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RECEIPTS FROM POTASSIUM DEPOSITS TO BE PAID INTO RECLAMATION FUND

[Extract from] An act to authorize exploration for and disposition of potassium. (Act October 2, 1917, ch. 62, 40 Stat. 297)

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Sec. 10. [Disposal of receipts from potassium deposits.]-That all moneys received from royalties and rentals under the provisions of this act, excepting those from Alaska, shall be paid into, reserved, and appropriated as a part of the reclamation fund created by the act of Congress approved June seventeenth, nineteen hundred and two, known as the reclamation act, but after use thereof in the construction of reclamation works and upon return to the reclamation fund of any such moneys in the manner provided by the reclamation act and acts amendatory thereof and supplemental thereto, fifty per centum of the amounts derived from such royalties and rentals so utilized in and returned to the reclamation fund shall be paid by the Secretary of the Treasury after the expiration of each fiscal year to the State within the boundaries of which the leased lands or deposits are or were located, said moneys to be used by such State or subdivisions thereof for the construction and maintenance of public roads or for the support of public schools. (40 Stat. 300.)

Textual note.-The substance of the above provision is codified as section 149, title 30, United States Code.

NOTES

Receipts to be deposited direct to reclamation fund.-Moneys received from royalties and rentals under this act should not first be deposited to the credit of sales of public lands, but should be credited direct to the reclamation fund. (Comp. Dec., December 5, 1918.)

Application of act. This act applies to public lands reserved as national forests. (31 Op. Atty. Gen. 433.)

Regulations. For departmental regulations under this act, see 46 L. D. 323. See instructions regarding form of potash prospecting applications in C. L. 1185, December 22, 1922, modifying form of permit in 46 L. D. 323. Instructions of March 27, 1926, amend section 6 of the potash regulations printed at 46 L. D. 323. (51 L. D. 424.)

Above act repealed.-Sec. 6 of the act of Feb. 7, 1927, repeals above act. Sections 5 and 6 of the act of Feb. 7, 1927, are as follows:

"Sec. 5. That the general provisions of sections 1 and 26 to 38, inclusive, of the act of February 25, 1920, entitled "An act to promote the mining of coal, phosphate, oil, oil shale, gas and sodium on the public domain," are made applicable to permits and leases under this act, the first and thirty-seventh sections thereof being amended to include deposits of potassium.

"Sec. 6. That the act of October 2, 1917 (Fortieth Statutes at Large, page 297), entitled "An act to authorize exploration for and disposition of potassium" is hereby repealed, but this repeal shall not affect pending applications for permits or leases filed prior to January 1, 1926, or valid claims existent at date of the passage of this act and thereafter maintained in compliance with the laws under which initiated, which claims may be perfected under such laws, including discovery."

DRAINAGE ON RIO GRANDE PROJECT

Joint resolution to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to expend funds in New Mexico and Texas for drainage purposes. (Pub. Res. October 6, 1917, ch. 107, 40 Stat. 426)

[Drainage expenditures allowed.]-That in order to provide for immediate and necessary drainage of lands in the Rio Grande reclamation project, New Mexico and Texas, the provisions of the sundry civil act, approved June twelfth, nineteen hundred and seventeen, as far as applicable to said project, are hereby modified and amended so as to authorize and permit the Secretary of the Interior to expend not exceeding $15,000 in drainage work upon that portion of the project located within the State of New Mexico pending the formation of an irrigation district covering the lands within New Mexico under this project, and to expend upon that portion of the project located within the State of Texas such amount, within the limit of available appropriations, as the existing irrigation district may obligate itself to repay. (40 Stat. 426.)

NOTE

Cross reference.-See act of June 12, 1917 (40 Stat. 148), act of July 1, 1918 (40 Stat. 674), and act of July 19, 1919 (41 Stat. 201), all containing similar provisions regarding drainage on the Rio Grande project.

