An Act To accept from the Southern Oregon Company, a corporation organized under the laws of the State of Oregon, a reconveyance of the lands granted to the State of Oregon by the Act approved March third, eighteen hundred and sixty-nine, entitled "An Act granting lands to the State of Oregon to aid in the construction of a military wagon road from the navigable waters of Coos Bay to Roseburg, in said State," commonly known as the Coos Bay Wagon Road grant, to provide for the disposition of said lands, and for other purposes Oregon. deed for, from Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assem- Coos Bay Wagon bled, That upon the execution and delivery by the Road grant lands, Southern Oregon Company, a corporation organized under the laws of the State of Oregon, of a deed satisfac- Acceptance of tory to the Attorney General of the United States, re- Southern Oregon conveying to the United States all the right, title, and Co. interests of the said Southern Oregon Company in and to the lands situated in the counties of Coos and Douglas, in the State of Oregon, and embraced within the limits of the grant made by the United States to the State of Oregon by the Act of March third, eighteen hundred and sixty-nine, entitled "An Act granting lands to the State of Oregon to aid in the construction of a military wagon road from the navigable waters of Coos Bay to Roseburg, in said State," commonly known as the Coos Bay Wagon Road grant, and now involved in litigation pending in the Supreme Court of the United States under the style and title "The Southern Oregon Company against the United States," the said lands shall again become a part of the public domain, and the United States Payment. shall pay to the Southern Oregon Company the sum of $232,463.07. The execution and delivery of the aforesaid deed within thirty days from and after the approval of deed executed. this Act shall constitute the acceptance of this Act by Pending suit diethe said Southern Oregon Company; and upon the ap- missed when proval of such deed by the Attorney General of the United States the aforesaid suit shall be dismissed and all matters of difference, controversy, and litigation between the United States and the said Southern Oregon Company arising out of said land grant shall be deemed Timber recoveries fully settled, adjusted, and terminated: Provided, That not affected. nothing herein shall be construed to prevent the United States from instituting and maintaining such suits or actions as may be necessary to recover the value of timber or other material heretofore cut or removed from any of said lands without the consent of the Southern Oregon Company. unpaid taxes and SEC. 2. That the taxes accrued, unpaid, and delinquent Appropriation for on the said lands on the date of the delivery of the deed land conveyed. provided for in the preceding section shall be paid by the Treasurer of the United States upon the order of the Secretary of the Interior as soon as may be after this Act becomes effective, and a sum sufficient to make such payment and also to provide for the payment of the said Classification and disposal of lands. Preference to lessees from company. sum of $232,463.07, as provided for in section one of this Act, is hereby appropriated out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated. SEC. 3. That the said lands shall be classified and disposed of in the manner provided by the Act of June ninth, nineteen hundred and sixteen (Thirty-ninth Statutes at Large, page two hundred and eighteen)," for the classification and disposition of the Oregon and California railroad grant lands: Provided, That such persons who, being citizens of the United States, have continuously leased from the said Southern Oregon Company for a period of not less than ten years, or who under lease from said company have cultivated and placed valuable improvements upon any of said lands classified as agricultural, not exceeding one hundred and sixty acres to each person, shall be allowed a preference right of six months in which to purchase such lands from the United States by paying therefor the sum of $2.50 per acre and reimbursing the United States for the taxes paid on Adverse claim- such land: Provided further, That where any of such ants to lessees released lands have been resided upon, to the same extent and in the same manner as is required under the homestead laws, since the first day of December, nineteen hundred and thirteen, by any person duly qualified to enter such lands claiming adversely to such lessee, and who has improved the land and devoted some portion thereof to agricultural use, and who shall have maintained his residence to the date of his application, the claim of such settler and resident shall be superior to that of the lessee, and he shall be allowed the preference right of entry afforded actual settlers by section five of the Act of June ninth, nineteen hundred and sixteen, aforesaid. siding on lands. Title to money now in court. Receipts from land and timber to constitute a special fund. Disposal of To Coos and SEC. 4. That the title to all money arising out of said lands and now on deposit to await the final outcome of said suit now pending in the Supreme Court, as aforesaid, is hereby vested in the United States, and the United States is subrogated to all the rights and remedies of the obligee or obligees, and especially of Harry E. Laughlin as commissioner, under any contract for the purchase of timber on said lands. SEC. 5. That all moneys received from or on account of said lands and timber and the timber thereon under the provisions of this Act shall be deposited in the Treasury of the United States in a separate fund to be designated "The Coos Bay Wagon Road grant fund," which fund shall be disposed of in the following manner: A separate account shall be kept in the General Land Office of the sales of said lands and timber within each of the two counties of Coos and Douglas, and after the proceeds 44 See the act of May 17, 1928 (45 Stat. 597), under subtitle "Grants to Oregon and California Railroad," p. 449. from such sales amount to a sum equal to that applied to pay the accrued taxes in that county and a sum equal to $2.50 per acre for each acre of such land therein title to which is revested in the United States pursuant to the provisions of this Act, twenty-five per centum of all other moneys received from said lands shall be paid to the treasurer of the county in which the lands sold are situated for common schools, roads, highways, bridges, and port districts, to be apportioned by the county courts for the several purposes above mentioned; and the remainder shall become a part of the general fund in the Treasury of the United States. The payments herein To United States. authorized shall be made by the Treasurer of the United States upon the order of the Secretary of the