H. R. 6158 was never reported out of the House Committee on the Public Lands. (H. R. 6260) On May 16, 1921, Congressman Vaile, of Colorado, introduced H. R. 6260: [H. R. 6260, Sixty-seventh Congress, first session] A BILL To vest title to school lands in the State in which the lands are situated, if a proceeding is not instituted before the Department of the Interior within twelve years after the State is admitted to the Union, or within twelve years after the survey of the school-land sections was approved, to determine whether such lands were of known mineral character Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That in the case of the grant of school-land sections to a State, unless within twelve years after the State is admitted to the Union, or within twelve years after the survey of the schoollands sections of a State has been approved by the Commissioner of the General Land Office, a proceeding is instituted before the Department of the Interior to determine whether such land was of known mineral character at the time the State was admitted to the Union, or at the time the survey was approved, absolute title in such land so granted shall be vested in the State in which the land is situated. H. R. 6260 is the same as H. R. 6158 (p. 125) and S. 1721 (p. 114). H. R. 6260 was never reported out of the House Committee on the Public Lands. SIXTY-EIGHTH CONGRESS (S. 376) On December 6, 1923, Senator Jones of New Mexico introduced S. 376: [S. 376, Sixty-eighth Congress, first session] A BILL Relative to title to lands granted to the States and Territories in the aid of common or public schools Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That all lands, heretofore granted as sections 16, 36, 2, or 32, to any State or Territory in the aid of common or public schools, whether mineral or nonmineral, not otherwise specifically reserved by the United States and free from valid, adverse claims of third parties, to which the title thereto has not as yet become definitely vested in said State or Territory, the United States does hereby relinquish unto any such State or Territory all its right, title, and interest therein. On February 20, 1924, Hon. Hubert Work, Secretary of the Interior, submitted the following report on S. 376 to Hon. I. L. Lenroot, chairman Committee on Public Lands and Surveys: Hon. I. L. LENROOT, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, United States Senate. Chairman Committee on Public Lands and Surveys, MY DEAR SENATOR LENROOT: I have your request of December 18, 1923, for a report on Senate bill 376, relative to title to lands granted to the States and Territories in the aid of common or public schools. This bill provides, in the case of lands in sections 16, 36, 2, or 32, granted to any State or Territory in the aid of schools and where title has not as yet become definitely vested in said State or Territory, that the United States does relinquish to said State or Territory all its right, title, and interest in said lands, whether mineral or nonmineral, if the lands are not otherwise specifically reserved by the United States and if free from valid adverse claims of third parties. The bill, if enacted into law, will add to school land grants of nonmineral lands in designated sections, mineral lands not granted because of their known character as such at the time the grants would otherwise become effective; this in derogation of the well-settled policy with respect to public lands, viz, that mineral lands and mineral deposits be disposed of, if at all, under the provisions of the mining laws of the United States. It is the opinion of this department that these grants of nonmineral lands should not be thus supplemented and enlarged, and I recommend that Senate bill 376 be not enacted. In connection with S. 671, I am to-day submitting draft of a measure designed to meet the situation with respect to school sections. Sincerely yours, S. 376 is the same as H. R. 100 (p. 132). HUBERT WORK. S. 376 was not reported out of the Senate Committee on Public Lands and Surveys. (S. 4340) On February 18, 1925, Senator Jones of New Mexico introduced S. 4340. On February 24, 1925, the Senate Committee on Public Lands reported back S. 4340 without amendment. On February 27, 1925, S. 4340 passed the Senate without discussion : [Congressional Record, February 27, 1925] LANDS GRANTED TO PUBLIC SCHOOLS The Senate, as in Committee of the Whole, proceeded to consider the bill (S. 4340) confirming in States and Territories title to lands granted by the United States in the aid of common or public schools, which was read, as follows: "Be it enacted, etc., That, subject to the provisions of subdivision (b) of this section, the United States relinquishes to any State or Territory all right, title, and interest of the United States to the lands, irrespective of their character, granted to such State or Territory by numbered sections or otherwise for the support of or in the aid of common or public schools; unless land has been granted to, and/or selected by and certified to, any such State or Territory in lieu of and/or as indemnity land for any land so granted by numbered sections or otherwise, and in that case such relinquishment shall be limited to such indemnity or in lieu lands. (b) Any lands included within a permanent reservation for national purposes, or subject to valid adverse claims of third parties, are excluded from the provisions of this act; and lands included within any military, Indian, or other reservation, or specifically reserved for water-power purposes, are included within the purposes of this act only from the date of extinguishment of such reservation and the restoration of such land to the public domain. The bill was reported to the Senate without amendment, ordered to be engrossed for a third reading, read the third time, and passed. S. 4340 was referred to the House Committee on the Public Lands on March 3, 1925, but was never reported out of the House committee. (S. 671) On December 10, 1923, Senator Smoot introduced S. 671, as follows: [S. 671, Sixty-eighth Congress, first session] A BILL Further to assure title to lands granted the several States, in place, in aid of public schools Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That where a grant of lands, in place, has heretofore been made or may hereafter be made to any State in aid of public schools, the governor of any such State may cause to be listed with the Secretary of the Interior any sections or parts of sections as designated in the grant, and it shall be the duty of the Secretary of the Interior to issue patent to the State in further assurance of title of all tracts thus listed