160 LEAVE OF ABSENCE TO HOMESTEADERS fixed for consummation of ordinary homestead entries elsewhere on the public domain, but may be completed within the time fixed in the public notice for compliance with the requirements of the reclamation act, unless the project be abandoned, notice of which abandonment will terminate the suspension of the seven-year period, and thereafter the entry will fall within the general class of homestead entries and be governed by the general homestead laws. John H. Haynes, 40 L.D. 291 (1911). 3. Leave of absence Leave of absence will be granted until such time as water for irrigation is turned into the main irrigation canals from which the land is to be irrigated, or, in the event that the project is abandoned by the Government, until the date of notice of such abandonment and the restoration to the public domain of the lands embraced in the entry. General Land Office Instructions, 39 L.D. 202 (1910). Attention is directed to the provision that "the period of actual absence shall not be deducted from the full time of residence required by law." The effect of the granting of leave of absence under this act is to protect the entry from contest for abandonment and, by the necessary implication of the act, the period of seven years within which the entryman is required to submit final five-year proof will be extended and the entry will not be subject to cancellation for failure to submit proof until seven years from the date of entry, exclusive of the period for which leave of absence may be granted. General Land Office Instructions, 39 L.D. 202 (1910). ! 161 PROTECTION OF PROPERTY ALONG COLORADO RIVER A Joint Resolution making an appropriation to permit the President to protect lands and property in Imperial Valley, California. (Act of June 25, 1910, Pub. Res. 43, 36 Stat. 883) [Protection of property along Colorado River.]-The sum of one million dollars, or so much thereof as may be necessary, is hereby appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, to be expended by the President for the purpose of protecting the lands and property in the Imperial Valley and elsewhere along the Colorado River, within the limits of the United States, against injury or destruction by reason of the changes in the channels of the Colorado River, and the President is authorized to expend any portion of such money within the limits of the Republic of Mexico as he may deem proper in accordance with such agreements for the purpose as he may make with the Republic of Mexico. (36 Stat. 883) EXPLANATORY NOTES Not Codified. This Resolution is not codified in the U.S. Code. Southern Pacific Company Claim for Closing Earlier Break in Colorado River. The Act of May 26, 1924, 43 Stat. 171, conferred jurisdiction on the Court of Claims to ascertain the cost to the Southern Pacific in 1906-07 of closing and controlling the break in the Colorado River, and to render judgment therefor. The Court of Claims awarded the Southern Pacific Company the costs and amounts expended by it in closing and controlling the break. Southern Pacific Company v. United States, 68 Ct. Cls. 223 (1929). Legislative History. S.J. Res. 120, Public Resolution 43 in the 61st Congress. 162 SALE OF SURPLUS ACQUIRED LANDS An act to provide for the sale of lands acquired under the provisions of the reclamation act and which are not needed for the purposes of that act. (Act of February 2, 1911, ch. 32, 36 Stat. 895) [Sec. 1. Sale of lands not needed for irrigation works-Appraisal-Sale at public auction.]-Whenever in the opinion of the Secretary of the Interior any lands which have been acquired under the provisions of the act of June seventeenth, nineteen hundred and two (Thirty-second Statutes, page three hundred and eighty-eight), commonly called the "reclamation act," or under the provisions of any act amendatory thereof or supplementary thereto, for any irrigation works contemplated by said reclamation act are not needed for the purposes for which they were acquired, said Secretary of the Interior may cause said lands, together with the improvements thereon, to be appraised by three disinterested persons, to be appointed by him, and thereafter to sell the same for not less than the appraised value at public auction to the highest bidder, after giving public notice of the time and place of sale by posting upon the land and by publication for not less than thirty days in a newspaper of general circulation in the vicinity of the land. (36 Stat. 895; 43 U.S.C. § 374) EXPLANATORY NOTES Codification. All three sections of this Act are codified as section 374, title 43, of the U.S. Code. Cross Reference, Sale of Property Appraised at Less than $300. Section 11 of the Act of August 4, 1939, the Reclamation Project Act, provides that where property to be sold under this Act and the Act of May 20, 1920, is appraised at not to exceed $300, the property may be sold privately or publicly without compliance with the provisions of this Act and the 1920 Act as to notice, publication and mode of sale. Both the 1920 and 1939 Acts appear herein in chronological order. NOTES OF OPINIONS In the case of private lands acquired by purchase or condemnation said lands are from the outset definitely segregated from the public domain. The cost of their acquisition must be paid from the reclamation fund, and the lands, when no longer needed for the project, cannot be opened to entry under the public land laws but must be sold at public auction, after appraisal, and the moneys received therefor must be paid into the reclamation fund and credited to the project for which it was purchased. J. D. Mell et al., 50 L. D. 308 (1924) 2. Interests in land A right-of-way easement for a canal, involving not more than 15 acres of land, acquired by the United States under the reclamation act, comes within the meaning of the word "lands" as used in this section and may be sold pursuant to the provisions of this act. Departmental decision, May 29, 1918, in re Ankeny Canal Klamath. See p. 328, Reclamation Record, August, 1918. 3. Publication of notice of sale In the Acts of February 2, 1911 (36 Stat. 895), and May 20, 1920 (41 Stat. 605), relating to the sale of lands on Federal irrigation projects, the language "by publication for not less than 30 days" deals with the period during which notice is to be SALE OF SURPLUS ACQUIRED LANDS 163 statutes will be fully subserved by publication in five consecutive issues of such newspaper. Departmental decision, June 21, 1920; printed at p. 382, Reclamation Record, August, 1920. given, and is not a statutory requirement that publication be had for 30 consecutive days in a daily newspaper. Where a weekly newspaper of general circulation is the paper nearest the land, the purpose of the Sec. 2. [Conveyance of title-Limitation of 160 acres to a person.]-Upon payment of the purchase price, the Secretary of the Interior is authorized by appropriate deed to convey all the right, title, and interest of the United States of, in, and to said lands to the purchaser at said sale, subject, however, to such reservations, limitations, or conditions as said Secretary may deem proper: Provided, That not over one hundred and sixty acres shall be sold to any one person. (36 Stat. 895; 43 U.S.C. § 374) Sec. 3. [Proceeds to credit of irrigation project.]—The moneys derived from the sale of such lands shall be covered into the reclamation fund and be placed to the credit of the project for which such lands had been acquired. (36 Stat. 895; 43 U.S.C. § 374) 164 WITHDRAWAL OF PUBLIC NOTICES An act to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to withdraw public notices issued under section 4 of the reclamation act, and for other purposes. (Act of February 13, 1911, ch. 49, 36 Stat. 902) [Withdrawal of public notices-Modification and abrogation of water-right applications and contracts.]—The Secretary of the Interior may, in his discretion, withdraw any public notice heretofore issued under section four of the reclamation act of June seventeenth, nineteen hundred and two, and he may agree to such modification of water-right applications heretofore duly filed or contracts with water users' associations and others entered into prior to the passage of this act as he may deem advisable, or he may consent to the abrogation of such water-right applications and contracts and proceed in all respects as if no such notice had been given. (36 Stat. 902; 43 U.S.C. § 468) |