Kansas weekly herald., 1854-11-03
Lzsc of Pre-e.a..i,tioss..
FRIDAY NOVEMBER 3. 1854.

....lss. i, I send you herewith for pub.
lication the following abridgment' of the
Pre-enspfion law. of 4thr September 1S41,
the provisions of which have been applied
to the public lands in this Territory. This
lido at the suggestion of some of the settlers;
and because believe that at the present
time it is inconyenient for most of the pre-
.emptors in Kansas to peruse that law as
readily and frequently as they might desire.
The act may be found in volume v. of the
Q. s. Statutes at large pages 453 -45s-r
1. Lands subject to pre-ensptio1s. By sec.
10 of said act it is provided that the public
lands to which the Indian title had been ex-
tinguished at the time of the settlement, and
which had also been Surveyed prior thereto
shall be subject to pre-emption, and pur-
chase at the rate Of one dollar and twenty
five cents per acre. And the act of 22d
July, 1854. See. II, the pre-emption of un-
Surveyed lands is recognized as legal.
Lands of the following description are ex-
cepted: Such as are included in any reser-
vation, by any treaty, law or proclamation
of the President of the United States, or re-
served for salines OF for other purposes; sec
tions Is and 36 in each township, they be-
ing reserved for school purposes (organic
act of Kansas s $40 lands included within
the limits of any Incorporated town, or
which have been selected as the site for
city or town; lands actually settled and oc-
cupied for the purposes of trade and not agri-
culture; and lands on which are situated
any known salines or mines.
II. The amount designated is any num-
Der of acres not exceeding one hundred and
sixty.
Ill. Who may pre-enapt. 'Every person
being the head of a family, OF widow, or
single man, over the age of twenty-one /
years, and being a citizen of the United
States, or having filed his declaration of in
tention to become citizen, as required by
the naturalization laws" But no person
shall be entitled TO more than one pre-emp-
tive right; and no person who is the propri-
etor of three hundred and twenty acres of
land in any State or Territory of the United
States; and no person who shall quit or a
bandon his residence on his own land to
reside ON the public land in the same State
or Territory shall acquire any right of pre-
emption.
~. The method to per- feet The right. The
1r<o fI,<
land In person; inhabit and improve the
same and erect thereon dwelling. And
when the land has been surveyed previous
to settlement the pre-emptor shall within
thirty days of the date of the settlement file
with the register of the proper district a
written statement describing the land set
tied upon and declaring the intention of
such person to claim the same under the
provisions of the pre-emption law. And
within twelve months of the date of the set
Element such person shall make the requi-
site proof, affidavit and payment. When h
lands are pre-empted (act of
1854 notice of the specific tracts claimed
shall be filed with the surveyor general, {
within three months after the survey has
been made In the field. And when two or
more persons shall have settled on the same ,
quarter section the right of pre-emption
shall be In him or her who made the first :
sediment; and questions arising between
different settlers shall he decided by the =
register and receiver of the district within
which the land is situated, subject to an ap-
peal to and revision by the Secretary of the
Treasury of the United States
And the settler must make oath before II
he receiver OF register that he or she has
never had the benefit of any right of pre- n
,mption under the pre-emption act; that he t
,r she is not the owner of three hundred 10
md twenty acres of land in any State or b
Territory of the United States, nor hath he 2
II she settled upon and improved said 4
and to sell the same on speculation, but in /
good faith to appropriate it to his or her v
,wn- exclusive use or benefit: and that v
le or she has not directly or Indirectly made a
my agreement or contract in any way or IS
manner with any person or persons what f
;oever, by which the title which he or she F.
might acquire from the Government of the 5
United States should enure in whole or in 4
part to the benefit of any person except h
himself or herself; and ifany person taking !
such oath shall swear falsely in the pre- {
misses he or she shall be subject to all the q
pains and penalties of perjury and shall for 6