acres of pending selections submitted to it for report. There remain to be selected in full satisfaction of the quantity of 36,066.55 acres above stated, 9,796.67 acres. As action upon the selections in the indemnity limits must, under said decision of January 24, 1917, necessarily be suspended until selections of all the available lands in the primary limits are adjusted and disposed of, it is probable that some modification of the ruling of April 30, 1919, will be necessary in order to make the requisite field examination of the primary land recommended by the Geological Survey and to permit the company to make selections to replace lands found to be mineral in character and otherwise excepted from the operations of the grant.

OREGON AND CALIFORNIA RAILROAD LANDS.

The act of June 9, 1916 (39 Stat., 218), revested in the United States all of the lands patented to the Oregon & California Railroad Co. under the grants by acts of July 25, 1866 (14 Stat., 239), and May 4, 1870 (16 Stat., 94), and the lands to which it was entitled to receive patent under said grants, which remained unsold July 1, 1913.

In my report for the year 1918, there were set forth in detail the various steps taken in the administration of the revested lands.

Practically all of the lands revested in the United States have been classified except the unpatented lands in the primary limits within forest reserves, surveyed and unsurveyed, which remained unsold on July 1, 1913, to which the company was entitled to receive patent, approximately 400,000 acres, although this area will be reduced to the extent that the lands are found to be mineral in character. About 472,000 acres, of which 318,000 acres are unsurveyed, in the indemnity limits within national forests, are also unclassified. Under the present rulings of the department, the right of selection by the company of these lands is defeated. The question raised of the right to include within a reservation for forest purposes lands embraced within the indemnity limits of a railway grant and so defeat the right of selection, pending in the Court of Appeals, District of Columbia, in the case of Franklin K. Lane v. Northern Pacific Railway Co., is still undetermined.

Under the adjustment required by the revestment act to ascertain the full and complete quantity of land for which the company was entitled to receive $2.50 per acre, it became necessary to survey approximately 182,000 acres of land in the primary limits and in the indemnity limits outside of forest reserves, which survey is now nearly completed.

The examination in the field of odd-numbered sections apparently subject to the grant also became necessary, for mineral lands,

except coal and iron, were excluded from the grant. About 55,000 acres were found to be apparently mineral and proceedings to determine their mineral or nonmineral character are pending.

As stated in the report for 1918, two restorations were made of lands classified as agricultural, 300,000 acres in the Roseburg district by regulations approved March 19, 1918, and about 150,000 acres in the Portland district by regulations approved May 11, 1918. Maps or diagrams showing the tracts subject to entry were prepared in connection with the circulars of regulations.

Preparations are being made for the restoration to entry of some 350,000 acres, classified as agricultural in the Roseburg district, mostly between the northern line of the area restored on March 19, 1918, and the southern line of the area restored May 11, 1918, which line is also the line between the Roseburg and Portland land districts.

At the time of the former openings, objections were made by some of the people of Oregon who desired that such openings be deferred until after the conclusion of the war, in order to afford returning soldiers an opportunity to make entry. Subsequently, a movement was started by which it was proposed to accord to soldiers a preference right of entry for a limited period in all openings or restorations of lands to entry, but Congress adjourned on March 4, 1919, without enacting such legislation. If it is desired to accord to soldiers a preference right of entry of these revested railroad lands, further legislation will be necessary and the opening of these lands may be deferred in order to give to Congress an opportunity to enact appropriate legislation.

In the disposition of timber on these revested lands, on September 17, 1917, regulations were approved providing for the sale of the timber on certain isolated tracts where it appeared to be to the advantage of the United States to dispose of the same at a fair value. During the year 1918, patents were issued for the timber on 4,197.89 acres, for which there was received the sum of $145,888.28. During the present fiscal year the timber was sold on isolated tracts, aggregating 2,875.76 acres, containing 65,414,000 feet, board measure, of timber, for which there was received the sum of $96,497.83.

On May 31, 1918, Congress passed an act authorizing the Secretary of the Interior, in the administration of the act of June 9, 1916, to exchange revested Oregon & California Railroad lands for other lands of approximately equal aggregate value held in private ownership either within or contiguous to the former limits of the railroad grant, when by such action he would be enabled advantageously to consolidate the holdings of timber lands by the United States. Regulations under this act were approved July 17, 1918. The advantageous features of such consolidations were set out in my report for the year 1918.

A number of applications, 22, proposing exchanges under this act, involving approximately 80,000 acres of land, were received, of which several were rejected, as not affording an advantageous consolidation of acreage within the meaning of the act. Among the larger applications may be mentioned those of the Coos Bay Lumber Co., Pillsbury Lumber Co., Weyerhaeuser Timber Co., Nehalem Timber & Logging Co., and Duncan Brewer Lumber Co. In some of these applications, upon preliminary examination it was found that among the tracts selected, as well as those offered in exchange, there were tracts which, in addition to their timber value, had also a potential value for power purposes. An arrangement has recently been effected, in conjunction with the Director of the Geological Survey, and upon the deposit of the estimated cost thereof by the applicants under the circular of regulations, approved July 17, 1918, for the examination of these tracts in the field for the purpose of determining if their chief value is their power or timber value, and if there should be a reclassification thereof removing them from the list of lands classified as chiefly valuable for power-site purposes.

