He must post a copy of such plat, together with a notice of his application for a patent, in a conspicuous place on the land, previous to the filing of his application, which fact he shall prove by at least two persons, and he must file a copy of the notice in the proper district land office. It is then required that the register of the land office shall publish a notice of such application, for a period of sixty days, in a newspaper to be designated by him as published nearest to the claim; also that he shall post such notice in his office for the same period. The claimant is required, at the time of filing his application, or at any time within the sixty days of publication, to file with the register a certificate of the Surveyor-General that five hundred dollars' worth of labor has been expended or of improvements have been made on the claim by himself or grantors, and that the plat is correct, with such further description as will fully identify the claim, and furnish an accurate description, to be incorporated in the patent. He is required also, at the expiration of the sixty days of publication, to file his affidavit, showing that the plat and notice have been posted in a conspicuous place on the claim during such period. If no adverse claim shall have been filed with the register and receiver of the proper office at the expiration of the sixty days of publication, it is to be assumed that the applicant is entitled to a patent, upon payment to the proper officer of five dollars per acre. DESERT LANDS. 1204. Special provision is made by the recent act of Congress of March 3, 1877, for the sale and acquisition of lands in certain States and Territories described as desert lands. The benefit of this is extended to citizens, or any persons of lawful age entitled to become citizens who have filed their declarations to become citizens. Upon the pay ment of twenty-five cents per acre and the filing of a declaration, under oath, with the register and receiver of the proper land district, that the applicant intends to reclaim the described tract of desert land, not exceeding one section, in the manner and under the limitations as provided in the act, and upon the production of satisfactory proof, within three years thereafter, to those officers, of the reclamation of the land, and on the additional payment of one dollar per acre, a patent for the same may be issued. This act has application only to the States of California, Oregon, and Nevada, and to the Territories of Washington, Idaho, Montana, Utah, Wyoming, Arizona, New Mexico, and Dakota. The determination as to what constitutes desert land is subject to the decision of the Commissioner of the General Land Office. The act, however, declares that all lands, exclusive of timber and mineral lands, which will not without irrigation produce some agricultural crop, shall be deemed desert lands. The fact is to be proved by the oaths of two or more credible witnesses, whose affidavits are to be filed in the land office of the land district in which the tract of land is situated. RESERVED TOWN SITES ON THE PUBLIC LANDS. 1205. The statutes authorize the reservation of town sites on the public lands, on the shores of harbors, and at the junction of rivers, important portages, or any natural or prospective center of population. These sites may be sur veyed into urban or suburban lots, and a cash value is authorized to be fixed by appraisement to the same. They may be offered for sale at public outcry to the highest bidder, and afterwards may be held subject to sale at private entry according to regulations; but no sale may be made. of a lot at less than its appraised value. In a case where parties have founded a city or town on the public lands they may file a plat of the same, which is not to exceed six hundred and forty acres in extent, with the recorder of the proper county, giving the name of the city or town, with various minutiæ. Within a month after the filing of the plat the parties must transmit to the General Land Office a verified transcript of the same, accompanied by the testimony of two witnesses that such city or town has been established in good faith, and also file a similar plat with the proper register and receiver when the town is within a land district. At any time thereafter the lots may be offered at public sale to the highest bidder, subject to a minimum price of ten dollars for each lot, and any lot not so disposed of will thereafter be liable to private entry at such minimum price, or at such reasonable increase or diminution as the Secretary of the Interior may order from time to time, after at least three months' notice. AGRICULTURAL-COLLEGE SCRIP. In addition to these classes, mention should be made of the agricultural-college scrip issued by authority of the act of July 2, 1862, to the several States, in certain cases, for the support of agricultural colleges. This scrip the States were authorized to dispose of, and the assignees to locate the same on any unappropriated public lands subject to private entry at one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre. 1206. Besides the disposal of the public lands in the manner before mentioned, they may be offered at stated public sales to the highest bidder in half-quarter sections; and may be sold at private sale, at the option of the purchaser, in entire sections, half and quarter sections, and half-quarter or quarter-quarter sections. 1207. A person making application at any of the land offices for the purchase at private sale of a tract of land must produce to the register a memorandum, in writing, describing the tract, which he shall enter by the proper number of the section, half section, quarter section, and so on, and of the township and range, subscribing his name thereto, which memorandum shall be preserved on file in the register's office. The price at which the lands are to be offered is one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre at private sale, and not less than that price at public sale. 1208. In order that public lands may be exposed to public sale, they are required to be advertised for a period not less than three nor more than six months prior to the day of sale, unless otherwise specially ordered, and such sales are to be kept open for two weeks, and no longer. 1209. The foregoing exhibits the several modes in which title to the public lands may be acquired. The cir culars, instructions, regulations, and decisions of the General Land Office in exposition of the numerous statutes regarding the public domain would of themselves fill a volume. It is designed here merely to refer, as succinctly as pos sible, to the specific duties of the Commissioner and to the organization of his office for business. 1210. The head of the office is designated-the Commissioner of the General Land Office. The subordinate officers are 1. Chief Clerk. 2. Recorder of the General Land Office. 3. A Principal Clerk of the Public Lands. 1211. As it is not practicable for the President of the United States to sign the numerous patents issued, the statutes provide him with a Secretary to sign the same, in his name and for him. This Secretary performs his duties at the Department of the Interior and in connection with the Land Office. 1315. The warrants for bounty lands are issued to persons entitled by law to the same by the Commissioner of Pensions. The persons so entitled are described under the head of "bounty lands," in treating of the duties of the Commissioner of the General Land Office. The assignment and location of these warrants are made by the lastnamed officer. VI. THE WIDOWS' DIVISION. 1316. In this division are examined all claims for pensions made on behalf of widows, heirs, or dependent relatives of deceased soldiers who were in the service of the United States in the war of the rebellion of 1861. This division also reviews claims of the same classes arising out of the previous wars. VII. THE SPECIAL SERVICE DIVISION. 1317. This division is charged with all business connected with the investigation of frauds or attempted frauds upon the Government in the matter of procuring or continuing in the enjoyment of pensions. It aids in the detection and prosecution of offenders against the pension laws and in the recovery of money wrongfully obtained. number of clerks and special agents are placed under the direction of this division, who are detailed, according to the authority given by section 4744 of the Revised Statutes, to investigate suspected attempts at fraud. 1318. This division gives its attention to questions affecting the status of attorneys making application for pensions or concerned therein. It also inquires into the official character and status of magistrates before whom papers and proofs are executed, and generally concerns itself with all violations of law in claims or other matters before the Pension Office. |