2 PAYMENT ON HOMESTEAD ENTRIES, FORMER INDIAN RESERVATION. The resolution was referred to the Department of the Interior, and the Secretary of that department furnished the committee with the following report thereon: Hon. REED SMOOT, Chairman Committee on Public Lands, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, United States Senate. MY DEAR SENATOR: I am in receipt of the request of your committee for a report on House joint resolution 346, entitled "Joint resolution extending the time for payment of purchase money on homestead entries in the former Standing Rock Indian Reservation, in the States of North and South Dakota. The said joint resolution is accompanied by the text of an amendment "Intended to be proposed by Mr. Sterling to the joint resolution (H. J. Res. 346), extending the time for payment of purchase money on homestead entries in the former Standing Rock Indian Reservation, in the States of North Dakota and South Dakota, * * The purpose of the said joint resolution and the proposed amendment thereto is to authorize the granting of extensions of time for payments to homestead entrymen and purchasers of lands within the reservation named. Homestead entrymen on the part of the Cheyenne River and Standing Rock Indian Reservations, North and South Dakota, opened under the act of May 29, 1908 (35 Stat., 460), may obtain extensions of time for payments under the acts of April 13, 1912 (37 Stat., 84), and May 28, 1914 (39 Stat., 383). The acts last cited do not apply to the part of the Standing Rock Reservation, opened under the act of February 14, 1913 (37 Stat., 675). The need for granting entrymen on that part of the reservation extensions of time for payments has been repeatedly called to the attention of this department and this department in reports to Congress has several times recommended such legislation. This was done May 21, 1920, in report to the House Committee on Indian Affairs on house joint Resolution 346. The title to the act of May 29, 1908, is not correctly given in lines 8 to 11, inclusive, page 1 of the joint resolution. It is recommended, however, that instead of correcting the title it and reference to the said act be stricken from the joint resolution, making section 1 thereof relate nly to lands in the part of the Standing Rock Reservation opened under the said act of February 14, 1913. To effect such amendment, the words, figures and brackets "Act of Congress approved May 29, 1908 (35 Stats., p. 460), entitled 'An act to authorize the sale and disposition of surplus or unallotted lands of the Standing Rock Indian Reservation in the States of North and South Dakota and for other purposes' and the" should be stricken from lines 7 to 11, inclusive, on page 1. The said act of April 13, 1912, contains a proviso which reads as follows: "And provided further, That any entryman who has resided upon and cultivated the land embraced in his entry for the period of time required by law in order to make commutation proof, may make proof, and if the same is approved, further residence and cultivation will not be required." Said proviso is construed to permit homestead entrymen who commute their entries to complete the payments of purchase money in annual installments the same as those who do not commute (vol. 41, Land Decisions, p. 12). House joint resolution 346 does not contain such proviso. In order that the joint resolution may be similar, in this respect, to the said act of April 13, 1912, it is recommended that such proviso be inserted in House joint resolution 346 after the word "hereof" in line 12, page 2. The amendment above referred to, intended to be proposed by Senator Sterling, authorizes the Secretary of the Interior in his discretion to extend, for a period of one year, the time for the payment of any installment which becomes due after the passage of the joint resolution of the purchase price of lands in the Cheyenne River and Standing Rock Reservations, N. Dak. and S. Dak., sold at public sale under the said act of May 29, 1908, under the said terms and conditions as provided in section 1. During May, June, and October, 1920, this department conducted sales of undisposed of lands in the former Cheyenne River and Standing Rock Indian Reservations which resulted in the disposal of about 250,000 acres of lands for approximately $783,000. Purchasers were required to pay one-third of the purchase price of the lands at the time of sale. The amount collected in cash from these sales was approximately $261,000. Under the present requirements purchasers must pay one-third of the unpaid purchase price this year and one-third next year, together with interest on the deferred installments at the rate of 5 per cent per annum. Many of the purchasers were entrymen or owners of adjacent lands and in some cases they found it PAYMENT ON HOMESTEAD ENTRIES, FORMER INDIAN RESERVATION. 