and found to be of the character granted and free from valid adverse claim at the time when the rights of the State attach: Provided, That no lands included in such list shall be patented until the State shall have published, for a period of thirty days in a newspaper of general circulation in the vicinity of the land, a notice of the filing thereof, and that as to lands hereafter surveyed such publication shall not be made until after the expiration of three months from the filing of the township plat of survey in the district land office: Provided further, That nothing herein contained shall be so construed as to postpone the time of the attachment of the grant of such lands under the law existent at the time of the State's right attached thereto, if at all. SEC. 2. That in any case wherein lands so designated have been purchased in good faith from any State and hereafter are found by final decree of a Federal court or final judgment of the Secretary of the Interior or Commissioner of the General Land Office to have been of known mineral character at the time the grant to the State would have otherwise attached, the transferees of the State, mediate or immediate, shall have a right to a confirmatory patent from the United States with reservation of the mineral deposits in the land to the United States, upon payment of $1.25 per acre, or to a patent without such reservation, upon payment of the appraised price of the land as such purchaser may elect Provided, That 50 per cent of all moneys received from sales under the provisions of this act shall be paid by the Secretary of the Treasury, after the expiration of the fiscal year, to the State within the boundaries of which the lands are located, said moneys to be used by such State for the support of public schools therein, and the balance thereof shall be paid into, reserved, and appropriated as a part of the reclamation fund created by the act of Congress, known as the reclamation act, approved June 17, 1902: Provided further, That until otherwise provided, the Secretary of the Interior shall be authorized to prescribe fees and commissions to be paid registers and receivers of the United States land offices on account of business transacted under the provisions of this act. SEC. 3. That hereafter, on approval by the Secretary of the Interior of selections made by any State under grants made by Congress, he shall direct the issuance of patent for the land so selected and approved. On February 20, 1924, Hon. Hubert Work, Secretary of the Interior, submitted the following report on S. 671 to Hon. I. L. Lenroot, chairman of the Senate Committee on Public Lands and Surveys: Hon. I. L. LENROOT, INTERIOR DEPARTMENT, Washington, February 20, 1924. Chairman Committee on Public Lands and Surveys, United States Senate. MY DEAR SENATOR LENROOT: In response to your request of December 18, 1923, I have the honor to report as follows on Senate bill 671, entitled "A bill further to assure title to lands granted the several States, in place, in aid of public schools." Specified lands in each congressional township in the public-land States (section 16 in some of the States, sections 16 and 36 in others, and sections 2, 16, 32, and 36 in still others), with certain exceptions and reservations, have been granted to those States in aid of public or common schools. These grants are usually found in the enabling acts of the States, which, however, contain no provision whereby the States may be given evidence of the title conveyed, by United States patent or otherwise, the statute making the grant operating as a conveyance as well, with respect to lands of the character and status granted. These grants are effective, as to lands then surveyed, from the dates thereof or from the dates of admission of the States into the Union. As to lands thereafter surveyed, they are effective from the date of the acceptance of the survey by the Federal Land Department (United States v. Morrison, 240 U. S. 192). But mineral lands, as a rule, are excepted from these grants; in other words, in case school-section lands are of known mineral character at the time the grant would otherwise become effective and title would otherwise vest in the State, such lands remain the property of the United States. There is no statute of limitation which prevents inquiry, at any time, as to whether or not title to school-section land has vested in a State, either by way of a Government proceeding or by private contest or protest. It is clear, therefore, that in the absence of some provision by which the known condition of the specified sections, at the time when the grant takes effect, can be ascertained and adjudicated, the title of the State must remain in doubt and be subject to attack. A case directly in point is that of the United States v. Sweet (245 U. S. 563). There the State sold school-section land under a grant (act of July 16, 1894; 28 Stat. 107), which does not expressly exclude or include mineral lands. The land sold, however, was of known mineral character at time the grant would otherwise have attached. The court denied the claim of title, based on the transfer by the State. Legislation along the general lines proposed in the present bill is manifestly essential if title of these school section lands is to be fixed and determined without resort to what, in many cases, must be costly and vexatious litigation, and if the States are to be given the same evidence of title as is now given the individual, viz, a United States patent. There is inclosed herewith the draft of a bill which it is believed will fairly and adequately protect the interests of the States, of bona fide purchasers from the States, and of the United States, and which it is recommended, the committee concurring, be substituted for Senate bill 671. Section 1 of the substitute bill provides for the issuance of United States patents to the States in further assurance of and in confirmation of title in and to lands granted to them in place in aid of schools, and which have not been exchanged for other lands of the United States. This suggested legislation is in no wise mandatory on the States. No title, if vested, is distributed. In this connection, and with special reference to mineral deposits, attention is called to the following statement found in the decision of the United States Supreme Court, March 28, 1921, case of State of Wyoming et al. v. United States (255 U. S. 489). The Land Department uniformly has ruled that the States acquire a vested right in all school sections in place which are not otherwise appropriated, and not known to be mineral, at the time they are identified by the survey— or at the date of the