Public Acts of Congress. judges heretofore appointed. or which may hereafter be appointed, for the Illinois Territory, under the authority of the Government of the United States, shall, previous to the time prescribed by this act for holding the first court in the said Ter SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That the said commissioners shall be, and they are hereby, authorized to admit and finally settle all such claims as have been, or may be, within the time limited, duly released, assigned, and transferred, to the United States, anything in the said origi-ritory, proceed to allot amongst themselves the nal act, or any supplement thereto, to the contrary notwithstanding; and to administer oaths, or take affirmations, and to compel the attendance of witnesses, in all cases where necessary. SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That the President of the United States shall be, and he is hereby, authorized, from time to time, to cause to be issued such certificates of stock as are specified in the said original act, and supplement thereto, to such claimant or claimants, whose claim may be decided on and reported by the commissioners, on receiving such report, in relation to such claim, from the said commissioners. SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That the releases, assignments, and powers, required by the act aforesaid, and the supplement thereto, now received, and which may be hereafter received, shall be recorded by the secretary of the said commissioners, and the said records returned, with all other papers and documents in relation to said claims, when the business of the said commissioners shall be closed, to the office of the Secretary of State; and that the said secretary shall be paid by the Secretary of the Treasury of the United States, out of any money not otherwise appropriated, at the rate of twelve and a half cents for each and every hundred words contained in each instrument so recorded. SEC. 7. And be it further enacted, That on the dissolution of the said board of commissioners, and the performance of the duties assigned them, the President of the United States shall be, and he is hereby, authorized, if in his judgment he shall consider the said commissioners entitled to any further additional compensation for their services than is now provided for, to cause them to be paid such other and further sums, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, as he shall think just and reasonable: Provided, That such additional compensation shall not exceed fifty cents to each commissioner, for every deed or evidence of title which shall be submitted to their examination and decision, in pursuance of the provisions of the said original act, and the supplements thereto. Approved, March 3, 1815. circuit in which they shall respectively preside, which allotment shall continue in force for and during the term of one year thereafter; and such allotment shall be annually renewed; and which allotment, in writing, signed by the said judges, or a majority of them, shall be entered of record in the said courts, respectively, by the clerks thereof, at the commencement of the term next after such allotment shall have been made. SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of the said judges, respectively, to hold two terms annually in each county in their respective circuits, in conformity with the preceding sections of this act, which shall commence at the times hereinafter mentioned, that is to say: in the county of Madison, on the last Mondays in May and September; in the county of St. Clair, on the second Mondays in June and October; in the county of Randolph, on the third Mondays in June and October; in the county of Johnson, on the fourth Mondays in June and October; in the county of Gallatin, on the first Mondays in July and November; and, in the county of Edwards, on the second Mondays in July and November, in each year; and the said courts shall be styled Circuit Courts for the counties in which such courts shall be held, respectively. SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That the said courts shall be holden at the respective courthouses of said counties; and the said judges, respectively, shall, in their respective circuits, have jurisdiction over all causes, matters, or things, at common law or in chancery, arising in each of said counties, except in cases where the debt or demand shall be under twenty dollars, in which cases they shall have no jurisdiction. SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That the said judges shall be conservators of the peace, and the said circuit courts, in term time, or the judges thereof in vacation, shall have power to award injunctions, writs of ne exeat, habeas corpus, and all other writs and process that may be necessary to the execution of the power with which they are or may be vested. SEC. 7. And be it further enacted, That the said circuit courts, respectively, shall have power to hear and determine all treasons, felonies, and other crimes and misdemeanors, that may be com An Act regulating and defining the duties of the Uni-mitted within the respective counties aforesaid, ted States' Judges for the Territory of Illinois. Be it enacted, &c., That the Illinois Territory shall be divided into three circuits, in the manner, and for the purposes, hereinafter mentioned. SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That the counties of Madison and St. Clair shall compose the first circuit, the counties of Randolph and Johnson shall compose the second circuit, and the counties of Gallatin and Edwards shall compose the third circuit. SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That the and that may be brought before them, respectively, by any rules or regulations prescribed by law. SEC. 8. And be it further enacted, That all suits shall be tried in the counties in which they originate, unless in cases that are or may be specially provided for by law. SEC. 9. And be it further enacted, That if the circuit judge shall not attend on the first day of any court, or if a quorum of the court hereinafter mentioned shall not attend in like