7 cess, and proceed ments, &c., pend government of red to the district courts of the UniTerritory. ted States for said and returning from the seat of government of the United States, any act of Congress to the contrary notwithstanding. SEC. 17. And be it further enacted, That all suits, process, All suits, proand proceedings, civil and criminal, at law and in chancery, ings, civil and and all indictments and informations, which shall be pending criminal, indictand undetermined in the courts established by authority of ing in the courts the provisional government of Oregon, within the limits of of the provisional said Territory, when this act shall take effect, shall be trans- Oregon transferferred to be heard, tried, prosecuted, and determined in the district courts hereby established, which may include the counties or districts where any such proceeding may be pending.' All bonds, recognizances, and obligations of every kind whatsoever, valid under the existing laws within the limits of said Territory, shall be valid under this act; and all crimes and misdemeanors against the laws in force within said limits may be prosecuted, tried, and punished in the courts established by this act; and all penalties, forfeitures, actions, and causes of action, may be recovered under this act, in like manner as they would have been under the laws in force within the limits composing said Territory at the time this act shall go into operation: Provided, That the laws, penalties, and Proviso. forfeitures and punishments, by this section required to be enforced by the courts provided for by this act, shall not be inconsistent with the constitution of the United States: And provided further, That no right of action whatever shall accrue against any person for any act done in pursuance of any law heretofore passed by the temporary government, andwhich may be declared contrary to the constitution of the United States. Justices of the peace, consta office when this effect, continued SEC. 18. And be it further enacted, That all justices of the peace, constables, sheriffs, and all other judicial and ministe- Bles, sheriffs, &c., rial officers, who shall be in office within the limits of said who shall be in Territory when this act shall take effect, shall be, and they act shall take are hereby, authorized and required to continue to exercise and perform the duties of their respective offices as officers of the Territory of Oregon until they or others shall be duly elected or appointed, and qualified to fill their places in the manner herein directed, or until their offices shall be abolished. in office till they others are fill their places. Appropriation of $5,000 for a li SBC. 19. And be it further enacted, That the sum of five thousand dollars be, and the same is hereby, appropriated out brary. of any moneys in the treasury not otherwise appropriated, to be expended, by and under the direction of the said governor of the Territory of Oregon, in the purchase of a library, to be kept at the seat of government for the use of the govenor, legislative assembly, judges of the supreme court, secretary, marshal, and attorney of said Territory, and such other persons, and under such regulations, as shall be prescribed by law. SEC. 20. And be it further enacted, That when the lands in the said Territory shall be surveyed under the direction of the government of the United States, preparatory to bringing Reservation of lands for use of schools. Until otherwise provided for by may define the judges to them, the same into market, sections numbered sixteen and thirtysix in each township in said Territory shall be, and the same is hereby, reserved for the purpose of being applied to schools in said Territory, and in the States and Territories hereafter to be erected out of the same. SEC. 21. And be it further enacted, That, until otherwise law the governor provided for by law, the governor of said Territory may de. judicial districts, fine the judicial districts of said Territory, and assign the and assign the judges who may be appointed for said Territory, to the seve &c. but the leg. ral districts, and also appoint the times and places for holding islative assembly. may organize, al. Courts in the several counties or subdivisions in each of said ter, or modify judicial districts by proclamation to be issued by him; but the legislative assembly, at their first or any subsequent session, may organize, alter, or modify such judicial districts, and assign the judges, and alter the time and places of holding the courts, as to them shall seem proper and convenient. such judicial districts, &c. Certain officers required to give security for mothem for disburse neys intrusted to ment. Collection district of Oregon pointed. SEC. 22. And be it further enacted, That all officers to be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, for the Territory of Oregon, who by virtue of the provisions of any law now existing, or which may be enacted during the present Congress, are required to give security for moneys that may be intrusted with them for disbursement, shall give such security at such time and place, and in such manner, as the Secretary of the Treasury may prescribe. SEC. 23. And be it further enacted, That all the ports, harestablished, and bors, shores, and waters of the main land of the Territory collector to be ap- aforesaid shall constitute a collection district, to be called the district of Oregon; and a port of entry shall be established at Astoria, near the mouth of the Columbia river, and a collector of customs shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to reside at such port of entry. Ports of delivery, and SEC. 24. And be it further enacted, That the President of the United States be, and he is hereby, authorized to estab. lish such ports of delivery in the district created by this act, not exceeding two in number, (one of which shall be located on Fuget's sound,) as he may deem expedient, and may ǝpSurveyors to be point, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, surveyors to reside thereat. appointed. Compensation surveyors. in SEC. 25. And be it further enacted, That the collector of of collector and said district shall be allowed a compensation of one thousand dollars per annum, and the fees allowed by law; and the compensation of any surveyor appointed in pursuance of this act shall not exceed five hundred dollars per annum, cluding in said sum the fees allowed by law; and the amount collected by any of said surveyors, for fees in any one year, exceeding the sum of five hundred dollars, shall be accounted for and paid into the treasury of the United States. Revenue laws extended SEC. 26. And be it further enacted, That the revenue laws over of the United States be, and are hereby, extended over the Territory of Oregon. said Territory. SEC. 27. And be it further enacted, That the sum of fifteen Appropriation thousand dollars be, and the same is hereby, appropriated out and buoys. for light-houses of any moneys in the treasury not otherwise appropriated, to be expended under the direction of the Secretary of the Treasury, for the construction of light-houses at Cape Disappointment and New Dunginess; and for the construction and anchoring of the requisite number of buoys, to indicate the channels at the mouth of the Columbia river, and the approaches to the harbor of Astoria; the said buoys to be placed and anchored under the direction of such persons as the Secretary of the Treasury shall appoint. Approved August 14, 1848. CHAP. 178.