Be it ordained by the people of the State of Alabama in Convention assembled, That the judicial power heretofore forming a part of the judicial power of the United States of America, and which has been resumed by this State, shall be exercised by the Courts of this State hereinafter named.

SEC. 2. Be it further ordained, That the several Circuit Courts of the State of Alabama, the City Court of Mobile, and the Courts of Chancery in the State of Alabama, shall have, take and exercise original jurisdiction in all cases arising within the jurisdiction of the Federal Courts of the United States, as heretofore existing in the State of Alabama, by virtue of the Constitution of the United States and the laws of Congress as hereinafter provided.

SEC. 3. Be it further ordained, That the said Circuit Courts of this State, and the City Court of Mobile, shall have and exercise original jurisdiction in all cases embracing matters of law or of a maritime or admiralty nature heretofore cognizable in the District or Circuit Courts of the United States, by virtue of the Constitution of the United States of America, and the laws of Congress passed in conformity therewith; and that the Courts of Chancery of this State exercise jurisdiction in all cases of equity, heretofore exercised or cognizable in said courts of the United States, under the Constitution and laws thereof: Provided, that this grant of powers shall not be so construed as to give to the City Court of Mobile any right to try causes in which is involved, and in direct issue, the title to land.

SEC. 4. Be it further ordained, That in cases affecting ambassadors and other public ministers, the Supreme Court of Alabama shall have original and exclusive jurisdistion; and in such cases, and in cases affecting consuls, there shall be in all the Courts above specified, in the exercise of the jurisdiction hereby conferred, as near a conformity as may be to the regulations and practice now prevailing in the United States Courts. But in all other cases, the pleading, practice and course of proceeding, except in cases as hereinafter stated, shall be in all respects as in ordinary cases, arising and pending in said State courts as regulated by the laws of this State.

SEC. 5. Be it further ordained, That all cases, except where the United States of America is plaintiff, now pending in said federal courts within the limits of the State of Alabama, and on the law side of the said courts, or of in admiralty and maritime nature, shall be transferred, with all the books of records, dockets, papers and documents, to the same appertaining, to the several circuit courts in the respective counties in which said federal courts have heretofore been holden, and all process now running on any case now pending in said courts as aforesaid, except where the United States of America is plaintiff, shall be executed by the marshals holding such process and returned to the said circuit courts, and all cases pending in said courts on the equity side of said courts, with all the papers and documents appertaining to said cases on file in said courts, shall be transferred to the chancery courts in the said counties in which said federal courts have heretofore been holden, and all process now running on any such cause now pending as aforesaid, shall he executed by the marshals aforesaid and returned to said chancery courts.

SEC. 6. Be it further ordained, That the laws of the United States which were in operation at the of time of the secession of the State of Alabama from the United States, concerning offences connected with the Postoffice Department, the public customs or seamen, and an act of the Congress of the United States, entitled “an act more effectually to provide for the punishment of certain crimes against the United States, and for other purposes,” approved March 3d, 1825, so far as applicable to the State of Alabama, are hereby adopted as laws of this State until they may be altered or repealed, and all offenses under said laws shall be subject to the jurisdiction of the courts of this State, and said offenses are hereby declared to be offenses against the State of Alabama.

SEC. 7. Be it further ordained, That in all cases in which, under the laws aforesaid, trials have been had by juries, the same shall be tried by juries according to the practice of jury trials in the State of Alabama; and in all cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction and all other cases in which the jury trial has not been established, the form and mode of proceeding shall be such in the said State courts taking jurisdiction of such cases as have been heretofore in use in the said federal courts within this State taking cognizance of such cases.

SEC. 8. Be it further ordained, That until otherwise ordered, the clerks of the circuit courts in the respective counties in which the said federal courts have been holden, shall be and become the custodians of all records and papers belonging to the respective officers of the said federal courts, and shall have power, in the name and style of the State of Alabama, to issue all process or processes on final judgment existing in said courts, except where the United States of America is plaintiff, and all other process, mesne or final, necessary to the perfection of the rights of suitors in said federal courts; and such process, when so issued, may run to any county in the State of Alabama, and the sheriffs of said counties to which said process or processes may be sent shall receive, execute and return said process or processes to the office whence said process or processes are issued; and shall receive the same fees for such service as now allowed by law in the State of Alabama for like service, and shall be subject to like pains and penalties for defaults and malfeasance in office in regard to such process or processes as are now prescribed and are now in force in the State of Alabama in regard to processes issued under the laws of the said State; and such process or processes, when so returned as aforesaid to said respective courts, shall be governed in all respects (except as hereinbefore provided) by the same rules and practice as the ordinary process or processes issued under the laws of the State of Alabama.

