that the heirs of deceased persons who have heretofore made such improvements upon said lands shall be entitled to all the

rights accruing to actual residents thereon.

SEC. 5. The said court shall require the petitioner to prove Testimony. the facts set forth in his petition, and for that purpose shall

hear all testimony which the County Superintendent of Public Instruction shall introduce to controvert said facts.

SEC. 6. In all cases where the court shall find that the peti- How disposed of. tioner has heretofore settled upon and improved school lands as set forth in his petition, the petitioner may purchase the said lands, not exceeding one quarter-section, for the appraised value thereof, exclusive of the value of improvements, sixty days thereafter; and after the expiration of the said sixty days the County Treasurer shall offer the unsold portion of all the appraised school land for sale at public auction, after giving four weeks notice thereof in some newspaper published in the county where the land lies, describing said land and giving the appraised value thereof, and stating the time and place of such sale; and in case no paper shall be published in such county, then said notice shall be given by posting the same at each voting precinct in said county at least four weeks previous to the sale, and no bid at said sale shall be received for less. than the appraised value thereof. Timbered land may be subdivided into lots of such size as the Superintendent of Public Instruction and the County Commissioners may deem best; and in all cases one-half of the purchase money for timbered land shall be paid at the time of purchase, and the purchaser shall give a good and sufficient bond for the payment of the remainder, as for other lands under this act.

SEC. 7. Any person purchasing such land shall pay to the Payment. Treasurer of the county in which the same is situate one-tenth of the amount of the purchase money, taking therefor a receipt, which he shall present to the County Clerk, together with a bond in double the amount of the purchase money unpaid, conditioned that he will not commit waste upon said land, and that he will pay the balance of said purchase money in equal yearly installments, of not more than ten in number, together with interest at the end of each year thereafter on the balance unpaid, at the rate of ten per cent. per annum: Providing,

Record kept.

Appropriation.

Annual paym❜ts.

Report annually.

Duty of Auditor.

Duty of County
Treasurer.

that the purchaser may pay the whole amount of the purchase money at any time.

SEC. 8. The County Clerk shall thereupon enter the amount of the purchase money of the land, the amount paid upon the same, in a book kept for that purpose, and shall charge the same to the County Treasurer in the records of the county, ́and shall issue to the purchaser a certificate, under the seal of his office, showing the amount paid, the amount due, and the time when due, with interest, and that, upon the payment of said amounts, when due, with interest, he will be entitled to [a] patent to said land. It shall be the duty of the Attorney General to prepare a proper form to said certificates for the sale of said land, so as to protect the rights of the State and of the purchaser, his heirs or assigns.

SEC. 9. The interest on the deferred payments of the lands sold under this act shall be annually appropriated to the support of schools, as other school moneys, under the direction of the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, as provided by law.

SEC. 10. The purchaser shall pay to the Treasurer annually the amount of each yearly installment, with interest, as specified in his bond, taking a receipt for the same, which he shall present to the County Clerk, who shall credit him with the same, and charge the amount to the Treasurer.

SEC. 11. The County Clerk shall annually, on or before the first day of January in each year, transmit to the Auditor of the State an abstract of the lands for which he has issued certificates during the year, the amount of the purchase money for the same, the amount paid on each parcel of land, and the amount paid on yearly installments for the current year, principal and interest separately.

SEC. 12. The Auditor shall charge each of the Treasurers in the State the amount of moneys received as principal and interest, separately, from the sale of school lands in their respective counties, as certified by the clerks of the several counties, and, upon the payment of said moneys to the Treasurer of the State, and the presentation of the State Treasurer's receipt, shall credit the several treasurers with the amount of the same. SEC. 13. The treasurers of the several counties shall pay over annually to the Treasurer of State the amount received

in their counties from the sales of school land, taking a receipt therefor, which, when endorsed by the Auditor of State, shall be presented to the clerk of his county, who shall credit him with the amount of the same; and any treasurer failing so to do shall be liable in double the amount not paid over, on his official bond, to be recovered by action in the District Court, in the name of the State of Kansas.

SEC. 14. No purchaser of school land, prior to his obtaining title to the same, shall commit any waste upon such land, or take or remove mineral or timber from the same other than for use upon or improvements of said land. The lands purchased under this act shall be subject to taxation as other land, Taxation of said and in case of non-payment of any taxes charged thereon, the said lands may be sold as in other cases, but the purchaser at said sale be subject to all the conditions of the bond of the original maker, and of the certificate of purchase.

lands.

