after occupation for two years of the land so claimed, to pay into the hands of the surveyor-general of said Territory at the rate of one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre for the lands so claimed, located, and surveyed as aforesaid; and upon the death of any settler before the expiration of the two years' continued possession required by this act, all the rights of the deceased under this act shall descend to the heirs at law of such settler, including the widow, where one is left, in equal parts; and proof of compliance with the conditions of this act, up to the time of the death of such settler, shall be sufficient to entitle them to the patent.

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That upon the payment of money for lands as aforesaid to the said surveyor-general, he shall issue his certificate of such payment, together with an accurate copy of the survey of the land so located and purchased, to the purchaser thereof, and upon the filing of which said certificate and copy of the survey in the office of the Commissioner of the General Land Office a patent shall issue therefor as in other cases.

SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of the said surveyorgeneral to keep and preserve a record of all moneys so received, and to make out and transmit quarterly, to the Commissioner of the General Land Office, an accurate report of the moneys so received by him as aforesaid.

SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of the said surveyorgeneral, immediately upon the taking effect of this act, to enter into security in the sum of fifty thousand dollars, conditioned for the safe-keeping of all moneys received by him as surveyor-general, according to law: Provided, however, That in order to compensate the surveyor-general of said Territory for the additional labors and responsibility imposed upon him by this act in receiving, safe-keeping, paying over, and accounting for the moneys aforesaid, he shall receive two per centum on all such sums, which shall include the payment for clerk hire, together with all costs and expenses incidental to such special services in any one year: Provided, The salary and percentage of said surveyor-general, and for clerk hire, shall not exceed four thousand dollars for any one year.

SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That the provisions of the act to which this is an amendment be, and the same are hereby, extended and continued in force until the first day of December, eighteen hundred and fifty-five.

SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That every person entitled to the benefit of the fourth section of the act of which this is amendatory, who was resideent in said Territory on or prior to the first of December, eighteen hundred and fifty, shall be, and hereby is, required to file with the surveyor-general of said Territory, in advance of the time when the public surveys shall be extended over the particular land claimed by him, where those surveys shall not have been made previous to the date of this act, a notice in writing, setting forth his claim to the benefits of said section, and citing all required particulars in reference to such settlement claim; and all persons failing to give such notice on or prior to the first day of December, eighteen hundred and fifty-three, shall be thereafter debarred from ever receiving any benefit under said fourth section. And all persons who, on the first of December, eighteen hundred and fifty-three, shall have settled on surveyed lands in said Territory, in virtue of the provisions of the fifth section of the act of which this is amendatory, who shall fail to give notice in writing of such settlement, specifying the particulars thereof to the surveyor-general of said Territory, on or prior to the first of April, eighteen hundred and fifty-five, shall be thereafter debarred from ever receiving the benefits of said fifth section.

SEC. 7. And be it further enacted, That from and after the first of April, eighteed hundred and fifty-five, all public lands within the limits of townships, surveyen or to be surveyed, in said Territory, west of the Cascade Mountains, which shall not have been claimed under the provisions of the fourth and fifth sections of the act of which this is amendatory, or reserved for public uses by law or order of the President, and excepting also mineral lands, shall be subject to public sale and private entry as other public lands of the United States; and so soon as he shall deem expedient, the President of the United States shall, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, appoint a receiver of public moneys for the Territory of Oregon west of the Cascade Mountains, who shall give bond and security, in the penalty of fifty thousand dollars, for the faithful discharge of his official trust, and whose duties, under the laws in relation to the public lands of the United States in said Territory, shall be the same as those of other like officers of the United States, and who shall be allowed not exceeding five hundred dollars per annum for the safekeeping and accounting for the public moneys by him received, including all charges for office rent and clerk hire; and at such time as the President of the United States shall deem it expedient, he shall appoint, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, a register of the land office for the Territory of Oregon west of the Cascade

Mountains, who shall enter into bond, with sufficient security, for the faithful discharge of his official duties, as other like officers, and whose duties and authority, under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior, shall be the same as those imposed by law on other like officers, consistently with the provisions of this act and of the act of which this is amendatory, and whose compensation shall be equal to that allowed to the receiver of public moneys to be appointed under this act; and until such register shall have been appointed and entered upon the discharge of his official duties the surveyor-general of Oregon shall perform all the duties which shall appertain to such office.

SEC. 8. And be it further enacted, That each widow now residing in Oregon Territory, and such others as shall locate in said Territory, whose husband, had he lived, would have been entitled to a claim under the provisions of an act to which this is an amendment, shall be entitled under the provisions and requirements of said act to the same quantity of land that she would have been but for the death of her husband; and that in case of the death of the widow prior to the expiration of the four years' continued possession required by said act, to which this is an amendment, all the rights of the deceased shall enure unto and be vested in the heirs at law of such widow.

