regulations to be fixed by him, to permit the use of the right of way through the public lands of the United States, not within the limits of any park, forest, military or Indian reservation, for tramroads, canals, or reservoirs to the extent of the ground occupied by the water of the canals and reservoirs and fifty feet on each side of the marginal limits thereof; or fifty feet on each side of the center of the tramroad, by any citizen or any association of citizens of the United States engaged in the business of mining or quarrying or of cutting timber and manufacturing lumber.

Approved, January 21, 1895. (28 Stat., 635.)

[No. 62.]

ABANDONED MILITARY RESERVATIONS-EXTENDING PROVISIONS OF THE ACT OF AUGUST 23, 1894.

AN ACT to amend and extend the provisions of an act entitled "An act to provide for the opening of certain abandoned military reservations, and for other purposes," approved August twenty-third, eighteen hundred and ninety-four.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the provisions of the act approved August twenty-third, eighteen hundred and ninety-four, entitled "An act to provide for the opening of certain abandoned military reservations, and for other purposes," are hereby extended to all abandoned military reservations which were placed under the control of the Secretary of the Interior under any law in force prior to the act of July fifth, eighteen hundred and eighty-four.

SEC. 2. That the preference right of entry given to actual settlers by the terms of the act to which this is an amendment shall, so far as the lands to which the provisions of said act are extended, take effect and continue for six months from the date of this amendatory act.

Approved, February 15, 1895. (28 Stat., 664.)

[No. 63.]

SALE OF ISOLATED OR DISCONNECTED TRACTS.

AN ACT to amend section twenty-four hundred and fifty-five of the Revised Statutes of the United States.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That section twenty-four hundred and fifty-five of the Revised Statutes of the United States be, and the same is hereby, amended so as to read as follows:

"SEC. 2455. It shall be lawful for the Commissioner of the General Land Office to order into market and sell for not less than one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre any isolated or disconnected tract or parcel of the public domain less than one quarter section which in his judgment it would be proper to expose to sale after at least thirty days' notice by the land officers of the district in which such lands may be situated: Provided, That lands shall not become so isolated or disconnected until the same have been subject to homestead entry for a

period of three years after the surrounding land has been entered, filed upon, or sold by the Government: Provided, That not more than one hundred and sixty acres shall be sold to any one person." Approved, February 26, 1895. (28 Stat., 687.)

[No. 64.]

GRANTING CHIEF JUSTICE OF UNITED STATES COURTS IN TERRITO RIES POWER TO APPOINT COMMISSIONERS TO TAKE PROOF IN LAND CASES.

AN ACT granting chief justice of United States courts in Territories power to appoint commissioners to take proof in land cases, and so forth.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the chief justice of the court exercising Federal jurisdiction in the Territories shall have power to appoint commissioners in the several judicial districts, to be known when appointed as United States court commissioners.

SEC. 2. That said commissioners shall have power, and it shall be their duty on application by proper person, to administer the oaths in preliminary affidavits and final proofs required under the homestead, preemption, timber culture, and desert-land laws in their respective districts, in like manner as provided for in reference to United States circuit court commissioners, in the act of May twenty-sixth, eighteen hundred and ninety. Twenty-sixth Statutes at Large, page one hundred and twenty-one.

SEC. 3. That no commissioner shall be appointed who resides within thirty miles of any local land office, nor shall any commissioner be appointed who resides within thirty miles of any other commissioner. SEC. 4. That this Act shall take effect from its passage. Approved, March 2, 1895. (28 Stat., 744.)

[No. 65.]

EXTENSION OF TIME TO SETTLERS.

AN ACT making appropriations for current and contingent expenses of the Indian Department and fulfilling treaty stipulations with various Indian tribes for the fiscal year ending June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and ninety-six, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

*

*

That the homestead settlers on the Absentee Shawnee, Pottawatomie, and Cheyenne and Arapahoe Indian lands in Oklahoma Territory be, and they are hereby, granted an extension of one year within which to make the first payment provided for in section sixteen of the act of Congress approved March third, eighteen hundred and ninety-one, entitled "An act making appropriations for the current and contingent expenses of the Indian Department and for fulfilling treaty stipulations

with various Indian tribes for the year ending June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and ninety-two, and for other purposes," and such payment may be made at any time within five years from the date of the entry of such lands. And that the like extension of one year on the first payment required to be made, when payable in installments, is hereby granted to all homestead settlers on and purchasers of all ceded Indian reservations in the States of North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Montana, and Idaho.

*

Approved, March 2, 1895. (28 Stat., 901.)

[No. 66.]

AMENDMENT OF SECTION 4, ACT OF MARCH 3, 1887, IN REGARD TO PRICE OF LAND PURCHASED THEREUNDER.

CHAP. 18.-AN ACT to amend section four of an act to provide for the adjustment of land grants made by Congress to aid in the construction of railroads and for the forfeiture of unearned lands, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That section four of an act entitled "An act to provide for the adjustment of land grants made by Congress to aid in the construction of railroads and for the forfeiture of unearned lands, and for other purposes," approved March third, eighteen hundred and eighty-seven, be, and the same is hereby, amended by adding thereto the following proviso: "Provided further, That where such purchasers, their heirs or assigns, have paid only a portion of the purchase price to the company, which is less than the Government price of similar lands, they shall be required, before the delivery of patent for their lands, to pay to the Government a sum equal to the difference between the portion of the purchase price so paid and the Government price, and in such case the amount demanded from the company shall be the amount paid to it by such purchaser."

Approved, February 12, 1896. (29 Stat., 6.)

[No. 67.]

EXTENSION OF TIME TO BRING SUITS TO VACATE AND ANNUL LAND PATENTS, ISSUED UNDER RAILROAD OR WAGON ROAD GRANTS.

