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A bill to provide for taking a census or enumeration of the inhabitants of of the eastern division of the Territory of Michigan and of the Territory of Arkansas.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the marshals of the eastern division of the Territory of Michigan and of the Territory of Arkansas, respectively, shall be, and are hereby, required, under the direction of the Secretary of the Department of State, and according to such instructions as he shall give, pursuant to this act, to cause the number of the inhabittants within their respective Territories as aforesaid, (omitting, in such enumeration, Indians not taxed,) to be taken according to the directions of this act. The said enumeration shall distinguish the sexes of all free white persons, and ages of the free white males and females, respectively, under five years of age; those of five and under ten years of age; those of ten years and under fifteen; those of fifteen and under twenty; those of twenty and under thirty; those of thirty and under forty; those of forty and under fifty; those of fifty and under sixty; those of sixty and under seventy; those of seventy and under eighty; those of eighty and under ninety; those of ninety and under one hundred; those of one hundred and upwards. The said enumeration shall also distinguish the sexes of all slaves and of all free colored persons, respectively, of each sex under ten years of age; those of ten and under twenty-four; those of twentyfour and under thirty-six; those of thirty-six and under fifty-five; those of fifty-five and under one hundred; and those of one hundred and upwards. For effecting which, the marshals aforesaid shall have power, and are hereby required to appoint one or more assistants in each city and county in their respective Territories, residents of such city or county for which they shall be appointed, and shall assign to each of the said assistants a certain division of territory, which division shall not consist, in any case, of more than one county, but may include one or more towns, townships, wards, hundreds, precincts, or parishes, and shall be plainly and distinctly bounded. The said enumeration shall be made by an actual inquiry by such marshals or assistants at every dwelling-house, or by personal inquiry of the head of every family. The marshals and their assistants shall, respectively, before entering on the performance of their duty under this act, take and subscribe an oath or affirmation before some judge or justice of the peace resident within their respective Territories, for the faithful performance of their duty; the oath or affirmation of the marshal shall be as follows: "I, A B, marshal of the Territory of do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will truly and faithfully cause to be made a full and perfect enumeration and description of all persons resident within my Territory, and return the same to the Secretary of State, agreeably to the directions of an act of Congress entitled An act to provide for taking a census or enumeration of the inhabitants of the eastern division of the Territory of Michigan and of the Territory of Arkansas,' according to the best of my ability." The oath or affirmation of an assistant shall be as follows: "I, A B, appointed an assistant to the marshal of the Territory of, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will make a just, faithful, and perfect enumeration and description of all persons resident within the division assigned to me for that purpose by the marshal of the Territory of ——, and make due return thereof to the said marshal,

agreeably to the directions of an act of Congress entitled 'An act to provide for taking a census or énumeration of the inhabitants of the eastern division of the Territory of Michigan and of the Territory of Arkansas,” according to the best of my ability, and that I will take the said enumeration and description by actual inquiry at every dwelling-house within said division, or personal inquiry of the head of every family, and not otherwise." The enumeration shall commence on the first day of June, in the year one thousand eight hundred and thirty-four, and shall be completed and closed within six calendar months thereafter. The several assistants shall, within the said six months, and on or before the first day of December, eighteen hundred and thirty-four, deliver to the marshals by whom they shall have been appointed, respectively, two copies of the accurate returns of all persons, except Indians not taxed, to be enumerated as aforesaid, within their respective divisions; which returns shall be made in a schedule, the form of which is annexed to this act, and which shall distinguish in each county, city, town, township, ward, precinct, hundred, district, or parish, according to the civil divisions of the Territories, respectively, the several families by the name of their master, mistress, steward, overseer, or other principal persons therein.

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That every assistant, failing or neglecting to make a proper return, or making a false return of the enumeration to the marshal within the time limited by this act, shall forfeit the sum of two hundred dollars, recoverable in the manner pointed out in the next section of this act.

SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That the marshals shall file one copy of each of the several returns aforesaid, and also an attested copy of the aggregate amount hereinafter directed to be transmitted by them, respectively, to the Secretary of State, with the clerks of their respective courts, as the case may be, who are hereby directed to receive and carefully to preserve the same; and the marshals, respectively, shall, on or before the first of January, in the year one thousand eight hundred and thirty-five, transmit to the Secretary of State one copy of the several returns received from each assistant, and also the aggregate amount of each description of persons within their respective Territories. And every marshal failing to file the returns of his assistants, or the returns of any of them, with the clerks of the respective courts as aforesaid, or failing to return one copy of the several returns received from each assistant, and also the aggregate amount of each description of persons in their respective Territories, as required by this act, and as the same shall appear from said returns, to the Secretary of State, within the time limited by this act, shall, for every such offence, forfeit the sum of thousand dollars;

which forfeiture shall be recoverable in the courts of the Territories where the said offences shall be committed, by action of debt, information, or indictment, the one-half thereof to the use of the United States, and the other half to the informer; but when the prosecution shall be first instituted on behalf of the United States, the whole shall accrue to their use; and for the more effectual discovery of such offences, the judges of, in the said Territories, at their next session to be held after the expiration of the time allowed for making the returns of the enumeration hereby directed to the Secretary of State, shall give this act in charge to the grand juries in their respective courts, and shall cause the returns of the several assistants, and the said attested copy of the aggregate amount, to be laid before them.

for their inspection; and the respective clerks of the said courts shall, within thirty days after the said original returns shall have been laid before the grand juries aforesaid, transmit and deliver all such original returns so filed to the Department of State.