SEC. 9. And be it further enacted, That all reservations heretofore made in pursuance of the fourteenth section of the act to which this is an amendment shall, for magazines, arsenals, dockyards, and other needful public uses, except for forts, be limited to an amount not exceeding twenty acres for each and every of said objects at any one point or place, and for forts to an amount not exceeding six hundred and forty acres at any one point or place: Provided, That if it shall be deemed necessary, in the judgment of the President, to include in any such reservation the improvement of any settler made previous to such reservation, it shall in such case be the duty of the Secretary of War to cause the value of such improvement to be ascertained; and the amount so ascertained shall be paid to the party entitled thereto out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated.

SEC. 10. And be it further enacted, That the said surveyor-general, in the discharge of his duties under this act, shall be subject to all the provisions of the act entited "An act to provide for the better organization of the Treasury, and for the collection, safe-keeping, transfer, and disbursement of the public revenue," approved August sixth, eighteen hundred and forty-six; and all acts and parts of acts in conflict with the provisions of this act be, and the same are hereby, repealed. Approved February 14, 1853.

AN ACT to amend the act approved September twenty-seventh, eighteen hundred and fifty, to create the office of surveyor-general of the public lands of Oregon, and so forth, and also the act amendatory thereof, approved February nineteenth [fourteenth], eighteen hundred and fifty-three. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the donations hereafter to be surveyed in Oregon and Washington Territory, claimed under any of the provisions of the act to create the office of surveyor-general of the public lands in Oregon, and so forth, approved September twenty-seventh, eighteen hundred and fifty, shall in no case include a town site or land settled upon for purposes of business or trade and not for agriculture; all legal subdivisions included in whole or in part in such town sites, or land settled upon for the purposes of business or trade, and not for agriculture, shall be subject to the operations of the act of May twenty-third, eighteen hundred and forty-four, "for the relief of citizens of towns upon lands of the United States, under certain circumstances," whether such settlements were made before or after the surveys: Provided, however, That the period of two years' occupancy required of settlers before they can purchase the land claimed by them under the provisions of the first section of the act of February fourteenth, eighteen hundred fifty-three, above mentioned, shall be, and the same is, hereby reduced to one year.

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That the proviso to the fourth section of the act of September twenty-seventh, eighteen hundred and fifty, above mentioned, by which all contracts for the sale of lands claimed under that law, before the issue of the patents therefor, are declared void, shall be, and the same is hereby, repealed: Provided, That no sale shall be deemed valid unless the vender shall have resided four years upon the land.

SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That the preemption privilege granted by the act of September fourth, eighteen hundred and forty-one, shall be, and the same is hereby, extended to the lands in Oregon and Washington Territories, whether surveyed or unsurveyed, not rightfully claimed, entered, or reserved, under the pro

visions of this act, or the acts of which it is amendatory, nor excluded by the terms of the said act of eighteen hundred and forty-one, with the exception of unsurveyed land as above mentioned; and all settlers on unsurveyed lands in said Territories shall give notice to the surveyor-general, or other duly authorized officer, of the particular tract claimed under this section within six months after the survey of such lands is made and returned. And all persons claiming donations under this act, or the acts of which it is amendatory, shall in like manner give notice to the surveyor-general, or other duly authorized officer, of the particular land claimed as such donations within thirty days after being requested to do so by such officer; and failing such notice in either case, the claimant or claimants shall forfeit all right and claim thereto: Provided, however, That the time limited by the sixth section of the act of eighteen hundred and fifty-three, in which claimants under the act of eighteen hundred and fifty are required to give notice of their claim, shall be, and the same is hereby, extended to the first of December, eighteen hundred and fiftyfive, except in cases where the surveyor-general shall request them so to do, as above provided.

SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That in lieu of the two townships of land granted to the Territory of Oregon by the tenth section of the act of eighteen hundred and fifty for universities, there shall be reserved to each of the Territories of Washington and Oregon two townships of land of thirty-six sections each, to be selected in legal subdivisions, for university purposes, under the direction of the legislatures of said Territories, respectively.

SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That in any case where orphans have been or may be left in either of said Territories, whose parents, or either of them, if living, would have been entitled to a donation under this act, or either of those of which it is amendatory, said orphans shall be entitled to a quarter section of land on due proof being made to the satisfaction of the surveyor-general, subject to the decision of the Secretary of the Interior. Said land to be set off to them by the surveyor-general in good agricultural land not reserved or otherwise appropriated under any law of Congress; and in case of the death of either or any of said orphans, after their land shall have been designated by the surveyor-general, the right or rights of the deceased shall vest in the survivor or survivors.

SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That all the provisions of this act, and the acts of which it is amendatory, shall be extended to all the lands in Oregon and Washington Territories; and for the purpose of carrying said acts into effect in said Territories the President shall be, and he is hereby, authorized to appoint a register and receiver for each of said Territories, whose powers, duties, obligations, and responsibilities shall be the same as are now prescribed by law for other land officers and for the surveyor-general of Oregon, so far as they apply to such officers. They shall keep their offices at such place as the President shall from time to time direct; and their compensation shall be two thousand five hundred dollars each per annum and office rent, but they shall be entitled to no fees or other emoluments of any kind whatsoever, except the receiver's actual and necessary expenses in depositing; and on satisfactory proof that either of said officers, or any other officer, has charged or received fees or other rewards not authorized by law he shall be forthwith removed from office.

SEC. 7. And be it further enacted, That the Territory of Washington shall be erected into a separate surveying district, and the President of the United States is hereby authorized to appoint a surveyor-general for the same, who shall hold his office at such place as the President may direct, and the location thereof may be changed from time to time, if, in the judgment of the President, the public interest should require it; and the powers, duties, obligations, responsibilities, and emoluments of the said surveyor-general shall be the same as are now prescribed by law for the surveyor-general of Oregon.

Approved July 17, 1854.

APPENDIX E.

EXTRACTS FROM ANNUAL REPORT OF THE UNITED STATES SURVEYORGENERAL OF ALASKA.

On the 11th ultimo I transmitted estimate of funds that should be appropriated for the surveying service in this district for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1904. The amount called for therein for surveying public lands, including mission stations and other reservations, is $113,872. That this amount is as meager as the demands of

the service will justify, the following extracts from the explanatory note made in support of the estimate will show.

When it is considered that the area of Alaska is greater than the unsurveyed portions of all of the other surveying districts in the United States combined, and that provision has been made for merely beginning the primary lines to govern surveys in one section of the territory only, the conservativeness of the foregoing estimate will be appreciated.

"This surveying district includes an area of about 400,000,000 acres of land. Of this vast amount not an acre is yet available for entry under the general land laws of the Government, although it has been in the possession of the United States for more than a third of a century.

It is true an act of Congress approved May 14, 1898, extended, in a restricted way, the homestead laws to Alaska, but as these laws do not authorize the entry or patenting of homestead claims until the public surveys have been regularly extended over them, the law is inoperative, That there are large areas in the district susceptible of settlement and of producing crops of various sorts when properly cultivated is now seemingly beyond doubt. In fact, it is believed the area of land in Alaska adapted to agricultural and grazing purposes is of as great extent as that class of land remaining unsurveyed in all of the other surveying districts. These agricultural and pasturable lands are found in various parts of the territory west and south of the Yukon River. The greatest extent of such lands lie in the Yukon and Copper River valleys, though there are large areas in Kenai Peninsula, Kadiak Island, and other places. Judging from reports that come to this office, there seems to be but little cause for doubt that home seekers would soon make settlement in these localities and avail themselves of the benefit of the general homestead laws if the lands were surveyed, thus assuring them of the possibility of obtaining title to their claims within a reasonable time, and to an amount equal at least to that granted to settlers in other parts of our common country. Notwithstanding the handicap of inadequate and restrictive legislation, some settlements are already being made. From information gleaned by this office it appears there will be quite an area sown to grain in Coppe River Valley this season. It is confidently believed by those who have persona. knowledge of that region that grain can be successfully grown there, and of its pasturable capabilities there is no doubt.

"This office is authentically informed that there is a movement being made to establish a colony of Finns on Kenai Peninsula, provided that reasonable assurance can be given that title to the lands desired can be obtained in the near future. From present indications it seems probable there will be an ever-increasing influx of home seekers as the capabilities of the territory become more widely known.

'By an act of Congress approved June 6, 1900, the coal-land laws of the United States were extended to Alaska. These laws make provision for the survey of lands embracing such claims, if they are lawfully possessed, upon unsurveyed land, under the special-deposit system, provided the township in which the claims are located is within the range of the regular progress of the public surveys embraced by existing standard lines or base for township and subdivisional surveys.

"There are a number of applications on file in this office for the survey of coalland claims, but of course no action can be taken on them until a base or standard line has been established to govern surveys in the region of country in which they are situated. A number of these applications are from northwestern Alaska. Fuel of any kind in that region is scarce, expensive, and at times hard to obtain. It has to be shipped there from remote points, and freight rates are high. It would be of incalculable benefit to that locality if the coal fields known to exist therein were developed. However, it requires capital to develop coal deposits. Capitalists are chary about expending large sums upon untitled property, and it is difficult to obtain a loan of money upon unpatented land. It does seem that some provision should be made by which parties desiring to develop such property might be enabled to do so with a feeling of security that can only come with a title in fee to their holdings."

APPENDIX F.

UNITED STATES LAND OFFICE,
Juneau, Alaska, July 29, 1902.

SIR: In compliance with the request contained in your letter of July 24, 1902, we take pleasure in giving the following statement of the business done in the Sitka,

Rampart, and Juneau land offices during the fiscal year ended June 30, 1902, for use in connection with your annual report:

List of United States deputy mineral surveyors who have furnished bonds.