forfeited, and the tract awarded to the next sett er, in the order of time. on the same tract of land, who shall have given such notice, and cther. wise complied with the conditions of the law.

SEO. 6. And be it further enacted, That whenever the vacancy of the office either of register or receiver, or of both, shall render it impossible for the claimant to comply with any requisition of any of the pre-emp tion laws within the appointed time, suen vacancy shall not operate to the detriment of the party claiming in respect to any matter essentia] to the establishment of his claim: Provided, That such requisition is complied with within the same period after the disability is removed, aa would have been allowed him had such disability not existed.

SEC. 7. And be it further enacted, That where a settler on the public lands may reside on a quarter-section, a fractional quarter-section, or a fraction of a section less than one hundred and sixty acres, and cultivat ed land on any other and different tract of either of the descriptions aforesaid, he or she shall be entitled, under the act of June twenty-two, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-eight, to the same privileges of a choice between two legal subdivisions of each, so as to include his or her house and farm, not to exceed one hundred and sixty acres in all, as is granted by the first section of that act to settlers residing on a quarter-section and cultivating on another and different quarter.

SEC 8. And be it further enacted, That where two or more persons are residing on any of the species of tracts specified in section seven of this act, as required by the acts of the twenty-second of June, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-eight, and first of June, one thousand eight hundred and forty, and any one or more of said settlers may have culti vated I nd during the period of residence required by either of said acts on another and different tract, or other and different tracts, the lattermentioned settlers shall be entitted to the option of entering the tract lived on, jointly with the other or others, or of abandoning the tract lived on to those who have not cultivated land as above required, and entering the tract or tracts cultivated, so as not to exceed one hun tred and sixty acres to any one settler, who, by virtue of this section, is entitled to a separate entry; or such joint settlers may jointly enter the tinet Bo jointly occupied by them, and, in addition, enter other contiguous unoccupied land, by legal subdivisions, so as not to exceed one hundred and sixty acres in all to each of such joint settlers: Provided, That the extended privileges granted to pre-emptors by this act shall not be construed to deprive any other actual settler of his or her previous and paramount right of pre-emption, or to extend to lands reserved for any purpose whatever.

SEC. 9. And be it further enacted, That all persons coming within the tenth section of the act of the fourth of September, eighteen hundred and forty-one, entitled "An act to appropriate the proceeds of the sales of the public lands and to grant pre-emotion rights," shall be entitled to the right of pre-emption under its provisions, notwithstanding such persons claiming the pre-emption shall have settled upon and improved the lands claimed before the same were surveyed: Provided, Such settlements were inade before the date of the aforesaid act, and after the ex tinguishment of the Indian title. And said act shall not be so construed as to preclude any person who may have filed a notice of intention to

claim any tract of land by pre-emption, under said act, from the night allowed by law to others to purchase the same by private entry after the expiration of the right of pre-emption.

Approved March 3, 1843.

AN Act to repeal a part of the act entitled "An Act supplementary to the several laws for the sale of the public lands," approved April fifth, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-two, and for other purposes. 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 second proviso to the act entitled "An Act supplementary to the several laws for the sale of the public lands," approved April fifth, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-two, which is as follows, viz "That no person shall be permitted to enter more than one half quartersection of land under this act in quarter quarter-sections in his own name, or in the name of any other person, and in no case unless he intends it for cultivation or for the use of his improvement And the per son making application to make an entry under this act shall file his or her affidavit, under such regulations as the Secretary of the Treasury [Interior] may prescribe, that he or she makes the entry in his or her own name, for his or her own benefit, and not in trust for another," shall be, and the same is hereby repealed; and all entries, selections, or locations of lands now suspended in the General Land Office, because made contrary to the restrictions in this proviso, shall be, and they are hereby confirmed, provided they are in all other respects fair and reg

ular.

Approved May 8, 1846.

With the foregoing the reader has all the laws and information pertaing to pre-emption in the possession of the Department.

An Act to secure Homesteads to Actual Settlers on the Public Domain, May 20th, 1862.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That any person who is the head of a family, or who has arrived at the age of twenty-one years, and is a citizen of the United States, or who shall have filed his declaration of intention to become such, as required by the naturalization laws of the United States, and who has never borne arms against the United States Government, or given aid and comfort to its enemies, shall, from and after the first January, eighteen hundred and sixty-three, be entitled to enter one quarter section or a less quantity of unappropriated public lands, upon which said person may have filed a preemption claim, or which may, at the time the application is made, be subject to preëmption at one dollar and twenty-five cents, or less, per acre; or eighty acres or less of such unappropriated lands, at two dollars and fifty cents per acre, to be located in a body, in conformity to the legal sub-subdivisions of the public lands, and after the same shall have been surveyed: Provided, That any person owning and residing on land may, under the provisions of this act, enter other land lying contiguous to his or her said land, which shall not, with the land so already owned and occupied, exceed in the aggregate one hundred and sixty

acres.