SEC. 9. Be it further ordained, That the United States Marshals, in whose hands any process or processes may be running, except where the United States of America is plaintiff, shall execute and make return thereof to the respective courts above prescribed in the foregoing sections, and for any default in executing or in making such returns, or for any failure to pay over money collected on any such process or processes, or for any malfeasance in office, or misconduct of any kind or description, in regard to said process or processes, or in the performance of his official duties, the several parties in interest may have the same remedies against the said marshal or marshals and his or their securities, as are now provided by the laws of the State of Alabama for like defaults or misconduct of sheriffs of the several counties of the State; so, also, if such marshal or marshals shall have been guilty of any default, malfeasance in office, or misconduct of any kind, before the secession of the State, by which the parties in interest have had the right to proceed against said marshal or marshals and their securities for such defaults or liability by motion or other proceeding, the said parties shall not lose such right by the secession of the State of Alabama, but shall have the right to proceed to enforce the said claim before the courts above specified, in the same manner as prescribed in the preceding part of this section; and that such marshal shall be entitled to the same pay as provided by the laws of the United States.

Be it ordained by the people of the State of Alabama in Convention assembled, That the several ordinances passed by this Convention, in reference to subjects over which the Federal Government had jurisdiction, under the Constitution of the United States, before the State of Alabama seceded from the Union, shall remain in force only till the Provisional or Permanent Government, hereafter to be established by the Seceding States, shall exercise its powers on the same subjects, and, by constitutional provision, ordinance, laws, passed by authority of such Governmnet, establish rules and regulations inconsistent therewith.

SEC. 1. Be it ordained by the people of Alabama in Convention assembled, That no law enacted by the authority of the State of Alabama, in force on the eleventh day of January, A. D. 1861, and consistent with the Constitution of this State, and not inconsistent with the ordinances of this Convention, is affected by the ordinance known as the Ordinance of Secession, adopted on said day, and entitled “an Ordinance to dissolve the union between the State of Alabama and other States, united under the compact styled, the Constitution of the United States.”

SEC. 2. No office, civil or military, created by this State, or under authority of its laws, in force on the eleventh day of January, A. D. 1861, and no officer lawfully exercising the powers or duties of such office, is affected by said Ordinance of Secession, except the offices of the members of the House of Representatives and of the Senators of the Congress of the United States of America, and these are abrogated.

SEC. 3. No offense against the laws of this State, committed before or since the adoption of said Ordinance of Secession, is affected by said ordinance; and no offender against said laws is relieved or discharged from the consequences of such offenses by said ordinance; and no amercement, fine, penalty, forfeiture, escheat, bond, or recognizance, accruing or enuring, in whole or in part, to the State of Alabama, whether in action or in judgment, is affected by said ordinance.

SEC. 4. No bond issued by authority of the laws of this State, or bills or coin lawfully used as money in this State, find no bond, obligation, debt or duty, due or owing to this State, or enuring, in whole or in part, to this State, before or since the adoption of said ordinance, is affected thereby.

SEC. 5. No process or proceeding of any court of this State is affected by said Ordinance of Secession.

SEC. 6. No right, title, franchise, easement, license or privilege given, granted, or conferred to, or upon, any person or body corporate, under and by authority of the laws of this State, and no right of possession or property, action or prosecution, title, claim, contract, agreement, obligation, debt, or duty of any person or body corporate, is affected by said Ordinance of Secession, unless the same is inconsistent with said ordinance, or is affected by some other ordinance of this Convention.

SEC. 7. No rights acquired, or vested in any body corporate under the Constitution of the United States, of under any act of Congress passed in pursuance thereof, or under any law of this State, and not incompatible with said Ordinance of Secession, is affected by said ordinance.

Be it ordained by the people of the State of Alabama in Convention assembled, That the ordinance of January 23d, 1861, “to re-organize the militia of the State of Alabama,” does not, and was not intended to apply to any volunteer regiment or company of Alabama then in the actual service of the State.

SEC. 2. Be it further ordained, That the commissions hereafter issued to the officers of said regiments or companies, are hereby confirmed; and the Governor of the State is hereby empowered to issue commissions to officers of said regiments or companies, elected or appointed according to the constitution, rules and regulations of the same, in case of vacancy by death, removal or other cause: Provided, that the foregoing ordinance may at any time be altered, amended, or repealed, by the Legislature of the State.

Be it ordained by the people of Alabama in Convention assembled, That the Constitution framed and adopted on the 11th day of March, 1861, by the Deputies from the States of South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas, in Convention assembled, at Montgomery, Alabama, be, and the same is hereby, approved, ratified and adopted, as the Federal Constitution for the people of Alabama.

