TWENTY-SECOND CONGRESS. Sess. I. Ch. 165,166. 1832.

561

Statute I.

Chap. CLXV.— An Act to authorize the surveying and making of a road from

La Plaisance bay , in the territory of Michigan , to intersect the Chicago road .

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the UnitedStates of America, in Congress assembled, That the President of theUnited States be, and he is hereby, authorized to appoint three commis-sioners, who shall explore, survey, and mark, in the most eligible course,a road from La Plaisance bay, in the territory of Michigan , to intersect,at some suitable point, the road from Detroit to Chicago , establishedunder the provisions of the act of the third of March, one thousandeight hundred and twenty-five; and said commissioners shall make outaccurate plats of such surveys, accompanied with field notes, and certifyand transmit the same to the President of the United States , who, if heapprove of said surveys, shall cause the plats thereof to be deposited inthe office of the Treasury of the United States , and the said road shallbe considered as established and accepted: Provided, That said com-missioners shall be disinterested persons, not residents of the counties ofMonroe or Lenewee, in said territory.

Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That the said commissioners shall,each, be entitled to receive three dollars, and their assistants one dollarand fifty cents, for each and every day they shall be necessarily employedin the surveying, exploring, and marking, of said road, and making theirreturns thereof: Provided, That the whole expense thereof shall not ex-ceed the sum of five hundred dollars.

Sec. 3. And be- it further enacted, That, for the purpose of compen-sating the said commissioners and their assistants, and for opening andmaking said road, there shall be, and is hereby, appropriated, the sum offifteen thousand dollars, to be paid out of any moneys in the treasurynot otherwise appropriated, to be expended under the direction of thePresident of the United States , for the purposes aforesaid: Provided,however, That the money applied to the making of said road, shall be laidout first in making such parts of it from La Plaisance bay, to the cross-ing of the river Raisin, at or near Tesecumseh, as have not heretoforebeen improved; and the residue, if any, upon such parts of it as, in thejudgment of the superintendent, the public good may most require.

Approved, July 4, 1832.

Statute I.

Chap. CLXVI.— An Act for the final adjustment of the claims to lands in the July 4, 1832.south-eastern land district of the state of Louisiana . (a)

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the UnitedStates of America , in Congress assembled , That any person or persons,claiming lands within the limits of the south-eastern land district of the

(a) Decisions of the Supreme Court on land titles in Louisiana , in addition to the cases stated innotes to vol. ii, 288, 713.

The treaty by which Louisiana was ceded to the United States , recognised complete grants, issuedanterior to the cession, and a decision of a state court against the validity of a title set up under sucha grant, would be subject to revisal by the Supreme Court, under the twenty-fifth section of the Judi-ciary act. M £ Donough v. Millaudon, 3 Howard, 693.

But, if the state court only applies the local laws of the state to the construction of the grant, it is nota decision against its validity, and the Supreme Court has no jurisdiction. Ibid.

Congress , in acting upon complete grants, recognised them as they stood j and the act of 11th ofMay, 1820, confirming such as were recommended for confirmation by the register and receiver, hadno reference to any particular surveys. Ibid.

A decision of a state court, therefore, which may be in opposition to one of these surveys, is notagainst the validity of a title existing under an act of Congress ; and this court has no jurisdiction insuch a case. Ibid.

The certificate of survey alleged to have been given by Trudeau, on the 14th of June, 1797, andbrought forward to sustain a grant to the Marquis de Maison Rouge, declared ante-dated and fraudulent.United States v. King et al., 3 Howard, 773.

The circumstance that a copy of this paper was delivered by the Spanish authorities in 1803, is notsufficient to prevent its authenticity from being impeached. Ibid.

Vol. IV.—71

July 4,1832.

Commissionersto be appointedto survey andlay out road.

Plats of sur-veys to be certi-fied, and trans-mitted to thePresident; if ap-proved to bedeposited, &c.

Proviso.

Pay of com-missioners andassistants.

Proviso.

Appropriation,

Proviso.