or asserted by actual occupation of the land under color of the laws of the United States, the right and title of the persons holding or claiming any such lands under such sales or entries are hereby confirmed, and persons claiming the right to enter as aforesaid may perfect their entry under the law. And on condition that the Gulf and Ship Island Railroad Company within ninety days from the passage of this act shall, by resolution of its board of directors, duly accept the provisions of the same and file with the Secretary of the Interior a valid relinquishment of all said company's interest, right, title, and claim in and to all such lands as have been sold, entered, or claimed, as aforesaid, then the forfeiture declared in the first section of this act shall not apply to or in anywise affect so much and such parts of said grant of lands to the State of Mississippi as lie south of a line drawn east and west through the point where the Gulf and Ship Island Railroad may cross the New Orleans and Northeastern Railroad in said State, until one year after the passage of this act. And there may be selected and certified to or in behalf of said company lands in lieu of those hereinbefore required to be surrendered, to be taken within the indemnity limits of the original grant nearest to and opposite such part of the line as may be constructed at the date of selection.

SEC. S. That the Mobile and Girard Railroad Company, of Alabama, shall be entitled to the quantity of land earned by the construction of its road from Girard to Troy, a distance of eighty-four miles. And the Secretary of the Interior in making settlement and certifying to or for the benefit of the said company the lands earned thereby shall include therein all the lands sold, conveyed, or otherwise disposed of by said company not to exceed the total amount earned by said company as aforesaid. And the title of the purchasers to all such lands are hereby confirmed so far as the United States are concerned.

But such settlement and certification shall not include any lands upon which there were bona fide preemptors or homestead claims on the first day of January, eighteen hundred and ninety, arising or asserted by actual occupation of the land under color of the laws of the United States.

The right hereby given to the said railroad company is on condition that it shall within ninety days from the passage of this act, by resolution of its board of directors, duly accept the provisions of the same and file with the Secretary of the Interior a valid relinquishment of all said company's interest, right, title, and claim in and to all such lands within the limits of its grant as have heretofore been sold by the officers of the United States for cash, where the Government still retains the purchase money, or with the allowance or approval of such officers have been entered in good faith under the preemption or homestead laws, or as are claimed under the homestead or preemption laws as aforesaid, and the right and title of the persons holding or claiming any such lands under such sales or entries are hereby confirmed, and all such claims under the preemption or homestead laws may be perfected as provided by law. Said company to have the right to select other lands, as near as practicable to constructed road and within indemnity limits, in lieu of the lands so relinquished. And the title of the United States is hereby relinquished in favor of all persons holding under any sales by the local land officers of the lands in the granted limits of the Alabama and Florida Railroad grant, where the United States still retains the purchase money but without liability on the part of the United States.

Approved, September 29, 1890. (26 Stat., 496.)

[No. 41.]

SETTLERS ON NORTHERN PACIFIC RAILROAD INDEMNITY LANDS. AN ACT for the relief of settlers on Northern Pacific Railroad indemnity lands.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That those persons who, after the fifteenth day of August, in the year of our Lord eighteen hundred and eighty-seven, and before the first day of January, in the year eighteen hundred and eighty-nine, settled upon, improved, and made final proof on lands in the so-called second indemnity belt of the Northern Pacific Railroad Company's grant under the homestead and preemption laws of the United States, or their heirs, may transfer their said entries from said tracts to such other vacant surveyed Government land in compact form and in legal subdivisions, subject to entry under the homestead and preemption laws, as they may select, and receive final certificates and receipts therefor, in lieu of the tracts proved up on in said belt by the respective claimants: Provided, That such transfer of entry shall be made and completed within twelve months from the date of the passage of this act and be so made in person by the claimant, or, in case of death, by his legal representative, and without the intervention of agent or attorney.

SEC. 2. That all persons possessing the requisite qualifications under the preemption or homestead laws, who in good faith settled upon and improved land in said second indemnity belt, having made filing or entry of the same, and for any reason, other than voluntary abandonment, failed to make proof thereon, may, in lieu thereof, within one year after the passage of this act, transfer their claims to any vacant surveyed Government land subject to entry under the homestead or preemption laws, and make proof therefor as in other cases provided; and in making such proof credit shall be given for the period of their bona fide residence and amount of their improvements upon their respective claims in the said indemnity belt, the same as if made upon the tract to which the transfer is made: Provided, That no final entry shall be permitted, except upon proof of continuous residence upon the land, the subject of such new entry, for a period of not less than three months prior thereto. Payment for said final selection shall be made as under existing laws. The provisions of this act shall be carried into effect under such rules and regulations as may be prescribed by the Secretary of the Interior.