SEC. 1. Be it ordained by the people of Alabama in Convention assembled, That the Provisional Government of the Confederate States is hereby authorized to use, occupy, and hold possession of all forts, navy yards, and arsenals, and their appurtenances in this State, and shall repair and re-build said forts and arsenals, at its discretion, until this ordinance is repealed by a convention of the people of this State.

SEC. 1. Be it ordained by the people of Alabama in Convention assembled, That for the election of representatives in Congress of the Confederate States of America, this State is divided into nine Congressional Districts, as follows: The first District is composed of the counties of Lauderdale, Franklin, Lawrence, Limestone, Madison, and Morgan; the second District of Marion, Winston, Blount, Jefferson, Walker, Tuscaloosa, and Fayette; the third District of the counties of Jackson, Marshall, DeKalb, Cherokee, and St. Clair; the fourth District of the counties of Calhoun, Randolph, Talladega, and Shelby; the fifth district of the counties of Bibb, Perry, Marengo, Greene, Pickens, Sumter, and Choctaw; the sixth District of the counties of Dallas, Autauga, Coosa, Lowndes, Butler, and Montgomery: the seventh District of the counties of Tallapoosa, Chambers, Russell, and Macon; the eighth District of the counties of Barbour, Henry, Dale, Coffee, Pike, and Covington; the ninth District of the counties of Conecuh, Monroe, Wilcox, Clarke, Washington, Mobile, and Baldwin.

SEC. 2. Be it further ordained, That the sheriffs of the counties of Lawrence, Walker, Marshall, Talladega, Greene, Lowndes, Macon, Dale and Monroe, are the returning officers of their respective Congressional Districts, and the sheriffs of the other counties in their district must make returns to the returning officers above mentioned as now prescribed by law.

SEC. 3. Be it further ordained, That the ordinance be, and the same shall remain, in full force until otherwise provided by the General Assembly of the State of Alabama.

SEC. 1. Be it ordained by the people of the State of Alabama in Convention assembled, That the General Assembly shall not borrow or raise money on the credit of the State, except for purposes of military defense against actual or threatened invasion, rebellion, or insurrection, unless two-thirds of the members elected to each house shall concur. Nor shall the debt or liabilities of any corporation, person or persons, or other State be guarantied, or any money, credit, or thing loaned, or given away, unless by a like concurrence of each house, voting in cases provided for in this section by ayes and noes, to be placed upon the Journals.

SEC. 1. Whereas, heretofore a portion of the volunteer force of the State of Alabama has been called into service under and by virtue of an order of his Excellency, the Governor; and whereas, doubts have arisen as to whether there be any appropriation out of which they can be paid;

SEC. 1. Be it ordained by the people of Alabama in Convention assembled, That the Governor of the State be, and he is hereby, authorized to settle the account of the Governor's Guard against the State for rations to which the said company was entitled whilst in the service, at the rate per ration established by the army regulations.

SEC. 1. Be it ordained by the people of Alabama in Convention assembled, Thot John R. Kenan and John F. Welch of the county of Shelby, be, and they are hereby, allowed mileage to and from their residences in said county, and per diem for the time they were actually in attendance at the seat of Government, in connection with the contest of the election of Delegates to this Convention from the county of said Shelby, and that the Comptroller is hereby authorized and required to issue his warrant to said parties for mileage and per diem as aforesaid, agreeable to the law regulating mileage per diem of members of this Convention, upon affidavit by said parties of the distance traveled, and time in attendance at the capitol as aforesaid.

SEC. 1. Be it ordained by the people of the State of Alabama in Convention assembled, and it is hereby ordained by the authority of the same, That the sum of nine hundred dollars is hereby appropriated to pay for the distribution of the laws and journals of the late called session of the General Assembly, and the journals of the Convention of the people of Alabama, and that the Comptroller of Public Accounts is required to draw his warrant on the State Treasurer, in favor of the agents employed by the Secretary of State, upon his certificate that they have distributed their respective districts, for the amount of their respective contracts; which amounts must be stated in the certificate of the Secretary of State.

SEC. 2. Be it further ordained, That the Secretary of State be allowed the sum of six hundred dollars for placing marginal notes to the laws, reading proof-sheets, and superintending the printing of the same, copying the journals of both houses at the late session, and the journals of the Convention, preparing indices to the laws and the journals of both bodies, and superintending the distribution of the same; and that the Comptroller draw his warrant in favor of said Secretary for said sum, for said services.

SEC. 3 And be it further ordained, That the sum of fifteen hundred dollars be, and the same is hereby, appropriated to pay for three hundred copies of Smith's History and Debates of the Convention, according to the provisions of the resolution passed by this Convention on the 11th day of March, 1861, and the Comptroller is hereby required to issue his warrant on the Treasurer for the payment thereof, whenever the Governor shall certify that said copies have been delivered in conformity with said resolution.