Interior, as the fund accumulates in the Treasury: Provided, payments. That none of the payments to the counties provided for in this section shall be made until the Treasury has been reimbursed in the amount paid to the Southern Oregon Company and also for all taxes paid pursuant to the provisions of section two of this Act. Treasury. Subject to prior SEC. 6. That the Secretary of the Interior is hereby Regulations, etc. authorized to perform any and all acts and to make such rules and regulations as may be necessary and proper for the purpose of carrying the provisions of this Act into full force and effect; and any person, applicant, pur- Punishment for chaser, entryman, or witness who shall swear falsely in any affidavit or proceeding required hereunder or under the regulations issued by the Secretary of the Interior shall be guilty of perjury and liable to the penalties prescribed therefor. false swearing. classification. SEC. 7. That the sum of $12,000 be, and the same is Appropriation for hereby, appropriated, out of any moneys in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, to enable the Secretary of the Interior, in cooperation with the Secretary of Agriculture, or otherwise, to complete the classification of the lands as herein provided, which amount shall be immediately available and shall remain available until such classification shall have been completed. SEC. 8. That this Act shall become effective upon its In effect when acacceptance by the Southern Oregon Company, in the cepted by Southmanner provided by the first section hereof. Approved, February 26, 1919 (40 Stat. 1179). PATENTS FOR WAGON-ROAD GRANTS, OREGON An Act To authorize the issuance of patents for lands granted to the State of Oregon in certain cases ern Oregon Co. Whereas certain lands have heretofore, by Acts of Preamble. Congress, been granted to the State of Oregon to aid in the construction of certain military wagon roads in said State, and there exists no law providing for the issuing of formal patents for said lands: Therefore, 1 for lands granted tion of wagon Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assemPatents to issue bled, That in all cases when the roads in aid of the confor the construc- struction of which said lands were granted are shown by roads in Oregon. the certificate of the governor of the State of Oregon, as in said Acts provided, to have been constructed and completed, patents for said lands shall issue in due form to the State of Oregon as fast as the same shall, under said grants, be selected and certified, unless the State of Oregon shall by public act have transferred its interests in said lands to any corporation or corporations, in which case the patents shall issue from the General Land Office to such corporation or corporations upon their payment of the necessary expenses thereof: Provided, That this shall not be construed to revive any land grant already expired nor to create any new rights of any kind except to provide for issuing patents for lands to which the State is already entitled. Proviso. Approved, June 18, 1874 (18 Stat. 80, U. S. C., title 43, sec. 562). RELIEF OF SETTLERS WITHIN WAGON ROAD GRANTS An Act For the relief of settlers on lands granted in aid of the construction of wagon roads Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assem Relief of settlers bled, That the provision of the Act of June twenty on wagon road grants. Vol. 18, p. 194. Vol. 24, p. 556. Vol. 29, p. 42. second, eighteen hundred and seventy-four, 45 entitled "An Act for the relief of settlers on railroad lands," and all Acts amendatory thereof or supplementary thereto, including the Act approved March third, eighteen hundred and eighty-seven, entitled "An Act to provide for the adjustment of land grants made by Congress to aid in the construction of railroads and for the forfeiture of unearned lands, and for other purposes," as modified or supplemented by the Act approved March second, eighteen hundred and ninety-six, entitled "An Act to provide for the extension of the time within which suits may be brought to vacate and annul land patents, and for other purposes," shall apply to grants of land in aid of the construction of wagon roads. 47 Approved, July 1, 1902 (32 Stat. 733, U. S. C., title 43, sec. 903). RECLAMATION Cross references: See "Carey Act," p. 77; "Desert Lands," p. 107; "Drainage," p. 117; subtitles "Agricultural Entries on Coal Lands," p. 183; "Agricultural Entries on Lands Containing Potash, Oil, Gas, etc.," p. 187; "Military Service," p. 218, under "Homesteads"; subtitle "Irrigation "under "Indian Lands," p. 218; subtitles "Reservoirs, Canals, Ditches, and Tramroads," p. 622; "Ditch Rider Stations," p. 625; "Telegraph and Telephone Lines, Electrical Plants, Canals, and Reservoirs," p. 626, under "Rights of Way"; "Reservoir Sites," p. 615; subtitle "Swamp and Overflowed Lands," under "State Grants," p. 686; subtitle “Reclamation Town Sites," under "Town Sites," p. 734; Withdrawals and Restorations," p. 775. COMMISSIONER OF RECLAMATION 66 An Act To provide for the appointment of a Commissioner of Reclamation to Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assem- Reclamation bled, That under the supervision and direction of the Bureau. Secretary of the Interior, the reclamation of arid lands, Commissioner of under the Act of June 17, 1902, and Acts amendatory administer. thereof and supplementary thereto, shall be adminis- vol. 32, p. 388. tered by a Commissioner of Reclamation, shall be appointed by the President. * * who Approved, May 26, 1926 (44 Stat. 657, U. S. C., 3d supp., title 43, sec. 373a). RECLAMATION ACT An Act Appropriating the receipts from the sale and disposal of public lands in certain States and Territories to the construction of irrigation works for the reclamation of arid lands Appointment. established from Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That all moneys received from the sale and disposal Irrigation; recla of public lands in Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, mation fund Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, certain publicNorth Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, land receipts. Washington and Wyoming, beginning with the fiscal year ending June thirtieth, nineteen hundred and one, including the surplus of fees and commissions in excess of allowances to registers and receivers, and excepting the five per centum of the proceeds of the sales of public lands in the above States set aside by law for educational and other purposes, shall be, and the same are hereby, reserved, set aside, and appropriated as a special fund in the Treasury to be known as the "reclamation fund," to be used in the examination and survey for and the construction and maintenance of irrigation works for the 1 Extended to Texas by the act of June 12, 1906 (34 Stat. 259), p. 493. Exception. |