HISTORY ANU LEGAL BASIS. 21 



Homesteads. — The homestead act was passed by Congress in 1862 

 and was approved by President Lincoln on May 20 of that year 

 (Eev. Stat., 2289-2303). It marked the final abandonment of the 

 policy of disposing of the national domain as a means of providing 

 public revenue. Until 1912 the homesteader was required to estab- 

 lish a residence on his land and to reside thereupon for a period of 

 five years. No definite amount of cultivation was required, but the 

 building of houses and barns and the cultivation of a part or all of 

 the area were regarded as evidence of the good faith of the entryman 

 in entering the land for the purpose of building a home for himself, 

 this being the fundamental object of the homestead act. On June 

 6, 1912 (37 Stat., 123), the law was amended by reducing the five 

 years' residence theretofore required to a residence of three years. 

 The requirement as to residence is modified by what is known as the 

 "commutation clause" (Rev. Stat., 2301, as amended by the act of 

 March 3, 1891, 26 Stat., 1098), which provides that after 14 months' 

 residence and cultivation, title may be obtained by paying a fixed 

 price per acre, this price being either $2.50 or $1.25, the first if the 

 land is within, the second if it is without the limits of a railroad grant. 

 Homesteads reserving coal or oil and gas to the Government under 

 the acts of June 22, 1910 (36 Stat, 583), and August 24, 1912 (37 

 Stat., 496), described later (p. 45), may not be commuted. The 

 amendment of June 6, 1912, also provides that the entryman must 

 cultivate " not less than one-sixteenth of the area of his entry be- 

 ginning with the second year of the entry and not less than one- 

 eighth beginning with the third year of the entry and until final 

 proof i" The homestead act contains the clause "nor shall any 

 mineral lands be liable to entry and settlement." The area of the 

 homestead is restricted to 160 acres. 



Forest homesteads. — Lands in national forests are not in general 

 open to agricultural entry, but under the act of June 11, 1906 (34 

 Stat., 233), forest-reserve lands which are chiefly valuable for agri- 

 culture, which are not needed for public purposes, and which, in 

 the opinion of the Secretary of Agriculture, may be occupied with- 

 out injury to the forest, may be entered under the homestead laws. 

 Application for a particular tract desired, which must not exceed 160 

 acres in area nor 1 mile in length, must be made to the Secretary of 

 Agriculture. The land is then examined by a field agent of the Forest 

 Service, and if his report is favorable the land is listed to the Depart- 

 ment of the Interior, where homestead entry is allowed. The entry 

 thereafter proceeds as would any other entry under th£ homestead 

 law, but no commutation is permitted. The law differs from all 

 other agricultural-land laws in that the land must be chiefly valuable 

 for agriculture and that the entry may be described by metes and 

 bounds instead of by legal subdivisions of the public-land survey. 



