296

LAWS OF MARYLAND.

land is hereby given to the purchase by the United
States Government of a lot or parcel of ground and
buildings in the city of Baltimore for the purposes
of a United States post-office, and for the extension
of the Custom house, and the purchase of a lot for
a Court House for the United States Courts.

Jurisdiction
ceded.

SEC. 2. And be it enacted, That jurisdiction over
the same parcels of ground after the same shall have
been lawfully conveyed to the said United States Gov-
ernment, be and it is hereby ceded to the United
States Government, reserving, nevertheless, to the
State of Maryland concurrent jurisdiction over the
said lot or parcel of ground so far as may be neces-
sary to authorise the service thereon of process is-
sued to any court or officer of the said State, and
the punishment by said State of crimes thereon com-
mitted.

In force.

SEC. 3. And be it enacted, That this act shall
take effect from and after the date of its passage.

CHAPTER 177.

Passed March
6, 1856.

AN ACT to provide and employ a special police
force in Kent county, by the county commission-
ers, to guard the county, arrest and secure all ab-
sconding slaves and suspicious persons, or persons
aiding, assisting or enticing slaves to abscond, to
arrest persons committing felony or misdemeanor,
or in possession of stolen property, to disperse dis-
orderly or tumultuous meetings of negroes, to seize
guns illegally held, and to provide a compensation ;
also, a reward to all persons who may arrest and
secure a runaway slave, &c.

Preamble.

WHEREAS, the numerous instances during the last
year, of the absconding of slaves from Kent coun-
ty, from the service of their owners to other States,
where it has been found impracticable to discover
and reclaim them, has produced considerable sen-
sation in the public mind, and induced a large