United States, and prosecute to a final determination, a proper suit in equity in the Supreme Court of the United States against the State of Texas, setting forth the title and claim of the United States to the tract of land lying between the North and South Forks of the Red River where the Indian Territory and the State of Texas adjoin, east of the one hundredth degree of longitude, and claimed by the State of Texas as within its boundary and a part of its land, and designated on its map as Greer County, in order that the rightful title to said land may be finally determined, and the court, on the trial of the case, may, in its discretion, so far as the ends of justice will warrant, consider any evidence heretofore taken and received by the Joint Boundary Commission under the act of Congress approved January thirty-first, eighteen hundred and eighty-five; and said case shall be advanced on the docket of said court, and proceeded with to its conclusion as rapidly as the nature and circumstances of the case permit.

MODIFIES LAWS RESPECTING AFFIDAVITS AND FINAL PROOFS IN LAND ENTRIES.

AN ACT to amend section twenty-two hundred and ninety-four of the Revised Statutes of the United States, 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 twenty-two hundred and ninety-four of the Revised Statutes be, and the same is hereby, amended so that it will read as follows:

SEC. 2294. In any case in which the applicant for the benefit of the homestead, preemption, timber-culture, or desert-land law is prevented, by reason of distance, bodily infirmity, or other good cause, from personal attendance at the district land office, he or she may make the affidavit required by law before any commissioner of the United States circuit court or the clerk of a court of record for the county in which the land is situated, and transmit the same with the fee and commissions to the register and receiver.

That the proof of settlement, residence, occupation, cultivation, irrigation, or reclamation, the affidavit of non-alienation, the oath of allegiance, and all other affidavits required to be made under the homestead, preemption, timber-culture, and desert land laws may be made before any commissioner of the United States circuit court or before the judge or clerk of any court of record of the county or parish in which the lands are situated; and the proof, affidavit, and oath, when so made and duly subscribed, shall have the same force and effect as if made before the register and receiver, when transmitted to them with the fee and commissions allowed and required by law. That if any witness making such proof or any applicant making any such affidavit or oath shall knowingly, wilfully, or corruptly swear falsely to any material matter contained in said proofs, affidavits, or oaths, he shall be deemed guilty of perjury, and shall be liable to the same pains and penalty as if he had sworn falsely before the register. That the fees for entries

and for final proofs, when made before any other officer than the regis ter and receiver, shall be as follows:

For each affidavit, twenty-five cents.

For each deposition of claimant or witness, when not prepared by the officer, twenty-five cents.

For each deposition of claimant or witness prepared by the officer, one dollar.

Any officer demanding or receiving a greater sum for such service shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction, shall be punished for each offense by a fine not exceeding one hundred dollars. Approved, May 26, 1890. (26 Stat., 121.)

[No. 39.]

RESERVOIR LANDS IN WISCONSIN AND MINNESOTA MADE SUBJECT TO HOMESTEAD ENTRY.

AN ACT to authorize the President of the United States to cause certain lands heretofore withdrawn from market for reservoir purposes to be restored to the public domain subject to entry under the homestead law, with certain restrictions.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That there is hereby restored to the public domain all the lands described in certain proclamations of the President of the United States, dated March twenty-second, eighteen hundred and eighty, Executive Document numbered eight hundred and fifty-nine; also, April fifth, eighteen hundred and eighty-one, Executive Document numbered eight hundred and sixty-eight; also, February twentieth, eighteen hundred and eighty-two, Executive Document numbered eight hundred and seventy-four, withdrawing and withholding certain lands from market or entry and reserving the same to aid in the construction of certain reservoirs to be built at the headwaters of the Mississippi and Saint Croix rivers, in the States of Minnesota and Wisconsin, and of the Chippewa and Wisconsin rivers, in the State of Wisconsin, and that these lands, when so restored, shall be subject to homestead entry only.

SEC. 2. That in all cases where any of the lands restored to the public domain by the first section of this act have heretofore been sold or disposed of by the proper officers of the United States under color of the public land laws, and the consideration received therefor is still retained by the Government, the title of the purchasers may be confirmed if in the opinion of the Secretary of the Interior justice requires it; but all the lands by said first section restored shall at all times remain subject to the right of the United States to construct and maintain dams for the purpose of creating reservoirs in aid of navigation; and no claim or right to compensation shall accrue from the overflowing of said lands on account of the construction and maintenance of such dams and reservoirs.