grant where the survey precedes it-regardless of when the matter became a subject of inquiry and decision, and that this right is not defeated or affected by a subsequent mineral discovery. (California v. Poley, 4 Copp's L. O. 18; Abraham L. Minor, 9 L. D. 408; Rice v. California, 24 L. D. 14; United States v. Morrison, 240 U. S. 192, 207; United States v. Sweet, 245 U. S. 563, 572.) Section 2 of the substitute bill deals with school section lands in place, not granted because of their known mineral character at time of grant, but which, nevertheless, have been sold by the States. Provision is made therein for acquisition of surface title by the transferees of the States, mediate or immediate, upon payment of the ordinary minimum price for Government lands, and for a preference right to lease the mineral deposits therein. The provisions of the section do not apply to (1) lands containing deposits of metalliferous minerals, nor (2) to lands withdrawn or reserved for governmental purposes on account of their mineral deposits. As to lands of the first class, not claimed by others, the purchaser from the State, if qualified, may make location and secure patent under the mining laws of the United States, and as to lands of the second class, the right and interest of the public are, of course, paramount. Section 3 of the substitute bill follows Senate bill 671, relative to appropriation of moneys received. Conveyance of title to land by the United States is usually by patent. Many of the statutes making grants of land to the States (other than those of schools lands in place), however, do not themselves convey the title or require patents to be issued. In such case the evidence of title given the State is a certified copy of the list of the lands selected, as approved by this department (sec. 2449, U. S. R. S.), a less desirable form of evidence of title than a United States patent. For this reason, section 4 of the substitute bill directs future transfers of title from the United States to the States to be made by United States patents. In conclusion, I earnestly urge the enactment of legislation to put an end to present conditions with respect to these school section lands, by authorizing such an adjudication or ascertainment as is now made by this department in the case of railroad grants, and in case of every entry or selection under the agricultural land laws, i. e., a determination as to whether or not the lands passed to the State under its grant, and if so, the issuance of evidence of title, unassailable for all time in the absence of plain mistake or of fraud in procurement, and this whether in the form herein suggested or in other form deemed by Congress more effective or appropriate. Very truly yours, HUBERT WORK. S. 671 was never reported out of the Senate Committee on Public Lands and Surveys. (S. 3412) The substitute draft prepared by the Department of the Interior inclosed in Secretary Work's letter of February 20, 1924, was introduced by Senator Smoot May 26, 1924, as S. 3412: [S. 3412, Sixty-eighth Congress, first session] A BILL Further to assure title to lands granted the several States, in place, in aid of public schools, and to quiet titles Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That any State having a grant in place of designated sections of land for school purposes may file lists of selections of such lands claimed as inuring to it under such grant, upon payment to the registrar and receiver of the district land office within whose jurisdiction the selected lands are located, of a fee of $2 for each selection of a section or part of section of land. Upon determination by the Secretary of the Interior that any of the land so selected has been granted for the purpose aforesaid and not exchanged for other lands of the United States, patent shall issue to the State therefor in further assurance of and in confirmation of title: Provided, That nothing herein contained shall be so construed as to postpone the time of the attachment of the grant of such lands under the law existent at the time the State's right attached thereto, if it has attached, nor to deprive any court of jurisdiction it may now have to determine any controversy which may arise touching the title of the State or any of its assignees to any such land. SEC. 2. That in any case wherein lands so designated have been heretofore purchased in good faith from any State and hereafter are found by final decree of a Federal court or by final judgment of the Secretary of the Interior or Commissioner of the General Land Office in proceedings initiated under the provisions of this act to have been of known mineral character at the time the grant to the State would have otherwise attached, the transferees of the State, mediate or immediate, upon the payment of $1.25 per acre, shall have a right to a confirmatory patent from the United States with reservation of the mineral deposits in the lands to the United States, its grantees or permittees, to prospect for, mine, and remove the same, and a preference right to lease the mineral deposits in such lands from the United States in the manner provided by the laws governing the leases of such deposits in force at the time application to lease is filed: Provided, That the provisions of this section shall not apply to lands containing deposits of metalliferous minerals, nor to lands withdrawn or reserved for governmental purposes on account of their mineral deposits: Provided further, That the right of purchase and the preference right to lease claimed to be conferred by this section must be asserted, if at all, through formal application filed within six months from the date of the final decree or judgment affecting the lands and mineral deposits to be so purchased or leased. The Secretary of the Interior is authorized to prescribe such rules and regulations as may be necessary to carry the provisions of this and the preceding section into full force and effect. SEC. 3. That 50 per centum of all moneys received from the sales and leases authorized by section 2 of this act shall be paid by the Secretary of the Treasury, after the expiration of the fiscal year, to the State within the boundaries of which the lands are located, said moneys to be used by such State for the support of common or public schools therein, and the balance thereof shall be paid into, reserved, and appropriated as a part of the reclamation fund created by the act of Congress known as the reclamation act, approved June 17, 1902. SEC. 4. That hereafter transfers of title to the State by the United States of lands selected under grants made by Congress shall he by United States patent. 86958 -26- -10 |