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That the person applying for the benefit of this act shall, upon application to the register of the land office in which he or she is about to make such entry, make affidavit before the said register or receiver that he or she is the head of a family, or is twenty-one years or more of age, er shall have performed service in the army or navy of the United States, and that he has never borne arms against the Government of the United States, or given aid and comfort to its enemies, and that such application is made for his or her exclusive use and benefit, and that said entry is made for the purpose of actual settlement and cultivation, and not either directly or indirectly for the use or benefit of any other person or persons whomsoever; and upon filing the said affidavit with the register or receiver, and on payment of ten dollars, he or she shall thereupon be per mitted to enter the quantity of land specified: Provided, however, That no certificate shall be given or patent issued therefor until the expiration of five years from the date of such entry; and if, at the expiration of such time, or at any time within two years thereafter, the person making such entry; or, if he be dead, his widow; or, in case of her death, his heirs or devisee; o in case of a widow making such entry, her heirs or devisee, in case

of her death, shall prove by two credible witnesses that he, she, or they have resided upon or cultivated the same for the term of five years immediately succeeding the time of filing the affidavit aforesaid, and shall make affidavit that no part of said land has been alienated, and that he has borne true allegiance to the Government of the United States; then, in such case, he, she, or they, if at that time a citizen of the United States, shall be entitled to a patent, as in other cases provided for by law: And provided, further, That in case of the death of both father and mother, leaving an infant child, or children, under twenty-one years of age, the right and fee shall enure to the benefit of said infant child or children; and the executor, administrator, or guardian may, at any time within two years after the death of the surviving parent, and in accordance with the laws of the State in which such children for the time being have their domicil, sell said. land for the benefit of said infants, but for no other purpose; and the purchaser shall acquire the absolute title by the purchase, and be entitled to a patent from the United States, on payment of the office fees and sum of money herein specified.

SEC. 3. And Le it further enacted, That the register of the land office shall note all such applications on the tract books and plats of his office, and keep a register of all such entries, and make return thereof to the General Land Office, together with the proof upon which they have been founded.

SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That no lands 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 of the patent therefor.

SEC. 5. And be it further enacted. That if, at any time after the filing of the affidavit, as required in the second section of this act, and before the expiration of the five years aforesaid, it shall be proven, after due notice to the settler, to the satisfaction of the register of the land office, that the person having filed Euch affidavit shall have actually changed his or her residence, or abandoned the said land for more than six months at any time, then and in that event the land so entered shall revert to the government.

SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That no individual shall be permitted to acquire title to more than one quarter section under the provisions of this act; and that the Commissioner of the General Land Office is hereby required to prepare and issue such rules and regula.ions, consistent with this act, as shall be necessary and proper to carry its provisions into effect; and that the registers and receivers of the several land offices shall be entitled to receive the same compensation for any lands entered under the provisions of this act that they are now entitled to receive when the same quantity of land is entered with money, one half

to be paid by the person making the application at the time of so doing, and the other half on the issue of the certificate by the person to whom it may be issued; but this shall not be con strued to enlarge the maximum of compensation now prescribed by law for any register or receiver: Provided, That nothing contained in this act shall be so construed as to impair or interfero in any manner whatever with existing preemption rights: And provided, further, That all persons who may have filed their applications for a preemption right prior to the passage of this act, shall be entitled to all privileges of this act: Provided, further, That no person who has served, or may hereafter serve, for a period of not less than fourteen days in the army or navy of the United States, either regular or volunteer, under the laws thereof, during the existence of an actual war, domestic or. foreign shall be deprived of the benefits of this act on account of not having attained the age of twenty-cne years.

SEC. 7. And be it further enacted, That the fifth section of the act entitled "An act in addition to an act more effectually to provide for the punishment of certain crimes against the United States, and for other purposes," approved the third of March, in the year eighteen hundred and fifty-seven, shall extcnd to all oaths, affirmations and affidavits, required or authorized by this act.

SEC. 8. And be it further enacted, That nothing in this act shall be so construed as to prevent any person who has availed him or herself of the benefits of the first section of this act, from paying the minimum price, or the price to which the same may have graduated, for the quantity of land so entered at any time before the expiration of the five years, and obtaining a patent therefor from the government, as in other cases provided by law, on making proof of settlement and cultivation as provided by existing laws granting preemption rights.

Approved, May 20th, 1862.