3 difficult last year to obtain the necessary one-third payment of purchase money. It is not unlikely that there are many purchasers who this year will not be able to make the required payments, and I am of the opinion that the incorporation as a part of the resolutions of the said amendment is desirable in order that those who are unable to pay may be afforded additional time for that purpose. If section 1 of the joint resolution is amended in the manner herein above suggested, the brackets, words, and figures "(35 Stat., p. 460)" should be inserted after the date May 29, 1908, in line 8, page 1 of the said amendment. The incorporation of the said amendment as a part of the joint resolution will make the resolution applicable to both homestead entries and purchases. The title to the joint resolution should therefore be amended to read as follows: "Joint resolution extending the time for payment of purchase money on homestead entries in the former Standing Rock Indian Reservation, in the States of North and South Dakota, and for other purposes." I am of the opinion that with the amendments and changes herein recommended the said joint resolution should be enacted into law. Cordially, yours, O JOHN BARTON PAYNE, Secretary. SENATE. 66TH CONGRESS, 3d Session. { REPORT No. 728. AUTHORIZING EXCHANGE OF LANDS BY A. A. BRUCE, OF LA VETA, COLO. JANUARY 26 (calendar day, JANUARY 29), 1921.-Ordered to be printed. Mr. SMOOт, from the Committee on Public Lands, submitted the following REPORT. [To accompany H. R. 178.] The Committee on Public Lands, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 178) authorizing an exchange of lands by A. A. Bruce, of La Veta, Colo., having considered the same, report favorably thereon with the recommendation that the bill do pass without amendment. The act was referred to the Department of the Interior, and the Secretary of that department furnished the committee with the following report thereon: Hon. REED SMOOT, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, Chairman Committee on Public Lands, United States Senate. MY DEAR SENATOR: This department is in receipt by reference from the Committee on Public Lands of the Senate of H. R. No. 178 (66th Cong., 3d sess.) entitled "An act authorizing an exchange of lands by A. A. Bruce, of La Veta, Colo.' This is House bill 178 (66th Cong., 1st sess.) reported on by this department June 23, 1919, and by the Department of Agriculture (date not given), both reports being set out in full in committee report 832 (House of Representatives, 66th Cong., 2d sess.). The Department of Agriculture recommended that the bill be amended so as to provide "That the patent issued shall reserve to the United States, or its grantees or lessees, all coal deposits in the land patented as well as the right to prospect for, mine, and remove the same." The committee in its recommendation added "oil, or other mineral deposits" to the reservation to be made in the patent. The committee's modification was adopted by the House, which was the only change in the bill as introduced. It is in this form that the bill is now before the Senate, and this department can see no reason why it should not be passed. Inasmuch as the report of June 23, 1919, of this department is fully set forth in the committee's report to the House it is not thought necessary to inclose copies thereof. Cordially, yours, JOHN BARTON PAYNE, Secretary. Mr. REED, from the Committee on the Judiciary, submitted the following REPORT. [To accompany S. 4891.] The Committee on the Judiciary, to whom was referred the bill (S. 4891) t amend secti n 1 f an act appr ved February 26, 1919, entitled "An act t fix the salaries f the clerks f the United States district curts and t pr vide f r their office expenses, and fr‹ther purp ses, having c nsidered the same, rep rt fav rably thereon with the reç mmendati n that the bill d pass with ut amendment. The Cmmittee n the Judiciaryf the H use (f Representatives in its rep rt na similar bill, H. R. 15396, gives reas ns for the change of the present law as f ll ws: The Committee on the Judiciary, having had under consideration the bill H. R. 15396, reports the same to the House with the recommendation that the bill do pass. The section of the act of February 26, 1919, which is amended by this bill now reads as follows: "That on and after the first day of July, nineteen hundred and eighteen, all clerks of the United States district courts shall be appointed by the judge for the district, or the senior judge if there be more than one judge in the district, subject to the approval of the senior circuit judge for the circuit in which the district is situated, and all fees and emoluments authorized by law to be paid to the clerks of the United States district courts, except the clerks of the district courts of Alaska, shall be charged as heretofore and shall be collected, as far as possible, and paid into the Treasury of the United States in such manner and at such times as hereinafter provided, and such clerks shall be paid, in lieu of the fees and emoluments now allowed by law, an annual salary, as hereinafter provided: Provided, That this section shall not be construed to require or authorize fees to be charged or collected from the United States." The only change proposed in the law is the elimination of the words "subject to the approval of the senior circuit judge for the circuit in which the district is situated." Prior to the passage of the act of February 26, 1919, the appointment of the clerk of a district court was vested exclusively in the district judge, and your committee is of the opinion that such should be the law. The circuit judges do not now come in contact with the clerks of the district courts, except in the event of the circuit judge sitting for a district judge. The duties of the clerk of the district court and his relations to the judge are of such a nature that the district judge should have full power to appoint. |