1879, March 3, ch. 187. Repeal. First. A salary at the rate of four thousand dollars per annum. Second. Fifteen dollars for each one hundred vouchers or at that rate for a fraction of one hundred prepared and paid by any agent in excess of four thousand vouchers per annum. Third. Actual and necessary expenses for rent, fuel, and lights, and for postage on official matter directed to the departments and bureaus at Washington, to be approved by the Secretary of the Interior. [Par. 3.] And all acts and parts of acts inconsistent with this act are hereby repealed. [June 14, 1878.] CHAPTER 189. AN ACT FOR THE RELIEF OF SETTLERS ON THE PUBLIC LANDS UNDER THE PRE-EMP- June 14, 1878. 20 Stat. L., 113. Settlers on pub- Be it enacted, &c., That any person who has made a settlement on the lic lands changing public lands under the pre-emption laws, and has subsequent to such entries from preemption to home- settlement changed his filing in pursuance of law to that for a homestead; when may stead entry upon the same tract of land shall be entitled subject to all perfect title. the provisions of law relating to homesteads to have the time required R. S., §§ 2259, to perfect his title under the homestead laws computed from the date of 1877, March 3, his original settlement heretofore made, or hereafter to be made, under ch. 123. the pre-emption laws. [June 14, 1878.] Settlers on public lands changing entries from pre-emption to homestead; when may perfect title. 2291. 1878, May 27, ch. 140. CHAPTER 190. June 14, 1878. 20 Stat. L., 113. Persons planting AN ACT TO AMEND AN ACT ENTITLED "AN ACT TO ENCOURAGE THE GROWTH OF TIM- That the act entitled "An act to amend the act entitled 'An act to and protecting encourage the growth of timber on Western Prairies"", approved March timber eight years, thirteenth, eighteen hundred and seventy-four, be and the same is hereby &c., on public land entitled to amended so as to read as follows: [SECTION 1], That any person who is the head of a family, or who has arrived at the age of twenty-one years, and is a citizen of the United States, or who shall have filed his declaration of intention to become such, as required by the naturalization laws of the United States, who shall plant, protect, and keep in a healthy, growing condition for eight years ten acres of timber, on any quarter-section of any of the public lands of the United States, or five acres on any legal subdivision of eighty acres, or two and one half acres on any legal subdivision of forty acres or less, shall be entitled to a patent for the whole of said quarter-section, or of such legal subdivision of eighty or forty acres, or fractional subdivision of less than forty acres, as the case may be, at the expiration of said eight years, on making proof of such fact by not less than two credible witnesses, and a full compliance of the further conditions as provided in section two: - but only a quar Provided further, That not more than one quarter of any section shall be thus granted, and that no person shall make more than one entry ter-section, and only one entry by under the provisions of this act. same person. Entries; how SEC 2. That the person applying for the benefits of this act shall, upon application to the register of the land district in which he or she is about to make such entry, make affidavit, before the register or the receiver, or the clerk of some court of record, or officer authorized to administer oaths in the district where the land is situated; which affidavit shall be as follows, to wit: I, having filed my application, number, for an entry under the provisions of an act entitled "An act to amend an act entitled 'An act to encourage the growth of timber on the Western prairies"" approved 187-, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I am the head of a family (or over twenty-one years of age), and a citizen of the United States (or have declared my intention to become such); that the section of land specified in my said application is composed exclusively of prairie lands, or other lands devoid of timber; that this filing and entry is made for the cultivation of timber, and for my own exclusive use and benefit; that I have made the said application in good faith, and not for the purpose of speculation, or directly or indirectly for the use or benefit of any other person or persons whomsoever; that I intend to hold and cultivate the land, and to fully comply with the provisions of this said act; and that I have not heretofore made an entry under this act, or the acts of which this is amendatory. made. And upon filing said affidavit with said register and said receiver and payments. on payment of ten dollars, if the tract applied for is more than eighty acres; and five dollars if it is eighty acres or less, he or she shall thereupon be permitted to enter the quantity of land specified; And the party making an entry of a quarter-section under the provis ions of this act shall be required to break or plow five acres covered thereby the first year, five acres the second year, and to cultivate to crop or otherwise the five acres broken or plowed the first year; the third year he or she shall cultivate to crop or otherwise the five acres broken the second year, and to plant in timber, seeds, or cuttings the five acres first broken or plowed, and to cultivate and put in crop or otherwise the remaining five acres, and the fourth year to plant in timber, seeds, or cuttings the remaining five acres. All entries of less quantity than one quarter-section shall be plowed, planted, cultivated and planted to trees, tree-seeds, or cuttings, in the same manner and in the same proportion as herein before provided for a quarter-section. Provided, however, That in case such trees, seeds, or cuttings shall be destroyed by grasshoppers, or by extreme and unusual drouth, for any year or term of years, the time for planting such trees, seeds, or cuttings shall be extended one year for every such year that they are so destroyed: Provided further, That the person making such entry shall, before he or she shall be entitled to such extension of time, file with the register and the receiver of the proper land-office an affidavit, corroborated by two witnesses, setting forth the destruction of such trees, and that, in consequence of such destruction, he or she is compelled to ask an extension of time, in accordance with the provisions of this act: Parties required to break and plant certain number of acres. may have further time when cuttings are destroyed. 