ACTS OF CONGRESS 337 



SELECTION. SEC. 593 



of its right to said sections. And other lands of equal acreage are 

 also hereby appropriated and granted, and may be selected by said 

 state or territory to compensate deficiencies for school purposes, where 

 sections sixteen or thirty-six are fractional in quantity, or where one 

 or both are wanting by reason of the township being fractional, or from 

 any natural cause whatever. And it shall be the duty of the Secretary 

 of the Interior, without awaiting the extension of the public surveys, to 

 ascertain and determine, by protraction or otherwise, the number of 

 townships that will be included within such Indian, military, or other 

 reservations, and thereupon the state or territory shall be entitled to 

 select indemnity lands to the extent of two sections for each of said 

 townships in lieu of sections sixteen and thirty-six; but such selections 

 may not be made within the boundaries of said reservations: Provided, 

 however, That nothing herein contained shall prevent any state or terri- 

 tory from awaiting the extinguishment of any such military, Indian, 

 or other reservation and the restoration of the lands therein embraced 

 to the public domain and then taking the sections sixteen and thirty-six 

 in place therein; but nothing in this proviso shall be construed as con- 

 ferring any right not now existing. (Act Feb. 26, '59; 11 Stat. L., p. 

 385, sec. 2275 R. S.; amended, Act Feb. 28, '91; 26 Stat. L., p. 796; 

 6 Fed. Stat. Ann., 462.) 



School lands declared not to be subject to entry : sec. 585, supra. 



Indemnity selection : compare sees. 583-591-592, supra. 



The section originally read as follows : 



"Sicr. 2275. Where settlements, with a view to pre-emption, have been made 

 before the survey of the lands in the field, which are found to have been made on 

 sections sixteen or thirty-six, those sections shall be subject to the pre-emption 

 claim of such settler ; and if they or either of them, have been or shall be re- 

 served or pledged for the use of schools or colleges in the state or territory in 

 which the lands lie, other lands of like quantity are appropriated in lieu of such 

 as may be patented by pre-emptors ; and other lands are also appropriated to 

 compensate deficiencies for school purposes, where sections sixteen or thrity-six 

 are fractional in quantity, or where one or both are wanting by reason of the 

 township being fractional, or from any natural cause whatever." Act of Febru- 

 ary 26, 1859, chapter 58, 11 Stat. L. 385. 



See 6 Fed. St. Ann. 462. 



Cited: 164 U. S. 338 (41 L. Ed. 458) ; 210 U. S. 21 (52 L. Ed. 941) ; 61 

 Fed. 143 ; 72 Fed. 890 ; 81 Fed. 152 ; 84 Fed. 571 ; 1 Land Dec. 633 ; 3 L. D. 

 230, 383 ; 5 L. D. 216, 545 ; 6 L. D. 73, 496, 697 ; 7 L. D. 580 ; 8 L. D. 4, 308, 

 495 ; 9 L. D. 554 ; 11 L. D. 381, 529 ; 12 L. D. 165 ; 13 L. D. 378, 709, 729 ; 

 14 L. D. 214 ; 15 L. D. 15 ; 17 L. D. 44 ; 18 L. D. 344 ; 20 L. D. 35 ; 21 L. D. 

 220, 410 ; 24 L. D. 12, 107, 582 ; 28 L. D. 375 ; 31 L. D. 336 ; 32 L. D. 183 ; 

 36 L. D. 93 ; 37 L. D. 432. 



This act is based upon the idea that as soon as a valid legal survey has been 

 made in the field of lands of the United States, they are to all intents and pur- 

 poses surveyed lands and are to be treated as such. Oakley v. Stuart, 52 Cal. 521. 



The title to lands selected under this statute does not vest in a state by a 

 mere selection of the land. Any selection by a state is ineffectual to transfer title 

 from the United States to the state, at least until such selection is approved by 

 the Secretary of the Interior, if not until the certification of such land to the 

 state. Baker v. Jamison, 54 Minn. 17. 



When a selection of substituted lands has been made, and that selection ap- 

 proved by the Secretary of the Interior, the land is no longer subject to private 