SEC. 15. On presentation of a certificate of the County Clerk, endorsed by the Auditor of State, showing that any person has paid the full amount of purchase money and all interest due for any portion of the school lands, in accordance with the provisions of this act, the Governor of the State shall issue a patent to the purchaser, his heirs or assigns, for the Patent.

same.

SEC. 16. Any person failing to pay the purchase money of school land, or any installment of the same, shall forfeit all Forfeiture. right to the land from the time of said failure of payment, and the prosecuting attorney shall proceed to eject him from said premises, if in possession.

SEC. 17. Lands from which purchasers have been ejected shall be reappraised, and may be purchased by any person in accordance with the provisions of this act, and in all cases lands which have not been claimed or purchased shall be reappraised once in every five years: Provided, that they may Re-appraisem❜nt. be reappraised at any time on petition of one-half of the bona fide householders of the township in which the lands lie, to the board of County Commissioners of the county, at their discretion; but such reappraisement shall be conducted according to the provisions of this act, and the sales upon the same shall be conducted in all respects in accordance with the provisions of this act.

Who shall not purchase.

No sale without vote.

Proceeds of sale -how invested.

Voto.

Ballots.

Canvass.

SEC. 18. It shall be unlawful for the County Superintendent appointing the appraisers, or the persons appraising the lands, to purchase either directly or indirectly any portion of the lands appraised by them.

SEC. 19. No school lands shall be sold under the provisions of this act until the sale of the school lands shall have been authorized by a vote of the people at a general election.

SEC. 20. The proceeds of the sale of school lands shall be invested by the board of commissioners for the management and investment of school funds, in the bonds or other interest paying securities of this State or of the United States, at the current market price thereof at the time of making such in

vestment.

SEC. 21. At the next general election to be held in the State on the Tuesday after the first Monday of November, A. D. 1864, a vote of the people shall be taken for and against the sale of the school lands, as provided for in this act.

SEC. 22. Each elector shall express his assent or dissent to the sale of the school lands by voting a written or printed ballot labeled "For the sale of the school land," or "Against the sale of the school land."

SEC. 23. Such votes shall be canvassed as the vote for State officers, and if, upon the canvass of such vote, a majority of all such votes cast shall be for the sale of the school lands, this act shall be in force from and after such canvass, but may be amended by any subsequent Legislature; and the Governor shall issue his proclamation declaring such result, and after the date of such proclamation, said lands shall be subject to sale as is provided for by the terms of this act.

SEC. 24. This act to be in force and take effect from and after its publication in the statute.

Approved, February 22, 1864.

THOMAS CARNEY,

Governor.

CHAPTER CIII.

COLLECTION OF MONEY DUE SCHOOL FUND.

AN ACT to provide for the collection of money due the school fund. WHEREAS, lands were donated to the Territory of Kansas, for the use of schools in said Territory and the State to be erected out of the same, by the thirty-fourth section of the organic act of the Territory of Kansas; and whereas, by a law of the Territory of Kansas, some portions of said lands were sold for the purposes contemplated by said thirty-fourth section of said organic act; and whereas, the proceeds of said sales have been loaned out under the said law of said Territory, and said law was afterwards repealed, and no officer is now authorized by law to receive or take charge of the said funds; therefore,

Treasurer.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Kansas: SECTION 1. That it shall be the duty of the County Treasu- Duties of County rers of the several counties to collect, receive and take charge of, and pay over to the Treasurer of State, all money that may be due to the school fund of the late Territory of Kansas, or any county or township of the State of Kansas or of the late Territory of Kansas, arising from the sale of sections No. sixteen and thirty-six, or any other school lands sold under any law of the late Territory of Kansas; and, for the purposes aforesaid, the said County Treasurers of the several counties of this State are hereby authorized to sue for and collect, by civil action, in their official capacity, any of the moneys aforesaid that any person or corporation may hold and refuse to pay 'over, after reasonable notice and demand for that purpose; and it shall be the duty of the attorney of the county or district, when required by any County Treasurer, to prosecute the said suits: Provided, when in any case said school moneys aforesaid have been loaned on good security, and the security remains good, so as to prevent any loss of the same, the said treasurer may permit said parties to hold said moneys by paying the interest semi-annually, at a rate not less than seven per cent. per annum, and renewing the security as often as the safety of said money requires.