manner, such Public Acts of Congress. court shall stand adjourned from day to day until a court shall be made, if that shall happen before four o'clock in the afternoon of the third day. SEC. 10. And be it further enacted, That if either a circuit court, or the court hereinafter mentioned, shall not sit in any term, or shall not continue to sit the whole term, or before the end of the term shall not have heard and determined all matters ready for its decision, all such matters and things depending in court, and undetermined, shall stand continued until the next succeeding term. SEC. 11. And be it further enacted, That if, from any cause, either of the said courts shall not sit on any day in a term after it shall have been opened, there shall be no discontinuance, but so soon as the cause is removed the court shall proceed to business until the end of the term, if the business depending before it be not sooner despatched. SEC. 12. And be it further enacted, That the judicial term of the said circuit courts shall consist of six days in each county, during which time the court shall sit, unless the business before it shall be sooner determined. SEC. 13. And be it further enacted, That a clerk shall be appointed by the said circuit courts, respectively, in each county, whose duty it shall be to issue process in all cases originating in his county, to keep and preserve the records of all the proceedings of the court therein, and to do and perform in the county all the duties which may be enjoined on him by law. SEC. 14. And be it further enacted, That, in the cases that were, on the thirty-first day of December, in the year one thousand eight hundred and fourteen, depending in the courts of common pleas in the respective counties, the parties, or their attorneys, shall be permitted to take all such measures for bringing them to trial that might have been taken if no change had taken place; and the said circuit courts, respectively, shall, as far as possible, proceed to the trial thereof in the same manner that the said courts of common pleas might legally have done, had no other change than a mere alteration of the terms taken place. SEC. 15. And be it further enacted, That the said judges, appointed as aforesaid, or a majority of them, shall constitute a court, to be styled the Court of Appeals for Illinois Territory, and shall hold two sessions annually at the town of Kaskaskia, which shall commence on the first Mondays in March and August, in every year, and continue in session until the business before them shall be completed; which court shall have appellate jurisdiction only, and to which appeals shall be allowed, and from which writs of error, according to the principles of the common law, and conformably to the laws and usages of the said Territory, may be prosecuted for the reversal of the judgments and decrees, as well of the said circuit courts, as of any inferior courts which now are, or hereafter may be, established by the laws of the said Territory. SEC. 16. And be it further enacted, That a clerk 13th CoN. 3d SESS.-62 shall be appointed by the said court of appeals, whose duty it shall be to issue process in all cases brought before the said court where process ought to issue, and to keep and preserve the records of all the proceedings of the said court therein, and to do and perform all the duties as may be enjoined on him by law. SEC. 17. And be it further enacted, That in all cases that were, on the said thirty-first day of December, eighteen hundred and fourteen, depending in the General Court of said Territory, the parties or their attorneys shall be permitted to take all such measures for bringing them to a final decision that might have been taken if no change had taken place, and the said court of appeals shall, as far as practicable, proceed to the final determination thereof, in the same manner that the said General Court might legally have done, had no other change than a mere alteration of the terms taken place. SEC. 18. And be it further enacted, That appeals may be prayed, and writs of error taken out, upon matters of law only, in all cases wherein they are now allowed by law, to the said court of appeals, and all writs of error shall be issued by the clerk of the said court of appeals, and made returnable to the said court of Kaskaskia; but no question upon appeal or writ of error shall be decided without the concurrence of two judges at least. SEC. 19. And be it further enacted, That the Legislature of the said Territory shall have power to change the times of holding any of the courts required to be holden by this act: Provided, however, That the said Legislature shall not have authority to increase the number of sessions to be held by the said courts respectively, in conformity with the provisions of the preceding sections of this act. SEC. 20. And be it further enacted, That no judge or justice, appointed under the authority of the government of the said Territory, shall be associated with the aforesaid United States judges when sitting as circuit court judges as aforesaid. This act to commence and be in force from and after the first day of April next. Approved, March 3, 1815. An Act to continue in force, for a limited time, the act entitled "An act for establishing trading houses with the Indian tribes." act for establishing trading houses with the InBe it enacted, &c., That the act, entitled "An dan tribes," approved on the second day of March, eighteen hundred and eleven, shall be, and the same is hereby, continued in force until the fourth day of March, eighteen hundred and seventeen, and no longer. Approved, March 3, 1815. An Act to fix the compensations, and increase the responsibility, of the collectors of the direct tax and internal duties; and for other purposes connected with the collection thereof. Be it enacted, &c., That the collectors of the Public Acts of Congress. direct tax and internal duties shall be entitled to receive the same commissions which are now allowed by law, until the first day of July, one thousand eight hundred and fifteen: Provided, That the commissions accruing to any one collector, upon the moneys collected and paid