TIMBER-CULTURE ACTS OF ]873-'74. 17 



per circular of December 24, 1855. Pursuant to directions from him of the 5th ultimo, 

 the instructions of that circular are hereby revoked. 



Hereafter, as it may be found advisable, from time to time, for the end in view, 

 clerks or employes will be detailed from this office to act under instructions of the 

 Commissioner iu ascertaining when, where, and by whom depredations have been com- 

 mitted upon the public lands, and to report to him the facts in each case. 



If, upon an examination of the reports so obtained, the Commissioner finds that the 

 facts elicited in any case warrant the commencement of legal proceedings to punish 

 the trespassers, or to collect damages for the waste already committed, or both, he will 

 report the same to the Secretary of the Interior, with his opinion thereon, in order 

 that such further proceedings may be had in the premises as the case may require. 



The clerks or employes detailed as aforesaid will not be permitted to make any com- 

 promise for depredations committed on the public lands. If any propositions are sub- 

 mitted to them with that object, they will be required to report the same to this office, 

 with a full statement of the facts in the case, showing the nature and extent of said 

 depredations, when and by whom committed, the amount and value of the timber 

 when cut, and the value of the land in its present and former condition ; all of which, 

 together with the opinion of the Commissioner, will be submitted to the head of the 

 Department for further consideration. 



If, in any case, the emergencies should seem to require more prompt action than is 

 contemplated in the rules above indicated, in order to arrest the offender, or to secure 

 the Government for the damages suffered, it will be the duty of the clerk or employd 

 detailed to act iu the matter to make direct application to the United States district 

 attorney for the district in which the waste was committed to institute the proper legal 

 proceedings for that purpose. This course, however, must be taken only in cases 

 where the evidence is clear and indisputable. 



The foregoing is communicated for your information. You will observe therefrom 

 that you are not hereafter to act as agents for the protection of the ijublic timber, al- 

 though your co-operation is expected whenever you may be called on to render assist- 

 ance to officials charged with the duty. 

 Very respectfully, 



J. A. WILLIAMSON, 



Commissioner.. 



It is understood that numerous proceedings have been already com- 

 menced against trespassers upon the public lands since these regula- 

 tions were issued, and enough has been done in enforcing the rights of 

 the government against those who have committed these depredations- 

 to prove that a considerable revenue may be derived from the sale of 

 timber. But there are questions arising with regard to the future, inft- 

 nitely more important than present revenues, and these will, it is earn- 

 estly hoped, engage the attention of Congress at an early day. 



TIMBER-CULTURE ACTS OF 1873 AND 1874; AMENDMENTS OF 1876i 

 AND 1877. 



An act entitled "An act to encourage the growth of Timber on West- 

 ern Prairies," approved March 3, 1873, was designed to offer direct en- 

 couragement for the planting of trees upon the prairies. The pro- 

 visions of this act were briefly as follows : 



1. Any person who should plant, and for ten years protect and keep 

 in a healthy growing condition, forty acres (the trees being not more than 

 12 feet apart each way) upon government land, was to be entitled to a 

 quarter-section (160 acres) at the end of the ten years, the facts to be 

 I)roved by two credible witnesses. Only one-quarter of any one section 

 could be thus granted. 



2. The party applying for entry was to make affidavit before the Eeg- 

 ister or Receiver of the ])roper land-district as to the purpose of t'he entry,, 

 and must pay a fee of $10 and the prescribed commissions. 



3. Upon proof that the person who has made the entry has abandoned 

 or failed to cultivate, protect, and keep in good condition the timber, 

 the tract was to revert to the United States. 



4. Persons who have made a homestead entry, and who at the end of 



2 P 