SEC. 4. And be it further ordained, That the sum of one hundred dollars is appropriated to pay A. G. Horn, Secretary of this Convention, for extra services; and that the Comptroller be authorized to draw his warrant on the Treasurer of the State in favor of A. G. Horn, Secretary of this Convention, for the sum of one hundred dollars for extra services rendered.

SEC. 1. Be it ordained by the people of Alabama in Convention assembled, That the Judges of the Supreme Court of this State be constituted a Committee to superintend and supervise the printing of the Constitution of the State of Alabama.

SEC. 1. Be it ordained by the people of the State of Alabama in Convention assembled, That the Mobile and Girard and Alabama and Florida Rail Road Companies are hereby authorized to select, by their agents, from any of the public lands of the State, within fifteen miles on either side of the lines of their respective roads as fixed by their surveys, a quantity of land in the even numbered sections of land equal to, and in lieu of, such lands as may have been located or entered on and between the 23d day of June and the 9th day of October, 1856, under the construction of the act of Congress of the 17th May, 1856, granting lands to said roads; and upon such selections of land by said Rail Road Companies, and their filing with the Commissioner of public lands, a list of the lands so selected, and their relinquishment of all claims upon the land entered within the times named by private individual, the Governor of the State shall issue patents to said Rail Road Companies, respectively, for lands so selected, as in other cases, but no charge shall be made by the officers of the land office for such service.

SEC. 2. Be it further ordained by the people of the Sta e of Alabama in Convention assembled, That the lands entered at the Greenville and Elba land office districts on and between the 23d day of June and the 9th day of October, 1856, be, and the same are hereby, confirmed; and as soon as practicable, after said Rail Road Companies shall have made their selections, as provided for in the preceding section of this ordinance, the Governor shall issue patents to the persons who made said entries or locations; Provided, however, no person who entered lands between the times above mentioned, and who has since made application and received back his or her purchase money from the late United States Government, shall be entitled to the benefit of this ordinance; Provided, further, that this ordinance shall not apply to any cancelled land entered in odd sections, which have been bona fide sold by the said Rail Road Companies.

SEC. 1. Be it ordained by the people of Alabama in Convention assembled, That the sum of twenty-five dollars is hereby appropriated to pay Samuel B. Brewer, for his services as clerk to the Committee on the Constitution.

SEC. 1. Be it ordained by the people of Alabama in Convention assembled, That the General Assembly of this State is hereby authorized and required to cede by law, to the Confederate States of America, exclusive jurisdiction over a District in this State not exceeding ten miles square, whenever satisfactory information has been furnished that the Congress of the Confederate States desires and intends to establish therein the permanent seat of Government of the said Confederate States.

SEC. 2. Be it further ordained, That if it shall appear that the propsed seat of Government is to be placed in a district which lies partly in this State and partly in another State, then the General Assembly shall cede so much thereof less than ten miles square as may be within the limits of this State, and vest in the Congress exclusive jurisdiction over the same, in the same manner and under the same restrictions as are provided in the first section of this ordinance.

SEC. 3. Be it further ordained, That all the public lands belonging to this State which may remain at the time of the selection by Congress of said district, and lying within the same, shall vest absolutely in the Government of the Confederate States, and patents therefor may issue on application to the Land Commissioner of this State.

SEC. 4. Be it further ordained, That no such cession by the General Assembly shall become effectual until a provision is made by law to take a vote of the legally qualified voters within said district, which vote shall determine whether a majority of the people thereof are for or against the cession; and if favorable, then the jurisdiction of Alabama shall be divested; but if otherwise, then the General Assembly shall decline to yield jurisdiction or to make the cession, as provided in sections one and two.

SEC. 1. Be it ordained by the people of the State of Alabama in Convention assembled, That all the waste and unappropriated public domain within the limits of the State of Alabama is the property of said State, and the title, control and jurisdiction of the same are hereby assumed by the State; and all public lands lying within the State not sold or appropriated to specific purposes by the government of the United States previous to the eleventh day of January, A. D. 1861, are hereby vested in the State of Alabama, and they and the proceeds of the sales thereof shall enure to the benefit of the people of the State.

SEC. 2. That the receivers of public money at the several land offices in this State, as established under the acts of Congress of the United States, in force previous to the 11th of January, 1861, be, and the same are hereby, instructed and required to retains all sums of money paid into their hands, as such receivers, previous to and since said 11th January, 1861, and to hold the same subject to the order of the Treasurer of the State. And the State of Alabama is hereby pledged to indemnify and save harmless such receivers of public money and their sureties on their official bond to the government of the United States for any loss or damage they may sustain by complying with this ordinance.

