deposited shall go in part payment for their land situated in the townships, the surveying of which is paid for out of such deposits; or the certificates issued for such deposits may be assigned by indorsement, and be received in payment for any public lands of the United States entered by settlers under the preemption and homestead laws of the United States, and not otherwise.

Approved, March 3, 1879. (20 Stat., 352.)

[No. 11.]

SETTLERS WITHIN RAILROAD LIMITS.

AN ACT to grant additional rights to homestead settlers on public lands within railroad limits.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That from and after the passage of this act, the even sections within the limits of any grant of public lands to any railroad company, or to any military road company, or to any State in aid of any railroad or military road shall be open to settlers under the homestead laws to the extent of one hundred and sixty acres to each settler, and any person who has, under existing laws, taken a homestead on any even section within the limits of any railroad or military road land grant, and who by existing laws shall have been restricted to eighty acres, may enter under the homestead laws an additional eighty acres adjoining the land embraced in his original entry if such additional land be subject to entry; or if such person so elect, he may surrender his entry to the United States for cancellation, and thereupon be entitled to enter lands under the homestead laws the same as if the surrendered entry had not been made. And any person so making additional entry of eighty acres, or new entry after the surrender and cancellation of his original entry, shall be permitted so to do without payment of fees and commission; and the residence and cultivation of such person upon and of the land embraced in his original entry shall be considered residence and cultivation for the same length of time upon and of the land embraced in his additional or new entry, and shall be deducted from the five years' residence and cultivation required by law: Provided, That in no case shall patent issue upon an additional or new homestead entry under this act until the person has actually, and in conformity with the homestead laws, occupied, resided upon, and cultivated the land embraced therein at least one year. Approved, March 3, 1879. (20 Stat., 472.)

[No. 12.]

FINAL PROOF NOTICE.

AN ACT to provide additional regulations for homestead and preemption entries of public lands.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That before final proof shall be submitted by any person claiming to enter agricultural lands under

the laws providing for preemption or homestead entries, such person shall file with the register of the proper land office a notice of his or her intention to make such proof, stating therein the description of lands to be entered, and the names of the witnesses by whom the necessary facts will be established. Upon the filing of such notice the register shall publish a notice, that such application has been made, once a week for the period of thirty days, in a newspaper to be by him designated as published nearest to such land, and he shall also post such notice in some conspicuous place in his office for the same period. Such notice shall contain the names of the witnesses as stated in the application. At the expiration of said period of thirty days the claimant shall be entitled to make proof in the manner heretofore provided by law. The Secretary of the Interior shall make all necessary rules for giving effect to the foregoing provisions.

Approved, March 3, 1879. (20 Stat., 472.)

[No. 13.]

SETTLERS WITHIN RAILROAD LIMITS.

AN ACT to grant additional rights to homestead settlers on public lands within railroad limits in the States of Missouri and Arkansas.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That from and after the passage of this act the odd sections within the limits of any grant of public lands to any railroad company in the States of Missouri and Arkansas, or to such States respectively, in aid of any railroad, where the even sections have been granted to and received by any railroad company or by such States respectively in aid of any railroad, shall be open to settlers under the homestead laws to the extent of one hundred and sixty acres to each settler; and any person who has under existing laws taken a homestead on any section within the limits of any railroad grant in said States, and who by existing laws shall have been restricted to eighty acres, may enter under the homestead laws an additional eighty acres adjoining the land embraced in his original entry, if such additional land be subject to entry; or if such person so elect, he may surrender his entry to the United States for cancellation, and thereupon be entitled to enter lands under the homestead laws the same as if the surrendered entry had not been made. And any person so making additional entry of eighty acres, or new entry after the cancellation of his original entry, shall be permitted to do so without payment of fees or commissions; and the residence of such person upon and cultivation of the land embraced in his original entry shall be considered residence and cultivation for the same length of time upon and of the land embraced in his additional or new entry, and shall be deducted from the five years' residence and cultivation required by law: Provided, That in no case shall patent issue upon an additional or new homestead entry under this act until the person has actually, and in conformity with the homestead laws, occupied, resided upon, and cultivated the land embraced therein at least one year.

Approved, July 1, 1879. (21 Stat., 46.)

[No. 14.]

INJURY OR DESTRUCTION OF CROPS BY GRASSHOPPERS.

AN ACT for the relief of settlers on the public lands in districts subject to grasshopper incursions.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That it shall be lawful for homestead and preemption settlers on the public lands, and in all cases where preemptions are authorized by law, where crops have been or may be destroyed or seriously injured by grasshoppers, to leave and be absent from said lands under such rules and regulations, as to proof of the same, as the Commissioner of the General Land Office shall prescribe; but in no case shall such absence extend beyond one year continuously; and during such absence no adverse rights shall attach to said lands, such settlers being allowed to resume and perfect their settlement as though no such absence had occurred.

SEC. 2. That the time for making final proof and payment by preemptors whose crops shall have been destroyed or injured as aforesaid may, in the discretion of the Commissioner of the General Land Office, be extended for one year after the expiration of the term of absence provided for in the first section of this act; and all the rights and privileges extended by this act to homestead and preemption settlers shall apply to and include the settlers under an act entitled "An act to encourage the growth of timber on western prairies," approved March third, eighteen hundred and seventy-three, and the acts amendatory thereof.

Approved, July 1, 1879. (21 Stat., 48.)

INSTRUCTIONS.