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SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That every assistant shall receive at the rate of one dollar and twenty-five cents for every hundred persons by him returned, where such persons reside in the country; and where such persons reside in a city or town containing more than three thousand persons, such assistant shall receive at the same rate for three thousand, and at the rate of one dollar and twenty-five cents for every three hundred sons over three thousand residing in such city or town; but where, from the dispersed situation of the inhabitants in some divisions, one dollar and twenty-five cents will not be sufficient for one hundred persons, the marshals, with the approbation of the judges of their respective Territories, may make such further allowance to the assistants in such divisions as shall be deemed an adequate compensation: Provided, The same does not exceed one dollar and seventy-five cents for every fifty persons by them returned: Provided, further, That, before any assistant as aforesaid shall be entitled to receive said compensation, he shall take and subscribe the following oath or affirmation before some judge or justice of the peace authorized to administer the same, to wit: I. A B, do solemnly swear (or aflirm) that the number of persons set forth in the return made by me agreeably to the provisions of the act entitled An act to provide for taking a census or enumeration of the inhabitants of the eastern division of the Territory of Michigan and of the Territory of Arkansas,' have been ascertained by an actual inquiry at every dwelling-house, or a personal inquiry of the head of every family, in exact conformity with the provisions of said act; and that I have in every respect fulfilled the duties required of me by said act, to the best of my abilities, and that the return aforesaid is correct and true, according to the best of my knowledge and belief." The compensation of the marshal of the eastern division of the Territory of Michigan shall be one hundred and fifty dollars, and that of the marshal of the Territory of Arkansas shall be one hundred and fifty dollars.

SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That every person whose usual place of abode shall be in any family on the said first day of June, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-four, shall be returned as of such family; and the name of every person who shall be an inhabitant of either of the Territories aforesaid, without a settled place of residence, shall be inserted in the column of the schedule which is allotted for the heads of families in the division where he or she shall be on the said first day of June, and every person occasionally absent at the time of enumeration as belonging to the place in which he or she usually resides in the said Territories.

SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That each and every free person more than sixteen years of age, whether heads of families or not, belonging to any family within any division, district, or territory, made or established within the said Territories, shall be, and hereby is, obliged to render to the assistant of the division, if required, a true account, to the best of his or her knowledge, of every person belonging to such family, respectively, according to the several descriptions aforesaid, on pain of forfeiting twenty dollars, to be sued for and recovered in any action of debt by such assistant, the one-half to his own use, and the other half to the use of the United States.

SEC. 7. And be it further enacted. That each and every assistant, previous to making his return to the marshal, shall cause a correct copy, signed by himself, of the schedule containing the number of inhabitants within his division, to be set up at two of the most public places within the same, there to remain for the inspection of all concerned; for each of which copies the said assistant shall be entitled to receive five dollars: Provided, Proof of the schedule having been set up shall be transmitted to the marshal with the return of the number of persons; and in case any assistant shall fail to make such proof to the marshal, with the return of the number of persons as aforesaid, he shall forfeit the compensation allowed him by this act.

SEC. 8. And be it further enacted, That the Secretary of State shall be, and hereby is, authorized and required to transmit to the marshals of the Territories aforesaid, regulations and instructions pursuant to this act, for carrying the same into effect, and also the forms contained therein of the schedule to be returned, and such other forms as may be necessary in carrying this act into execution, and proper interrogatories to be administered by the several persons to be employed in taking the enumeration.

SEC. 9. And be it further enacted, That, in all cases where the superficial content of any county or parish shall exceed twenty miles square, and the number of inhabitants in said parish or county shall not exceed three thousand, the marshals or assistants shall be allowed, with the approbation of the judges of the respective Territories, such further compensation as shall be deemed reasonable: Provided, The same does not exceed four dollars for every fifty persons by them returned; and when any such county or parish shall exceed forty miles square, and the number of inhabitants in the same shall not exceed three thousand, a like allowance shall be made, not to exceed six dollars for every fifty persons so returned.

SEC. 10. And be it further enacted, That, when the aforesaid enumeration shall be completed and returned to the office of the Secretary of State by the marshals of the Territories, he shall direct the printers to Congress to print, for the use of Congress, copies of the aggregate returns received from the marshals: And provided, That, if the marshals in either of the said Territories shall directly or indirectly ask, demand, or receive, or contract to receive, of any assistants to be appointed by him under this act, any fee, reward, or compensation, for the appointment of such assistant to discharge the duties required of such assistant under this act, or shall retain from such assistant any portion of the compensation allowed to the assistant by this act, the said marshal shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor in office, and shall forfeit and pay the amount of five hundred dollars for each offence, to be recovered by suit or indictment in any court of the said Territory, one-half to the use of the Government, and the other half to the informer; and all contracts which may be made in violation of this law shall be void, and all sums of money or property paid may be recovered back by the party paying the same in any court having jurisdiction of the same.

SEC. 11, And be it further enacted, That there shall be allowed and paid to the marshals of the said Territories the amount of postage by them respectively paid on letters relating to their duties under this act.

SEC. 12. And be it further enacted, That the eastern division of the Territory of Michigan shall include what is commonly called the peninsula of Michigan, and shall be bounded as follows, that is to say on the north

and east by the boundary line between the United States and Canada; on the south by Ohio and Indiana; and on the west by a line drawn through the middle of Lake Michigan to its junction with Lake Huron, and thence eastwardly, in said lake, to the nearest point in the boundary line between the United States and Canada: Provided, That nothing contained in the provisions of this section shall be construed to affect any question of boundary now existing, or which may hereafter exist, between the said eastern division of the Territory of Michigan and the foregoing States.

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