SEC. 3. That the registers of the several district land offices, and the receivers of public money for lands in said districts of this State are hereby removed and their offices vacated, and the duties heretofore required by law to be performed by the registers and receivers of the several land offices shall be performed by one person at each office, who shall be styled the register and receiver, and who shall be appointed by the Governor for such term as the General Assembly may by law provide, and all such officers, except in the land districts where said offices are herein abolished, are hereby appointed to their said several offices respectively for the unexpired period of their terms: Provided, They are willing to accept the same under the authority of the State of Alabama; but, on their refusal to accept the appointments as conferred, then the Governor of this State is hereby authorized to fill such vacancies for the unexpired period of said terms. And, upon the appointment of such registers and receivers as herein provided for, such appointees shall be required to enter into bond, with good and sufficient sureties, to be approved by the Judges of Probate of the counties in which their respective land offices are situated, in such sums as the Governor of this State may prescribe, conditioned for the faithful payment into the State treasury of all moneys which may be received by them upon the sale of the public lands, and for the faithful performance of all the duties which may be enjoined by law.

SEC. 4. That it shall be the duty of said registers and receivers to preserve all books, charts, maps, field notes, patents and other muniments of title which may now be in the different land offices in this State, or which may be sent to and deposited in their offices, and hold the same at the sole disposition of the constituted authorities of the State; and, upon their resignation, removal, or the expiration of the terms of their offices, they shall turn over the same to the custody of their successors in office; and they shall be required to make monthly returns to the commissioner of public lands of all sales of public lands in their respective offices since the 11th day of January, 1861, and they shall pay over all moneys which may be received by them upon the sales of said lands, upon the order of the Treasurer of the State.

SEC. 5. That within ninety days from the passage of this ordinance, it shall be likewise the duty of the registers and receivers aforesaid to return to the Commissioner of public lands a full and complete statement, such as he shall require, of all the public lands within their respective districts, designating such as may have been relinquished to this State, under various acts of Congress of the United States, as swamp and overflowed lands, or donated for the use of schools and for the University of Alabama, or to aid in the construction of different rail roads, or for other purposes; and also such lands as were expressly reserved by the Government of the United States and undisposed of on the eleventh day of January, 1861.

SEC. 6. That there shall be established a department of public lands, the office of which shall be fixed at the seat of government, and denominated the State Land Office, with a chief officer to conduct the business of the same, to be called the Commissioner of Public Lands, whose duty it shall be to superintend, execute and perform all acts and things, touching and respecting the public lands of the State as hereinafter prescribed; and he shall appoint a draughtsman to be employed under his direction as an assistant in his said office in the performance of its duties, who shall receive an annual salary of twelve hundred dollars, payable quarterly; and, in all cases where the office of Commissioner shall become vacant, said assistant shall have charge and custody of the seal, and all the records, books and papers belonging to said office.

SEC. 7. The said Commissioner of public lands, and every clerk to be appointed and employed in his said office, shall, before he enters on the duties of his office, take an oath or affirmation truly and faithfully to execute the trust committed to him. And the said commissioner shall cause a seal of office to be made and provided for the said office, with such device as the Governor shall approve, and copies of any records, books or papers belonging to said office, certified under the seal of the said office, shall be competent evidence in all the courts of justice in this State, and in all cases in which the original records, books or papers could be evidence.

SEC. 8. That the statement of all the public lands required by the fifth section of this ordinance to be returned by the registers and receivers of the several district land offices in the State, to the Commissioner of public lands; and such other records, papers and books as shall or may be deposited in said office pursuant to the law shall become and be deemed the records, books and papers of the said office, and the same shall be under his custody and control.

SEC. 9. That all returns relative to the public lands of the State, shall hereafter be made to the Commissioner of public lands, who shall have power to audit and settle all such accounts relative to the public lands; Provided, that it shall be the duty of said Commissioner, upon the settlement of any such account, to certify the balance and transmit the account with the vouchers and certificate to the Comptroller for his examination and decision thereon, whose decision shall be final.

SEC. 10. That said office of Commissioner of public lands hereby created shall first be filled by all election to be made by this convention, and that all subsequent elections to fill such office shall be made by the General Assembly of the State, and when a vacancy shall occur in said office in the recess of the Legislature, the Governor of the State shall fill the same, and the person so appointed shall hold his office until the end of the ensuing session of the General Assembly. That said Commissioner shall hold his office for the term of four years, and receive an annual salary of two thousand five hundred dollars, payable quarterly.

SEC. 11. That the Commissioner of public lands is hereby authorized and empowered to determine upon the principles of equity and justice, and according to the established rules of law, all cases of suspended entries under any law or ordinance of the United States in force on the 11th January, 1861, and then pending, or existing in the general land office of the United States, and relating to lands lying within this State, and to adjudge in what cases patents shall issue upon the same: Provided, That such adjudications shall be made within two years from the passage of this ordinance, and be approved by the Attorney-General of the State, and shall operate only to divest the State of the title to the land embraced by such entries.

