March 13, 1874. 18 Stat. L., 21. Persons planting and protecting for CHAPTER 55. AN ACT TO AMEND THE ACT ENTITLED "AN ACT TO ENCOURAGE THE GROWTH of SECTION 1. Persons planting and protecting for eight But only one quarter-section, and only one 2. How to make entry for benefit of act. Required to break and plant certain number In case of death of person after three years, Be it enacted, &c. [SECTION 1], (Sup.) [That the act entitled (2) "An act to encourage the growth of timber on western prairies," approved March third, eigheight years, timber teen hundred and seventy-three, be, and the same is hereby, amended on the public lands, entitled to patents. so as to read as follows: 2317, R. S., 2464-2468. 1876, May 20, ch. 102. 1877, Mar. 3, ch. 127. 1878, June 3, ch. 152; June 14, ch. 190. 89. 1880, May 14, ch. 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, forty acres of timber, the trees thereon not being more than twelve feet apart each way, on any quarter-section of any of the public lands of the United States, or twenty acres on any legal subdivision of eighty acres, or ten acres on any legal subdivision of forty acres, or one-fourth part of any fractional subdivision of land less than forty acres, 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: Provided, That not more than one-quarter of any section shall be thus quarter section, granted, and that no person shall make more than one entry under the to be made, except, provisions of this act, unless fractional subdivisions of less than forty acres are entered which, in the aggregate, shall not exceed one quartersection.] But only one and only one entry &c. How to make en try, for benefit of act. R. S., § 2465. Required to break and plant certain number of acres each year for three years. SEC. 2. (Sup.) [That the person applying for the benefit 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 some officer authorized to administer oaths in the district where the land is situated, who is required by law to use an official seal, that said entry is made for the cultivation of timber, and upon filing said affidavit with said register and said receiver, and on payment of ten dollars, 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 provisions of this act shall be required to break ten acres of the land covered thereby the first year, ten acres the second year, and twenty acres the third year after date of entry, and to plant ten acres of timber the second year, ten acres the third year, and twenty acres the fourth year after date of entry. A party making an entry of eighty acres shall break and plant at the times hereinbefore prescribed, one-half of the quantity required of a party who enters a quarter-section, and a party entering forty acres shall break and plant, at the times hereinbefore prescribed, one-quarter of the quantity required of a party who enters a quarter-section, or a proportionate quantity for any smaller fractional subdivision: Provided, however, That no final certificate shall be given or patent and patent, how issued for the land so entered until the expiration of eight years from Final certificate NOTES.-(1) This whole act seems to be superseded by act of 1878, June 14, ch. 190. (2) The act of 1873, ch. 227 (17 Stat. L., p. 605), is incorporated into Revised Statutes, in the sections noted in the margin. R. S., § 2466. the date of such entry; and, if at the expiration of such time, or at any issued after eight time within five years thereafter, the person making such entry, or if he years. or she be dead, his or her heirs or legal representatives shall prove, by two credible witnesses, that he, or she, or they have planted, and, for not less than eight years, have cultivated and protected such quantity and character of timber as aforesaid, they shall receive a patent for such quarter-section or legal subdivision of eighty or forty acres of land, or for any fractional quantity of less than forty acres, as herein provided. And in case of the death of a person who has complied with the provisions of this act for the period of three years, his heirs or legal representatives shall have the option to comply with the provisions of this act, and receive, at the expiration of eight years, a patent for one hundred and sixty acres, or receive without delay a patent for forty acres, relinquishing all claim to the remainder.] In case of death of person after three years, heirs to have option of 40 acres at once or 160 acres at end of eight years. Failing to cultivate and protect, or render same subabandoning land, ject to entry under 102. 