further enacted, That the said commissioners shall cause to be kept a regular record of all their acts and proceedings in a book to be kept for that purpose, and said record, or a copy thereof, certified to be correct under the hands and seals of a majority of said board of commissioners, shall be considered evidence of their acts and proceedings in all judicial proceedings. And the board of commissioners aforesaid shall have power to appoint a clerk, prescribe his duties, and pay him a salary, and also to allow the treasurer of the school fund, hereinafter to be appointed, an annual compensation for his services out of the general school fund, hereinafter to be provided: Provided, That neither the said clerk nor treasurer shall be paid more than one hundred dollars per annum. In May, 1857, one commission Examination of teachers. SEC. 8. And be it further enacted, That on or about the second Monday in May, in the year eighteen hundred and fifty-seven, and annually and afterwards, thereafter, the said levy court shall appoint one of said board of com- er to be appointmissioners from each primary school district; and the said commissioners ed from each school district. appointed as aforesaid shall, each acting in his respective district, examine all persons who shall offer themselves as candidates for teaching in such district; and in such examination it shall be the duty of the commissioners aforesaid to inquire, and, so far as he shall be enabled thereto, to ascertain and inform himself as to all the qualifications mentioned and contained in the certificate hereinafter specified and given in form, and if he shall be satisfied as to the sufficiency of such qualifications, he shall certify in writing, under his hand, and deliver such certificate to the person so examined by him as aforesaid, in form and substance following, viz: I, the undersigned, resident commissioner of primary schools of district No.-, do certify that I have examined believe he (or she, as the case may be) is of a good moral character, and of sufficient learning and ability, and in all other respects well qualified to teach a primary school. Given under my hand the and do day of Certificate. Commission in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and commissioner of primary school district No. And dis-. miss any intemperate, cruel, negligent, or immoral teachers, and cause ers may dismiss teachers, and to be put up in every school-house such general system of rules and reg- make rules and ulations as may be adopted by the board of commissioners, which board regulations. shall also direct what books shall be used, and what branches shall be taught; and the resident commissioners aforesaid shall visit the schools in each of their respective districts at least twice a year, exercise a general supervision, and endeavor to promote a full, equal, and useful instruction of the youth of said county. Meetings of SEC. 9. And be it further enacted, That whenever any school district shall be formed by the commissioners of primary schools as aforesaid, the districts. it shall be the duty of the said commissioners, within twenty days thereafter, to make a notice in writing, describing the metes and bounds of such district, and appoint a time and place for the first district meeting, and notify the taxable inhabitants residing in such district as aforesaid, by public advertisements to be put up at the most public places of the said district, at least six days before the time of such meeting; and in case such notice shall not be given as aforesaid, or the inhabitants of such district, when so notified, shall neglect or refuse to assemble or form a district meeting in pursuance of such notice, or in case any district, having been formed or organized in pursuance of such notice, shall, in the opinion of the commissioners aforesaid, be dissolved by adjournment without day, or from any other cause whatever, it shall and may be lawful for the commissioners aforesaid, or any one of them, at any time thereafter, to renew such notice, and the inhabitants of such district liable to pay taxes as aforesaid shall assemble together in pursuance of such notice, and when so assembled in district meeting it shall and may be lawful for them, or a majority of such of them as shall be present at such district meeting, to adjourn to any other time or place, and at such first or any future legal district meeting it shall and may be lawful for them, or a majority of them as shall be present as aforesaid, to adjourn from time to time as occasion may require, to fix on a time and place for holding their future annual meetings, which annual meetings they are hereby authorized and required to hold; to choose by ballot three trustees to manage the concerns of such school district, and one district collector; also to designate a suitable and central site for a school-house, to vote a tax on the property in such school district sufficient, in addition school-houses. to the proportion of the school fund (hereinafter to be provided for) Trustees. Collector. Sites for Taxes. |