44 NATIONAL FOREST MANUAL LAWS. 



It is unlawful for a corporation, some of whose stockholders ha 

 made coal entries, to acquire coal lands in excess of 320 acres a.^ i Ill- 

 result of a scheme whereby some of its officers and employees make 

 entries in their own names but for its benefit and at its expense, and, 

 after securing patents, convey the lands to the corporation. An 

 incorporated company is an "association of persons," in the meaning 

 of the coal-land laws. (United States v. Trinidad Coal Co., 137 U. S 

 160.) 



TIMBER AND STONE LAWS. 



I 



Act of June 3, 1878 (20 Stat., 89) for the sale of timberlands. 



Surveyed tim- That surveyed public lands of the United States within the (public 

 lands may 8 be 1 ^ nd ! ) States, not included within military, Indian, or other reserva- 

 sold. tions of the United States, valuable chiefly for timber, but unfit for 



cultivation, and which have not been offered at public sale, 2 according 

 to law, may be sold to citizens of the United States, or persons who have 

 declared their intention to become such, in quantities not exceeding 

 one hundred and sixty acres to any one person or association of persons, 

 at the minimum price of two dollars and fifty cents per acre; and lands 

 valuable chiefly for stone may be sold on the same terms as timber 

 Existing claims lands: Provided, That nothing herein contained shall defeat or impair 

 preserved. any bona fide claim under any law of the United States, or authorize 



the sale of any mining claim, or the improvements of any bona fide 

 settler, or lands containing gold, silver, cinnabar, copper, or coal, or 

 lands selected by the said States under any law of the United States 

 donating lands for internal improvements, education, or other pur- 

 poses: And provided further, That none of the rights conferred by the 

 act approved July twenty-sixth, eighteen hundred and sixty-six, 

 entitled "An act granting the right of way to ditch and canal owners 

 over the public lands, and for other purposes, ' ' shall be abrogated by 

 Patents to be this act; and all patents granted shall be subject to any vested and 

 oY way. accrued water rights, or rights to ditches and reservoirs used in connec- 



tion with such water rights, as may have been acquired under and by 

 the provisions of said act; and such rights shall be expressly reserved 

 in any patent issued under this act. 



Mode of pro- SEC. 2. That anv person desiring to avail himself of the provisions 

 of this act shall file with the register of the proper district a written 

 statement in duplicate, one of which is to be transmitted to the General 

 Land Office, designating by legal subdivisions the particular tract of 

 land he desires to purchase, setting forth that the same is unfit for 

 cultivation, and valuable chiefly for its timber or stone; that it is 

 uninhabited; contains no mining or other improvements, except for 

 ditch or canal purposes, where any such do exist, save such as were 

 made by or belonged to the applicant, nor, as deponent verily believes, 

 any valuable deposit of gold, silver, cinnabar, copper, or coal; that de- 

 ponent has made no other application under this act; that he does not 

 apply to purchase the same on speculation, but in good faith to appro- 

 priate it to his own exclusive use and benefit, and that he has not, 

 directly or indirectly, made any agreement or contract, in any way or 

 manner, with any person or persons whatsoever, by which the title 

 which he might acquire from the Government of the United States 

 should inure, in whole or in part, to the benefit of any person except 

 himself; which statement must be verified by the oath of the applicant 

 before the register or the receiver of the land office within the district 

 where the land is situated; and if any person taking such oath shall 

 swear falsely in the premises, he shall be subject to all the pains and 

 penalties of perjury, and shall forfeit the money which he may have 

 paid for said lands, and all right and title to the same; and any grant or 

 conveyance which he may have made, except in the hands of bona fide 

 purchasers, shall be null and void. 



SEC. 3. That upon the filing of said statement, as provided in the 

 second section of this act, the register of the land office shall post a 

 notice of such application, embracing a description of the land by legal 



1 Amendment of Aug. 4, 1892 (27 Stat., 348). 



2 The distinction between oflered and unoffered lands was abolished by the act of 

 May 18, 1898 (30 Stat., 418), as to homestead and timber and stone entries. 