1879, July 1, ch. SEC. 3. (Sup.) [That if at any time after the filing of said affidavit, and prior to the issuing of the patent for said land, the claimant shall abandon the land, or fail to do the breaking and planting required by this act, or any part thereof, or shall fail to cultivate, protect, and keep in good condition such timber, then, and in that event, such land shall homestead laws. be subject to entry under the homestead laws, or by some other person R. S., § 2467. under the provisions of this act: 1876, May 20, ch. Provided, That the party making claim to said land, either as a home- 1878, June 3, ch. stead settler or under this act, shall give, at the time of filing his appli- 152. June 14, ch. cation, such notice to the original claimant as shall be prescribed by the 190. rules established by the Commissioner of the General Land-Office, and 63, 2 the rights of the parties shall be determined as in other contested cases.] SEC. 4. (Sup.) [That each and every person who, under the provis ions of the act entitled (3) "An act to secure homesteads to actual settlers on the public domain," approved May twentieth, eighteen hundred homesteads public land, cultiand sixty-two, or any amendment thereto, having a homestead on said vating one acre of public domain, who at any time after the end of the third year of his timber for two or her residence thereon shall, in addition to the settlement and improve- years entitled to ments now required by law, have had under cultivation, for two years, one acre of timber, the trees thereon not being more than twelve feet apart each way, and in a good thrifty condition, for each and every sixteen acres of said homestead, shall, upon due proof of such fact by two credible witnesses receive his or her patent for said homestead.] SEC. 5. (Sup.) [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 certificate therefor.] Persons having patent. on R. S., § 22892290, 2300-2331. Lands not liable for debts contracted before issue of certificate. R. S., § 2468. R. S., § 453. SEC. 6. (Sup.) [That the Commissioner of the General Land-Office is hereby required to prepare and issue such rules and regulations, con- make rules. sistent with this act, as shall be necessary and proper to carry its provisions into effect; And that the registers and the receivers of the several land-offices shall each be entitled to receive two dollars at the time of entry, and the same sum when the claim is finally established and the final certificate issued.] SEC. 7. (Sup.) [That the (4) fifth section 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 fiftyseven, shall extend to all oaths, affirmations, and affidavits required or authorized by this act.] Fees of registers and receivers. R. S., § 2238. Perjury, how punished. 1857, ch. 116, § 5. R. S., 5392. completed. under SEC. 8. (Sup.) [That parties who have already made entries under Entries the act approved March third, eighteen hundred and seventy-three, of former act may be which this is amendatory, shall be permitted to complete the same upon full compliance with the provisions of this act.] [March 13, 1874.] NOTES.-(3) The act of 1862, ch. 75 (12 Stat. L., 392), is incorporated into Revised Statutes in the sections noted in the margin. (4) Section 5 of the act of 1857, ch. 166 (11 Stat. L., 250), here referred to, appears to have been omitted from the Revised Statutes, but R. S. § 5392 may perhaps cover the cases, in whole or in part, to which the omitted section applied. CHAPTER 57. March 18, 1874. 18 Stat. L., 23. Commissions of AN ACT TO PROVIDE FOR THE ISSUING AND RECORDING OF COMMISSIONS TO POST- Commissions of postmasters appointed by President; how to be made, sealed, and recorded. Be it enacted, &c., That hereafter the commissions of all postmasters postmasters ap- appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the pointed by Presi- Senate, shall be made out and recorded in the Post Office Department, dent; how to be made, sealed, and and shall be under the seal of said Department, and countersigned by the Postmaster General, any laws to the contrary notwithstanding: recorded. R. S., §§ 1794, 3830. Provided, That the said seal shall not be affixed to any such commission until after the same shall have been signed by the President of the United States. [March 18, 1874.] Jurisdiction of R. S., §§ 40834091, 4098-4121, 4125. CHAPTER 62. AN ACT TO AUTHORIZE THE PRESIDENT TO ACCEPT FOR CITIZENS OF THE UNITED SECTION 1. Jurisdiction of courts of Ottoman government SECTION 2. Law ceding right to foreigners to hold immovable property in Turkey may be accepted by President for citizens of United States. Proclamation. [SECTION 1], That whenever the President of the United States courts of Ottoman shall receive satisfactory information that the Ottoman government, government and or that of Egypt, has organized other tribunals on a basis likely to Egypt over citizens of United secure to citizens of the United States, in their dominions, the same States may be ac- impartial justice which they now enjoy there under the judicial funccepted, and that of tions exercised by the minister, consuls, and other functionaries of consularcourts sus- the United States, pursuant to the act of Congress approved the twentypended, by President. second of June, eighteen hundred and sixty, entitled (1) "An act to carry into effect