SEC. 12. That the registers and receivers shall be chosen as follows, to-wit: They shall be nominated by the Commissioner of public lands and confirmed by the Senate of the State, and shall hold their offices for the term of four years; but shall be removable from office, at the pleasure of the Governor, the Attorney-General and the Commissioner of public lands, who shall act jointly in making such removal, and vacancies thus created shall be filled by the Commissioner of public lands, and the appointee shall hold office until the end of the next session of the General Assembly. That the said registers and receivers shall receive an annual salary of five hundred dollars each, and a commission of one per centum on all the moneys expressed in the receipts by them filed and entered, and for which they shall have transmitted an account to the Commissioner of public lands: Provided, always, that the whole amount which any register and receiver of any land office shall receive under the provisions of this section shall not exceed for one year the sum of two thousand dollars.

SEC. 13. That it shall be lawful for the Commissioner of public lands to allow the several registers and receivers in the several land offices a reasonable compensation for transmitting to and depositing such moneys in any bank or other place of deposit that may, from time to time, be designated by the Treasurer of the State for that purpose, which compensation shall be regulated according to the actual labor, expense and risk of such transportation to the place of deposit and returning therefrom.

SEC. 14. The registers and receivers of the several land offices shall make to the treasurer of the State monthly returns of the moneys received in their several offices, and pay over such money pursuant to his instructions; and they shall also make to the Commissioner of public lands like monthly returns, and transmit to him quarterly accounts current of the debits and credits of their several offices in the State.

SEC. 15. If any person shall apply to any register and receiver of any land office, to enter any land whatever, and the said register and receiver shall knowingly and falsely inform the person so applying that the same has already been entered, and refuse to permit the person so applying to enter the same, such register and receiver shall be liable therefor to the person so applying to the amount of five dollars for each acre of land which the person so applying offered to enter, to be recovered by action of debt in any court of record having jurisdiction of the amount, and shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction shall be filled in such sum as the jury may assess, not to exceed five thousand dollars, and may be imprisoned at the discretion of the court not exceeding six months.

SEC. 16. The register and receiver of any of the district land offices of the State shall be authorized, and it shall be the duty of said officer, to administer any oath or oaths which now are or hereafter may be required by law in connection with the entry or purchase of any tract of land; and if any person shall knowingly and wilfully swear falsely to any fact contained in any oath or affidavit so taken or made, he or she shall be deemed guilty, and held guilty of perjury, and shall, on conviction, suffer all the pains, penalties, and disabilities which attach to said crime in other cases of perjury under the laws of the State: Provided, that such officers shall not charge, or receive any compensation for administering such oaths.

SEC. 17. That no register and receiver of any land office or person employed in any such office shall, directly or indirectly, be concerned in the purchase of any public land subject to sale and entry in the land office, placed under his charge or in which he is an officer, and in case of violation of this provision by any such officer, proof thereof being made to the Commissioner of public lands, he shall be forthwith removed from office.

SEC. 18. That the boundaries and contents of the several sections, half sections and quarter sections of the public lands of this State, in any contest between the State of Alabama and purchasers therefrom which have heretofore been run, determined and ascertained under the laws and regulations of the United States, while said lands were a part of the public domain of the said United States, are hereby recognized and established as the boundaries and proper contents thereof; and all the corners marked in the surveys of said United States shall be established as the proper corners of sections or sub-divisions of sections, which they were intended to designate; and the corners of half-quarter sections not marked on the said surveys, shall be placed as nearly as possible equidistant from those two corners which stand on the same line. And that the boundary lines actually run and marked in the surveys shall be established as the proper boundary lines of the sections or sub-divisions for which they were intended, and the length of such lines as returned in said surveys shall be held as the true length thereof as between the State and such purchasers; and the boundary lines which shall not have been actually run and marked as aforesaid, shall be ascertained by running straight lines from the established corner to the opposite corresponding corner, but in those portions of the fractional townships where no such opposite corresponding corners have been or can be fixed, the said boundary lines shall be ascertained by running from the established corners north and south, or east and west lines, as the case may be, to the water-course or other external boundary of such fractional township, conforming to the mean variation of the established survey heretofore made by the United States.

