COOPERATIVE WORK OF BUREAU OF PLANT INDUSTRY, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

[Extract from] An act making appropriations for the Department of Agriculture for the fiscal year ending June thirtieth, nineteen hundred and ten. (Act March 4, 1909, ch. 301, 35 Stat. 1039)

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[Investigations in connection with reclaimed lands.]-For investigations in connection with the utilization of lands reclaimed under the reclamation act, and for other areas in the arid and semiarid regions, seventy-six thousand six hundred and eighty dollars. (35 Stat. 1045.)

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NOTES

A substantially similar clause appears in subsequent appropriation acts of the Department of Agriculture.

Beginning with the act of June 30, 1914 (38 Stat. 440), the following provision is also carried in the annual appropriation acts of the Department of Agriculture:

"Demonstrations on reclamation projects.-To enable the Secretary of Agriculture to encourage and aid in the agricultural development of the Government reclamation projects; to assist, through demonstrations, advice, and in other ways, settlers on the projects; and for the employment of persons and means necessary in the city of Washington and elsewhere, $

UINTAH INDIAN LANDS FOR STRAWBERRY VALLEY PROJECT

[Extract from] An act making appropriations for the current and contingent expenses of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, for fulfilling treaty stipulations with various Indian tribes, and for other purposes, for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1911. (Act April 4, 1910, ch. 140, 36 Stat. 269)

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[Payment to Uintah Indians from reclamation fund for lands withdrawn for Strawberry Valley project-Installments-Reimbursement.]— That the Secretary of the Interior is hereby authorized to pay from the reclamation fund for the benefit of the Uintah Indians the sum of $1.25 per acre for the lands in the former Uintah Indian Reservation, in the State of Utah, which were set apart by the President for reservoir and other purposes under the provisions of the act approved March third, nineteen hundred and five, chapter fourteen hundred and seventy-nine, and which were by the Secretary of the Interior withdrawn for irrigation works under the provisions of the reclamation act of June seventeenth, nineteen hundred and two, in connection with the reservoir for the Strawberry Valley project. Such payment shall be made in five annual installments, and the moneys paid shall be subject to the same disposition as the proceeds of the sales of lands in the former Indian reservation. All such payments shall be included in the cost of construction of said Strawberry Valley project to be reimbursed by the owners of lands irrigated therefrom, all receipts from said lands, as rentals or otherwise, being credited to the said owners. All right, title, and interest of the Indians in the said lands are hereby extinguished, and the title, management, and control thereof shall pass to the owners of the lands irrigated from said project whenever the management and operation of the irrigation works shall so pass under the terms of the reclamation act. (36 Stat. 285.) See 14 Comp. Dec. 49.

TREATY WITH GREAT BRITAIN REGARDING ST. MARY AND MILK RIVERS, MONT.

[Extract from] Treaty between the United States and Great Britain relating to boundary waters between the United States and Canada. Signed at Washington, January 11, 1909; ratification advised by the Senate, March 3, 1909; ratified by the President, April 1, 1910; ratified by Great Britain, March 31, 1910; ratifications exchanged at Washington, May 5, 1910; proclaimed, May 13, 1910; 36 Stat. 2451

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

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A PROCLAMATION

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ART. 6. The high contracting parties agree that the St. Mary and Milk Rivers and their tributaries (in the State of Montana and the Provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan) are to be treated as one stream for the purposes of irrigation and power, and the waters thereof shall be apportioned equally between the two countries, but in making such equal apportionment more than half may be taken from one river and less than half from the other by either country, so as to afford a more beneficial use to each. It is further agreed that in the division of such waters during the irrigation season, between the 1st of April and 31st of October, inclusive, annually, the United States is entitled to a prior appropriation of 500 cubic feet per second of the waters of the Milk River, or so much of such amount as constitutes three-fourths of its natural flow, and that Canada is entitled to a prior appropriation of 500 cubic feet per second of the flow of St. Mary River, or so much of such amount as constitutes three-fourths of its natural flow.

The channel of the Milk River in Canada may be used at the convenience of the United States for the conveyance, while passing through Canadian territory, of waters diverted from the St. Mary River. The provisions of article 2 of this treaty shall apply to any injury resulting to property in Canada from the conveyance of such waters through the Milk River.

The measurement and apportionment of the water to be used by each country shall from time to time be made jointly by the properly constituted reclamation officers of the United States and the properly constituted irrigation officers of His Majesty, under the direction of the International Joint Commission.

Interpretation of article.-For an extended discussion of the intent of this article see printed briefs and arguments on file with the International Joint Commission, which were presented to that body, at St. Paul, Minn., in May, 1915, and at Detroit, Mich., in May, 1917.

See also text of the decision handed down by the International Joint Commission on October 4, 1921, printed in Reclamation Record of November, 1921, page 515.

Use of reclamation fund in connection with work under above treaty. In a decision rendered July 18, 1924 (A-2537), the Comptroller General ruled that the appropriation of $100,000 for investigations of secondary projects from the reclamation fund made by act of January 24, 1923 (42 Stat. 1207), could not be used on work under above article 6, such work not being in connection with "examination and survey for the construction and maintenance of irrigation works, etc.," and not within the purpose for which the reclamation fund was established.

The Board of Survey and Adjustments, appointed to carry into effect the provisions of subsection K, section 4, act of December 5, 1924 (43 Stat. 701), made the following recommendation regarding charges for stream gauging against the Milk River project: "The cost of measuring the waters of St. Mary and Milk Rivers, in accordance with the international treaty, has been charged to the construction account of the project. It seems to us that this cost should not be borne by the reclamation fund at all, but should be cared for by Congress as an item of general importance to the country." (House Document No. 201, 69th Cong. 1st sess. p. 31. See also sec. 20, omnibus adjustment act of May 25, 1926, 44 Stat. 640.)

The act of March 3, 1925 (43 Stat. 1141), appropriated $10,000 to meet the requirements of article 6, above treaty.

REAPPRAISEMENT OF UNSOLD TOWN LOTS

An act providing for the reappraisement of unsold lots in town sites on reclamation projects, and for other purposes. (Act June 11, 1910, ch. 284, 36 Stat. 465)

[Sec. 1. Reappraisal and sale of unsold lots within reclamation town sites.]-That the Secretary of the Interior is hereby authorized, whenever he may deem it necessary, to reappraise all unsold lots within town sites on projects under the reclamation act heretofore or hereafter appraised under the provisions of the act approved April sixteenth, nineteen hundred and six, entitled "An act providing for the withdrawal from public entry of lands needed for town-site purposes in connection with irrigation projects under the reclamation act of June seventeenth, ninteen hundred and two, and for other purposes," and the act approved June twenty-seventh, nineteen hundred and six, entitled "An act providing for the subdivision of lands entered under the reclamation act, and for other purposes"; and thereafter to proceed with the sale of such town lots in accordance with said acts. (36 Stat. 465.)

Sec. 2. [Terms of payment.]-That in the sale of town lots under the provisions of the said acts of April sixteenth and June twentyseventh, nineteen hundred and six, the Secretary of the Interior may, in his discretion, require payment for such town lots in full at time of sale or in annual installments, not exceeding five, with interest at the rate of six per centum per annum on deferred payments. (36 Stat. 466.)

NOTES

Regulations.-See General Land Office instruction, September 13, 1910, 39 L. D. 202.