1876, May 20, ch. 102. 63. 1879, July 1, ch. Patent, &c., not And provided further, That no final certificate shall be given, or patent issued, for the land so entered until the expiration of eight years from to issue until eight the date of such entry; years. And if, at the expiration of such time, or at any time within five years Proceedings in thereafter, the person making such entry, or, if he or she be dead, his case of death of or her heirs or legal representatives, shall prove by two credible wit- party for benefit of heirs, &c. nesses that he or she or they have planted, and, for not less than eight years, have cultivated and protected such quantity and character of trees as aforesaid; that not less than twenty-seven hundred trees were planted on each acre and that at the time of making such proof that there shall be then growing at least six hundred and seventy-five living and thrifty trees to each acre, they shall receive a patent for such tract of land. Failing to culti SEC 3. That if at any time after the filing of said affidavit, and prior vate and protect, to the issuing of the patent for said land, the claimant shall fail to comor to comply with act, renders land ply with any of the requirements of this act, then and in that event subject to entry such land shall be subject to entry under the homestead laws, or by under homestead some other person under the provisions of this act. laws, &c. Lands not liable to debts previously contracted. make rules. Fees of registers 1857, ch. 116, § 5 (12 Stat. L., 250). R. S., § 5392. Entries under R. S., 2317, 2464-2468. Provided, That the party making claim to said land, either as a homestead-settler, or under this act, shall give at the time of filing his appli cation, such notice to the original claimant as shall be prescribed by the rules established by the Commissioner of the General Land Office; and the rights of the parties shall be determined as in other contested cases. SEC 4. That no land acquired under the provisions of this act shall, in any event, become liable to the satisfaction of any debt or debts contracted prior to the issuing of the final certificate therefor. SEC 5. That the Commissioner of the General Land Office is hereby required to prepare and issue such rules and regulations, consistent with this act, as shall be necessary and proper to carry its provisions into effect; And that the registers and receivers of the several land-offices shall each be entitled to receive two dollars at the time of entry, and the like sum when the claim is finally established and the final certificate issued. SEC 6. That the fifth section(1) of the act entitled "An act in addition to an act to punish crimes against the United States, and for other purposes", approved March third, eighteen hundred and fifty-seven, shall extend to all oaths, affirmations, and affidavits required or authorized by this act. SEC 7. That parties who have already made entries under the acts former acts may approved March third, eighteen hundred and seventy-three, (2) and be completed. March thirteenth, eighteen hundred and seventy-four, of which this is amendatory shall be permitted to complete the same upon full compliance with the provisions of this act; that is, they shall, at the time of making their final proof, have had under cultivation, as required by this act, an amount of timber sufficient to make the number of acres required by this act. 1873, ch. 277 (17 Stat. L., 277). 1874, March 13, ch. 55. Repeal. SEC 8. All acts and parts of acts in conflict with this act are hereby repealed. [June 14, 1878.] NOTES.-(1) The section here referred to, 1857, ch. 116, § 5 (11 Stat. L.. 250), appears not to have been incorporated into Revised Statutes, but R. S., § 5392, may perhaps cover all the cases to which this omitted section applied. (2) The act of 1873, ch. 277, is incorporated into the Revised Statutes in the sections noted in the margin June 14, 1878. 20 Stat. L., 130. Secretary of port estimate for CHAPTER 191. AN ACT MAKING APPROPRIATIONS TO SUPPLY DEFICIENCIES IN THE APPROPRIATIONS SECTION 4. Secretary of Treasury not to report estimate Accounting officers to examine claims under Be it enacted, &c. * SECTION 4. Amounts found due to be reported to Congress. Accounts not to be reopened, except, &c. SEC. 4. That so much of section five of the act approved June twenTreasury not to re-tieth, eighteen hundred and seventy-four, as directs the Secretary of the reappropriations. Treasury at the beginning of each session to report to Congress with his 1874, June 20, ch. annual estimates any balances of appropriations for specific objects af328, § 5. fected by said section that may need to be reappropriated, be, and hereby is, repealed. Accounting offi- And it shall be the duty of the several accounting-officers of the cers to examine Treasury to continue to receive, examine, and consider the justice and claims under certain exhausted, validity of all claims under appropriatious the balances of which have &c., appropria- been exhausted or carried to the surplus fund under the provisions of said tions, &c. section that may be brought before them within a period of five years. Amounts found And the Secretary of the Treasury shall report the amount due each claimant, at the commencement of each session, to the Speaker of the due to be reported to Congress. House of Representatives, who shall lay the same before Congress for consideration: R. S., § 3669. Provided, That nothing in this act shall be construed to authorize the Accounts not to re-examination and payment of any claim or account which has been be reopened, exonce examined and rejected, unless reopened in accordance with exist- cept, &c. ing law. [June 14, 1878.] CHAPTER 193. AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION FORTY-ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-SEVEN OF THE RE Foreign relations; laws extended to Tripoli, Tunis, Laws extended to other countries with which like Be it enacted, &c., That section forty-one hundred and twenty-seven of the Revised Statutes of the United States be, and the same is hereby, amended so that it shall hereafter read as follows: June 14, 1878. 