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AVAILABILITY OF MONEY FOR YUMA AUXILIARY PROJECT

An act to amend section four of the act entitled "An act to provide for an auxiliary reclamation project in connection with the Yuma project, Arizona." (Act Feb. 11, 1918, 40 Stat. 437)

[Funds available for Yuma Auxiliary project.]-That the first sentence of section four of the Act entitled "An Act to provide for an auxiliary reclamation project in connection with the Yuma project, Arizona", approved January twenty-fifth, nineteen hundred and seventeen, be amended so as to read as follows:

"That the money in said auxiliary reclamation fund of the Yuma project, Arizona, shall be available for the construction or completion of irrigation works of the said auxiliary project or unit."

NOTES

The First Assistant Secretary on May 10, 1922, approved regulations that (a) subject to the approval of the project manager, any purchaser of land in part 1, Mesa division (formerly first Mesa unit), Yuma irrigation project, Arizona, be permitted to relinquish to the United States land so purchased in areas of either 5, 10, or 15 acres: Provided, That except as modified under (b) an area of not less than 5 acres be retained by the person so relinquishing: Provided further, That all moneys theretofore paid by any such purchaser on account of the land so relinquished shall be credited and applied in payment of the charges against the area retained;

(b) That upon such approval by the project manager any such purchaser may relinquish to the United States his entire holding for the purpose of transferring his rights to a different area within said part 1, Mesa division, in which event all moneys theretofore paid by any such purchaser on account of the land so relinquished shall be credited and applied in payment of the charges against the new area the same as if such new area had been originally selected by the purchaser;

(c) That if a resurvey in any case is necessary the purchaser applying therefor be required to pay the cost thereof as a condition precedent to obtaining relief requested; and

(d) That the contracts with all such purchasers be amended in accordance with changes made under (a) and (b).

The First Assistant Secretary on July 31, 1924, held that the instructions of May 10, 1922, authorized the exchange of lands to facilitate development and that the reasons specified as justification for the exchange arrangement therein provided in respect to the unwatered area apply as well to claims which have been passed to patent as to those which have not been completed by final payment of the purchase price and issuance of patent, and that the regulations appear to be sufficient, when considered with regulations in respect to amendment of entries and exchanges, to cover patented lands as well as unpatented lands. In all cases where patent has issued, it is necessary to show good title in the party applying for exchange and proper reconveyance of title to the Government.

SOLDIERS' AND SAILORS' CIVIL RELIEF ACT

[Extract from] An act to extend protection to the civil rights of members of the Military and Naval Establishments of the United States engaged in the present war. March 8, 1918, 40 Stat. 440)

(Act

Sec. 501. [Interest in public lands of persons in military service-Rights protected Benefits of other acts not affected-Previous rights of action not limited-Proofs before officer in command.]-That no right to any public lands initiated or acquired prior to entering military service by any person under the homestead laws, the desert-land laws, the mining-land laws, or any other laws of the United States, shall be forfeited or prejudiced by reason of his absence from such land, or of his failure to perform any work or make any improvements thereon, or to do any other act required by any such laws during the period of such service. Nothing in this section contained shall be construed to deprive a person in military service or his heirs or devisees of any benefits to which he or they may be entitled under the act entitled "An act for the relief of homestead entrymen or settlers who enter the military or naval service of the United States in time of war," approved July twenty-eighth, nineteen hundred and seventeen; the act entitled "An act for the protection of desert-land entrymen who enter the military or naval service of the United States in time of war," approved August seventh, nineteen hundred and seventeen; the act entitled "An act to provide further for the national security and defense by stimulating agriculture and facilitating the distribution of agricultural products," approved August tenth, nineteen hundred and seventeen; the joint resolution "To relieve the owners of mining claims who have been mustered into the military or naval service of the United States as officers or enlisted men from performing assessment work during the term of such service," approved July seventeenth, nineteen hundred and seventeen; or any other act or resolution of Congress: Provided, That nothing in this section contained shall be construed to limit or affect the right of a person in the military service to take any action during his term of service that may be authorized by law, or the regulations of the Interior Department thereunder, for the perfection, defense, or further assertion of rights initiated prior to the date of entering military service, and it shall be lawful for any person while in military service to make any affidavit or submit any proof that may be required by law, or the practice of the General Land Office in connection with the entry, perfection, defense, or further assertion of any rights initiated prior to entering military service, before the officer in immediate command and holding a commission in the branch of the service in which the party is engaged, which affidavits

