LANDS HOMESTEADS. 48 



jurisdiction in the Territory or before the judge or cierk of any court 

 of record in the county, parish, or land district in which the lands are 

 situated: Provided, That in case the affidavits, proofs, and oaths 

 hereinbefore mentioned be taken out of the county in which the land 

 is located the applicant must show by affidavit, satisfactory to the 

 Commissioner of the General Land Office, that it was taken before the 

 nearest or most accessible officer qualified to take said affidavits, 

 proofs, and oaths in the land districts in which the lands applied for 

 are located ; but such showing by affidavit need not be made in making 

 final proof if the proof be taken in the town or city where the news- 

 paper is published in which the final proof notice is printed. The 

 proof, affidavit, and oath, when so made and duly subscribed, or which 

 may have heretofore been so made and duly subscribed, shall have the 

 same force and effect as if made before the register and receiver, when 

 transmitted to them with the fees and commissions allowed and re- 

 quired by law. That if any witness making such proof, or any appli- 

 cant making such affidavit or oath, shall knowingly, willfully, or cor- 

 ruptly swear falsely to any material matter contained in said proofs, 

 affidavits, or oaths he shall be deemed guilty of perjury, and shall be 

 liable to the same pains and penalties as if he had sworn falsely before 

 the register. That the fees for entries' and for final proofs, when 

 made before any other officer than the register and receiver, shall be as 

 follows : 



" For each affidavit, twenty-five cents. 



" For each deposition of claimant or witness, when not prepared by 

 the officer, twenty-five cents. 



" For each deposition of claimant or witness, prepared by the offi- 

 cer, one dollar. 



"Any officer demanding or receiving a greater sum for such service 

 shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction shall be pun- 

 ished for each offense by a fine of not exceeding one hundred dollars." 

 (As amended Mar. 4, 1904, 33 Stat., 59.) 



Record of applications. 



Sec. 2295. The register of the land office shall note all applications 

 under the provisions of this chapter, on the tract books and plats of 

 his office, and keep a register of all such entries, and make return 

 thereof to the General Land Office, together with the proof upon 

 which they have been founded. 



Liability of claim for debt. 



Sec. 2296. No lands acquired under the provisions of this chapter 

 shall in any event become liable to the satisfaction of any debt con- 

 tracted prior to the issuing of the patent therefor. 



Absence for six months. 



Sec. 2297. If, at any time after the filing of the affidavit, as re- 

 quired in section twenty-two hundred and ninety, and before the expi- 

 ration of the five years mentioned in section twenty-two hundred and 

 ninety-one, it is proved, after due notice to the settler, to the satisfac- 

 tion of the register of the land office, that the person having filed such 

 affidavit has actually changed his residence, or abandoned the land for 

 more than six months at any time, then and in that event the land so 

 entered shall revert to the Government : Provided, That where there 