SEC. 3. That no rights of any kind shall attach by reason of settlement or squatting upon any of the lands hereinbefore described before the day on which such lands shall be subject to homestead entry at the several land offices, and until said lands are opened for settlement no person shall enter upon and occupy the same, and any person violating

this provision shall never be permitted to enter any of said lands or acquire any title thereto. This act shall take effect six months after its approval by the President of the United States. Approved, June 20, 1890. (26 Stat., 169.)

[No. 40.]

FORFEITED RAILROAD LANDS.

AN ACT to forfeit certain lands heretofore granted for the purpose of aiding in the construction of railroads, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That there is hereby forfeited to the United States, and the United States hereby resumes the title thereto, all lands heretofore granted to any State or to any corporation to aid in the construction of a railroad opposite to and coterminous with the portion of any such railroad not now completed and in operation, for the construction or benefit of which such lands were granted; and all such lands are declared to be a part of the public domain: Provided, That this act shall not be construed as forfeiting the right of way or station grounds of any railroad company heretofore granted.

SEC. 2. That all persons who, at the date of the passage of this act, are actual settlers in good faith on any of the lands hereby forfeited and are otherwise qualified, on making due claim on said lands under the homestead law within six months after the passage of this act, shall be entitled to a preference right to enter the same under the provisions of the homestead law and this act, and shall be regarded as such actual settlers from the date of actual settlement or occupation; and any person who has not heretofore had the benefit of the homestead or preemption law, or who has failed from any cause to perfect the title to a tract of land heretofore entered by him under either of said laws, may make a second homestead entry under the provisions of this act. The Secretary of the Interior shall make such rules as will secure to such actual settlers these rights.

SEC. 3. That in all cases where persons, being citizens of the United States or who have declared their intentions to become such, in accordance with the naturalization laws of the United States, are in possession of any of the lands affected by any such grant and hereby resumed by and restored to the United States, under deed, written contract with, or license from the State or corporation to which such grant was made, or its assignees, executed prior to January first, eighteen hundred and eighty-eight, or where persons may have settled said lands with bona fide intent to secure title thereto by purchase from the State or corporation when earned by compliance with the conditions or requirements of the granting acts of Congress, they shall be entitled to purchase the same from the United States, in quantities not exceeding three hundred and twenty acres to any one such person, at the rate of one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre, at any time within two years from the passage of this act, and on making said payment to receive patents therefor, and where any such person in actual possession of any such lands and having improved the same prior to the first day of January, eighteen hundred and ninety, under deed, written contract, or

license as aforesaid, or his assignor, has made partial or full payments to said railroad company prior to said date, on account of the purchase price of said lands from it, on proof of the amount of such payments he shall be entitled to have the same, to the extent and amount of one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre, if so much has been paid, and not more, credited to him on account of and as part of the purchase price herein provided to be paid the United States for said lands, or such persons may elect to abandon their purchases and make claim on said lands under the homestead law and as provided in the preceding section of this act: Provided, That in all cases where parties, persons, or corporations, with the permission of such State or corporation or its assignees, are in the possession of and have made improvements upon any of the lands hereby resumed and restored, and are not entitled to enter the same under the provisions of this act, such parties, persons, or corporations shall have six months in which to remove any growing crop, and within which time they shall also be entitled to remove all buildings and other movable improvements from said lands: Provided further, That the provisions of this section shall not apply to any lands situate in the State of Iowa on which any person in good faith has made or asserted the right to make a preemption or homestead settlement: And provided further, That nothing in this act contained shall be construed as limiting the rights granted to purchasers or settlers by "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, or as repealing, altering, or amending said act, nor in any manner affecting any cause of action existing in favor of any purchaser against his grantor for breach of any covenants of title.

