The Kansas herald of freedom., 1856-01-26
The 1fssaio Of Freedom.
Lawrence. Saturday, Jan. &c. 1856.
An Important Law Question.

By the act of Congress of July ED,
1854. entitled Gan act to establish the
Office of Surveyor General of New Mex
leo, Kansas, &c." the 1eth section. after
extending the pre-emption law of 1871
over the Territories, concludes as fol-
lows:
"Provided, however, That when un-
surveyed lands are claimed by pre-emp-
ton, notice of the SPECIFIC TRACTS
CLAIMED shall be filed within three months
after the survey has been made in the
field, and on failure % file such notice or
to pay for the tracts eiuimeS before the
day fixed for the sale of the lands by the
proclamation of the President of the
United States, the parties claim
ing such lands shall forfeit all
right thereto Provided, said notices
may be fled with the Surveyor-General,
and to be mated by hin, ON the townskip
plat. until other arrangements shall have
been made by law for that purpose"
"Speciic tracts ella med" or that which
is specified or particularized. must be the
identical one to which the pre-emptor
first laid his claim. 1t cannot be an ad-
joining or contiguous one. The word
"tract" in the laws of the United States,
particularly. in the presumption act oil
l841, and in the one alluded to of 1854.
seems to apply only to the one hundred
and sixty acres to which the pre-emptor
has set up claim, and which, on his
compliance with the conditions, becomes
his.
Was it the intention Of Congress that
the pre-emptor in settling upon unsur-
veyed lands should be governed BY the
1netes and boundsas set or claimed by
himself, or by those bounds which should
afterwards be fixed by the public survey
or? This is question OF great practi-
cal importance, but one which has seemed
to escape the attention of the pre-emptor.
Our people have generally adopted the
principle of Interpretation which gov
erned the act of l84l. forgetting that
that law applied only to surveyed lands.
and that the section given above entirely
changed the character of pre-existing
laws, by opening those not Surveyed for
settlement. Congress seeing proper to
open lands for settlement before they
were surveyed, also saw fit to change the
entire practice which had governed them
to that date; and allowed the settler 10
mark out Ais Ocn claim, or procure the
services of another at his expense, and
by giving notice to the Surveyor-Gener-
al of the speeifs tract cloimed within an
expressed period. and paying therefor.
the title becomes vested in such claim
= ant. .1sl.ses ..s..,l---sz#.
1t may be objected to this position that
the claimant was not required to file no.
tice of his claim until after the survey
was made. and arguing from this that he
was to be governed by the bounds as
made by the public surveyor. Is it not
more reasonable to infer that it was the
design of Congress that the claimant
should have the advantage of the public
surveys to aid him in more accurately
defining the boundaries of the Specified
tract claimed go
That the new law is incomplete,
seemed evident to Congress by requir-
ing certain mode of procedure to di-
rect in the premises only "uniil other
arrangements shall have been made" by
them on the subject.
The question is one of deep interest
TO the settlers in Kansas, and should be
decided without delay by the Depart
ment. Thousands of persons have come
here, marked out their claims, and made
improvements. Some have invested
thousands of dollars in building houses.
and breaking up and fencing their
daims, in consequence of decision of
tie Department that ga mere entry upon
public lands. and their remaining with
GENERALIZATION of the soil, was not that
kindof occupancy which the law con-
tempk,ed." In running the lines it is
found that many who have occupied
lands for various periods, and expended
their all in Improvements are suddenly
cut out OF the same by the lines of the
surveyor, their improvements falling up
on the quarter section. as indicated by
the surveys, previously occupied BY an
other. II the popular understanding is
to prevail great injustice is to be done
the bona tide Sc tier whose own labor and
the accommodations OF years. with the
means os sunport of a dependent family