Approved, October 1, 1890. (26 Stat., 647.)

[No. 42.]

ACT OF SEPTEMBER 29, 1890, FORFEITING RAILROAD LANDS, AMENDED. CHAP. 244.-AN ACT to amend an act entitled "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 an act entitled "An act to forfeit certain lands heretofore granted for the purpose of aiding in

the construction of railroads, and for other purposes," approved September 29, 1890, be, and the same is hereby, amended so that the period within which settlers, purchasers, and others under the provisions of said act may make application to purchase lands forfeited thereby, or to make or move to perfect any homestead entries which are preserved or authorized under said act, when such period begins to run from the passage of the act, shall begin to run from the date of the promulgation by the Commissioner of the General Land Office of the instructions to the officers of the local land offices for their direction in the disposition of said lands: Provided, That nothing herein shall extend any time or enlarge any rights given by said act to any railroad company. Approved, February 18, 1891. (26 Stat., 764.)

[No. 43.]

SECTION 8 OF THE FOLLOWING ACT AMENDED.

AN ACT to amend section eight of an act approved March third, eighteen hundred and ninety-one, entitled "An act to repeal timber-culture laws 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 eight of an act entitled "An act to repeal timber-culture laws, and for other purposes," approved March third, eighteen hundred and ninety-one, be and the same is hereby amended so as to read as follows:

"SEC. 8. That suits by the United States to vacate and annul any patent heretofore issued 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 in the States of Colorado, Montana, Idaho, North Dakota and South Dakota, Wyoming, and the District of Alaska, and the gold and silver regions of Nevada and the Territory of Utah, in any criminal prosecution or civil action by the United States for a trespass on such public timber lands or to recover timber or lumber cut thereon, it shall be a defense if the defendant shall show that the said timber was so cut or removed from the timber lands for use in such State or Territory by a resident thereof for agricultural, mining, manufacturing, or domestic purposes under rules and regulations made and prescribed by the Secretary of the Interior, and has not been transported out of the same; but nothing herein contained shall operate to enlarge the rights of any railway company to cut timber on the public domain: Provided, That the Secretary of the Interior may make suitable rules and regulations to carry out the provisions of this act, and he may designate the sections or tracts of land where timber may be cut, and it shall not be lawful to cut or remove any timber except as may be prescribed by such rules and regulations; but this act shall not operate to repeal the act of June third, eighteen hundred and seventyeight, providing for cutting of timber on mineral lands.

Approved, March 3, 1891. (26 Stat., 1093.)

[No. 44.]

REPEAL OF PREEMPTION AND TIMBER CULTURE LAWS-MODIFICATION OF HOMESTEAD AND OTHER LAWS.

AN ACT to repeal timber-culture laws, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That an act entitled "An act to amend an act entitled 'An act to encourage the growth of timber on the Western prairies,"" approved June fourteenth, eighteen hundred and seventy-eight, and all laws supplementary thereto or amendatory thereof, be, and the same are hereby, repealed: Provided, That this repeal shall not affect any valid rights heretofore accrued or accruing under said laws, but all bona fide claims lawfully initiated before the passage of this act may be perfected upon due compliance with law, in the same manner, upon the same terms and conditions, and subject to the same limitations, forfeitures, and contests as if this act had not been passed: And provided further, That the following words of the last clause of section two of said act, namely, "That not less than twenty-seven hundred trees were planted on each acre," are hereby repealed: And provided further, That in computing the period of cultivation the time shall run from the date of the entry, if the necessary acts of cultivation were performed within the proper time: And provided further, That the preparation of the land and the planting of trees shall be construed as acts of cultivation, and the time authorized to be so employed and actually employed shall be computed as a part of the eight years of cultivation required by statute: Provided, That any person who has made entry of any public lands of the United States under the timber-culture laws, and who has for a period of four years in good faith complied with the provisions of said laws and who is an actual bona fide resident of the State or Territory in which said land is located shall be entitled to make final proof thereto, and acquire title to the same, by the payment of one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre for such tract, under such rules and regulations as shall be prescribed by the Secretary of the Interior, and registers and receivers shall be allowed the same fees and compensation for final proofs in timber-culture entries as is now allowed by law in homestead entries: And provided further, 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 to the final certificate therefor. SEC. 2. That an act to provide for the sale of desert lands in certain States and Territories, approved March third, eighteen hundred and seventy-seven, is hereby amended by adding thereto the following sections:

SEC. 4. That at the time of filing the declaration herein before required the party shall also file a map of said land, which shall exhibit a plan showing the mode of contemplated irrigation, and which plan shall be sufficient to thoroughly irrigate and reclaim said land, and prepare it to raise ordinary agricultural crops, and shall also show the source of the water to be used for irrigation and reclamation. Persons entering or proposing to enter separate sections or fractional parts of sections, of desert lands may associate together in the construction of canals and ditches for irrigating and reclaiming all of said tracts, and may file a joint map or maps showing their plan of internal improvements.

