Sec.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That there shall be elected by joint vote of both houses of this General Assembly, two agents to go and remain upon the canal lands of this State, for the purpose of preventing and detecting all persons who have or may trespass upon said lands, and of instituting and attending to the prosecution of suits for the same.2

Sec. 2. The said agent shall visit every person residing upon, or cultivating any part of the canal lands, and upon the execution of a bond by any such person, as hereinafter required, any one of the agents is hereby authorized to deliver to such person a written permit to remain upon the land, or to continue to cultivate the same, until the said land is advertized for sale by the State, free from any charge of rent, and to use for fuel, only the timber and wood lying upon the ground, Provided, That said permit shall not extend to authorize any person to use wood off of more than six hundred and forty acres of timbered land; and no person shall be permitted to enclose or cultivate any timbered land, nor to cultivate more than six hundred and forty acres of prairie land.

Sec. 3. Persons who reside upon their own land, and cultivate canal lands, shall be considered as coming within the provisions of this act; but no such person shall be allowed to use wood, lying or being upon canal lands.

Sec. 4. Every person to whom a permit is given as aforesaid, shall execute a bond to the State of Illinois, with one or more responsible persons as securities, in the penalty of five hundred dollars, conditioned as follows:

“The condition of this bond is such, that whereas the State of Illinois has given to the said a permit to (here State the substance of the permit,) now if the said shall well and truly comply with the terms of said permit and the provisions of the law under which the same was given, then this bond to be void, otherwise to remain in full force and effect.

Sec. 5. The obligees of any bond executed as aforesaid, shall be considered as bound, first, that the person to whom the permit is given, will not use any timber, or tree of any description, standing or growing upon canal lands, for any purpose whatever; second, that he will not use for fuel, any timber or wood of any description, situated upon any canal lands, except that described in the permit; third, that he will not permit any person to use or take any tree, timber or wood off of the land described in the permit; fourth, that he will surrender the possession of the lands described in the permit, to the agent of the State, together with all improvements thereon, whenever said lands shall be advertized for sale; fifth, that he will not sell or transfer his right of possession, nor rent or lease the same for a longer time than one year; sixth, that in case of a violation or breach of any condition upon which the permit is given, that the agent of the State shall have the right to take possession of the premises, with all improvements thereon.

Sec. 6. If any person shall after this act takes effect,

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cut, fell, box, bore, injure or destroy, any tree or sapling of any description whatever, standing or growing upon any land described in any permit, hereby authorized to be given, he or she shall be liable to pay for every tree or sapling so cut, felled, boxed, bored, injured or destroyed, any sum not less than five dollars, nor more than twenty dollars,3 which may be recovored by action of debt in favor of the person to whom the permit is given, before any Justice of the Peace or Circuit Court having jurisdiction of the amount claimed; and the recovery shall be for the use of the person, in whose name the suit is instituted.

Sec. 7. If any person shall after this act takes effect, purchase, receive, or use any tree, sapling or timber, or wood of any description, which shall have been taken off of, or from any canal land described in any permit aforesaid, such person shall be liable to pay at the rate of twenty dollars for every such tree or sapling, and one dollar per foot in length of every piece of timber, and twenty dollars per cord for wood, to be recovered by the person to whom the permit is given, in an action of assumpsit or debt, before any Justice of the Peace or Circuit Court having jurisdiction of the amount.

Sec. 8. If any person to whom a permit shall be given, as aforesaid, shall violate the provisions of this act, by cutting, taking, receiving, purchasing or using any tree, sapling, timber or wood, or shall in any manner whatsoever, violate or fail to comply with the provisions of the law, such person shall be liable to an action upon his or her bond, and shall also forfeit all right and claim to the possession allowed him or her by the permit, and to all the improvements upon the premises; and a certificate of the fact of such forfeiture, made by the canal commissioners, under the seal of the board, shall be sufficient to authorize any sheriff to remove any person off of, and from any canal lands; and sheriffs are hereby requested to act upon the said certificates, and call to their aid the power of the county, when necessary to remove any person as aforesaid.