SEC. 19. Every person being the head of a family, or a single man or woman, over the age of twenty-one years, or widow, and being a citizen of the State of Alabama, who, since the 11th day of January, 1861, has made or shall hereafter make a settlement in person on the public lands of the State, and who shall inhabit and improve the same, and who has or shall erect a dwelling thereon, shall be, and is hereby, authorized to enter with the register and receiver of the land office in which such land may lie, by legal sub-divisions, any number of acres not exceeding one hundred and sixty, or a quarter section of of land, to include the residence of such claimant, upon paying to the State of Alabama the minimum price of such land, subject, however, to the following limitations and exceptions, viz: No person shall be entitled to more than one pre-emptive right by virtue of this act; no person who is the proprietor of three hundred and twenty acres of land in any State or Territory of the Confederate States, and no person who shall quit or abandon his residence on his own land, to reside on the public lands in this State, shall acquire any right of pre-emption under this act; no lands, or sections of land, reserved to the United States alternate to other sections, granted by said United States Government to this State for the construction of any canal, railroad or other public improvement; no sections, or fractions of sections, included within the limits of any corporated town; no portion of the public lands which has been selected as the cite for a sity or town, and no lands included in any reservation, by any treaty or laws of the United States, previous to the 11th January, 1861, or reserved in said laws for salines or for other purposes, or on which are situated any known salines, shall be liable to entry under and by virtue of the provisions of this section.

SEC, 20. When two or more persons have settled on the same quarter section of land, the right of pre-emption shall be in him or her who commenced or shall commence the first improvement: Provided, such person shall conform to the other provisions of this law, and all questions as to the right of pre-emption, arising between different settlers, shall be settled by the register and receiver of the district within which the land is situated, subject to an appeal to and a revision by the Commissioner of public lands.

SEC. 21. Prior to any entries being made under the provisions of this ordinance, (section nineteen) proof of the settlement and improvement thereby required, shall be made to the satisfaction of the register and receiver of the land district in which such lands may lie, agreeably to such rules as shall be prescribed by the Commissioner of public lands, who shall be entitled to receive fifty cents from each applicant for his services, to be rendered as aforesaid, and all assignments and transfers of the right hereby secured, prior to the issuing of the patent, shall be null and void.

SEC. 22. Before any person claiming the benefit of this act shall be allowed to enter such lands, he or she shall make oath, before the register and receiver of the land district in which the land is situated, or before some other person authorized by the laws of this State to administer oaths, that he or she never had the benefit of any right of pre-emption under this act, that he or she is not the owner of three hundred and twenty acres of land in any State or Territory of the Confederate States, nor hath he or she settled upon and improved said lands to sell the same on speculation, but in good faith to appropriate it to his or her own exclusive use or benefit; and that he or she has not directly or indirectly made any agreement or contract, in any way or manner, with any person or persons whatsoever, by which the title which he or she might acquire from the government of the State, should inure in whole or in part to the benefit of any person, except himself or herself; and if any person taking such oath shall swear falsely in the premises, he or she shall be subject to all the pains and penalties of perjury, and shall forfeit the money which he or she may have paid for said land, and all right and title to the same; and any grant or conveyance which he or she shall make, except in the hands of bona fide purchasers, for a valuable consideration, shall be null and void, and it shall be the duty of said district officer to file a certificate of said oath in his office, and to transmit a duplicate copy to the State land office, either of which shall be good and sufficient evidence that such oath was administered according to law.

SEC. 23. Whenever any person has settled or shall settle and improve any tract of land, subject at the time of settlement to private entry, and shall intend to purchase the same under the provisions of this law in regard to pre-emption, such person shall, in the first case, within three months, after the 11th of January, 1861, and, in the last case, within thirty days after the date of such settlement, file with the register of the proper district, a written statement, describing the land settled upon, and declaring the intention of such person to claim the same under the provisions of this act, and shall, where such settlement is already made, within twelve months after the passage of this act, and where it shall hereafter be made within the same period after the date of such settlement, make proof, affidavit and payment herein required, and if he or she shall fail to file such written statement as aforesaid, or shall fail to make such affidavit, proof and payment within twelve months aforesaid, the tract of land so settled and improved shall be subject to the entry of any other purchaser.

SEC. 24. In any case where a party entitled to claim the benefits of this pre-emption law shall have died before consummating his claim, by filing in due time all the papers essential to the establishment of the same, it shall be competent for the executor or administrator of the estate of such party, or one of the heirs, to file the necessary papers to complete the same: Provided, the entry in such cases shall be made in favor of “The heirs” of the deceased pre-emptor, and a patent thereon shall cause the title to inure to said heirs, as if their names had been specially mentioned.

SEC. 25. That the pre-emption laws of the State shall extend over the alternate reserved sections of public lands along the lines of all the rail roads in the State, wherever public lands have heretofore been granted by acts of the Congress of the United States, and also wherever the State may hereafter grant lands to rail roads, and that it shall be the privilege of the persons residing on any of said reserved lands to pay for the same in soldier's bounty land warrants, owned by any citizen of this State on the 11th January, 1861, estimated at a dollar and twenty-five cents per acre, or in any funds receivable for State taxes, or both together, in preference to any other person, and the price to be paid in all such cases shall be two dollars and fifty cents per acre.

