PATENTS AND FINAL WATER-RIGHT CERTIFICATES

An act to amend section one of the act of August 9, 1912, providing for patents on reclamation entries, and for other purposes. (Act February 15, 1917, ch. 71, 39 Stat. 920)

[Sec. 1. Issue of patents and final water-right certificates-Payment in full required.]-That the proviso to section one of the act of August ninth, nineteen hundred and twelve (Thirty-seventh Statutes, page two hundred and sixty-five), entitled "An act providing for patents on reclamation entries, and for other purposes," be amended to read as follows:

"Provided, That no such patent or final water-right certificate shall issue until after the payment of all sums due the United States on account of such land or water right at the time of the submission of proof entitling the homestead or desert-land entryman to such patent or the purchaser to such final water-right certificate." (39 ̃ Stat. 920.)

NOTES

Regulations. Under the provisions of this act patents may issue on reclamation entries where all water-right charges due at the time the entryman submits proof of reclamation of one-half of the irrigable area of the land embraced in his entry have been paid, regardless of the fact that other waterright charges may accrue and be unpaid prior to the issuance of patent. (General Land Office circular No. 534, March 17, 1917.)

When entryman's interest taxable.-Under act of August 13, 1914 (38 Stat. 686), making the charges for reclamation of arid lands payable in installments, act of August 9, 1912 (37 Stat. 265), and act of February 15, 1917, allowing a patent for such lands on payment of all installments due at the time of final proof, which patent conveys a full legal title, but reserves a prior lien to the Government for all installments unpaid, an entryman who has received a patent subject to the lien can be taxed by the State on his interest in such lands. (Irwin v. Wright (1922), 42 S. Ct. 293, 258 U. S. 219, 66 L. Ed. 573.)

SALE OF LANDS IN MILK RIVER PROJECT TO GREAT NORTHERN RAILWAY CO.

An act authorizing the Secretary of the Interior to sell and convey to the Great Northern Railway Co. certain lands in the State of Montana for division terminal yards and other railway purposes, and for other purposes. (Act February 26, 1917, ch. 123, 39 Stat. 940)

[Sec. 1. Appraisal of lands in Milk River project-Description.]—That the Secretary of the Interior be, and he is hereby, authorized and directed to cause to be appraised all those parts of sections thirty-two and thirty-three, township thirty-one north, range thirty-two east, and of section five, township thirty north, range thirty-two east, Montana meridian, State of Montana, described as follows:

Beginning at the point of intersection of the present right of way of the Great Northern Railway with the east line of the northwest quarter of the southeast quarter of said section thirty-three, which point is seventy-five feet northerly at right angles from the center line of said Great Northern Railway as the same is now constructed across said section thirty-three; thence westerly to a point on the west line of said quarter quarter section three hundred feet northerly at right angles from said center line; thence southwesterly parallel with said center line to an intersection with the east and west quarter quarter section line in the southwest quarter of said section thirtythree; thence westerly along said quarter quarter section line to the west line of said section thirty-three; thence westerly along the east and west quarter quarter section line in the south half of said section thirty-two to the northwest corner of the southwest quarter of the southwest quarter of said section thirty-two; thence southerly along the west line of said quarter quarter section to the north line of section five, township thirty north, range thirty-two east; thence westerly along said north line to the northwest corner of said section five; thence southerly along said west line to the present northerly right-ofway line of said railway, which right-of-way line is seventy-five feet northerly at right angles from the center line of said railway as the same is now constructed; thence northeasterly parallel with said center line to the place of beginning. Also beginning at the point of intersection of the southerly right-of-way line of said railway with the east line of the southwest quarter of the southeast quarter of said section thirty-two, said point being seventy-five feet distant southerly at right angles from said center line; thence southwesterly parallel with said center line to the west line of lot three, section five, township thirty north, range thirty-two east; thence southerly along said west line to a point two hundred feet distant southerly at right angles from said center line; thence northeasterly parallel with said center line to the east line of the southwest quarter of the southeast quarter of said section thirty-two; thence northerly along said east line to the place of beginning, the said tracts containing in the aggregate one hundred and seventy and seven onehundredths acres, more or less. The said center line of railway is

described as beginning one hundred and twenty-nine feet south of the east quarter corner of said section thirty-three, running thence southwesterly in a straight line, intersecting the west line of said section thirty-two nine hundred and twenty-one feet north of the southwest corner, a distance of ten thousand four hundred and twenty-two feet; thence on a curve to the left, with a radius of eleven thousand four hundred and fifty-nine and two-tenths feet, a distance of five hundred feet; thence southwesterly, tangent to said curve, five hundred and eleven and four-tenths feet to the west line of said section five at a point eight hundred and twenty-five and five-tenths feet south of the northwest corner. (39 Stat. 940.)