SEC. 4. That section 5 of an act entitled "An act for a grant of lands to the State of Iowa in alternate sections to aid in the construction of a railroad in said State," approved May seventeenth, eighteen hundred and sixty-four, and section seven of an act entitled "An act extending the time for the completion of certain land-grant railroads in the States of Minnesota and Iowa, and for other purposes," approved March third, eighteen hundred and sixty-five, and also section five of an act entitled "An act making an additional grant of lands to the State of Minnesota in alternate sections to aid in the construction of railroads in said States," approved July fourth, eighteen hundred and sixty-six, so far as said sections are applicable to lands embraced within the indemnity limits of said grants, be, and the same are hereby, repealed; and so much of the provisions of section four of an act approved June second, eighteen hundred and sixty-four, and entitled "An act to amend an act entitled 'An act making a grant of lands to 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, be, and the same are hereby, repealed so far as they require the Secretary of the Interior to reserve any lands but the odd sections within the primary or six-miles granted limits of the roads mentioned in said act of June second, eighteen hundred and sixty-four, or the act of which the same is amendatory.

SEC. 5. That if it shall be found that any lands heretofore granted to the Northern Pacific Railroad Company and so resumed by the United States and restored to the public domain lie north of the line known as the "Harrison line," being a line drawn from Wallula, Washington, easterly to the southeast corner of the northeast one-fourth of the southeast quarter of section twenty-seven, in township seven north, of range

thirty-seven east, of the Willamette meridian, all persons who had acquired in good faith the title of the Northern Pacific Railroad Company to any portion of said lands prior to July first, eighteen hundred and eighty-five, or who at said date were in possession of any portion of said lands or had improved the same, claiming the same under written contract with said company, executed in good faith, or their heirs or assigns, as the case may be, shall be entitled to purchase the lands so acquired, possessed, or improved, from the United States, at any time prior to the expiration of one year after it shall be finally determined that such lands are restored to the public domain by the provisions of this act, at the rate of two dollars and fifty cents per acre, and to receive patents therefor upon proof before the proper land office of the fact of such acquisition, possession, or improvement, and payment therefor, without limitation as to quantity: Provided, That the rights of way and riparian rights heretofore attempted to be conveyed to the city of Portland, in the State of Oregon, by the Northern Pacific Railroad Company and the Central Trust Company of New York, by deed of conveyance dated August eighth, eighteen hundred and eighty-six, and which are described as follows: A strip of land fifty feet in width, being twenty-five feet on each side of the center line of a water-pipé line, as the same is staked out and located, or as it shall be hereafter finally located according to the provisions of an act of the legislative assembly of the State of Oregon approved November twenty-fifth, eighteen hundred and eighty-five, providing for the means to supply the city of Portland with an abundance of good, pure, and wholesome water over and across the following described tracts of land: Sections nineteen and thirty-one in township one south, of range six east; sections twentyfive, thirty-one, thirty-three, and thirty-five in township one south, of range five east; sections three and five in township two south, of range five east; section one in township two south, of range four east; sections twenty-three, twenty-five, and thirty-five in township one south, of range four east, of the Willamette meridian, in the State of Oregon, forfeited by this act, are hereby confirmed unto the said city of Portland, in the State of Oregon, its successors and assigns forever, with the right to enter on the herein before described strip of land, over and across the above-described sections for the purpose of constructing, maintaining, and repairing a water-pipe line aforesaid.

SEC. 6. That no lands declared forfeited to the United States by this act shall by reason of such forfeiture inure to the benefit of any State or corporation to which lands may have been granted by Congress, except as herein otherwise provided; nor shall this act be construed to enlarge the area of land originally covered by any such grant, or to confer any right upon any State, corporation, or person to lands which were excepted from such grant. Nor shall the moiety of the lands granted to any railroad company on account of a main and a branch line appertaining to uncompleted road, and hereby forfeited, within the conflicting limits of the grants for such main and branch lines, when but one of such lines has been completed, inure by virtue of the forfeiture hereby declared to the benefit of the completed line.

SEC. 7. That in all cases where lands included in a grant of land to the State of Mississippi, for the purpose of aiding in the construction of a railroad from Brandon to the Gulf of Mexico, commonly known as the Gulf and Ship Island Railroad, have heretofore been sold by the officers of the United States for cash, or with the allowance or approval of such officers have entered in good faith under the preemption or homestead laws, or upon which there were bona fide preemption or homestead claims on the first day of January, eighteen hundred and ninety, arising