20 Stat. L., 131. Foreign relaa to Tripoli, Tunis, tions; laws extend Morocco, Muscat, and Navigator Islands. Substitute for R. S., § 4127. Consuls therein SEC 4127. The provisions of this title, so far as the same are in conformity with the stipulations in the existing treaties between the United States and Tripoli, Tunis, Morocco, Muscat, and the Samoan or Navigator Islands, respectively, shall extend to those countries, and shall be executed in conformity with the provisions of the treaties and of the provisions of this title by the consuls appointed by the United States to reside therein, who are hereby ex officio invested with the powers herein invested with cerdelegated to the ministers and consuls of the United States appointed tain judicial powto reside in the countries named in section four thousand and eighty- R. S., §§ 4083, three, so far as the same can be exercised under the provisions of trea- 4127. ties between the United States and the several countries mentioned in this section, and in accordance with the usages of the countries in their intercourse with the Franks or other foreign Christian nations. ers. And whenever the United States shall negotiate a treaty with any Laws extended foreign government, in which the American consul-general or consul to other countries shall be clothed with judicial authority, and securing the right of trial with which like treaties may be to American citizens residing therein before such consul-general or con- hereafter made, sul, and containing provisions similar to or like those contained in the &c. treaties with the governments named in this act, then said title, so far as the same may be applicable, shall have full force in reference to said treaty, and shall extend to the country of the government negotiating the same. [June 14, 1878.] 1874, March 23, ch. 62. CHAPTER 194. AN ACT TO AUTHORIZE THE COMMISSIONERS OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA TO June 14, 1878. 20 Stat. L., 131. Commissioners tions relative to [SECTION 1], That the Commissioners of the District of Columbia be, and they hereby are, authorized and directed to make and enforce such to make regularules and regulations relative to the sale of coal in the District of Columbia as shall insure full weight to purchasers of coal; sale of coal in Dis trict of Columbia. R. S., §§ 3711-3713. -and building regulations. Effect of regulations. Also, such building regulations for the said District as they may deem advisable. SEC. 2. That such rules and regulations made as above provided shall have the same force and effect within the District of Columbia as if enacted by Congress. [June 14, 1878.] CHAPTER 196. AN ACT TO PROVIDE FOR THE APPOINTMENT OF A DISTRICT JUDGE FOR THE WEST- [SECTION 1], That there shall be appointed by the President of the United States, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, a district judge for the western district of Tennessee, who shall, from and after the time of his appointment, hold the terms of the United States district court in said district at the times and places required by law. SEC. 2. Said district judge shall be paid the same salary and in the same manner as the judge of the middle and eastern districts of Tennessee, and shall exercise all the circuit and district court power and jurisdiction now conferred on said judge and said court. SEC. 3. The present district judge of said State shall be and remain the district judge of the United States for the middle and eastern districts thereof, as if originally appointed thereto. SEC. 4. That all laws or parts of laws in conflict with this act be, and the same are hereby repealed [June 14, 1878.] June 15, 1878. 20 Stat. L., 133. Lands with Railroad restored CHAPTER 211. AN ACT TO RESTORE CERTAIN LANDS IN IOWA TO SETTLEMENT UNDER THE HOME- SECTION 1. Lands withdrawn for Mississippi and Missouri Be it enacted, &c. SECTION Settlers on; provisions for. 2. Not to include certain lands. [SECTION 1], That the Secretary of the Interior be, and he is hereby, drawn for Missis- directed to restore to settlement under the pre-emption and homestead sippi and Missouri law, by published notice, all vacant unappropriated lands heretofore to settlement un- withdrawn for the Mississippi and Missouri Railroad, in the State of der homestead and Iowa, situated more than twenty miles from the amended line of route pre-emption laws. as located under the act approved June second eighteen hundred and 1856, ch. 28 (11 sixty-four, entitled "An act to amend an act making a grant of land to Stat. L., 9). 1864, ch. 103 (13 the State of Iowa in alternate sections to aid in the construction of certain railroads in said State", approved May fifteenth, eighteen hundred and fifty-six: Stat. L., 95). Provided, That all actual settlers now residing on said lands shall be permitted to enter not exceeding one hundred and sixty acres for each head of a family or single man over twenty-one years of age, embracing improvements, in preference to any other person, on making proof of such settlement in accordance with rules to be prescribed by the Secretary of the Interior: |