the act, entituled “An act respecting claims to lands in the territories of Orleans and Louisiana,” shall be deemed valid, although the relinquishment of the said corporation to any claim beyond the said distance of six hundred yards was not made till after the expiration of the period of six months prescribed by the act last mentioned.
Navigable rivers to be public highways.Sec. 12. And be it further enacted, That all the navigable rivers and waters in the territories of Orleans and Louisiana shall be and for ever remain public highways.
Appropriation.Sec. 13. And be it further enacted, That a sum not exceeding forty thousand dollars be, and the same is hereby appropriated, for the purpose of carrying this act into effect, which sum shall be paid out of unappropriated monies in the treasury.
Repeal of the act of Feb. 15, 1811, ch. 14.Sec. 14. And be it further enacted, That the act, entituled “An act providing for the final adjustment of claims to lands, and for the sale of the public lands in the territories of Orleans and Louisiana,” approved February the sixteenth,(a) eighteen hundred and eleven, be, and the same is hereby repealed.
Approved, March 3, 1811.
Statute ⅠⅠⅠ.
Chap. XLVII.—An Act concerning an act to enable the President of the United States, under certain contingencies, to take possession of the country lying east of the river Perdido, and south of the state of Georgia and the Mississippi territory, and for other purposes, and the declaration accompanying the same.[1]
This act, and the act referred to, not to be published until the end of the next session of Congress, unless, &c.Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That this act, and the act passed during the present session of Congress, entitled “An act to enable the President of the United States, under certain contingencies, to take possession of the country lying east of the river Perdido, and south of the state of Georgia and the Mississippi territory, and for other purposes,” and the declaration accompanying the same, be not printed or published, until the end of the next session of Congress, unless directed by the President of the United States, any law or usage to the contrary notwithstanding.
Approved, March 3, 1811.
Statute ⅠⅠⅠ.
Resolution relative to the occupation of the Floridas by the United States of America.
Taking into view the peculiar situation of Spain, and of her American provinces; and considering the influence which the destiny of the territory adjoining the southern border of the United States may have upon their security, tranquility, and commerce: Therefore,
The United States cannot, without inquitude, see the Floridas pass into the hands of a foreign power, &c.Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, That the United States, under the peculiar circumstances of the existing crisis, cannot, without serious inquietude, see any part of the said territory pass into the hands of any foreign power; and that a due regard to their own safety compels them to provide, under certain contingencies, for the temporary occupation of the said territory; they, at the same time, declare that the said territory shall, in their hands, remain subject to future negotiation.
Approved, January 15, 1811.- ↑ The act here referred to will be found in Vol. III. p. 471.