into the Treasury, between the thirty-first of December, one thousand eight hundred and fourteen, and the first day of July, one thousand eight hundred and fifteen, shall not exceed the sum of three thousand dollars; and the said collectors shall, from and after the said first day of July, be allowed, in lieu of the commission now allowed by law, four and one-half per centum upon all moneys accounted for and paid into the Treasury, from the first July, one thousand eight hundred and fifteen, until the first of January, one thousand eight hundred and sixteen, not exceeding fifty thousand dollars; and one per centum upon all sums over and above that amount. SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That each collector, whose commission in any one calendar year shall not exceed one thousand dollars, shall be allowed, at the end of the year, in addition to such commission, the sum of two hundred dollars. SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That the collectors heretofore, or hereafter, designated by the Secretary of the Treasury, to receive the lists of property lying within collection districts not owned, occupied, or superintended, by some person residing therein, shall, respectively, in addition to their other commissions and compensations, be allowed a commission of five per centum on the moneys received for taxes thereon accounted for and paid by them into the Treasury. SEC. 4. And be it further enacted. That it shall be lawful for the President of the United States to apportion and distribute, annually, a sum not exceeding, in the whole, twenty-five thousand dollars, or to any one collector five hundred dollars, among such collectors, as, for the execution of the public service, it shall appear to him necessary so to compensate, in addition to the other emoluments to which they are entitled. SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That in case a collector shall die, resign, or be removed from office, he shall be entitled to a commission equal to the average rate of that allowed to the collector of the same district the preceding calendar year, and no more; and his successor shall, for the residue of the year, be allowed a commission equal to the sum that may remain, after deducting the sum allowed to his predecessor, from the whole amount of commission that would have been allowed had there been no such death, resignation, or removal, and no more: Provided, That either of the said collectors shall be enti tled to the benefits of the provision contained in cept those on household furniture and on stamps with the aggregate amount so paid, annexed to each name, and forthwith to cause one hundred copies of the same to be printed, to transmit one copy thereof to the commissioner of the revenue, to lodge one copy with the principal assessor, and one copy with the clerk of each town.county, and district, within his collection district to post up one copy at each of the court-houses in his district, to post up the remaining copies at the other most public places in his district, the rea sonable expenses incurred in the preparing pit ing, and posting up, of which shall be allowed and any collector who shall purposely or negli gently fail to discharge this duty, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor in office, and, on con viction thereof, shall be fined a sum not less than five hundred dollars, nor more than ten thousand dollars. SEC. 7. And be it further enacted, That all letters to and from the said collectors, relative to their official duties, shall be conveyed free of postage. And any collector who shall put his frank upon any other letter, shall, for every such act, forfeit and pay the sum of one hundred dollars, and the whole of which shall be for the use of the person who shall give information thereof SEC. 8. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of the collectors to keep their offices open for the transaction of business every day except on established holydays, between the hours of nine in the morning and three in the afternoon and to attend therein themselves, or by deputy which said offices shall, after the present year, i kept at such places, in the respective districts, a may be designated by the commissioner of the revenue, in all cases in which such designation shall be thought expedient. SEC. 9. And be it further enacted, That the amount of all taxes or duties collected by any deputy collector, until paid over to the collector. shall, and hereby is declared to, be a lien upon the lands and real estate of such deputy collector, and of his sureties, if he shall have given bond, from the time when a suit shall be instituted for re covering the same; and for want of goods and chattels, or other personal effects of such deputy collector, or his sureties, to satisfy any judgment which shall or may be recovered against them. respectively, such lands and real estates may be sold at public auction, after being advertised for at least three weeks, in not less than three pe places within the collection district, and in the newspaper printed in the county, if any there be at least six weeks prior to the time of sale; and for lands or real estate sold in pursuance of the authority aforesaid, the conveyances of the mat shals, or their deputies, executed in due form of law, shall give a valid title against all persons SEC. 6. And be it further enacted That it shall claiming under such deputy collector, or his sure be the duty of each of the collectors, within ninety ties, respectively. And in every case it shall and days from the end of every calendar year, to draw may be lawful for a principal collector to mais out a statement, exhibiting, in alphabetical order, tain and prosecute his action against a deputy sal the names of persons who may have paid, during lector and his sureties, or any of them. if abund the preceding calendar year, to him, or his depu- with sureties shall have been given, in the circui ties, any one or more of the internal duties, ex-court of the United States, for the recovery of the fourth section of this act. all taxes collected by said deputy, and not paid over according to his engagement, or