SOLDIERS' AND SAILORS' CIVIL RELIEF ACT

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shall be as binding in law and with like penalties as if taken before the register of the United States Land Office. (40 Stat. 448.)

NOTES

Effect of act.-The effect of this act is to establish a moratorium for soldiers and sailors during the period of the war and it unquestionably suspends the payment of any installments that may become due from a soldier entryman of lands under a reclamation project, during the period of his service, provided the entry was initiated prior to entering the service, and relieves him from any liability on account of his failure by reason of his absence "to perform any work or make any improvements" on the land. (Departmental instructions, April 2, 1918, 46 L. D. 343.)

Payment of water charges by soldiers and sailors.-Under this section a homestead entryman's right is not to be "forfeited or prejudiced" by reason of his failure to do any act required by any law during the period of the military service. Under this provision he is excused from the payment of charges accruing during the period of such service if he so desires, his liability therefor being suspended in the meantime. Otherwise the water user after the completion of his military service would be confronted with not only the then current charges but also all charges accruing during his military service, placing a heavy immediate burden upon him which might greatly prejudice his ability to perfect his entry and water-right application. While the owners of private land covered by a water-right application are not expressly within said section 501, since the private lands are presumably irrigated as an incident to the irrigation and ensuing disposition of the public land, the same rule is applicable to them. Congress has not extended any relief to such water users as to defaults in the payment of construction and operation-and-maintenance charges together with the penalties imposed by sections 3 and 6 of the reclamation extension act of August 13, 1914 (38 Stat. 686), accruing prior to their induction into the military service. Such water-right applications are subject to forfeiture or cancellation if there is a default under the law at the beginning of the military service. The department however, will not exercise its power of forfeiture or cancellation during the military service and will defer action toward such forfeiture and cancellation or the institution of any suit for the recovery of the amounts in default and the penalties until the expiration of the military service. Under section 501, supra, the penalties arising under said sections 3 and 6 of the reclamation extension act upon such prior defaulted construction or operation-and-maintenance charges will not run during the period of the military service. The homestead entryman under the said section 501 is relieved from paying the construction charge accruing during the period of his military service, and this same rule applies in the case of an owner of private land. As to these the duration of the military service will be excluded from the period fixed for the annual payments of such charges in sections 1 and 2 of the reclamation extension act, as the case may be. The operation-andmaintenance charge is an annual charge for each year, and similarly may be paid by the water user after his discharge from the military service, the time for the payment thereof being hereby extended by a period equal to his military service. The usual bills should be sent under the provisions of the various public notices and regulations to all holders of project lands who have enlisted in the military service. These bills should be accompanied by a statement that the same are subject to the provisions of the act of March 8, 1918. If payment is made, no further action is necessary. If payment is not made, however, the project superintendent should write a special letter to each holder of project land in the military service advising him that: (a) The construction charges accruing during the period of his military service will be put over until the expiration of the 20-year period for making such payments, and (b) the time for payment of the operation-and-maintenance charges due at the time he entered the military service and also those charges which accrued during his military service will be extended from the date of his discharge for a period equal to his military service. (Departmental decision, May 16, 1919, 47 L. D. 167; C. L. No. 820, superseding C. L. 762.)

Under this section a soldier's assignee is entitled to the same privileges as a soldier in the payment of construction and operation and maintenance

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