REPORT OF THE SOLICITOR. 355 



fused to enjoin the defendant from occupying the land under a 

 special use permit issued by the Forest Service. The case is now 

 pending before the Supreme Court of Arizona upon the plaintiff's 

 appeal. 



The case of Svan Hoglund v. Franklin K. Lane, Secretary of the 

 Interior, mentioned in my report for the previous fiscal year, was 

 argued before the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia on 

 July 16, 1915, by the Solicitor of the Department of the Interior and 

 myself. After hearing the argument, the court directed the clerk to 

 enter an order dismissing the petition. This decision was reversed 

 by the Court of Appeals of the District of Columbia, and mandamus 

 directed to issue. The case is now pending on appeal in the Supreme 

 Court of the United States. 



In Utah Power & Light Co. v. United States (230 Fed., 328), the 

 company appealed from the decree entered by the United States Dis- 

 trict Court for Utah, quieting and confirming in the United States 

 title to certain lands in the Cache National Forest, and enjoining 

 the company from maintaining and operating thereon certain works 

 for the development of hydroelectric power. The company claimed 

 the right to occupy and use these lands under various acts of Con- 

 gress and the laws of Utah. The circuit court of appeals, affirming 

 its former decision (209 Fed., 554), mentioned in my report for the 

 preceding fiscal year, sustained the decree of the district court, and, 

 in addition to denying the alleged right of the State to appropriate 

 or authorize the appropriation of lands of the United States by right 

 of eminent domain, held that the act of Congress of May 14, 1896 (29 

 Stat., 120), which authorized the Secretary of the Interior to issue 

 permits for water-power development, was not superseded by the act 

 of May 11, 1898 (30 Stat., 404), permitting the use for purposes of a 

 public nature of rights of \vay theretofore or thereafter approved 

 for ditches, canals, or reservoirs for irrigation purposes. The com- 

 pany has prosecuted an appeal to the Supreme Court, where the case 

 is now pending. 



Important Decision of the Attorney General. 



In an opinion of July 3, 1915, the Attorney General held that Na- 

 tional Forest lands withdrawn for the use of the Reclamation Service 

 in the construction of irrigation works should be released from with- 

 drawal when it is determined that they are not needed for that pur- 

 pose. In the meantime they should be administered as other National 

 Forest lands, subject only to the necessities of the reclamation use. 



important decision of the comptroller. 



On November 9, 1915, the Comptroller of the Treasury held that 

 the sum appropriated for permanent improvements by the act of 

 March 4, 1915 (38 Stat., 10S6, 1100), including, among other things, 

 the construction of roads and trails within the National Forests, 

 was available to cover the purchase of a right of way for the con- 

 struction of a road within the Trinity National Forest. 



THE WEEKS FORESTRY LAW (36 STAT., 9fil). 



The acreage acquired under the Weeks forestry law during the 

 fiscal year 1916 was more than double that acquired during the pre- 

 ceding 3"ear, and in excess of the total acquired under the act from 



