CHAP. VIII.- An Act authorizing certain Soldiers the late war with Great Britain to surrender the Bounty Lands drawn by them, an to locate others in lieu thereof.
| Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That it shall and may be lawful for any soldier in the late war with Great Britain, to whom bounty land has been allotted and patented in any State of this Union, by virtue of the laws of the United States passed prior to the year 1850, which was and is unfit for cultivation, to surrender said patent, and to receive in lieu thereof the same quantity of any of the public land subject to private entry at the minimum price as he may select: Provided, That before receiving such new land, it shall be proved to the satisfaction of the Commissioner of the General Land Office, that the land so allotted and patented to said soldier is unfit for cultivation, and that said soldier has never disposed of his interest in said land by any sale of his own, and that the same has not been taken or disposed of for his debts due to any individual, and that he shall release all his interest in the same to the United States in such way as said Commissioner shall prescribe, and such surrender and location shall be made within five years from the passage of this act.
APPROVED, January 7, 1853. |