[No. 14.]

INJURY OR DESTRUCTION OF CROPS BY GRASSHOPPERS.

AN ACT for the relief of settlers on the public lands in districts subject to grasshopper incursions.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That it shall be lawful for homestead and preemption settlers on the public lands, and in all cases where preemptions are authorized by law, where crops have been or may be destroyed or seriously injured by grasshoppers, to leave and be absent from said lands under such rules and regulations, as to proof of the same, as the Commissioner of the General Land Office shall prescribe; but in no case shall such absence extend beyond one year continuously; and during such absence no adverse rights shall attach to said lands, such settlers being allowed to resume and perfect their settlement as though no such absence had occurred.

SEC. 2. That the time for making final proof and payment by preemptors whose crops shall have been destroyed or injured as aforesaid may, in the discretion of the Commissioner of the General Land Office, be extended for one year after the expiration of the term of absence provided for in the first section of this act; and all the rights and privileges extended by this act to homestead and preemption settlers shall apply to and include the settlers under an act entitled "An act to encourage the growth of timber on western prairies," approved March third, eighteen hundred and seventy-three, and the acts amendatory thereof.

Approved, July 1, 1879. (21 Stat., 48.)

INSTRUCTIONS.

The first section of the act of July 1, 1879, "for the relief of settlers on the public lands in districts subject to grasshopper incursions," provides that homestead and preemption settlers on public lands where crops have been destroyed or seriously injured by grasshoppers may leave and be absent from said lands for a period not to exceed one year continuously, under such rules and regulations as the Commissioner of the General Land Office shall prescribe, being allowed afterward to resume and perfect their settlement as though no such absence had occurred. The second section provides that the time for making final proof and payment by preemptors whose crops had been destroyed or injured as aforesaid may, at the discretion of the Commissioner, be extended for one year. (See supra.)

A settler desiring to take advantage of the provisions of this act should file with the register and receiver a written notice of intended absence, bearing his own signature, and embracing a statement that he had sustained loss or failure of his crops. This should be noted on the tract books for the protection of the claimant and the information of parties who might otherwise make settlement and attempt to obtain title.

Preemption settlers desiring the extension of time provided for in the second section of the act should apply therefor through the same officers, the application to be supported by the same character of proof, which should be made before the register or receiver of the district land office or before any officer using a seal and authorized to administer oaths.

Upon making final proof the settler having been absent under the first section should file his affidavit, with the affidavits of two or more witnesses, corroborative thereof, stating the particulars of the alleged destruction or serious injury of crops by grasshoppers.

The particulars given should be such as to admit of a decision whether the absence was justified by law or not, and should specifically show at what time the party left the land and when he resumed his settlement. The affidavits required in cases arising under this section of the act must be made at the same time and place and before the same officer taking the other proofs.

[No. 15.]

RELINQUISHMENTS CONTESTANT'S PREFERENCE-HOMESTEAD SET

TLEMENTS.

AN ACT for the relief of settlers on public lands.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That when a preemption, homestead, or timber-culture claimant shall file a written relinquishment of his claim in the local land office, the land covered by such claim shall be held as open to settlement and entry without further action on the part of the Commissioner of the General Land Office.

SEC. 2. In all cases where any person has contested, paid the landoffice fees, and procured the cancellation of any preemption, homestead, or timber-culture entry, he shall be notified by the register of the land office of the district in which such land is situated of such cancellation, and shall be allowed thirty days from date of such notice to enter said lands: Provided, That said register shall be entitled to a fee of one dollar for the giving of such notice, to be paid by the contestant, and not to be reported.

SEC. 3. That any settler who has settled, or who shall hereafter settle, on any of the public lands of the United States, whether surveyed or unsurveyed, with the intention of claiming the same under the homestead laws, shall be allowed the same time to file his homestead application and perfect his original entry in the United States Land Office as is now allowed to settlers under the preemption laws to put their claims on record, and his right shall relate back to the date of settlement the same as if he settled under the preemption laws. Approved, May 14, 1880. (21 Stat., 140.)

[No. 16.]

OSAGE TRUST AND DIMINISHED-RESERVE LANDS.