Sec. 3. [Sale and conveyance of lands-Application of sale price of allotted Indian lands.]-That upon appraising the said lands the Secretary of the Interior is authorized and directed to sell and convey the same to the Great Northern Railway Company, a corporation of the State of Minnesota, and owning and operating lines of railway in the State of Montana and other States, for division terminal yards and other railway purposes, upon such terms as he may deem advisable. If the sale of any of the lands described in section two hereof shall include the whole or any part of the allotment of an individual Indian, the purchase price of such allotted land shall be paid to such Indian, subject to the control of the Secretary of the Interior, as to the funds of incompetent Indians. (39 Stat.

941.)

Sec. 4. [Cost of irrigation works of Milk River project to be considered-Reservation of rights of way for canals or ditches-Building and maintenance of crossings.]-That the appraisal of the lands described in section one of this act shall take into consideration the estimated cost per acre for the construction of irrigation works for the Milk River irrigation project, and in no event shall be less than the actual market value of said land and the estimated cost per acre for the construction of said irrigation project. The conveyances for the lands described above in sections one and two shall reserve to the United States and its successors in interest right of way for canals or ditches heretofore or hereafter constructed thereon, and the railway company shall construct at its own expense any crossings of said canals or ditches which may be necessary for its purposes, and such crossings shall be built and maintained in such a manner as not to interfere with the operations of said canals or ditches by the United States or its successors in interest, and such conveyances shall be subject to any prior valid rights of way. (39 Stat. 941.)

COMPENSATION OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES FROM MORE THAN ONE SOURCE PROHIBITED

[Extract from] An act making appropriations for the legislative, executive, and judicial expenses of the Government for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1918, and for other purposes. (Act March 3, 1917, ch. 163, 39 Stat. 1070)

[Government employees-Salaries from two sources prohibited.]-Provided, That on and after July first, nineteen hundred and nineteen, no Government official or employee shall receive any salary in connection with his services as such an official or employee from any source other than the Government of the United States, except as may be contributed out of the Treasury of any State, county, or municipality; and no person, association, or corporation shall make any contribution to, or in any way supplement the salary of, any Government official or employee for the services performed by him for the Government of the United States. Any person violating any of the terms of this proviso shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine of not less than $1,000 or imprisonment for not less than six months, or by both such fine and imprisonment as the court may determine. (39 Stat. 1106.)

Report should be made if employee receives compensation from other source.— In every case where an employee is receiving pay from any other source for the services performed by him for the Government of the United States full report of the facts must be made. In any case where an appointment is to be made of one who is receiving salary from any other source appropriate certificate must be made to show that the appointment is not prohibited by the above provision of above act. (C. L. 839, August 6, 1919, or C. L. 842, August 15, 1919.)

SPECIAL PROVISIONS OF SUNDRY CIVIL APPROPRIATION ACT FOR 1918

[Extracts from] An act making appropriations for sundry civil expenses of the Government for the fiscal year ending June thirtieth, nineteen hundred and eighteen, and for other purposes. (Act of June 12, 1917, ch. 27, 40 Stat. 105)

[$1,000,000 annually to be paid from reclamation fund to general funds in Treasury.]-The act of June twenty-fifth, nineteen hundred and ten (Thirty-sixth Statutes, page eight hundred and thirty-five), is amended to provide that reimbursement of the moneys advanced under the provisions of that act shall be made by transferring annually the sum of $1,000,000 from the reclamation fund to the general funds in the Treasury, beginning July first, nineteen hundred and twenty, and continuing until full reimbursement has been made. (40 Stat. 149.)

[Application of moneys refunded.]-All moneys heretofore or hereafter refunded or received in connection with operations under the reclamation law, except repayments of construction and operation and maintenance charges, shall be a credit to the appropriation for the project or operation from or on account of which the collection is made and shall be available for expenditure in like manner as if said sum had been specifically appropriated for said project or operation. (40 Stat. 149.)

Excess collections for water rental may not be refunded unless money is reappropriated by Congress.-Since the act of June 12, 1917 (40 Stat. 149), providing that certain moneys refunded or received in connection with operations under the reclamation laws shall be a credit to the appropriation for the project or operation from or on account of which the collection is made available for expenditure as if appropriated for that particular project or operation, specifically excepts from its operation all repayments of construction and operation and maintenance charges, moneys paid as water rental for water alleged not to have been furnished or in excess of the amount used, and covered into the reclamation fund as "construction revenue earnings and "operation and maintenance revenue earnings," are not available for refundment or other expenditure unless reappropriated by Congress. (26 Comp. Dec. 696.) The intention of Congress, as expressed in the act of June 12, 1917 (40 Stat. 149), and other acts, to except repayments of construction and operation and maintenance charges" from the requirement that moneys refunded or received in connection with operations under the reclamation laws shall be a credit to the appropriation for the project or operation from or on account of which the collection is made and available for direct expenditure without further appropriation by Congress, may not be defeated by administrative action authorizing payments of operation or maintenance charges in advance, thus making them "receipts" instead of "repayments," but all moneys in the reclamation fund arising from operation and maintenance charges, regardless of the date of payment or collection, can be available for expenditure only when appropriated by Congress. (27 Comp. Dec. 849.)

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