Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1823-12-23

INTENDED To provide foi cases of this d,sCri,,-
ton, where errors had taken place wnhnus
any traudulrn' design in the parties concerned.
MIR. Cook at Illinois then rose. and said that,
when the subject of this hill was brfnre The
COMMITTEE of Public Lands. III. happened to
hr IN such state at health as not to bp able,
To attend the Committee. He now proposed
AN amendment, which, he said. embraced
class of eases oftqnol merit with thai provided
foThy tn" bill. He himself knew of hut one
case of the sort, hut the yrsRight br others
The case was this: The. law of 1920, which
authorized the surrender nf lands by the pur-
chasers, IN CERTAIN gases. gave rise IN great
DE- ! of btu mess 10 the Land Offices. and per-
sons having business with them wcrr, in rrany
cases, obliged To transact business bN neans of
agents or deputies. II thus happened, in the
case to which he had particular reference, The
land which the purchasryl nteoded 10 retain
was rrlinquished, and ting wheh he wished In
relnquish was retained, though. compared
with the other, unipPro,rd aud of Inferior
value. This was mistake which fhr Rrgis-
ter and Receiver did moi feel themselves ALL
thoriAPd !" Cur rci, though apprlz, a Of the
next day after it happened. and perfectly Will
ing to have done il. had il hrtn in their pow err,
The amt ndmrnt Which h. offered " as intend
ed to provide for eases orthis descriptions.
After some conversations, this amendment
of Mr.. Cook was ncgiti,-d.
Mr. Campbell Of Ohiu. of; red the follow
ing, t" he 'ddrd AS IN amendment Ia the h:
" Pror'ded, ats0, That if u patent shall have
issued for the tract enormously entered,
he patrntrr shall. by deed dial, executed,
relmgnish TO the United States AL his right to
the same"
IN supporting his amendment, Mr.. c. oh
served, that doubts had been entertained
whether, if an error were disco, cred af,r Il
al, L.. a.
be corrected without a special act nf CongreSs
for the purpose. The present hill. he Thought,
| should make provision for such a case, hut
that a pro, isiOn 80 important should he suila-
bly, guarded.
Mr.. Rankin observed, in reply, that, as cas-
rs oi tins description would probably be few.
| II would perhaps br mast txppdirut te leave
them Ia be provided for indi> duay. and not
| IN make a general rule whirh might, fextend-
ed So far, be- liable .o abuse
VIZ. Campbell said. that The gentleman from
Mississippi must h." aware that. under what
was usually drnominaIrd the " Prompt pay
! mrnl system" 'hr purchaser of thu. public
; lands WAS obliged tn make rnmrdar payment
fur the land liz bought of g",rrumpnt, and
the Patent WAS issued very SHORTLY aiiprw ards
!; Was hut fair. il an error had innncrn;ly tak-
en- place III the dcstripiinn nf his lot il should
he corrected, even after the Patent had Issued
IL provision was made Ia correct such an
error, however, hy granting tn the purchaser
5 thr lot truly Described, MIR. G.. added. il
was aisu no mrra Imam fair that ~. shnuld. hy
"a valid deed, rr-cOuNry Ia the Unitrd States
| the lat ~ hich he held undrr the erroneous
Patent else might happrn la, he would
! n Id the fee of two lots, when he paid uny
for one.
Ihr question hring then taken on She amend
n""f al MI, tamphrli, IL was carried in The af-
lirnaii,"-Ayrs 81
Nr. Wight nf Ohio then proposed ao
amendment 10 meet case of an oppusil, de-,
Scrlption. " here the settler bad, throrgl, error,
h"rn obliged To pay more than uncr th. rur-,
chase money for land bought of the Uuled
State The amendment i'm such case pro-
posed 'o require The Secretary at The Treasury
| to refund the amount OVERHEAD, without The
intervention of any special act of Congress for
tn pu:po~e
Mr.. RNnkia said. he did not readily per
c"I'e how case could occur, under the pre-
sent system for dispensing of the public lands,
such as that for "hich The amendment nr the
gentleman from Ohio. was iniend,d io prn,idc.
But, IT such an error should occur, il might,
hS the provisions 0fthr present bill hr correct.
| eel by the Register and Receiver of the Land
! Ollie" concerned.
| Mr.. Ross of Ohio, rose to suggest to his col
|
the House To Incorporate into the hill gene
RAJ prov lsi0n ct this description. ihp object Of
| whi!h Is {" enable the Secretary ufth, Treas
| ury to refund monty vhirh, having been over,
| paid by purchaser Of public laud has artu-
ally gOr" INTO 'hr Treasury. There would
hr some danger in encouraging u licensr OF
this kind and. b. sides, Mr.. II said, ifhe under
s''od the matter correctly, money cannot
| roDstituiionalIy hr drawn from the Treasury
" th"ut previous special appropriation by
aw. Looking at the proposition in this light,
ne felt some sCruplr in voting for IT,,
| NJ Wright said il MAS perhaps trnr. "a
-uggesfrd by the gentleman from Mississippi,
that casr~ OF tits description cancut occur I'M
d." the pres D system fo, dspusng of the
nHblic lands. But cases fifth kind had &C.
cur y hcTrt"furo, on" sf which, being with his
| knnwlrdg" had induced this motion. Twas
mt his wish, however. in en'barrass This Lill
md IL the gentleman thought such vos'd bn
the Srr' o. pressing tie amendment, he would
Withdraw it, aud ufirr i, herra Gtrr "a a separate
| proposition.
! Mr. Rankin though; tina; the suggestion or
his friend upon III right thr. Rose vas a
| very important one, and entitled to- g. at
! weigh with the Committee. II was "A priuc-
| pie Oi TN" uitnns' Consequence To- guard aga nst
any appropriation ur money from the Treasury
| buI by special acts nf Congress. II, hnwr,rr,
| the gentleman who moved the amendment
C"nsidrr that the object intended hy !. was
! of pressing moment, ne 'ioped thd he would
present il IN some form before the House,
other than that 81 an amendment ~ tins bill,
which il WAS calculated tO enbarraes.
Mr.. Wright dsseuted, aud Withdrew his