port and Buffalo Railroad Company: Provided, That in the opinion of the President of the United States such grant be not injurious to the public interest, and that the location shall be approved by the President as to the position and width of the said railroad; And provided further, That if the said railroad shall not be completed within two years, or if at any time after its completion, the said railroad be discontinued or abandoned, the grant shall cease and determine.

Approved August 4, 1852.

[Act of June 3, 1856-11 U. S. Statutes at Large, 21.]

AN ACT making a Grant of alternate Sections of the Public Lands to the State of Michigan, to aid in the Censtruction of certain Railroads in said State, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, That there be, and hereby is, granted to the State of Michigan, to aid in the construction of railroads from Little Bay de Noquet to Marquette, and thence to Ontonagon, and from the two last named places to the Wisconsin State line; and also from Amboy, by Hillsdale and Lansing, and from Grand Rapids to some point on or near Traverse Bay; also from Grand Haven and Pere Marquette to Flint, and thence to Port Huron, every alternate section of land designated by odd numbers, for six sections in width on each side of each of said roads; but in case it shall appear that the United States have, when the lines or routes of said roads are definitely fixed, sold any section or any part thereof granted as aforesaid, or that the right of pre-emption has attached to the same, then it shall be lawful for any agent or agents, to be appointed by the Governor of said State, to select, subject to the approval of the Secretary of the Interior, from the lands of the United States nearest to

the tiers of sections above specified, so much land in alternate sections or parts of sections as shall be equal to such lands as the United States have sold or otherwise appropriated, or to which the right of pre-emption has attached as aforesaid; which lands (thus selected in lieu of those sold, and to which pre-emption rights have attached as aforesaid, together with the sections and parts of sections designated by odd numbers as aforesaid and appropriated as aforesaid) shall be held by the State of Michigan for the use and purpose aforesaid: Provided, That the lands to be so located shall in no case be further than fifteen miles from the lines of said roads, and selected for and on account of each of said roads: Provided further, That the lands hereby granted shall be exclusively applied in the construction of that road for and on account of which such lands are hereby granted, and shall be disposed of only as the work progresses, and the same shall be applied to no other purpose whatsoever: And provided further, That any and all lands heretofore reserved to the United States by any act of Congress, or in any other manner, by competent authority, for the purpose of aiding in any object of internal improvement, or for or for any other purpose whatsoever, be and the same are hereby reserved to the United States from the operations of this act, except so far as may be found necessary to locate the routes of said railroads through such reserved lands, in which case the right of way only shall be granted, subject to the approval of the President of the United States.

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That the sections and parts of sections of land which, by such grant, shall remain to the United States, within six miles on each side of each of said roads, shall not be sold for less than double the minimum price of the public lands when sold; nor shall any of said lands become subject to private entry until the same have been first offered at public sale at the increased price.

SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That the said lands hereby granted to the said State shall be subject to the disposal of the Legislature thereof, for the purpose aforesaid, and no other; and that the said railroads shall be and remain public highways for the use of the government of the United States, free from toll or other charge upon the transportation of any property or troops of the United States.

SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That the lands hereby granted to said State shall be disposed of by said State only in manner following, that is to say: That a quantity of land, not exceeding one hundred and twenty sections, for each of said roads, and included within a continuous length of twenty miles of each of said roads, may be sold; and when the Governor of said State shall certify to the Secretary of the Interior that any twenty continuous miles of any of said roads is completed, then another quantity of land hereby granted, not to exceed one hundred and twenty sections for each of said roads having twenty continuous miles completed as aforesaid, and included within a continuous length of twenty miles of each of said roads, may be sold; and so from time to time until said roads are completed; and if any of said roads is not completed within ten years, no further sales shall be made, and the lands unsold shall revert to the United States.

SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That the United States mail shall be transported over said roads, under the direction of the Post Office department, at such price as Congress may by law direct: Provided, That until such price is fixed by law, the Postmaster-General shall have the power to determine the same.

Approved June 3, 1856.

[Laws of 1857, p. 346.]

AN ACT disposing of certain grants of land made to the State of Michigan, for railroad purposes, by act of Congress, approved June third (3,) eighteen hundred and fifty-six (1856).

SECTION 1. The People of the State of Michigan enact, That the lands, franchises, rights, powers and privileges granted to and conferred upon the State of Michigan, by an act of Congress entitled "an act making a grant of alternate sections of land to the State of -Michigan to aid in the construction of certain railroads in said State, and for other purposes, approved June third (3), eighteen hundred and fifty-six, (1856)” be and the same are hereby accepted with the restrictions, and upon the terms and conditions contained in said act of Congress.

SEC. 2. So much of the aforesaid lands, franchises, rights, powers and privileges as are or may be granted and conferred, in pursuance of said act of Congress, to aid in the construction of a railroad from Amboy by way of Hillsdale and Lansing, to some point on or near Traverse Bay, are hereby disposed of, granted to, conferred upon, and vested in the Amboy, Lansing and Traverse Bay Railroad Company; in like manner all the lands, franchises, rights, powers and privileges which are, or may be granted and conferred, in pursuance of said act of Congress, to aid in the construction of a railroad from Grand Haven to Flint, and thence to Port Huron, are hereby vested fully and completely in the Detroit and Milwaukee Railway Company, and in the Port Huron and Milwaukee Railway Company, in the manner following, to wit: So much of said lands as pertain or attach to said route from Grand Haven to Owosso, in the county of Shiawassee, are hereby vested fully and completely in the Detroit and Milwaukee Railway Company, and so much of said lands as pertain or attach to said route from Owosso to Flint and thence to Port Huron,

are hereby vested fully and completely in the Port Huron and Milwaukee Railway Company, to aid in the construction of the roads of said companies respectively; in like manner all the lands, franchises, rights, powers and privileges which are, or may be granted and conferred, in pursuance of said act of Congress, to aid in the construction of a railroad from Pere Marquette to Flint, and thence to Port Huron, are hereby vested fully and completely in the Flint and Pere Marquette Railway Company, and in the Port Huron and Milwaukee Railway Company, according to the provisions of the act of Congress relating thereto, and the direction of the board of control hereby appointed; in like manner all the lands, franchises, rights, powers and privileges as are or may be granted and conferred, in pursuance of said act of Congress, to aid in the construction of a railroad from Grand Rapids to some point on or near Traverse Bay, are hereby vested fully and completely in the Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad Company; in like manner all the lands, franchises, rights, powers and privileges which are or may be granted and conferred, in pursuance of said act of Congress, to aid in the construction of a railroad from Marquette to the Wisconsin State line, be and the same are hereby vested fully and completely in the Marquette and State Line Railroad Company; in like manner all the lands, franchises, rights, powers and privileges which are or may be granted and conferred, in pursuance of said act of Congress, to aid in the construction of a railroad from Ontonagon to the Wisconsin State line are hereby vested fully and completely in the Ontonagon and State Line Railroad Company; in like manner all the lands, franchises, rights, powers and privileges which are or may be granted and conferred, in pursuance of said act of Congress, to aid in the construction of a railroad from Little Bay de Noquette to Marquette, are hereby vested fully and completely in the Bay de Noquette and