1906 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



197 



opinion of The Director of the Geo- 



Homestead logical Survey recently 

 Entries fe , J 



requested an opinion 



from the Department of the Interior 

 as to whether a homesteader whose en- 

 try is within the irrigable area of an 

 irrigation project, but not subject to 

 the restrictions, limitations, and condi- 

 tions of the Reclamation Act, may sell 

 a relinquishment of part of his entry. 



The Assistant Attorney General has 

 rendered an opinion which is approved 

 by the Secretary of the Interior, that 

 an entryman who has not acquired title 

 to his lands may not convey or agree 

 to convey to a water users' association 

 one or more legal subdivisions of his 

 entry, to be held in trust by such as- 

 sociation and sold for the benefit of 

 the homesteader to persons competent 

 to enter such lands,- under the same 

 form and in the same manner now pro- 

 vided for the conveyance and sale of 

 lands in private ownership lying within 

 the limits of an irrigable area. 



The opinion recites that one of the 

 indispensable conditions of the home- 

 stead law is that the entry must be 

 made for the exclusive use and bene- 

 fit of the applicant and not "either di- 

 rectly or indirectly for the use of any 

 other person." (Revised Statutes, Sec. 

 2290.) In submitting final proof, the 

 entryman is required to make oath that 

 "no part of such land has been alien- 

 ated, except as provided in section 

 twenty-two hundred and eighty-eight" 

 (Sec. 2291), which provides for alien- 

 ation for church and cemetery pur- 

 poses. Under such prohibition, "a 

 contract by a homesteader to convey a 

 portion of the tract when he shall ac- 

 quire title from the United States is 



against public policy and void" (syl- 

 labus), Anderson v. Carkins, 135 U. 



S, 483- 



Until the homesteader has acquired 



either a legal or equitable title to the 

 land, he cannot make an agreement to 

 convey any portion of it that will se- 

 cure to another any right or interest 

 therein. He may relinquish all or 

 parts of it, but the relinquishment must 

 be to the U. S. and the land relinquish- 

 ed becomes public land subject to entry 

 by the first legal applicant. If the land 

 relinquished is within the irrigable area 

 of a reclamation project, it becomes 

 subject to the provisions of the Re- 

 clamation Act. 



Eight Hour 

 Day 



In connection with the 

 construction of irriga- 

 tion works by the gov- 

 ernment, especially that which is being 

 done by the Reclamation Service en- 

 gineers under force account and not 

 by contractors, an interesting question 

 arose as to whether the act of August 

 1, 1902 (27 Stat., 340), and the act of 

 June 17, 1902 (32 Stat., 388), are in- 

 tended to fix the number of hours per 

 day, when the employment is by the 

 day, and if such be the case whether if 

 these laborers are employed by the 

 hour it would be lawful for the engi- 

 neers of the Reclamation Service to 

 require or permit them to work ten 

 hours per day. The Assistant Attor- 

 ney General has rendered an opinion 

 which the Secretary of the Interior ap- 

 proves, holding that but eight hours 

 labor per day can be required of la- 

 borers on such work, except in cases 

 of extraordinary emergency, to be de- 

 termined by the Secretary of the Inte- 

 rior. 