SEC. 5. That no land shall be patented to any person under this act unless he or his assignors shall have expended in the necessary irrigation, reclamation, and cultivation thereof, by means of main canals and branch ditches, and in permanent improvements upon the land, and in the purchase of water rights for the irrigation of the same, at least three dollars per acre of whole tract reclaimed and patented in

the manner following: Within one year after making entry for such tract of desert land as aforesaid, the party so entering shall expend not less than one dollar per acre for the purposes aforesaid; and he shall in like manner expend the sum of one dollar per acre during the second and also during the third year thereafter, until the full sum of three dollars per acre is so expended. Said party shall file during each year with the register, proof, by the affidavits of two or more credible witnesses, that the full sum of one dollar per acre has been expended in such necessary improvements during such year, and the manner in which expended, and at the expiration of the third year a map or plan showing the character and extent of such improvements. If any party who has made such application shall fail during any year to file the testimony aforesaid, the lands shall revert to the United States, and the twenty-five cents advanced payment shall be forfeited to the United States, and the entry shall be canceled. Nothing herein contained shall prevent a claimant from making his final entry and receiving his patent at an earlier date than herein before prescribed, provided that he then makes the required proof of reclamation to the aggregate extent of three dollars per acre: Provided, That proof be further required of the cultivation of oneeighth of the land.

SEC. 6. That this act shall not affect any valid rights heretofore accrued under said act of March third, eighteen hundred and seventy-seven, but all bona fide claims heretofore lawfully initiated may be perfected, upon due compliance with the provisions of said act, in the same manner, upon the same terms and conditions, and subject to the same limitations, forfeitures, and contests as if this act had not been passed; or said claims, at the option of the claimant, may be perfected and patented under the provisions of said act, as amended by this act, so far as applicable; and all acts and parts of acts in conflict with this act are hereby repealed.

SEC. 7. That at any time after filing the declaration, and within the period of four years thereafter, upon making satisfactory proof to the register and the receiver of the reclamation and cultivation of said land to the extent and cost and in the manner aforesaid, and substantially in accordance with the plans herein provided for, and that he or she is a citizen of the United States, and upon payment to the receiver of the additional sum of one dollar per acre for said land, a patent shall issue therefor to the applicaut or his assigns; but no person or association of persons shall hold, by assignment or otherwise prior to the issue of patent, more than three hundred and twenty acres of such arid or desert lands; but this section shall not apply to entries made or initiated prior to the approval of this act: Provided, however, That additional proofs may be required at any time within the period prescribed by law, and that the claims or entries made under this or any preceding act shall be subject to contest, as provided by the law relating to homestead cases, for illegal inception, abandonment, or failure to comply with the requirements of law, and upon satisfactory proof thereof shall be canceled, and the lands and moneys paid therefor shall be forfeited to the United States.

SEC. 8. That the provisions of the act to which this is an amendment, and the amendments thereto, shall apply to and be in force in the State of Colorado, as well as the States named in the original act; and no person shall be entitled to make entry of desert land except he be a resident citizen of the State or Territory in which the land sought to be entered is located.

SEC. 3. That section twenty-two hundred and eighty-eight of the Revised Statutes be amended so as to read as follows:

SEC. 2288. Any bona fide settler under the preemption, homestead, or other settlement law shall have the right to transfer, by warranty against his own acts, any portion of his claim for church, cemetery, or school purposes, or for the right of way of railroads, canals, reservoirs, or ditches for irrigation or drainage across it; and the transfer for such public purposes shall in no way vitiate the right to complete and perfect the title to his claim.

SEC. 4. That chapter four of title thirty-two, excepting sections twenty-two hundred and seventy-five, twenty-two hundred and seventysix, twenty-two hundred and eighty-six, of the Revised Statutes of the United States, and all other laws allowing preemption of the public lands of the United States, are hereby repealed, but all bona fide claims lawfully initiated before the passage of this act, under any of said provisions of law so repealed, may be perfected upon due compliance with law, in the same manner, upon the same terms and conditions, and subject to the same limitations, forfeitures, and contests as if this act had not been passed.