The Empire County argus. [volume] (Coloma, El Dorado County, Cal.) 1853-1857, 1853-12-31
N UMBER 7.


washington says the California Chronicle, has ad-
dressed letter to w. W. Gift ESQ, Rcrister at
Benicia, relative to the location of State School
Land Warrants upon the half million of acres
granted to this State by Congress for internal i'm
provements 1t appears that lands have been lo
Gated with warrants as far back as eighteen months
since, by spectators and Others which onerat;ons
are contrary to the intent Of the law of Congress-
and the best interests of our State We have al.
ready too much land held by a few indiyiduals fo
encourage any scheme of this kind MIR. Gift. bav
ing the welfare of the people at heart is evidently
opposed to it.
We copy that part of the Commissioners letter
which is most important
The oth section of the act of 4th Sent. 1881
making the grant of 500 900 acres to the States fr
internal improvement, requires that the selections
shall be made i'll such manner as their res,cctiyo
legislatures shall direct; to be located however
in parcels confOrmably to sectional divisions and
subdivisions Of not less than three huadyel and
tWenty acres in any one location at anv time after
the lands of the United States in said States rcsnnc
lively shall have been surveyed according to exist
ing laws" Enclosed, send you a copy Of tbc Cir
cular OF instructions from this Office issued under
this act, and dated the 9Th of August 1917: l,v n
careful adherence to the requirements of which
much future embarrassment may be obyatcd. Tho
9th section OF this circular requires that the select
ing agent should lille In your Office authenticated
copy of his letter of appointments or other stisfac
tory evidence of his authority" You will. there
fore, carefully observe that each of these State war;
rants bears upon its face evidence of the authority
of the party by whom the application for location
may be presented, to select lands for the State m
der the 9th section OF the act Of 4th Sept 1871.
The date when these warrants are fled in vo,,r
office and the simultaneous application to enter he
comes the date of the selection by the State If fl
lows, therefore, that no one 100 warrant can he lo
Gated as the law requires the selections to be nadn
in parcels of not less than 800 acres Two or moro
lOo warrants however, though in different hands,
may be located at the same time upon contiruous
lands. by this, mean at the same instant of time
mus two or more warrantee3 may make conioint
application to enter body Of land equal to the yauc
OF their warrants but holder Of one 100 acre
warrant cannot at later PERIOD even of one same
day, locate tract, though it may be contiguous to
land previously selected.
Accompanying this, send you form of a list to
be used by you in reporting these selections TO his
office for approval You will send up these lists nc.
companlcd by the warrants of the State upon each
OF winch, the locator must endorse his annlicotion
to select which application will superscde the ne
cesslty Tor their signing the printed form at the
bottom OF the list When these lists shall have been
examined at this office, such of the selections om.
braced thereby as are valid will be certified to the
state his Office does not recognize the warrants
or their assigns in any other light than as the
agents OF the State, and no patents will be issued
to them.
You will be pleased to caution the locators
against selecting any swamp or oyerhowed lands, as
all such will be certified to the State under thc act
of 2Sth September, 1850
/ The Circular of Instructions to MIR Gift o11udol
to above, contains among Its provisions the follow
ing:
The selections must be based upon the official
township platS Of the public SURVEYS. which are re-
qured to be approved by the Surveyor General and
ON file in the local Land Office, the time Of filing
the selection.
The law allows selections to be made upou pub
lie lands whether offered or unoffcred But no
State selection Is admissible upon any land to which
a preemption other valid claim shall be legal llv
established, nor on any land which is or NAV Ge
reserved from sale by any law of Congress or pro-
clamatlon OF the President of the United State nor
upon any tract which is reserved or Withdrawn
from market for any purpose whatever.
The selectingsA gent of the State should file in
your o1ce an authenticated copy of his letter of APP
polntcne, or other satisfactory evidence of his a-
thority and
1t Is important, and necessary that he shoul
make such careful and thorough preliminary exam
nations will enable him to select lands to which
there may exist 10 valid claim by prc-cmption OF
otherwise and to avoid the cmbarrassincnts and de-
lays consequent upon such conflicts; will also exam
inc the plats records and papers in your Office be-
fore the lists Of lands selected are filed and see
that such selections are i'll all respects free from
such objections.
If Notwithstanding such prccaution, The State
shall hereafter select lands which shall be found to
be intertered with by any prior and better claim or
claims, the selection to the whole extent of such
claim or claims will of course be null and void.
We think that the second provision will take the
wind out OF the sails of some persons who have been
anxious to speculate by locating largely with war;
SAINTS. If So and the lands pass into the hands Of
actual settlers, those who will improve them and
should have them at first cost in preference to nom
residents great good will have accrued to our
State.