The first section of the act of July 1, 1879, "for the relief of settlers on the public lands in districts subject to grasshopper incursions," provides that homestead and preemption settlers on public lands where crops have been destroyed or seriously injured by grasshoppers may leave and be absent from said lands for a period not to exceed one year continuously, under such rules and regulations as the Commissioner of the General Land Office shall prescribe, being allowed afterward to resume and perfect their settlement as though no such absence had occurred. The second section provides that the time for making final proof and payment by preemptors whose crops had been destroyed or injured as aforesaid may, at the discretion of the Commissioner, be extended for one year. (See supra.)

A settler desiring to take advantage of the provisions of this act should file with the register and receiver a written notice of intended absence, bearing his own signature, and embracing a statement that he had sustained loss or failure of his crops. This should be noted on the tract books for the protection of the claimant and the information of parties who might otherwise make settlement and attempt to obtain title.

Preemption settlers desiring the extension of time provided for in the second section of the act should apply therefor through the same officers, the application to be supported by the same character of proof, which should be made before the register or receiver of the district land office or before any officer using a seal and authorized to administer oaths.

Upon making final proof the settler having been absent under the first section should file his affidavit, with the affidavits of two or more witnesses, corroborative thereof, stating the particulars of the alleged destruction or serious injury of crops by grasshoppers.

The particulars given should be such as to admit of a decision whether the absence was justified by law or not, and should specifically show at what time the party left the land and when he resumed his settlement.

The affidavits required in cases arising under this section of the act must be made at the same time and place and before the same officer taking the other proofs.

[No. 15.]

RELINQUISHMENTS—CONTESTANT'S PREFERENCE-HOMESTEAD SET

TLEMENTS.

AN ACT for the relief of settlers on public lands.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That when a preemption, homestead, or timber-culture claimant shall file a written relinquishment of his claim in the local land office, the land covered by such claim shall be held as open to settlement and entry without further action on the part of the Commissioner of the General Land Office.

SEC. 2. In all cases where any person has contested, paid the landoffice fees, and procured the cancellation of any preemption, homestead, or timber-culture entry, he shall be notified by the register of the land office of the district in which such land is situated of such cancellation, and shall be allowed thirty days from date of such notice to enter said lands: Provided, That said register shall be entitled to a fee of one dollar for the giving of such notice, to be paid by the contestant, and not to be reported.

SEC. 3. That any settler who has settled, or who shall hereafter settle, on any of the public lands of the United States, whether surveyed or unsurveyed, with the intention of claiming the same under the homestead laws, shall be allowed the same time to file his homestead application and perfect his original entry in the United States Land Office as is now allowed to settlers under the preemption laws to put their claims on record, and his right shall relate back to the date of settlement the same as if he settled under the preemption laws. Approved, May 14, 1880. (21 Stat., 140.)

[No. 16.]

OSAGE TRUST AND DIMINISHED-RESERVE LANDS.

AN ACT for the relief of settlers upon the Osage trust and diminished-reserve land in Kansas, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That all actual settlers under existing laws upon the Osage Indian trust and diminished-reserve lands in Kansas (any failure to comply with such existing laws notwithstanding) shall be allowed sixty days after a day to be fixed by public notice

by advertisement in two newspapers in each of the proper land districts, which day shall not be later than ninety days after the passage of this act, within which to make proof of their claims, and to pay one-fourth the purchase price thereof, and the said parties shall pay the balance of said purchase price in three equal annual installments thereafter: Provided, That nothing herein contained shall be construed to prevent an earlier payment of the whole or any installment of said purchase money as aforesaid.

And if default be made by any settler in the payment of any portion or installment at the time it becomes due under the foregoing provisions, his entire claim, and any money he may have paid thereon, shall be forfeited, and the land shall, after proper notice, be offered for sale according to the terms hereinafter prescribed, unless before the day fixed for such offering the whole amount of purchase money shall be paid by said claimant, so as to entitle him to receive his patent for the tract embracing his claim.

SEC. 2. That all the said Indian lands remaining unsold and unappropriated, and not embraced in the claims provided for in section one of this act, shall be subject to disposal to actual settlers only, having the qualifications of preemptors on the public lands. Such settlers shall make due application to the register, with proof of settlement and qualifications as aforesaid; and, upon payment of not less than onefourth the purchase price, shall be permitted to enter not exceeding one quarter section each, the balance to be paid in three equal installments, with like penalties, liabilities, and restrictions as to default and forfeiture as provided in section one of this act.

SEC. 3. All lands upon which such default has continued for ninety days shall be placed upon a list, and the Secretary of the Interior shall cause the same to be duly proclaimed for sale in the manner prescribed for the offering of the public lands, but not exceeding one quarter section shall be sold to any one purchaser, at a price not less than the price fixed by law; but such lands, upon which such default shall be made, shall be offered for sale by advertisement of not less than thirty days in two newspapers in the proper land districts, respectively, and unless the purchase price be fully paid before the day named in the notice, shall be sold for cash to the highest bidder at not less than the price fixed by law. And all such lands, subject to unpaid overdue installments, shall be so offered once every year. And if any of said lands shall remain unsold after the offering as aforesaid, they shall be subject to private entry, for cash, in tracts not exceeding one quarter section by one purchaser.

SEC. 4. After the payment of the first installment as hereinafter provided for, such lands shall be subject to taxation according to the laws of the State of Kansas, as other lands are or may be in said State: Provided, That no sale of any such lands for taxes shall operate to deprive the United States of said lands, or any part of the purchaseprice thereof, but if default be made in any installment of the purchase price as aforesaid, such tax-sale purchaser, or his or her legal representatives, may, upon the day fixed for the public sale, and after such default has become final, under the foregoing provisions, pay so much of said purchase price as may remain unpaid, and shall thereupon be entitled to receive a patent for the same as though he had made due settlement thereon: And provided further, That nothing in this act shall be so construed as to deprive or impair the right of the settler, of the right of redemption under the revenue laws of the State of Kansas.