Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 4.djvu/529

This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.

location,Proviso. And provided further, That such locations shall be made and patents issued therefor, under the same regulations and restrictions, as if the locations had been made under the provisions of the second section of the act of the twenty-sixth April, one thousand eight hundred and twenty-two, entitledAct of April 26, 1822, ch. 40.An act to perfect certain locations and sales of the public lands in Missouri.”

Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That this act shall remain in force for the term of eighteen months from the passage thereof.

Approved, March 2, 1831.

Statute ⅠⅠ.



March 2, 1831.

Chap. XCVII.An Act declaring the assent of Congress to an act of the general assembly of the state of Ohio, hereinafter recited.[1]

Cumberland road.Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the consent of the United States shall be, and is hereby, given to an act of the General Assembly of the state of Ohio, entitled “An act for the preservation and repair of the United States’ road,” passed the fourth day of February, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty-one, which act is in the words and figures following, to wit:

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Ohio, That whenever the consent of the Congress of the United States to this act shall be obtained, the governor of this state shall be, and he is hereby, authorized to take under his care, on behalf of this state, so much of the road commonly called the National Road, within the limits of this state, as shall then be finished, and also, such other sections or parts thereof as may thereafter be progressively finished within the limits aforesaid, whenever the same shall be completed; and he shall be, and is hereby authorized to cause gates and toll-houses to be erected on said road, at such finished parts thereof as he shall think proper, for the purpose of collecting tolls, as provided by the fourth section of this act: Provided, The number of gates aforesaid shall not exceed one on any space or distance of twenty miles.

Superintendent.Sec. 2. That a superintendent shall be appointed by the governor, whose duty shall be to exercise all reasonable vigilance and diligence in the care of the road committed to his charge; to contract for, and direct the application of the labour, materials, and other things necessary for the preservation, repair, and improvement thereof; he shall pay for the same out of such sums as the governor shall furnish him for that purpose, subject to such responsibility and accountability as the said governor shall dictate; and shall conform to such instructions as the governor shall prescribe for his conduct, in all particulars relative to his said trust: he may be empowered to suspend the functions of any toll-gatherer for alleged misconduct, till the pleasure of the governor shall be known, and to fill the vacancy thereby occasioned during such interval; and it shall be his duty to give information of the facts in such case to the governor, without any unnecessary delay; the said superintendent shall hold his office during the pleasure of the governor, who shall allow him a reasonable compensation for his services.

Toll-collectors.Sec. 3. That the governor be, and he is hereby, authorized to appoint

  1. Under the acts of Congress, and of the state of Ohio, relating to the surrender and acceptance of the Cumberland road, a toll charged upon the passengers travelling in mail carriages, without being charged, also, on passengers travelling in other carriages, is against the contract, and void. Neil, Moore & Co. v. The State of Ohio, 3 Howard, 720.
    It rests altogether in the discretion of the Postmaster General, to determine at what hours the mail shall leave particular places, and arrive at others, and to determine whether it shall leave the same place only once a day, or more frequently. Ibid.
    It is not, therefore, the mere frequency of the departure of the carriages, carrying the mail, that constitutes an abuse of the privilege of the United States, but the unnecessary division of the mail-bags among a number of carriages, to evade the payment of tolls. Ibid.