1904 



FOREvSTRY AND IRRIGATION 



109 



March 3, 1891 (26 Stat., 1095), permits 

 the assignment of entries, and to invali- 

 date an entry the illegal intent must as- 

 sume some tangible form prior to entry. 

 The mere fact that a contract to sell is 

 made after the entry, or any other ar- 

 rangement whereby the lands are held 

 for some other person, does not warrant 

 cancellation. This feature of the law 

 is the chief objection that might be 

 urged against it. 



The right to assign an entry is not in 

 harmony with the fundamental princi- 

 ple underlying the public-land laws that 

 entries should be made for the exclusive 

 benefit of the entryman and not for the 

 benefit of any other person, and* its ex- 

 istence practically abrogates the restric- 

 tion of the act limiting one person to one 

 entry in a compact form, the only actual 

 limitation being to 320 acres, which 

 might embrace a number of noncontigu- 

 ous tracts taken by assignment. 



The interest of the government and 

 of the actual settler will be protected 

 and promoted by a repeal of so much of 

 the act of March 3, 1891, as permits the 

 assignment of desert-land entries. 



AGRICULTURAL LAND IN FOREST 

 RESERVES. 



However carefully the boundaries of 

 forest reserves may be selected, it is 

 practically inevitable that more or less 

 agricultural land should be included. 

 Such land usually lies in the narrow 

 valleys of the rivers. Its occupation for 

 agricultural purposes is in the interest 

 of the region in which it lies and of the 

 settlers who would make homes upon it. 

 The presence of the latter in the reserves 

 would , u nder w 7 ise la ws , operate distinctly 

 for the protection and general advantage 

 of the reserves. It is essential to the 

 prosperity of the public-land states both 

 that the forest reserves should be main- 

 tained and that all of the land within 

 their borders should be put to its best 

 use. To exclude all agricultural lands 

 by Presidential proclamation is not fea- 

 sible, because of their small area, scat- 

 tered location, and irregular bounda- 

 ries. Therefore we recommend that such 

 lands be opened to agricultural entry in 

 the following way : 



That the Secretary having supervis- 



ion of forest reserves may, upon appli- 

 cation, or otherwise, ascertain, list, and 

 describe, by metes and bounds or other- 

 wise, lands within such reserves which 

 are chiefly valuable for agriculture, and 

 that the lands so listed may, at the ex- 

 piration of ninety days from the filing 

 of such lists in the land office of the land 

 district in which they are situated, be 

 disposed of to actual settlers under the 

 homestead laws only, in tracts not ex- 

 ceeding 1 60 acres in area and not exceed- 

 ing i^ miles in length ; that when such 

 lands are ascertained and listed upon the 

 application of any person qualified to 

 make homestead entry, such applicant 

 ma}- settle upon and enter such lands 

 thirty days after the date of such filing ; 

 that no person settling upon, entering, 

 or occupying such lands shall thereby 

 have a right to use any other lands 

 within such reserve for grazing or other 

 purposes ; that any entryman desiring 

 to obtain patent to any lands, described 

 by ' metes and bounds, entered by him 

 under the provisions of this act, may do 

 so by' filing, with the required proof of 

 residence and cultivation, a plat and 

 field notes of the lands entered, made by 

 or under the direction of the United 

 States surveyor general, showing accu- 

 rately the boundaries of such lands, 

 \vhich shall be distinctly marked by 

 monuments on the ground, and shall 

 post a copy of such plat, together with 

 a notice of the time and place of offer- 

 ing proof, in a conspicuous place on the 

 land embraced in such plat durin g the 

 period prescribed for the publication of 

 his notice of intention to offer proof, 

 and that a copy of such plat and field 

 notes shall also be kept posted in the 

 office of the register of the land office 

 for the land district in which such lands 

 are situated for a like period ; and, 

 further, that any agricultural lands 

 within forest reserves may, at the dis- 

 cretion of the Secretary, be surveyed by 

 metes and bounds, but that no lands 

 entered under these provisions shall be 

 patented under the commutation pro- 

 visions of the Homestead Laws or be 

 exchanged for other public lands. 



To open the reserves to homestead 

 entry without restriction would be in 

 effect to abolish them. We therefore 



