Weekly Arizona citizen., 1880-10-02
OPINION OF c. E. DAILY, REGISTER.

Having carefully read all tue psper'
 in the case and having reviewed tho opinion of the Register, and his tina summing up of the case, with the con- 1 clusions he has reached it, would seen to appear indecOrous for me, so recent ly installed in the position l hold, tc attempt an elaborate expose of all the | questions involved in a matter SC clearly within the province of high CT authority 10 decide upon.
 The case has had prOtracied and careful consideration at the hands of my associate in this office. IIs opin- ion embraces all that the law regula- la,ions and judicial decisions in. aPalaxous cases would seem tu 10 call for. I therefore leave his ex. haustive legal argument and opinion unimpeached, except as to the cOnclu sions reached.
 NAoSN udluACu hitu lAAC tu oASiiCS Ol 1 legal verbage and not specially famil- ] iar with the rules of eI idcnce appli- cable in deciding questions of this na ture l can be guided only by what l conceive to be a plain judgment based upon my understanding of the evil | dence before me.
 In the first place, to reach a logical conclusion in any matter, the more direct and straightforward the evil | dence the more readily one can arrive at what might be demonstrated ma terial and pertinent facts upon which an opinion may be deduced, and l venture the ilterjectIOn here that these papers are in my judgment unneces- sarily cumbersome, too long drawn | out, to be free from suspicion of speculation and dishonest intent. To my mind they are tinctured with fraud and in that view of the matter l have no solid foundation by which to reach a conclusion either in favor of claim ant or contestant.
 In many respects the claimant in thIs case has shown himself tO be & useful citizen. Ills monuments of in- duslry will attest this fact at MaricO- pa, al Tucson, on Alcalde grants, at Camp Lowell, at Cerro Colorado, at Tombstone and on quarter section, section As located aud described in these papers.
 Claimant has been essentially home citizen, but unfortunately for hun and his claim there appears 10 have been too much of q speculation in all of his boTe operations to harmoniZe strictly with the provisions of law by which the Government grants the privilege of settlement and a home stead on the public lands.
 Neither to please ones own fancy nor for purposes of speculation can one become an inherent pre- -emptor. The declaratUry statement filed on the goth of January 1873, for the northeast quarter of section No. 10, in town ship if. sOU'h of range No. l3 east of GIla and Salt River meridian appears in my judgment tO have been valid ore, and all the evidence produced of sp abandonment and of the sale of said claim to Page and Larkin seems to confirm the fact of a relinquish- ment of any further legal right to pre- emption. Notwithstanding this, how ever, claimant appears IO ignore this surrender of his pre- empiiOn right a clear speculation, according Co my reading of the papers-and treats it as no bar to again settling on the public lands, since he dId subsequently, file on another quarter section on which quarter section this con test has arisen. On this land as he has done elsewhere, the claimant made improvements. all very commendable in the general improvement aud as an act of industry, but altogether outside of any just claim to the land on which he chose to expend his money, tine and labor.
 Considering, however, the improve ments made on this land by the claim ant Allen and that he made thIS his home for 8 considerable time prior 10 the filing made by contestant JusIus, 1 am at loss to determine which act is the most eprehensible, that of Alien in filing a second time when debarred by the statutes from so doing, or that of Justus in his en- deavor to appropriate another mans improvements without compensation. There is an audacity Tn the action of each of them equaled only by the superabundance of evidence pro- duced.
 Whatever conclusions one might reach based upon his judgment of the law and evidence in the case, there appear to be equities entering into the subject which become a question requiring the consideration and rul- ings of the Commissioner before the status of the claim of either party can be determined. This last question properly should and does take the whole matter out of the hands of the local officers for a final determining of all questions involved al the hands of the Commissioner of the General Land Office.
 Having reached this conclusion after a careful and impartial sitting of the evidence, have the honor to submit the above for the consideration of the Commissioner.
 Very respectfully,
 (Signed) C. F.. DAILY,
 Receiver of Public Moneys. |. ;. Land Office, Florence, Arizona,
 July 27, 1880.