CONGRESS. (MISCELLANEOUS.) 



203 



SEC. 2. That if it shall appear, upon the completion 

 of such adjustments respectively, or sooner, that lands 

 have been, from any cause, heretofore erroneously cer- 

 tified or patented, by the United States, to or for the 

 use or benefit of any company claiming by, through, 

 or under grant from the United States, to aid in the 

 construction of a railroad, it shall be the duty of the 

 Secretary of the Interior to thereupon demand from 

 such company a relinquishment or reconveyance to 

 the United States of all such lands ? whether within 

 granted or indemnity limits ; and if such company 

 shall neglect or fail to so reconvey such lands to the 

 United States within ninety day_s after the aforesaid 

 demand shall have been made, it shall thereupon be 

 the duty of the Attorney-General to commence and 

 prosecute in the proper courts the necessary proceed- 

 ings to cancel all patents, certification, or other evi- 

 dence of title heretofore issued for such lands, and to 

 restore the title thereof to the United States. 



SEC. 3. That if, in the adjustment of said grants, it 

 shall appear that the homestead or pre-emption entry 

 of any bona-fide settler has been erroneously canceled 

 on account of any railroad grant or the withdrawal of 

 public lands from market, such settler, upon applica- 

 tion, shall be reinstated in all his rights and allowed 

 to perfect his entry bv complying with the public- 

 land laws : Provided, That he h"as not located another 

 claim, or made an entry in lieu of the one so errone- 

 ously canceled: Ami f.i-'ni'hd also, That he did not 

 voluntarily abandon such original entry : And pro- 

 vided further, That if any of said settlers do not re- 

 new their application to be reinstated within a rea- 

 sonable time, to be fixed by the Secretary of the Inte- 

 rior, then all such unclaimed lands shall be disposed 

 of under the public-hind laws, with priority of right 

 given to bona-fide purchasers of said unclaimed lauds, 

 if any, and if there be no such purchasers, then to 

 bona-fide settlers residing thereon. 



SEC. 4. That as to all lands, except those mentioned 

 in the foregoing section, which have been so errone- 

 ously certified or patented as aforesaid and. which have 

 been sold by the grantee company to citizens of the 

 United States, or to persons who have declared their 

 intention to become such citizens, the person or per- 

 sons so purchasing, in good faith, his heirs or as- 

 signs, shall be entitled to the land so purchased, upon 

 making proof of the fact of such purchase at the prop- 

 er land-office, within such time and under such rules 

 as may be prescribed by the Secretary of the Interior, 

 after the grants respectively shall have been adjust- 

 ed ; and patents of the United States shall issue there- 

 for, and shall relate back to the date of the original 

 certification or patenting : and the Secretary of the 

 Interior, on behalf of the United States, shall demand 

 payment from the company which has so disposed 

 of such lands of an amount equal to the Government 

 price of similar lands ; and in case of neglect or refusal 

 of such company t'.> make payment as hereafter speci- 

 fied, within ninety days after the demand shall nave 

 been made, the Attorney-General shall cause suit or 

 suits to be brought airuinst such company for the said 

 amount: I*rovided, That nothing in this act shall pre- 

 vent any purchaser of lands erroneously withdrawn, 

 certified, or patented as aforesaid from recovering the 

 purchase-money therefor from the grajitee company, 

 less the amount paid to the United States by such 

 company as by tins act required: And provided, That 

 a mortgage or pledge of said lands by the company 

 shall not be considered as a sale for the purpose ot' 

 this act, nor shall this act be construed as a declara- 

 tion of forfeiture of any portion of any land-grant for 

 conditions broken, or as authorizing an entry for the 

 same, or as a waiver of any rights that the United 

 States may have on account oif any breach of said 

 conditions. 



SEC. 5. That where any said company shall have 

 sold to citizens of the United States, or to persons 

 who h. their intention to become such citi- 



zens, as a part of its grant, lands not conveyed to or 

 for the use of such, company, said lands being the 



numbered sections prescribed in the grant ? and being 

 conterminous with the constructed parts ot said road, 

 and where the lands so sold are for any reason cx- 

 cepted from the operation of the grant to said com- 

 pany, it shall be lawful for the bona-fide purchaser 

 thereof from said company to make payment to the 

 United States for said Jands at the ordinary Govern- 

 ment pric 

 issue 



or assigns : 



ed from the provisions of this section which at the 

 date of such sales were in the bona-fide occupation of 

 adverse claimants under the pre-emption or home- 

 stead laws of the United States, and whose claims and 

 occupation have not since been voluntarily abandoned, 

 as to which excepted lands the said pre-emption ana 

 homestead claimants shall be permitted to perfect 

 their proofs and entries and receive patents therefor: 

 Provided further, That this section shall not apply to 

 lands settled upon subsequent to the 1st day of De- 

 cember, 1882, by persons claiming to enter the same 

 under the settlement laws of the United States, as to 

 which lands the parties claiming the same as aforesaid 

 shall be entitled to prove up and enter as in other like 

 cases. 



SEC. 6. That where any lands have been sold and 

 conveyed, as the property of any railroad company, 

 for State and county taxes thereon, and the grant to 

 such company has been thereafter forfeited, the pur- 

 chaser thereof shall have the prior right, which shall 

 continue for one year from the approval of this act, 

 and no longer, to purchase such lands from the United 

 States at the Government price, and patents for such 

 lands shall thereupon issue : Provided] That said lands 

 were not, previous to or at the time of the taking effect 

 of such grant, in the possession of or subject to the 

 right of any actual settler. 



SEC. 7. That no more lands shall be certified or con- 

 veyed to any State or to any corporation or individual, 

 for the benefit of either of the companies herein men- 

 tioned, where it shall appear to the Secretary of the In- 

 terior that such transfers may create an excess over the 

 quantity of lands to which such State, corporation, or 

 individual would be rightfully entitled. 



Both Houses agreed to the report of the 

 Conference Committee March 3, and the 

 President approved of the measure the same 

 day. 



Congress passed and the President approved 

 a bill "to declare a forfeiture of lands granted 

 to the New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and Vicks- 

 burg Railroad Company, to confirm title to 

 certain lands, and for other purposes." The 

 real purpose of the measure was to confirm 

 title to the New Orleans Pacific Railroad Com- 

 pany in lands originally granted to the first- 

 named railroad company, never earned by that 

 corporation, but claimed by the last-named 

 railroad company as its assignee. 



Congress passed and the President approved 

 a bill " for the relief of settlers and purchasers 

 of lands on the public domain in the States of 

 Kansas and Nebraska." The measure provides 

 for the reimbursement of persons who in good 

 faith took up lands within the grant made in 

 1866 to the Northern Kansas Railroad and 

 Telegraph, and who afterward were obliged 

 to make payment to that corporation for their 

 holdings. 



Miscellaneous. The following measure, regn- 

 lating proceedings in contested-election cases 

 in the House, was passed, and approved by the 

 President, March 3, 1887: 



