OFFICE OF THE SOLICITOR. 



477 



mg 344 cases received attention varying in degree with their prog- 

 ress in tlie Forest Service and in the Department of the Interior. 

 Hearings were attended in 41 cases. Depositions were taken in 5 

 cases. Briefs were filed in 31 cases. One case was orally argued be- 

 fore the Secretary of the Interior. Thirty-one motions for rehearing 

 were filed, 8 of which were accompanied by briefs; 2 appeals to the 

 Secretary of the Interior, supported by briefs, were prosecuted from 

 adverse decisions by the commissioner; and 1 petition for the exercise 

 of supervisory authority, accompanied by brief, was made to the 

 Secretary. 



The assistants to the Solicitor in the field examined and passed 

 upon the evidence in many cases in addition to the 174 new cases in 

 which protests were prepared to be filed in the local land offices by 

 the district foresters, and either returned the papers for additional 

 evidence or recommended that no objection be made to the issuance 

 of patent. 



TRESPASS. 



Damages and fines recovered during the year for trepasses upon 

 the national forests Avere: 



Penalties for trespass on national forests. 



In addition, prosecutions in State courts were instituted in 102 

 cases, resulting in fines of $3,380 and jail sentences totaling 1,400 

 days. 



In the 53 cases instituted on account of hunting or killing of game 

 animals on the Pisgah National Game Preserve and the national 

 forests in violation of the department's rules and regulations, 34 

 defendants were found guilty and fined, and sentences aggregating 

 55 days in jail were imposed, 3 were dismissed because defendants 

 were out of the State, 2 defendants were found not guilty, 1 case 

 was dismissed for lack of evidence, 2 were continued, 2 were dis- 

 missed, and 9 are awaiting trial. 



GENERAL FORESTRY LITIGATION. 



Thirty-six cases not properly included within the above, both 

 criminal and civil, were handled by district assistants, or aid given 

 United States attorneys in conducting them during the year, among 

 wliich were the following: United States v. Northern Pacific Rail- 

 way Co., a suit for the cancellation of patent issued to the company, 

 argued in the Circuit Court of Appeals in May, 1919; United States 

 r. Milwaukee Lumber Co. and the Fidelity & Deposit Co. of Mary- 

 land, involving timber cut from a canceled homestead entry, settled 

 by the defendant; two cases before the Interstate Commerce Com- 

 mission and one before the public service commission of Oregon, in- 



