# United States Statutes at Large/Volume 3/16th Congress/2nd Session/Chapter 12

Chap. XII.—An Act for the relief of the purchasers of public lands prior to the first day of July, eighteen hundred and twenty.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That in all cases where lands ​Lands purchased prior to 1st July, 1820, and not wholly paid for, may be relinquished by the legal holder of the certificate filing a notice, in writing, with the register, &c. Sums paid on account of the part relinquished to be applied to discharge instalments due on lands not relinquished. 1820 ch. 51.have been purchased from the United States, prior to the first day of July, eighteen hundred and twenty, it shall be lawful for any such purchaser, or other person or persons, being the legal holder of any certificate or certificates of land, on or before the thirtieth day of September, eighteen hundred and twenty-one, to file, with the register of the land office, where any tract of land has been purchased, a relinquishment, in writing, of any section, half section, quarter section, half quarter section, or legal subdivision of any fractional section, of land so purchased, upon which the whole purchase money has not been paid, and all sums paid on account of the part relinquished, shall be applied to the discharge of any instalments which may be, or shall hereafter become, due and payable upon such land, so purchased, as shall not have been relinquished, and shall be so applied and credited as to complete the payment on some one or more half-quarter sections where the payments by transfer are sufficient for that purpose: Provided, That all divisions and subdivisions, contemplated by this act, shall be made in conformity with the first section of an act making further provision for the sale of public lands, passed the twenty-fourth day of April, one thousand eightProviso. Proviso. hundred and twenty: And, provided, also, That the right of relinquishment hereby given shall, in no case, authorize the party relinquishing to claim any repayment from the United States: And, provided, also, That where any purchaser has purchased, at the same time, two or more quarter sections, he shall not be permitted to relinquish less than a quarter section.
Interest remitted.Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That the interest which shall have accrued before the thirtieth day of September next, upon any debt to the United States, for public land, shall be, and the same is hereby, remitted and discharged.
Debtors divided into three classes. 1st class. 2d class. 3d class. Payment of the debts by the respective classes, in instalments. Times of paying the first instalment. Debt to bear an interest of 6 per cent per annum. Proviso.Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That the persons indebted to the United States, as aforesaid, shall be divided into three classes; the first class to include all such persons as shall have paid to the United States only one fourth part of the original price of the land by them respectively purchased or held; the second class to include all such persons as shall have paid to the United States only one-half part of such original price; and the third class to include all such persons as shall have paid to the United States, three-fourth parts of such original price; and the debts of the persons included in the first class shall be paid in eight equal annual instalments; the debts of the persons included in the second class shall be paid in six equal annual instalments; and the debts of the persons included in the third class shall be paid in four equal annual instalments, the first of which instalments, in each of the classes aforesaid, shall be paid in manner following, to wit: of the third class, on the thirtieth day of September next; of the second class, on the thirty-first day of December next; and of the first class, on the thirty-first day of March, one thousand eight hundred and twenty-two; and the whole of the debt aforesaid, shall bear an equal annual interest at the rate of six per cent.: Provided always, That the same shall be remitted upon each and every of the instalments aforesaid which shall be punctually paid when the same shall become payable as aforesaid.
Deduction of 37½ per cent. on payment of the whole sum due Sept. 30, 1822. Proviso.Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That in all cases where complete payment of the whole sum due, or which may become due, for any tract of land purchased from the United States, as aforesaid, shall be made on or before the thirtieth day of September, one thousand eight hundred and twenty-two, a deduction at the rate of thirty-seven and a half per centum, shall be allowed upon the sum remaining unpaid: Provided, That nothing herein contained shall authorize any discount upon payments made by a transfer of former payments under the provisions of the first section of this act.Those who have laid off towns, part or the whole of the lots whereof have been sold, are entitled to the benefits of this act.
Sec. 5. And be it further enacted, That each and every individual or company that has laid off, on any lands by him or them purchased of the ​United States, any town, a part or the whole of the lots whereof have been sold, shall be entitled to the benefits of this act in relation to any half quarter, or quarter section of land, on which such town may be situated, and of all land by him or them owned, contiguous to, and adjoining said half quarter, quarter section, or section, on which said town is situated, upon condition only, that each and every person who has purchased of him, or them, a town lot, or part of a lot, or land in and adjoining the same, shall be entitled to a remission of all interest that has accrued, and to a discount of twenty per centum on the amount unpaid, and to discharge their debt by bonds, with security, in equal annual instalments of four years from the thirtieth day of December next. Nor shall the provisions of this act be construedProviso. Act of March 3, 1817, ch. 61. to extend to any person or persons claiming title to land under the provisions of an act passed the third day of March, one thousand eight hundred and seventeen, entitled “An act to set apart and dispose of certain public lands for the encouragement of the cultivation of the vine and olive.”
The lands are forfeited on failure to pay, &c.Sec. 6. And be it further enacted, That, for failure to pay the several debts aforesaid, in manner aforesaid, and for the term of three months after the day appointed for the payment of the last instalment thereof, in each of the classes aforesaid, the land so purchased or held by the respective persons indebted to the United States as aforesaid, shall, ipso facto, become forfeited, and revert to the United States.
No person is entitled to the benefit of this act who does not file his written consent before Sept. 30, 1821.Sec. 7. And be it further enacted, That no person shall be deemed to be included within, or entitled to, the benefit of any of the provisions of this act, who shall not, on or before the thirtieth day of September next, sign, and file in the office of the register of the land office of the district where the land was purchased, or where the residue of the purchase money is payable, a declaration in writing, expressing his consent to the same; and shall pay to the register, for receiving, recording, and filing the same, fifty cents.
Duty of the registers and receivers. Report to be made to the treasury department three months after the 30th Sept., 1821.Sec. 8. And be it further enacted, That it shall be, and hereby is made, the duty of the several registers and receivers of the land offices of the United States, according to the forms and instructions which shall be given in that behalf by the Treasury Department, to assist in carrying this act in[to] execution, to keep full and faithful accounts and records of all proceedings under the same; and, within the term of three months after the said thirtieth day of September next, to transmit to the said department a correct report of the quantity of land relinquished to the United States; the quantity on which full payment shall have been made; and the quantity on which a further credit shall have been given, distinguishing the amount of the debt on which a further credit shall have been allowed; and theFees to the register and receiver. registers and receivers, respectively, shall be entitled to receive fifty cents from the party relinquishing, for each half quarter section, quarter section, half section, section, or legal subdivision of a fractional section, so relinquished.
No lands purchased prior to 1st of July, 1820, not already forfeited, to be forfeited before Sept. 30, 1821. Lands relinquished to be deemed forfeited. Act of April 24, 1820, ch. 51.Sec. 9. And be it further enacted, That no lands purchased from the United States on or before the first day of July, eighteen hundred and twenty, which are not already forfeited, shall be considered as forfeited to the government, for failure in completing the payment thereon, until the said thirtieth day of September next; and all the lands which shall be relinquished to the United States, as aforesaid, shall be deemed and held to be forfeited, and, with all other lands which may become forfeited under this act, shall be sold according to the provisions of the act, entitled “An act making further provision for the sale of the public lands,” passed the twenty-fourth day of April, eighteen hundred and twenty.
Lands surrendered not to be sold for two years after surrender.Sec. 10. And be it further enacted, That no land which shall be surrendered under the provisions of this act, shall be offered for sale for the term of two years after the surrender thereof.
Approved, March 2, 1821.