AN ACT for the relief of settlers upon the Osage trust and diminished-reserve land in Kansas, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That all actual settlers under existing laws upon the Osage Indian trust and diminished-reserve lands in Kansas (any failure to comply with such existing laws notwithstanding) shall be allowed sixty days after a day to be fixed by public notice

by advertisement in two newspapers in each of the proper land districts, which day shall not be later than ninety days after the passage of this act, within which to make proof of their claims, and to pay one-fourth the purchase price thereof, and the said parties shall pay the balance of said purchase price in three equal annual installments thereafter: Provided, That nothing herein contained shall be construed to prevent an earlier payment of the whole or any installment of said purchase money as aforesaid.

And if default be made by any settler in the payment of any portion or installment at the time it becomes due under the foregoing provisions, his entire claim, and any money he may have paid thereon, shall be forfeited, and the land shall, after proper notice, be offered for sale according to the terms hereinafter prescribed, unless before the day fixed for such offering the whole amount of purchase money shall be paid by said claimant, so as to entitle him to receive his patent for the tract embracing his claim.

SEC. 2. That all the said Indian lands remaining unsold and unappropriated, and not embraced in the claims provided for in section one of this act, shall be subject to disposal to actual settlers only, having the qualifications of preemptors on the public lands. Such settlers shall make due application to the register, with proof of settlement and qualifications as aforesaid; and, upon payment of not less than onefourth the purchase price, shall be permitted to enter not exceeding one quarter section each, the balance to be paid in three equal installments, with like penalties, liabilities, and restrictions as to default and forfeiture as provided in section one of this act.

SEC. 3. All lands upon which such default has continued for ninety days shall be placed upon a list, and the Secretary of the Interior shall cause the same to be duly proclaimed for sale in the manner prescribed for the offering of the public lands, but not exceeding one quarter section shall be sold to any one purchaser, at a price not less than the price fixed by law; but such lands, upon which such default shall be made, shall be offered for sale by advertisement of not less than thirty days in two newspapers in the proper land districts, respectively, and unless the purchase price be fully paid before the day named in the notice, shall be sold for cash to the highest bidder at not less than the price fixed by law. And all such lands, subject to unpaid overdue installments, shall be so offered once every year. And if any of said lands shall remain unsold after the offering as aforesaid, they shall be subject to private entry, for cash, in tracts not exceeding one quarter section by one purchaser.

SEC. 4. After the payment of the first installment as hereinafter provided for, such lands shall be subject to taxation according to the laws of the State of Kansas, as other lands are or may be in said State: Provided, That no sale of any such lands for taxes shall operate to deprive the United States of said lands, or any part of the purchaseprice thereof, but if default be made in any installment of the purchase-price as aforesaid, such tax-sale purchaser, or his or her legal representatives, may, upon the day fixed for the public sale, and after such default has become final, under the foregoing provisions, pay so much of said purchase price as may remain unpaid, and shall thereupon be entitled to receive a patent for the same as though he had made due settlement thereon: And provided further, That nothing in this act shall be so construed as to deprive or impair the right of the settler, of the right of redemption under the revenue laws of the State of Kansas.

SEC. 5. That the register and the receiver shall be allowed the same fees and commissions as are allowed by law for the disposal of the public lands, and the net proceeds of the sales and disposals, after deducting the expenses of such disposals, shall be deposited to the credit of the proper Indian fund, as provided by existing laws; and the Secretary of the Interior shall make all rules and regulations necessary to carry into effect the provisions of this act.

SEC. 6. That nothing in this act shall be construed to interfere in any manner with the operation of the town site laws as applicable to these lands: Provided, That all claims for entry under said statutes shall be proved up and fully paid for, before the day fixed for the commencement of the public sales provided for in section three of this act. SEC. 7. In all cases arising under this act interest at the rate of five per centum per annum shall be computed and paid upon all that part of the purchase-money in respect to which time is given for the payment of the same.

Approved, May 28, 1880. (21 Stat., 143.)

[No. 17.]

LOSS OR FAILURE OF CROPS FROM UNAVOIDABLE CAUSE IN 1879 OR 1880 IN KANSAS AND NEBRASKA.