for the penalty of the bond which may have been given to secure the payment thereof: Provided always, That all moneys recovered in such suits shall be for the use of the United States, until the whole amount of the taxes collected and received by the deputy collector shall be otherwise paid to the United States by the deputy collector, or by the principal collector instituting such suits. SEC. 10. And be it further enacted, That if any collector, or his deputy, shall have cause to suspect a concealment of any goods, wares, or merchandise, in respect to which the respective provisions of the acts imposing an internal duty thereon have not been complied with, in any particular dwelling-house, store, building, or place, (other than the manufactory in which the same were made,) they, or either of them, shall, upon proper application, on oath, to any justice of the peace, be entitled to a warrant to enter such house, store, or place, (in the day time only,) and there to search for such goods; and, if any shall be found, to seize and secure the same for trial. SEC. 11. And be it further enacted, That all goods, wares, or merchandise, or other objects. which shall be seized by virtue of this act, or of any act relative to internal duties, shall be put into, and remain in, the custody of the collector, or such other person as he shall appoint for that purpose, until such proceedings shall be had as are legally required, to ascertain whether the same have been forfeited or not; and if it shall be adjudged that they are not forfeited, they shall be forthwith restored to the owner or claimant thereof; and if any person shall conceal or buy any such goods, wares, or merchandise, or other object, knowing them to be liable to seizure and forfeiture, such person shall, on conviction thereof, forfeit and pay a sum double the value of the goods, wares, or merchandise, or other objects so concealed and purchased, one moiety of which shall be for the use of the informer, and the other for the use of the United States. nal duties, if the property be claimed by any per- SEC. 14. And be it further enacted, That all penalties accruing by any breach of this act, or of any act relative to internal duties, shall be sued for and recovered, with costs of suit, in the name of the United States of America, or of the collector, in any court competent to try the same, and the trial of any fact which may be put in issue, shall be within the judicial district in which any such penalty shall have accrued, or seizure been made; and the collector within whose district the seizure shall be made, or forfeiture incurred, is hereby enjoined to cause suits for the same to be commenced without delay, and prosecuted to effect; and is, moreover, authorized to receive from the court before whom such trial is had, or from the proper officer thereof, the sum or sums so recovered, after deducting all proper charges, to be allowed by the said court, and on receipt thereof, the said collector shall pay and distribute the same, without delay, according to law, and transmit, quarter yearly, to the commissioner of the revenue, an account of all moneys by him received for fines, penalties, and forfeitures, during such quarter. And all goods, wares, and merchandise, or other objects, which shall become forfeited in virtue of this act, or of any act relative to internal duties, shall be seized and prosecuted for as aforesaid, before the proper court, which court shall cause fourteen days' notice to be given of such seizure, setting forth the articles seized, with the time and place appointed for trial, to be inserted in some newspaper published near the place of seizure, if any such there be, and also by posting up the same in the most public manner, for the space of fourteen days, at or near the place of trial, for which advertisement a sum not exceeding ten dollars shall SEC. 12. And be it further enacted, That it be paid. And if no person shall appear and claim shall be the duty of the several collectors to make such articles, and give bond to defend the proseseizure of, and secure, any goods, wares, or mer-cution thereof, and to respond the costs, in case chandise, or other objects liable to seizure by he shall not support his claim, the court shall virtue of this or any other act relating to the ceed to hear and determine the cause according to law; and upon the prayer of any claimant, internal duties, as well without as within their rethat any articles, so seized and prosecuted, or any spective districts. part thereof, should be delivered to him, it shall be lawful for the court to appoint three proper persons to appraise such articles, who shall be sworn for the faithful discharge of their duty; and such appraisement shall be made at the expense of the party on whose prayer it is granted; and on the return of such appraisement, if the claimant shall, with one or more sureties, to be approved by the court, execute a bond in the usual form, to the United States, for the payment of a sum equal to the sum at which the articles, so prayed to be delivered, are appraised, which bond shall be lodged with the proper officer of the court, the said court shall order the said articles to be delivered to the said claimant; and if judg SEC. 13 And be it further enacted, That if any officer or other person executing or aiding or assisting in the seizure of goods, wares, or merchandise, or other objects as aforesaid, shall be sued or molested for anything done in virtue of the powers given by this act, or of any other act, or by virtue of a warrant granted by any judge or justice, pursuant to law, such officer or other person may plead the general issue, and give this act and the special matter in evidence; and if in such suit the plaintiff is nonsuited, or judgment pass against him, the defendant shall recover double costs; and in actions, suits, or information, to be brought where any seizure shall be made pursuant to this act, or any other act relative to inter pro Public Acts of Congress. to be made or rendered by any act relative to internal duties, and shall be convicted thereof, shall forfeit and pay a sum not less than two hundred, nor