The Kansas herald of freedom., 1858-08-07

(Signed) u u, Register.
Or E F, ReceiUer.
AN ACT
To appropriate the proceeds of the pub
lie lands and to grant pre-emption
rights.
SEC. To- Af,d be it further enacted, That
from and after the passage of this act, eve-
ry person, being the head of family, or
widow, or single man over the age of
twenty-one years, and being a citizen of
the United States or having filed his dec
laraton of intention to become citizen as
required by the naturalization laws, who,
since the first day of June, A. d eighteen
hundred and forty, has made, or shall
hereafter make, settlement in person on
the public lands to which the Indian
title had been, at the time of such settle
ment, extinguished, and which has been,
or shall have been, surveyed prior thereto,
and who shall inhabit and improve the
same, and who has or shall erect dwelling
thereon, shall be, and is hereby, author
lied to enter with the register of the land
office for the district in which such land
may lie, by legal subdivisions, any num-
Der of acres not exceeding one hundred
and sixty, or quarter-section of land, to
include the residence of such claimant,
upon paying to the United Ststes the
minimum price of such land, subject,
however, to the following limitations and
exceptions: No person shall be entitled to
more than one pre- e-emptive right by virtue
of this act; 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 abandon his residence on his own
land to reside on the public lands in the
same State or Territory, shall acquire any
right of pre-emption under this act; no
lands included in any reservation, by anv
treaty, law, or proclamation of the Presi-
dent of the United States, or reserved for
salines, or for other purposes; no lands
reserved for the support of schools, nor
the lands acquired by either of the two
last treaties with the Miami tribe of In
dians in the State of Indiana, or which
may be acquired of the Wyandott tribe
of Indians in the State of Ohio, or other
Indian reservation to which the title has
been or may be extinguished by the Unit
ed States at any time during the opera
ton of this act; no sections of land reserved
to the United States alternate to other
sections granted to any of the States for
the construction of any canal, railroad, or
other public improvement; no sections or
fraction of sections included within the
limits of any incorporated town; no por-
tions of the public lands which have been
selected as the site for city or town; no
parcel or lot of land actually settled and
occupied for the purposes of trade and
not agriculture; and no lands on which
are situated any known salines or mines
shall be liable to entry under and by vir-
tue of the provisions of this act. And so
much of the proviso of the act of twenty
second of June, eighteen hundred and
thirty eight, or any order of the President
of the United States, as directs certain res
ervations to be made in favor of certain
claims under the treaty of Dancing rabbit
creek, be, and the same is hereby, repealed: /:
Provided, That such repeal shall not affect
any title to any tract of land secured in
virtue of said treaty.
SEC. IL. And be it further enacted, That
when two or more persons shall have set
tied on the same quarter section of land,
the right of presumption shall be in him
or her who made the first settlement, pro-
vided such persons shall conform to the
other provisions of this act; and all ques-
tons as to the right of pre-emption aris-
! ing between different settlers shall be set
tied by the register and receiver of the
district within which the land is situated,
subject to an appeal to and a revision by
the Secretary of the Treasury Interior
of the United States.
SEC. II. And be 1t further enacted, That
prior to any entries being made under and
by virtue of the provisions of this act,
proof of the settlement and Improvement
thereby required shall be made to the sat
isfaction of the register and receiver OF
the land district in which such lands may
lie, agreeably to such rules as shall be
prescribed by the Secretary of the Treas
ury, Interior who shall each be entitled to
receive fifty cents from each applicant for
his services, to be rendered as aforesaid;
and all assignments, and transfers of the
right hereby secured, prior to the issuing
of the patent, shall be null and void.
SEC. Is. Ind be it further enacted, That
before any person, claiming the benefit of
this act, shall be allowed to enter such
lands, he or she shall make oath before
the receiver or register of the land dis
trict in which the land is situated (who
are hereby authorized tc administer the
same) tha: he or she has never had the
benefit of any right of -emption under
this act; that he or she is not the owner
of three hundred and twenty acres of land
in any State or Territory of the United
States, nor hath he or she settled upon
and improved said land to sell the same
on speculation, but in good faith to ap-
| propriate it to his or her own. exclusive
use or benefit; and that he or she has not,
directly or indireetly, made any agree
ment or contract, in any way or manner,
with any person or persons whatsoever,
| by which the title which he or she might
acquire from the government of the United
States should inure in whole or in part to
the benefit of any person except himself
or herself; and if any person taking such
oath shall swear falsely in the premises
he or she shall be subject to all the pains
and penalties of perjury, and shall forfeit
the money which he or she may have
paid for said land, and al right and. title
'taf $500 s1' --- Grant or conveyance