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VARIOUS ACTS RELATIVE TO THE COLLEGE.

[Act No. 46, Laws 1863.]

AN ACT for the acceptance of the donation of public lands made by act of Congress, approved July second, eighteen hundred and sixty-two, providing for the endowment of colleges for the benefit of agriculture and the mechanic arts.

SECTION 1. The People of the State of Michigan enact, That the grant of land accruing to the State of Michigan, under and by virtue of an act of Congress, donating public lands to the several States and Territories, which may provide colleges for the benefit of agriculture and the mechanic arts, approved July second, eighteen hundred and sixty-two, be and the same is hereby accepted, in accordance with all the conditions and provisions in said act contained.

Sec. 2. This act shall take immediate effect.
Approved February 25, 1863.

[Act No. 140, Laws 1863.]

AN ACT to provide for the selection, care and disposition of the lands donated to the State of Michigan, by act of Congress, approved July second, eighteen hundred sixty-two, for the endowment of colleges for the benefit of agriculture and the mechanic arts.

SECTION 1. The People of the State of Michigan enact, That the Governor, the Auditor General, Secretary of State, State Treasurer, Attorney General and Commissioner of the State Land Office, shall constitute a board, to be known as the agricultural laud grant board, and said board shall have the control and management of the selection, the care and disposal of the lands

granted to this State by act of Congress, approved July second, eighteen hundred sixty-two, providing for the endowment of colleges for the benefit of agriculture and the mechanic arts. Said board shall appoint one or more suitable commissioners, whose duty it shall be to select and locate, as soon as practicable, the quantity of land donated to this State by the act of Congress aforesaid, and to make return of the lands so located to the Commissioner of the State Land Office of Michigan, properly designated and described, and to notify the registers of the United States district land offices, for the districts in which the selection and location is made, of such selection as fast as the land is so selected.

Sec. 2. The Commissioner of the State Land Office shall, as fast as such selections are made and returned to him, forward to the Secretary of the Interior of the United States, full and complete descriptions of all such lands, and obtain the neces sary title to the State of Michigan for the same.

Sec. 3. The said land shall be sold for not less than two dollars and fifty cents per acre, one-fourth to be paid at the time of purchase, and the balance at the option of the purchaser; said balance to bear interest at the rate of seven per cent. per annum, payable annually into the State Treasury, in accordance with and subject to all the conditions of forfeiture, as provided by law for the payment of interest on contracts for money due on the purchase of primary school lands; and the sales of said lands shall be conducted in accordance with such rules and regulations as shall be prescribed by the said land grant board.

Sec. 4. The proceeds of the sale of said land shall be applied and used according to the conditions of the act of Congress granting the same to the State.

Sec. 5. Whenever said lands, or any part of them, shall have been selected, certified to the Commissioner of the State Land Office, withdrawn from market, and so marked on the plats, and certified by the register of any United States land office for the proper district, by authority of the Commissioner of the

General Land Office of the United States; the Commissioner of the State Land Office may, by direction of said land grant board, sell said lands in quantities of not less than any legal subdivision, according to the original United States survey; and on such sale being made, the Commissioner of the State Land Office shall issue his certificate of sale in the usual form, setting forth the quantity and description of the land sold, the price per acre, the amount paid at the time of purchase, the balance due, with the annual rate of interest, and the time the interest is payable, as is required by law for the payment of interest on contracts for the purchase of primary school lands, and that the purchaser will be entitled to a patent from this State on payment in full of the principal and interest, together with all taxes assessed on such land.

Sec. 6. Certificates of purchase issued pursuant to the provisions of law, shall entitle the purchaser to the possession of the lands therein described, and shall be sufficient evidence of title to enable the purchaser, his heirs or assigns, to maintain actions of trespass for injuries done to the same, or ejectment, or any other proper action or proceeding to recover possession thereof, unless such certificate shall have become void by forfeiture; and all certificates of purchase in force may be recorded in the same manner that deeds of conveyance are authorized to be recorded.

Sec. 7. The Governor of this State shall sign and cause to be issued, patents for said lands, as soon as practicable after payment is made in full of principal, interest, and all taxes as aforesaid.

Sec. 8. It shall be the duty of said land grant board, from time to time, as money is received from the sales of said lands, to cause the same to be invested in the stocks of the United States, of this State, or some other safe stocks, yielding not lesr than five per cent. annually, upon the par value of such stocks, and to keep the same invested, to constitute a perpetual fund, the capital of which shall remain forever undiminished; and the annual interest shall be regularly applied, under

the direction of the State Board of Agriculture, to the endowment, support and maintenance of the State Agricultural Col lege, where the leading object shall be, without excluding other scientific and classical studies, and including military tactics, to teach such branches of learning as are related to agricul ture and the mechanic arts, in order to promote the liberal and practical education of the industrial classes in the several pursuits and professions in life.

Sec. 9. The said land grant board shall, on finding that there is not in this State a sufficient amount of land belonging to the United States, subject to private entry, to make up the full amount of the land granted by said act of Congress, notify the Commissioner of the United States Land Office of the fact, and obtain, as soon as practicable, from the proper authority, permission to select an amount sufficient to make up such deficiency from United States lands in other States or Territories of the United States, and shall send one or more commissioners into such States or Territories to select the same, under such rules and regulations as said board may prescribe.

Sec. 10. The agricultural land grant board shall certify, from time to time, to the Auditor General the amounts required to pay expenses of selecting and locating, and making returns of said lands, and the Auditor General shall draw his warrant upon the State Treasurer for the amounts thus certified, and the State Treasurer shall pay the same out of the general fund. Said land grant board may make such rules and regulations, in relation to the time and manner of selecting and locating the lands, making the returns, and keeping the accounts of expenses as they may deem necessary and proper. All contracts and certificates of said board shall be signed by the chairman, and countersigned by the secretary of the agricultural land grant board.

Sec. 11. In the sale of lands, the principal value of which consists in the timber, the Commissioner of the State Land Office shall require the payment of the entire amount of pur chase money at the time of purchase, or such portion of the

same above one-fourth, as he may deem for the best interest of

the State.

Sec. 12 This act shall take immediate effect.

Approved March 18, 1863.

[Concurrent Resolution No. 1, Laws 1863.]

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION relative to the selection and location of the lands donated by Congress for the benefit of the Agricultural School of this State.

Resolved, (the House concurring,) That the Governor be requested to procure from the Commissioner of the General Land Office of the United States, an order directing the Registers of the several District Land Offices in this State to withdraw from market, and so mark on their plats, any of the lands of the United States subject to private entry that may be selected by authority of this State, under the grant made by act of Congress, approved July second, eighteen hundred sixty-two, for the endowment of Colleges for the benefit of Agriculture and the Mechanic Arts, whenever the said Registers shall be notified of the selection of any of said lands by the persons authorized by this State to select the same. Approved March 18, 1863.

(Act No. 211, Laws 1863.]

AN ACT to establish a Military School in connection with the Agricultural College.

SECTION 1. The People of the State of Michigan enact, That in addition to the course of instruction already provided by law for the Agricultural College of this State, there shall be added Military Tactics and Military Engineering.

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Sec. 2. The State Board of Agriculture are hereby authorized and required to make such additional rules and regulations for the government and control of the Agricultural College as may be necessary to carry into effect the provisions of section one of this act.

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