more than two thousand dollars for each offence; and any person giving or offering any bribe, reward, or recompense, for any such decep tion, collusion, or fraud, shall forfeit and pay a sum not less than two hundred, nor more than two thousand dollars, for each offence; one moi SEC. 18. And be it further enacted, That on all bonds given for internal duties an interest shall be paid, at the rate of six per centum per annum from the time when the said bonds became du until the payment thereof. ment shall pass in favor of the claimant, the said bond shall be cancelled; but if judgment shall pass against the claimant, as to the whole, or any part, of such articles, and the claimant shall not, within twenty days thereafter, pay into the court, or to the proper officer thereof, the amount of the appraised value of such articles so condemned, with the costs, judgment shall and may be granted upon the bond without further delay. And where any prosecution shall be commenced on ac-ety whereof shall be to the use of the informer, count of the seizure of any such goods, wares, and and the other moiety for the use of the United merchandise, or other objects, and judgment shall States. be given for the claimant, if it shall appear to the court before whom such prosecution shall be tried, that there was reasonable cause of seizure, the said court shall cause a proper certificate or entry to be made thereof, and in such case the claimant shall not be entitled to costs, nor shall the person who made the seizure, or the prosecutor, be liable to action, suit, or judgment, on account of such seizure and prosecution: Provided, That the said goods, wares, and merchandise, or other objects, be, after judgment, forthwith returned to such claimant, or his agent: And provided, That no action or prosecution shall be maintained in any case under this act, or any act relative to internal duties, unless the same shall have been commenced within one year after the penalty or forfeiture was incurred, or within the time in such act prescribed, as the case may be. SEC. 19. And be it further enacted, That any person, to whom a license for a still, or boiler, a other vessel used in the distillation of spirituou liquors, may have been, or may hereafter be granted, who shall so alter the same as to increase its capacity, on application in writing to the col lector who issued the said license, stating such increase of capacity, and on paying or securing previous to using the same, the duty arising there on for the unexpired period of the license, at the rate of duty prescribed for such term for which a license may be granted as is next below such pe riod, shall be authorized to employ the still, boiler, or other vessel, so altered, on adducing the said license, and obtaining an endorsement thereon, under the hand of the said collector, which he is hereby required to make, specifying such increase of capacity, and that the duty thereon has been paid or secured. SEC. 15. And be it further enacted, That all goods, wares, or merchandise, or other objects, which shall be condemned by virtue of this act, or of any other act relative to internal duties, and for which bond shall have been given by the claimant, agreeably to the provisions for that purpose in the foregoing section, shall be sold by the SEC. 20. And be it further enacted, That any marshal, or other proper officer of the court before person who shall, after the thirtieth day of June whom condemnation shall be had, to the highest next, erect, or cause to be erected, any still or bidder, at public auction, by order of such court, boiler, or other vessel, used or intended to be and at such place as the said court may appoint, used in the distillation of spirituous liquors, or giving at least fifteen days' notice, (except in case who shall so use any still, or boiler, or other resof perishable goods,) in one or more of the public sel, in any part of the United States beyond the newspapers of the place where such sale shall be; then existing boundary line established by law or, if no paper is published in such place, in one or between the United States and the Indian tribes, more of the papers published in the nearest place or who shall be the owner, agent, or superintend thereto; for which advertising a sum not exceed-ent thereof, shall forfeit and pay the sum of five ing five dollars shall be paid. And the amount of such sales, deducting all proper charges, shall be paid within ten days after such sale, by the person selling the same, to the clerk, or other proper officer, of the court, directing such sale, to be by him, after deducting the charges allowed by the court, paid to the collector of the district in which such seizure or forfeiture has taken place, as herein before directed. thousand dollars, together with the said still boiler, or other vessel, and the spirits distilled therein: one moiety of which shall be for the use of the informer, and the other for the use of the United States. And for any violations betot, the same course may and shall be pursued that is prescribed by the act passed the thinth of March, one thousand eight hundred ando, entitled "An act to regulate trade and intercourse with the Indian tribes, and to preserve peace os the frontiers," for violations thereof; and the courts specified therein shall have like jurisdic tion. And the same authority that is given by the said act to apprehend and remove person SEC. 17. And be it further enacted, That any found in violation thereof, shall apply and extend collector or his deputy, who shall directly or in- to the said stills, boilers, or other vessels, and the directly take or receive any bribe, reward, or spirits distilled therein, which may be seized and recompense, or shall connive at any false entry, removed in like manner. And all spirits which application, report, account, or statement, required I shall have been, or which hereafter shall be st SEC. 16. And be it further enacted, That the foregoing provisions of this act shall be applicable, in all respects, as well to all acts that may hereafter be passed, relative to internal duties, as to those heretofore passed and now in force. |