THE SOLICITOR. 905 



when demand has been made either by the Secretary or through 

 action in the courts. Contentions on the part of the trespassers 

 have shifted from former assertions of the want of authority in the 

 Secretary to proliibit use of the range without permit to disputes, 

 in some cases, over the facts. It is rare, however, that the facts, aa 

 reported by the Forest officers, are successfully contested, and it is 

 believed that the time is not far distant when grazing trespasses 

 upon the National Forests will dwindle to those committed through 

 ignorance of boundaries or through madvertence. 



There are four separate and distinct heads under which grazing 

 trespasses are considered by the department. If the trespass is 

 committed tlirough inadvertence, the trespasser is advised that he 

 will be permitted to settle the matter upon payment of the actual 

 value of forage consumed by his stock. If the value of the forage 

 is ascertained not to exceed $100, the district forester is authorized 

 to settle with the trespasser, but if the value of the forage exceeds 

 this amount the report of the Forest ofBcers, together with the rec- 

 ommendations of the district forester and the Forester, are required 

 to be submitted to the Secretary for his ascertainment of the amount 

 due, if any, and for his demand on the trespasser for settlement. If 

 the trespass is not the result of inadvertence, but of willful character, 

 the reports of Forest olTicers are fmally transmitted to the Secre- 

 tary with a letter prepared by the Solicitor reporting the case to the 

 Attorney General for suit to recover the value of the forage and such 

 punitive damages as seem to be required. If the trespass is committed 

 with flagrant disregard of the ri^^hts of the United States and is 

 accompanied by elements of criminality, the facts are reported by 

 the Secretary to the Attorney General with the request for criminal 

 prosecution. The last division of this subject embraces such con- 

 tinuing trespasses as require injunctive process of the courts. 



During the year 68 cases were submitted for administrative settle- 

 ment either by the Secretary or by the district foresters. Of these, 

 62 were settled by payment to the United States of $3,339.03. There 

 were reported to the Attorney General 65 cases, 30 of which were 

 closed during the year, resulting in the payment of $2,254.70 actual 

 $704.70 punitive damages; and it is worthy of note that, in several 

 cases, punitive damages awarded by the jurv greatly exceeded the 

 actual damage. Of these 65 cases, 7 resulted in judgments, not yet 

 settled at the close of the year, for $598.79 actual and $135 punitive 

 damages. Criminal cases reported to the Attorney General num- 

 bered 34, resulting in 9 convictions involving 14 defendants, who 

 were fined S873, and one sentenced to jail for three months. In 7 

 cases defendants now stand incUcted; no true bill was returned in 3 

 cases; defendant was acquitted in 1 case; 5 complaints were dis- 

 missed; and the remaining cases were Dondiiig for action at the close 

 of the year. The department appliecl to the Attorney General in 

 7 cases for action looking to injunctions to restrain continuincj tres- 

 passes. In 2 of these cases decrees were rendered for the United 

 States, 1 was settled by tlie trespasser applying to the department 

 for permit, and 4 were pending at tiie close of the year. 



A table of the foregoing cases, giving details relative thereto, will 

 be found in a subsequent part of this report, beginning at page 1062. 



