TWENTY-FIRST CONGRESS. Sess. I. Ch. 48. 1830.
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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 thebalance due thereon not having been paid or discharged agreeably to saidrelief laws, such persons may avail themselves of any one of the threefollowing provisions contained in this section, to wit: First, They shallhave a right of pre-emption of the same lands, until the fourth day ofJuly, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-one, upon their paying intothe proper office the sum per acre therefor, which shall, at the time ofpayment, be the minimum price per acre of the public lands of theUnited States , in addition to the amount heretofore paid thereon, andforfeited: Provided, That the price, including what has already been paid,and the amount to be paid, shall not, in any case, exceed three dollarsand fifty cents per acre: Second, they shall have the right of completingthe payment of said lands, by paying the balance of the principal debtdue thereon, in cash, subject to a deduction of thirty-seven and a halfper cent, as heretofore, at any time previous to the fourth day of July,one thousand eight hundred and thirty-one: Third, They shall have theright, within nine months from the passage of this act, in all cases wherethe price for which said lands were sold did not exceed two dollars andfifty cents per acre, to draw scrip for the amount paid thereon, in themanner prescribed in the act, approved the twenty-third day of May, onethousand eight hundred and twenty-eight, entitled “An act for the reliefof purchasers of public lands that have reverted for non-payment of thepurchase moneyand which scrip shall be receivable in the same man-ner as directed by said act, except only that it shall not be taken in pay-ment for lands hereafter bought at public sale.
Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That all purchasers, their heirs, orassignees, of such of the public lands of the United States as were soldon credit, and which lands have, by such persons, been relinquished underany of the laws passed for the relief of purchasers of public lands, andthe amount paid thereon applied in payment of other lands retained bythem, and which relinquished lands, or any part thereof, may now be inpossession of such persons; or in case the certificate of purchase, andpart payment of said lands, has been transferred by the persons now inpossession of said lands, or part thereof, or the persons under whom thepresent occupants may hold such possession, to some other person not inpossession thereof, and the payment made thereon applied by such otherperson, or his assignee, in payment for land held in his own name: ineither case, the persons so in possession, shall have the right of pre-emp-tion 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, whichshall, at the time of payment, be the minimum price per acre of theUnited States ’ public lands; and in addition thereto, the same amountper acre heretofore paid thereon, and applied to other lands, subject to adeduction 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 threedollars and fifty cents per acre: Provided also, That such persons onlyshall be entitled to the benefits of this section, who shall apply for thesame, and prove their possession, to the satisfaction of the register andreceiver of the district in which the land may lie, in the manner to be pre-scribed by the commissioner of the general land office, within nine monthsfrom the passage of this act; for which, such register and receiver shalleach be entitled to receive from such applicants, the sum of fifty centseach; And provided further, That the provisions of this section shallnot extend to any lands that have, in any manner, been disposed of bythe United States .
may be redeem-ed in either ofthe three fol-lowing ways :
1. Pre-emptionuntil July 30,1831, at mini-mum price ofpublic lands, inaddition toamount alreadypaid.
Proviso: en-tire price not toexceed 3 dolls,and 50 c.
2. Paymentbefore July 4,1831, of 62*per cent, on thebalance due.
3. Where theprice did not ex-ceed 2 dolls.and50 c. purchasersmay, within ninemonths, drawscrip for theamount paid, inmanner pre-scribed in act ofMay 23, 1828,ch. 71.
Where landsrelinquishedunder relieflaws (the sumpaid havingbeen applied inpayment ofother lands) re-main in posses-sion of the re-linquishers ; orwhere such re-linquished landsremain in pos-session of per-sons (or of per-sons holdingunder these)who transfer-red the certifi-cate ofpurchaseand part pay-ment of thoselands, to an-other person bywhom said partpayment wasapplied in pay-ment of landheld in his ownname: in eithercase, the per-sons so in pos-session shallhave a right ofpre-emption,
&c.