provisions of the treaties between the United States, China, Persia, and other countries, giving certain judicial powers to ministers and consuls, or other functionaries of the United States in those countries, and for other purposes," he is hereby authorized to suspend the operations of said acts as to the dominions in which such tribunals may be organized, so far as the jurisdiction of said tribunals may embrace matters now cognizable by the minister, consuls, or other functionaries of the United States in said dominions, and to notify the government of the Sublime Porte, or that of Egypt, or either of them, that the United States, during such suspension will, as aforesaid accept for their citizens the jurisdiction of the tribunals aforesaid over citizens of the United States which has heretofore been exercised by the minister, consuls, or other functionaries of the United States. (2) 1878, June 14, ch. 193. See proclamation 1876, No. 3, pp. 625, 626. Law ceding right SEC. 2. That the President is hereby authorized for the benefit of to foreigners to American citizens residing in the Turkish dominions, to accept the hold immovable property in Tur- recent law of the Ottoman Porte ceding the right of foreigners possesskey may be accept- ing immovable property in said dominions. (3) [March 23, 1874.] ed by President for citizens of United States. See Procl. 1874, No. 10, p. 623. NOTES. (1) The provisions of the act of 1860, ch. 179 (12 Stat. L., 72), here referred to, are incorporated into Revised Statutes in the several sections noted in the margin. (2) The President issued his proclamation March 27, 1876, under this provision, suspending the jurisdiction of consular courts, as therein provided. See proclamation hereinafter printed, p. (3) The President issued his proclamation under this section October 29, 1874, accepting the law of the Ottoman Porte ceding the right of foreigners possessing immovable property in the Turkish dominions, which with the protocol and law are hereinafter printed, p. 623. CHAPTER 64. AN ACT TO AMEND THE ACT ENTITLED "AN ACT TO PREVENT THE EXTERMINATION DRED AND SEVENTY. Secretary of Treasury to designate months for taking seals on Saint Paul and Saint George Islands, and number on each. March 24, 1874. 18 Stat. L., 24. Sec'y of Treasu Be it enacted, &c., That the act entitled (1) "An act to prevent the extermination of fur-bearing animals in Alaska," approved July first, ry to designate eighteen hundred and seventy, is hereby amended so as to authorize the seals on Saint Paul months for taking Secretary of the Treasury, and he is hereby authorized, to designate and Saint George the months in which fur-seals may be taken for their skins on the islands Islands, and numof Saint Paul and Saint George, in Alaska, and in the waters adjacent ber on each. thereto, and the number to be taken on or about each island respect- R. S., §§ 1960ively. (2) [March 24, 1874.] NOTES. (1) The act of 1870, ch. 189 (16 Stat. L., 180), is incorporated into Revised Statutes in the sections referred to in the margin. (2) The Secretary of the Treasury designated, under this act, the months of June, July, August (from the first to the fifteenth of said month), September, and October, as those in which fur-seals might be taken, and the number to be not more than ninety thousand on Saint Paul Island, and not more than ten thousand on Saint George Island per annum, and the agreement with the lessees of those islands was modified accordingly March 25, 1874. 1972. CHAPTER 65. AN ACT TO ESTABLISH BONDED WAREHOUSES FOR THE STORING AND CLEANSING OF Bonded warehouses for storing, &c., imported rice; may be established at ports of entry. CHAPTER 70. AN ACT TO AMEND THE ACT ENTITLED "AN ACT TO WITHDRAW FROM SETTLEMENT Certain lands in Laramie County, Wyoming, reserved for city of Cheyenne for reservoir. March 26, 1874. 18 Stat. L., 25. Certain lands in Laramie County, Wyoming, reserv "Be it enacted, &c., That the north half and the southeast quarter of sec-ed for city of tion thirty, in township fourteen north, of range sixty-six west, of the Cheyenne for respublic lands in Laramie County, Wyoming Territory, be, and the same ervoir. is hereby, withdrawn from settlement and sale under existing laws, and 1872, ch. 204, § 1 reserved for the use of the city of Cheyenne, in said county, for the (17 Stat. L.. 158). purpose of enabling the proper authorities of said city to construct and maintain on said land a reservoir of water for the supply of said city." [March 26, 1874.] March 28, 1874. 