Sec. 9. If any person, except those to whom pursuits may be given, shall hereafter, cut, fell, bore, box, injure or destroy any tree or sapling, of any description, standing or growing upon canal lands, he or she so offending, shall be liable to pay any sum not less than five, nor more than twenty dollars,4 for every such tree or sapling so cut, felled, boxed, bored, injured or destroyed, to be recovered by action of debt, in the name of the State of Illinois, before any Justice of the Peace or Circuit Court having jurisdiction of the amount, Provided, That when the injury or trespass shall be committed upon any land described in any

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permit, a recovery in behalf of the State, shall bar any subsequent recovery in behalf of the person to whom the permit was given; and a recovery in behalf of such person, with satisfaction of the amount, by actual payment of the money recovered, shall be a bar to any subsequent recovery in behalf of the State; and the provisions of this section shall apply to third persons, who employ persons, who commit any injury or trespass herein prohibited.

Sec. 10. If any person shall hereafter purchase, receive, or use any tree, timber or wood of any description, or any sapling which may have been taken or removed from any canal lands, he or she shall be liable to pay for every tree or sapling so purchased, received, or used, the sum of twenty dollars; and for every foot in length of any piece of timber so purchased, received or used, the sum of one dollar, and for wood, at the rate of twenty dollars per cord, to be recovered by action of assumpsit or debt, in the name of the State, in any court, or before any Justice of the Peace, having jurisdiction of the amount claimed, Provided, That when a judgment shall have been recovered under the provisions of this section, in favor of the State, such recovery shall operate as a bar to a future recovery, in the name of any person to whom a permit may have been given, and Provided, also, That a recovery, and actual payment of the money recovered, in behalf of any person authorized to sue for the same, shall be a bar to any subsequent recovery in behalf of the State.

Sec. 11. The circuit courts of every county in the State are hereby vested with jurisdiction, to hear and determine all causes and actions instituted in behalf of the State, under the provisions of this act; and the clerks of said courts are hereby required to issue process and subpoenas for witnesses, directed to any county in the State, and such process shall be executed and obeyed, as other process.

Sec. 12. If any sheriff, or other officer, shall fail to execute and return any process, issued under the provisions of this act, he shall be liable to be proceeded against by attachment, and no rule to show cause shall be necessary to authorize the issuing of any such attachment, but the same shall be issued on the application of the agent or attorney of the State, and be returnable as early as practicable; and unless the sheriff, or other officer, can show a legal excuse for the failure to execute or return the process, he shall be liable to be fined in any sum not exceeding five hundred dollars, and to pay all costs of the proceeding against him; he shall moreover be liable to an action upon his bond for damages, as for other violation or neglect of duty.

Sec. 13. The canal lands shall be considered as inclu-

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ding all lands which have been, or may hereafter be granted to the State of Illinois, by the Uinted States, to aid the State in the construction of a canal to unite the waters of the Illinois river with those of Lake Michigan;5 and the certificate of any canal commissioner, that any lot or parcel of land is included or embraced in any such grant, shall be evidence of the existence of the grant, and of the right of the State to the land.

Sec. 14. It shall be the duty of the agents of the State, appointed as aforesaid, to cause the provisions of this act to be enforced, and to institute and prosecute all suits and actions necessary and proper to enforce the same; and it shall also be the duty of every canal commissioner, engineer, and all other persons employed by the State to give information to the said agents of all and every violation of the provisions of this act.

Sec. 15. The Governor shall cause this act to be published in all the newspapers printed in Chicago, Ottawa, Peoria, and Galena; and shall issue a proclamation to be published in the papers aforesaid, declaring the time when the same shall take effect.

Sec. 16. Persons who obtain permits from the agents of the State, under the provisions of this act, and who execute bonds as herein required, shall be, and are hereby released from all penalties incurred by them for violating the provisions of the law, in relation to trespassing upon canal lands.

Sec. 17. Each agent elected as aforesaid, shall be entitled to three dollars per day for every day employed, to be paid out of the canal fund.6

Sec. 18. Any one or more of said agents shall be discharged by the Governor, whenever the Canal Commissioners shall inform him that their services are no longer essential to the interest of the State.

Sec. 19. The bonds taken by the agents, as herein required, shall be delivered over to the board of canal commissioners, and by them kept and preserved.

Approved 4th March, 1837.7