On July 16, 1919, the Nehalem Timber & Logging Co. completed payment under its contract entered into October 22, 1914, whereunder it purchased, pursuant to an order of the United States district court, the timber on certain lands which were then involved in the Oregon & California Railroad grant suit. The contract price was $192,498.13, and the Government has now received a total amount of $202,263.43 from said company, which represents the contract price, together with interest from the depositary where it was for a time held in escrow. The final payment was $9,601.01. The company is given until June 10, 1920, to complete the cutting and removal of the timber. The chief of Field Division of the General Land Office at Portland, Oreg., has had supervision over the matter, he having been appointed by the court a commissioner for the purpose.

SWAMP AND OVERFLOWED LANDS.

The adjustment of the grant of swamp and overflowed lands made to 15 of the public-land States by the acts of March 2, 1849 (9 Stat., 352), September 28, 1850 (9 Stat., 519), and March 12, 1860 (12 Stat., 3) is making progress.

Correspondence with State officials and private inquirers about swamp lands calls for considerable labor. Documents filed in old cases have to be found, and decisions rendered in them have to be hunted up, in order that the facts may be stated and the full information desired, be given.

During the past year new claims for 1,829.34 acres under this grant were filed and old claims to 23,960.74 acres were rejected.

Swamp-land patents issued as follows: To Alabama, 2 patents, for 113.39 acres; to California, 7, for 2,019.43 acres; to Iowa, 1, for 40 acres; to Louisiana, 7, for 4,802.93 acres; to Michigan, 1, for 40 acres; to Minnesota, 1, for 40 acres; to Mississippi, 2, for 886.44 acres; and to Wisconsin, 1, for 21.60 acres. The total area patented was 7,963.79

acres.

The total area conveyed to the several States which were the beneficiaries of this grant up to July 1, 1919, is 63,906,694.83 acres. The Department of Justice advised on April 14, 1919, that a suit in equity, styled United States of America v. Riviera Realty Co., had been brought in the United States District Court of Missisippi to quiet title in the plaintiff to the E. sec. 24, T. 6 S., R. 6 W., S.S.M., Mississippi. This suit will involve a construction of the socalled McLaurin Act of March 3, 1905 (33 Stat., 1258) which confirms certain sales made by the State under claim of right to the lands by virtue of the swamp-land grant.

The enactment of remedial legislation to put an end to vexatious litigation and to quiet the title of persons who claim to own agricultural lands under direct or mesne conveyance from any of the swamp-land States, which was urged in my report of last year, is again recommended. It is suggested that these transferees be permitted to purchase from the United States the tracts they so hold under color of title at the minimum price for public lands: Provided, That the sales by the States are evidenced by State deed or patent issued prior to January 1, 1910; that if the lands have been entered in good faith by a settler under the homestead law, he shall be compensated for his improvements; and that, in States where the mineral laws apply, title to the surface only may be acquired.

This grant has now been in course of administration for about 69 years. As the States which were its beneficiaries have had ample opportunity to present claim to all the lands they were entitled to thereunder; as most of them have received about all that belongs to them under it; as it is increasingly difficult to get trustworthy testimony to prove what was the character of lands more than half a century ago; and as the grant should come to a close some time, the recommendation made by me in former reports that legislation be enacted declaring that after a fixed date, preferably six months after the passage of the act, no new claim to swamp and overflowed lands made by any State should be received and recognized by the Government's land department, is again renewed.

PRIVATE LAND CLAIMS.

In the several treaties and agreements by which the public domain of the United States has been acquired provision has been made for the confirmation and fulfillment of the obligations of the former

Government for unperfected claims to land. The United States having obligated itself to make good outstanding obligations to the extent specified in the several treaties, the territory acquired under cach treaty has formed the basis for a series of special acts of Congress, limited in their operation to a particular district or territory, and these rights are known as private land claims.

Numerous questions arise regarding the passing of title under such claims when confirmed or recognized by Congress. In the case of Stein et al v. England (80 Southern Reporter, 362) the Supreme Court of Alabama held that until the issuance of a patent the land embraced in a donation claim under section 3 of the act of March 3, 1819 (3 Stat., 528), was exempt from taxation and that title thereto could not be acquired by tax sale or adverse possession. While the court referred to this claim as a private land claim, the grant was in fact a donation to an actual settler from the United States and not a claim derived from a former Government.

The issuance of patents on private land claims continues and the correspondence from claimants, abstracters, and other interested. parties requesting information concerning the laws and facts under these claims still forms an important part of the work of this office. Every removal of the records of this office adds to the difficulty of examination of claims or furnishing copies of papers.

CLAIMS IN TEXAS.

On June 12, 1919, the First Assistant Secretary rendered a decision that the United States has no jurisdiction over public lands or private-land claims in Texas, and consequently no duty to perform in connection therewith, and that if surveys, determinations, or adjustments are necessary to define the rights of any parties in interest they must be performed or made by the State of Texas or such tribunals as may have authority from the State to act.

On November 3, 1917, April 26, 1918, and July 10, 1918, the Commissioner of the General Land Office considered various phases of applications and arguments presented by Messrs. B. F. Nysewander and Walter Holland, and held that the Land Department had no jurisdiction over lands in Texas, and the decision by First Assistant Secretary Vogelsang fully answers every argument presented by the applicants.

The courts of Texas have uniformly recognized that the State of Texas was the source of sovereign title in that State, and those decisions have been accepted by the Federal courts.

If the applicants were correct in their contentions, two important corrollaries would have been advanced later. Under the laws of Spain and Mexico all minerals were reserved in grants of land.