18 Stat. L., 25. Approval of act of District of Columbia relating to Protestant Episco pal Churches. Qualification for vot ing and holding office. CHAPTER 72. AN ACT TO APPROVE AN ACT OF THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF THE DISTRICT OF Approval of act of District of Columbia relating to Protestant Episcopal Churches. Be it enacted, &c., That the act of the legislative assembly of the District of Columbia entitled "An act for the relief of parishes of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the District of Columbia," approved June twenty-sixth, eighteen hundred and seventy-three, be, and the same is hereby, approved; and that all acts now in force in the District of Columbia, inconsistent therewith, be, and the same are hereby repealed. [March 28, 1874.] NOTE. (1) The act of the District legislature, here referred to, 1873, ch. 57, is as follows: [SECTION 1], That in any parish of the Protestant Episcopal Church now existing in said District, or hereafter organized therein, residence within the limits of the parish shall no longer be prescribed as a qualification for voting at parish elections or other business meetings of the parish, or for holding office in the same; but any male member of the congregation above the age of twenty-one years may be admitted to vote at parish meetings, and shall be qualified to hold office in such parish, who shall own or lease a pew or part of a pew in the parish church, or, in case the pews are free, shall be a stated worshiper in the church, and who shall have been entered on the books of the parish, as required by existing law, and shall have complied with the other requirements of said law, or with such other conditions as a majority of the qualified voters of the parish may hereafter adopt at a parish meeting called for the purpose: Provided, That in the case of a newly organized parish all male members of any church or congrega-in case of newly or- tion in communion with the Protestant Episcopal Church in the District of Columbia, of full age and ganized parishes. uniting in the organization of such new parish, shall be qualified to vote at the first election of vestry. men thereof. SEC. 2. That hereafter vestries of the Protestant Episcopal Church shall not be obliged to meet on any stated days or at any particular place, but only at such times and places as they may find most couven ient; and if any vacancy shail happen in vestries after their election, or any person elected a vestryman shall refuse to serve, then the other vestrymen shall have power to appoint a person or persons, as the case may be, to serve until the next succeeding election; and any parish, by a vote of the majority of its qualified voters may at any parish meeting provide that the wardens of such parish shall be elected in the same manner as vestrymen, and be members of the vestry; and vestries shall have power to make all rules and regulations respecting the temporal government and support of their respective parishes, not inconsistent with public law. SEC. 3. That vestries now existing shall be regarded as legally constituted, notwithstanding irregu larities in their election or defect of qualifications in the voters by whom they were elected, and are hereby confirmed in their offices until the period appointed by law for the next election of vestries. SEC. 4. That all acts or parts of acts now in force in the District of Columbia respecting the right and privileges of associate rector in parishes of the Protestant Episcopal Church in said District be and the same are hereby repealed. [June 26, 1873.] CHAPTER 80. April 7, 1874. 18 Stat. L., 27. Preamble. In territorial AN ACT CONCERNING THE PRACTICE IN TERRITORIAL COURTS, AND APPEALS THERE SECTION FROM. 1. In territorial courts, common-law and chan- Right of trial by jury preserved. SECTION 2. Appellate jurisdiction of Supreme Court of -in cases heretofore appealed and now pend- Whereas, by the organic acts establishing several of the Territories of the United States, it is provided that certain courts thereof shall have commonlaw and chancery jurisdiction, and doubts have been entertained whether said jurisdictions must be exercised separately, or whether they may be exercised together in the same proceeding, and whether the codes and rules of practice adopted in said Territories which have authorized a mingling of said jurisdictions in the same proceeding, or a uniform course of proceeding in all cases legal and equitable, are repugnant to the said organic acts respectively : Therefore, Be it enacted, &c. [SECTION 1], That it shall not be necessary in any of the courts of the courts, common- several Territories of the United States to exercise separately the comlaw and chancery jurisdiction need mon-law and chancery jurisdictions vested in said courts; and that the not be exercised several codes and rules of practice adopted in said Territories respectseparately; and ively, in so far as they authorize a mingling of said jurisdictions or a codes, rules, &c., uniform course of proceeding in all cases whether legal or equitable, be mingling same confirmed. confirmed; and that all proceedings heretofore had or taken in said R. S., § 1866- courts in conformity with said respective codes and rules of practice, 1868, 1907, 1908. so far as relates to the form and mode of proceeding, be, and the same are hereby, validated and confirmed: |