AN ACT for the relief of certain homestead and pre-emption settlers in Kansas and Nebraska.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That it shall be lawful for homestead and preemption settlers on the public lands or preemption settlers upon Indian reservations in the States of Kansas and Nebraska west of the sixth principal meridian, where there has been a loss or failure of crops from unavoidable cause, in the year of eighteen hundred and seventy-nine or eighteen hundred and eighty, to leave and be absent from said lands until the first day of October, eighteen hundred and eighty-one, under such rules and regulations as to proof and notice as the Commissioner of the General Land Office may prescribe; and dur ing said absence no adverse rights shall attach to said lands, such settlers being allowed to resume and perfect their settlement as though no such absence had occurred.

SEC. 2. That the time for making final proof and payment by such preemptors is hereby extended for one year after the expiration of the term of absence provided for in the first section of this act; but in cases where the purchase money is by law payable in installments, the first unpaid installment shall be held not to be due until one year after the expiration of the leave of absence aforesaid.

Approved, June 4, 1880. (21 Stat., 543.)

INSTRUCTIONS.

The act of June 4, 1880, " for the relief of certain homestead and preemption settlers in Kansas and Nebraska," provided that preemption settlers on the public lands, or preemption settlers upon Indian reservations in the States of Kansas and Nebraska, west of the sixth principal

meridian, where there was a loss or failure of crops from unavoidable cause in the year 1879 or 1880, might leave and be absent from said lands until the 1st day of October, 1881, under such rules and regulations as to proof and notice as the Commissioner of the General Land Office might prescribe-such settlers being allowed to resume and perfect their settlements as though no such absence had occurred; and the time for making final proof and payment by such preemptors was extended for one year. In cases where the purchase money was by law payable in installments, the first unpaid installment was held not to be due until one year after the expiration of the leave of absence aforesaid. (See supra.)

The lands to which the provisions of this act applied were included within the land districts of Wichita, Salina, Concordia, Larned, Kirwin, Wa Keeney, Oberlin, and Garden City (all the districts except Topeka and Independence), in Kansas; and Niobrara, Lincoln, Grand Island, North Platte, Bloomington, Beatrice, Neligh, Valentine, and McCook (all the districts), in Nebraska. Land lying east of the one hundredth meridian in any one of these districts did not come within the provisions of this act.

This act, since it referred to a loss or failure of crops during only the years 1879 or 1880, is now obsolete; but any pending cases will be adjudicated under the original instructions, which were as follows:

a

This right of absence is not available in any case in which there has not been " loss or failure of crops from unavoidable cause in the year 1879 or 1880;" hence, when a settler not actually entitled to the benefits of this act absents himself from his claim, it will be liable to be regarded as an abandonment, and adverse claims may be recognized.

The settler desiring to leave his claim under this act should file with the register and receiver of the proper district land office a written notice of his intention to do so, bearing his signature, and embracing a statement that he has sustained a loss or failure of his crops in 1879 or 1880, this being necessary for his own protection and as notice due parties who might otherwise initiate claims to the land.

At date of final proof by any party who shall have availed himself of this act he must show by satisfactory proof the period of absence, and specific facts making appear the loss or failure of crops from unavoidable cause in 1879 or 1880, on account of which he was entitled to its benefits. The proof should consist of the party's own testimony, corroborated by that of two or more disinterested witnesses.

After a party shall have filed the notice of intended absence under this act, no contest involving his right to the land can be instituted prior to the expiration of the legal term of absence to which he is entitled. If the party should be fraudulently absent, it will be a matter of investigation in the regular manner thereafter. All notices filed will be duly entered on the records of the district office and reported with the final proof made in the case.

[No. 18.]

SETTLERS WHO BECOME INSANE.

AN ACT to provide for issuing patents for public lands claimed under the preemption and homestead laws, in cases where the settlers have become insane.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That in all cases in which parties who regularly initiated claims to public lands as settlers thereon according to the provisions of the preemption or homestead laws, have become insane or shall hereafter become insane before the expiration of the time during which their residence, cultivation, or improvement of the land claimed by them is required by law to be continued in order to entitle 3073-12