CHAP. 39.-AN ACT to provide for the extension of the time within which suits may be brought to vacate and annul land patents, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That suits by the United States to vacate and annul any patent to lands heretofore erroneously issued under a railroad or wagon road grant shall only be brought within five years from the passage of this act, and suits to vacate and annul patents hereafter issued shall only be brought within six years after the date of the issuance of such patents, and the limitation of section eight of chapter five hundred and sixty-one of the acts of the second

session of the Fifty-first Congress and amendments thereto is extended accordingly as to the patents herein referred to. But no patent to any lands held by a bona fide purchaser shall be vacated or annulled, but the right and title of such purchaser is hereby confirmed: Provided, That no suit shall be brought or maintained, nor shall recovery be had for lands or the value thereof, that were certified or patented in lieu of other lands covered by a grant which were lost or relinquished by the grantee in consequence of the failure of the Government or its officers to withdraw the same from sale or entry.

SEC. 2. That if any person claiming to be a bona fide purchaser of any lands erroneously patented or certified shall present his claim to the Secretary of the Interior prior to the institution of a suit to cancel a patent or certification, and if it shall appear that he is a bona fide purchaser, the Secretary of the Interior shall request that suit be brought in such case against the patentee, or the corporation, company, person, or association of persons for whose benefit the certification was made, for the value of said land, which in no case shall be more than the minimum Government price thereof, and the title of such claimant shall stand confirmed. An adverse decision by the Secretary of the Interior on the bona fides of such claimant shall not be conclusive of his rights, and if such claimant, or one claiming to be a bona fide purchaser, but who has not submitted his claim to the Secretary of the Interior, is made a party to such suit, and if found by the court to be a bona fide purchaser, the court shall decree a confirmation of the title, and shall render a decree in behalf of the United States against the patentee, corporation, company, person, or association of persons for whose benefit the certification was made for the value of the land as hereinbefore provided. Any bona fide purchaser of lands patented or certified to a railroad company, and who is not made a party to such suit, and who has not submitted his claim to the Secretary of the Interior, may establish his right as such bona fide purchaser in any United States court having jurisdiction of the subject-matter, or at his option, as prescribed in sections three and four of chapter three hundred and seventy-six of the acts of the second session of the Forty-ninth Congress.

SEC. 3. That if at any time prior to the institution of suit by the Attorney-General to cancel any patent or certification of lands erroneously patented or certified a claim or statement is presented to the Secretary of the Interior by or on behalf of any person or persons, corporation or corporations, claiming that such person or persons, corporation or corporations, is a bona fide purchaser or are bona fide purchasers of any patented or certified land by deed or contract, or otherwise, from or through the original patentee or corporation to which patent or certification was issued, no suit or action shall be brought to cancel or annul the patent or certification for said land until such claim is investigated in said Department of the Interior; and if it shall appear that such person or corporation is a bona fide purchaser as aforesaid, or that such persons or corporations are such bona fide purchasers, then no such suit shall be instituted and the title of such claimant or claimants shall stand confirmed; but the Secretary of the Interior shall request that suit be brought in such case against the patentee, or the corporation, company, person, or association of persons for whose benefit the patent was issued or certification was made for the value of the land as hereinbefore specified.

Approved, March 2, 1896. (29 Stat., 42.)

3073—16

[No. 68.]

PRESENTING OF FINAL PROOFS, TIMBER-CULTURE CLAIMS.

CHAP. 40.-AN ACT relating to final proof in timber-culture entries. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That timber-culture claimants shall not be required, in making final proof, to appear at the land office to which proof is to be presented or before an officer designated by the act of May twenty-sixth, eighteen hundred and ninety, within the county in which the land is situated; but such claimant may have his or her personal evidence taken by a United States court commissioner or a clerk of any court of record under such rules and regulations as the Secretary of the Interior may prescribe.

Approved, March 4, 1896. (29 Stat.. 43.)

[No. 69.]

NEW ORLEANS PACIFIC RAILWAY COMPANY MAY RELINQUISH LANDS IN FAVOR OF SETTLERS, AND MAKE SELECTIONS IN LIEU THEREOF. CHAP. 98. AN ACT for the relief of settlers upon lands within the indemnity limits of the grant to the New Orleans Pacific Railway Company.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That authority be, and is hereby, given the New Orleans Pacific Railroad to relinquish any lands within the indemnity limits of its grant, which by decision of the Land Department of the Government has been awarded it, in favor of any settler entitled to the right of entry under the laws of the United States who has been allowed to make entry thereof, or who has resided upon and improved the same for five years, and to select in lieu thereof an equal quantity of other lands, from any of the public lands not mineral, and within the limits of its grant and not otherwise appropriated at the date of selection, to which it shall receive title the same as though originally granted.

Approved, April 14, 1896. (29 Stat., 91.)

[No. 70.]

CIRCUIT COURT COMMISSIONERS ABOLISHED AND OTHER COMMISSIONERS PROVIDED FOR, ETC.

CHAP. 252.-AN ACT making appropriations for the legislative, executive, and judicial expenses of the Government for the fiscal year ending June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and ninety-seven, and for other purposes.

SEC. 19. That the terms of office of all commissioners of the circuit courts heretofore appointed shall expire on the thirtieth day of June, eighteen hundred and ninety-seven; and such office shall on that day cease to exist, and said commissioners shall then deposit all the records and other official papers appertaining to their offices in the office of the clerk of the circuit court by which they were appointed. All proceedings pending, returnable, unexecuted, or unfinished at said date before any such commissioner shall be continued and disposed of according to law by such commissioner appointed as herein provided, as may be des