-AN ACT for the payment of the fourth regiment in the second brigade of the third division of the Vermont militia, for services at the battle of Plattsburg. Claims of cér mont militia to be [SEC. 1.] Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the proper accounting officers of the treasury tain officers and be, and they are hereby, authorized and directed to adjust and soldiers of Versettle the claims for one month's services of the officers and adjusted and setsoldiers of the fourth regiment in the second brigade of the tied. third division of the militia of the State of Vermont, who served at the battle of Plattsburg on the eleventh day of September, one thousand eight hundred and fourteen, for their military services on that occasion, and that the same be paid out of any money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated. Approved August 14, 1848. CHAP. 179.-AN ACT for the relief of the widows and orphans of the officers, seamen, and marines of the brig-of-war Somers. Whereas the United States brig of-war Somers was foundered at sea, in the offing of the harbor of Vera Cruz, while engaged, under very hazardous circumstances, in the prosecution of hostilities against an enemy of this republic: Therefore, A sum equal to latives awarded [SEC. 1.] Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the widows, if any such there be, and in case 12 months pay of there be no widow, the child or children, and if there be no their deceased rechild, then the parent or parents, and if there are no parents, to the widows or to the brothers and sisters who were minors and under the the officers, seachildren, &c., of age of eighteen years at the time of said loss of the officers, men and marines seamen, and marines who were in the service of the United brig Somers. States, and lost in the United States brig-of-war Somers, shall be entitled to, and receive, out of any money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated, a sum equal to twelve months' pay of their respective deceased relations aforesaid, in addition to the pay due to the said deceased at the date of the loss of said vessel. Location of cer tain military land CHAP. 180.-AN ACT in relation to military land warrants. [SEC. 1.] Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Rep resentatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That any non-commissioned officer, musician, or private, or his widow or heirs, who shall receive and hold in his own right a land warrant, issued by the government of the United States for military service, may locate the same in on legal subdivision, on any public land subject to private entry, taking said land at the price at which the same is subject to private entry, and reckoning the warrant at one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre for the number of acres therein contained, and paying the balance, if any, in money; but no claim shall exist on the government to pay for any balance on said warrant in money. Approved August 14, 1848. the payment of a CHAP. 181.-AN ACT for the relief of George V. Mitchell. [SEC. 1.] Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress asReleased from sembled, That George V. Mitchell, late postmaster at Bellsville, Pennsylvania, be, and he hereby is, released from the payment of a judgment obtained against him in the United States court for the western district of Pennsylvania, held at Williamsport. Approved August 14, 1848. ascertain what them for advances CHAP. 182.-AN ACT for the relief of Ward and Smith. [SEC. 1.] Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress asThe Secretary sembled, That the Secretary of the Navy be, and he is hereby, of the Navy to authorized and required to ascertain what sum should be sum is justly due justly and equitably allowed the firm of Ward and Smith, for made for the use advances made by them for the use of the Navy Department of the navy in in California, in the month of February, eighteen hundred certify the and forty-seven, and to certify the amount to the Secretary of Secretary of the the Treasury, who shall pay the same out of any money in Treasury, who the shall pay treasury not otherwise appropriated. Approved August 14, 1848. California, and amount to the same. the CHAP. 183.-AN ACT for the relief of Messrs. Cook, Anthony, Mahony and others. Secretary of the Treasury to pay $50; Suydams & Nix [SEC. 1.] Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Secretary of the Treasury be, and he is hereby, authorized and directed to pay, out of any moneys in the treasury not otherwise appropriated, to Cook, Anthony, To Cook, Anand Mahony, of New York, fifty dollars; to Doremus, Suy. thony & Mahony, dams, and Nixen, of New York, one hundred and fifty dol- Το Doremus, lars; to Spellman and Fraser, of New York, fifty dollars; en, $150; to West Oliver and Company, of New York, one hundred dol-To Spellman & lars; and to O. B. White, of New York, two hundred and To West Oliver fifty dollars; the said sums being the amount of treasury notes, the property of the aforesaid persons, which were deposited, enclosed in letters, in the post office at Van Buren, in the state of Arkansas, in March, anuo Domini one thousand eight hundred and forty-three, and were afterwards stolen from the mail by one Charles Botsford; and, after being altered and forged, were presented, by some person unknown, to the Bank of America, in the city of New York, then acting as the fiscal agent of the treasury, and paid by said bank, in behalf of the United States. Approved August 14, 1848. & Co., $100; and To O. B. White treasury notes be which were $250, for certain longing to them, stolen, and after being altered and forged, were paid by the Bank of fiscal agent of the America, as the United States. CHAP. 184.-AN ACT for the relief of Charles M. Gibson. To be paid $300 for a wagon cap. and destroyed in Florida [SEC. 1.] Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Secretary of the Treasury be, and he is hereby, authorized and directed to cause the sum of three tured hundred dollars to be paid to Charles M. Gibson, as remunera- by the Indians. tion for a wagon captured and destroyed in Middle Florida by the Seminole Indians, in February, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-nine, the same to be paid out of any money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated. Approved August 14, 1848. CHAP. 185.-AN ACT for the relief of William Triplett. emption of a tract [SEC. 1.] Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the right of William Triplett, of St. Louis Right to a preCounty, Missouri, to a pre-emption of the southeast quarter of land in Misof section thirty-six, in township forty-five, of range four east, souri, confirmed. as specified in the certificate of the receiver of the land office at St. Louis, numbered eleven thousand one hundred and seventy-one, held under the act of eighteen hundred and thirtyeight, being the land on which he, the said Triplett, has re |