SEC. 26. That every settler on public lands which have been or may be withdrawn from market in consequence of proposed rail roads, and who had settled or shall settle thereon, prior to the time when the lines of such rail roads have been or may be definitely fixed, shall be entitled to pre-emption at the ordinary minimum to the lands settled on and cultivated by them: Provided, they shall prove up their rights and pay for the land entered, according to the rules and regulations prescribed in other cases of pre-emption claimants.

SEC. 27. That every person making application at any of the district land offices in the State, for the purchase at private sale of a tract of land, shall produce to the register and receiver a memorandum in writing, describing the tract which he shall enter, by the number of the section, half section or quarter, (as the case may be,) and of the township and range, subscribing his name thereto, which memorandum the register shall file and preserve in his office.

SEC. 28. That all the public lands of the State, the sale of which is authorized by law, may, when offered at private sale, be purchased at the option of the purchaser, either in entire sections, half sections, quarter sections, half quarter sections, or quarter quarter sections; and said lands shall be subject to sale at the following stated prices, to-wit: Such lands as were reserved by the United States on the 11th January, 1861, from sale, in consequence of the same being in sections alternate to other sections granted by said government to this State, for the construction of any canal, rail road, or other internal improvement, and such lands as this State shall hereafter reserve for similar purposes, shall not be sold for less than two dollars and fifty cents per acre; all the other public lands shall be sold and entered at a price not less than one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre: Provided, that none of the lands reserved from sale to pre-emptors in section nineteen of this ordinance, shall be subject to entry, under this section, excepting those lying within six miles of rail roads, and known as the alternate even sections along said roads.

SEC. 29. That all the lands of the State, which shall have been in market, either under the laws of the United States or under the laws of this State, or under the laws of both taken together, for ten years and upwards prior to the time of application to enter the same under the provisions of this ordinance, and still remaining unsold, shall be subject to sale at the price of one dollar per acre; and all the lands of the State that shall have been in market for fifteen years or upwards, as aforesaid, and still remaining unsold, shall be subject to sale at seventy-five cents per acre; and all lands of the State that shall have been in market for twenty years or upwards, as aforesaid, and still remaining unsold, shall be subject to sale at fifty cents per acre; and all the lands of the State that shall have been in market for twenty-five years and upwards, as aforesaid, and still remaining unsold, shall be subject to sale at twenty-five cents per acre; and all lands of the State that shall have been in market for thirty years or more, shall be subject to sale at twelve and-a-half cents per acre: Provided, this section shall not be so construed as to extend to lands reserved from entry by pre-emptors, under section nineteen of this ordinance: And provided further, that no person shall be entitled, under the provisions of this section, to enter more than three hundred and twenty acres of land.

SEC. 1. Be it ordained by the people of Alabama in Convention assembled, That the register and receiver of the land office at Greenville be authorized to obtain for the use of said offices copies of all patents, and of all books, maps and other papers of said offices recently burned, as far as in their power to supply every paper, document, map, book, &c., thus destroyed; and the expense of all said matters shall be allowed in their accounts on settlement with the authorities of this State.

SEC. 1. Be it ordained by the people of the State of Alabama in Convention assembled, That certificates of registers of the late United States land office for money paid on land forfeited shall be receivable in payment for any of the public lands of this State subject to private entry, as so much money, in pursuance and in accordance with an act of Congress of United States of the 23d day of May, 1828, “entitled an act for the relief of purchasers of the public lands that have reverted for non-payment of the purchase money:” Provided, such forfeiture was on lands comprised within the present boundaries of the State of Alabama, and the parties forfeiting and now claiming were, and are now resident citizens of this State.

SEC. 1. Be it ordained by the people of the State of Alabama in Convention assembled, That the Governor of the State be authorized, and he is hereby required to rescind a contract heretofore entered into by him, on the part of the State, with James R. Powell, S. S. Houston, and others, for the purpose of selecting and locating certain lands designated in the acts of Congress of 28th September, 1850, and 3d March, 1857, as swamp and overflowed lands, and that he is authorized to settle with them for such services as they have already rendered the State, upon just and reasonable terms: Provided, that the Consent of said Commissioners to the rescission of said contract shall be first had and obtained.

SEC. 2. Be it further ordained, That all land selected by the said Commissioners as swamp and overflowed lands, but for which no patents were issued by the United States to this State, are hereby declared to be public lands of the State, and subject to disposal under the laws prescribed for the sale and disposal of other public lands of the State.