The record-union., 1893-04-20
IN Els SAFE.
The Documents the Surveyor-General
is Secreting.
He Is Commanded to Show Cause Why
lie Should Not Do His
Duty.

representatives to examine the appllca-
tons for lieu lands which are locked up
IN his safe, and has met with persistent
refusal. These applications, in their
present condition, are a menace to the
exercise of lieu right on the part OF
actual settlers, and we are determined to
ascertain whether or not the Surveyor
General is justified in the course he is
pursuing. The managing editor OF the
RECORD UNION therefore petitioned the
Superior Court yesterday, in the name
of the State, and with the assent of
the Attorney-General, for an alterna-
tive mandate commanding the Surveyor
General to show cause why he should not
make report to the Controller showing
the amount of fees paid to him during
December, January, February and
March and received by him accompany
ing applications for lieu lands; that he
pay into the State Treasury all the
moneys so received by him; that he per-
init an inspection of the applications re-
terred to; and that he communicate with
the proper land Office and ask that the
lands described in the applica tons be
accepted in part satisfaction of the lieu
grant.
The court issued an alternative man
date requiring the Surveyor-General to
do the things asked in the petition that
he do, or show cause on the 26th of April,
at 10 A. NJ, why he has not done so.
The petition is as follows:
In the Superior Court of the State of
California, in and for the county of Sac
ramento-The people of the State of Cali
fornia, by relation of L. Is. Willis,
plaintiffs, VS.. Theodore Reichert, Sur
veyor-General and eX officio Register of
the State Land Office of the State of Cali
fornia, decentralization for mandate.
To the honorable, the Judge of the Su-
perlor Court OF the State OF California, in
aud for the county of Sacramento
The plaintiffs show, by the relation of
i. B. Willis, citizen of the State Of Cali
fornia:
That by an Act of the Congress of the
United States, entitled AN Act to pro-
vide for the survey of public lands in
California" the granting of presumption
rights therein, and for ''other purposes"
approved March 3, 1858, there was granted
TO the State of California the sixteenth
and thirty-siXth sections in each town
ship tor the purposes of public schools;
that Section 7 of the said Act provided
that where any settlement by the cree
ton OF dwelling house. or the cultiva-
ton OF any portion OF the land, shall be
made on the sixteenth or thirty-siXth
section, before the same shall be sur
veyed, or where such sections may be
reserved for public uses, or taken by
private claims, other lands shall be Sc
lected by the proper authorities of the
State in lieu thereof and that the pro-
visions of the said Act Were subsequently,
incorporated into the Revised Statutes OF
the United States as Sections ZZ75 and
2276 thereof.
That by an Act of the Congress of the
United States, approved February 2S
1881, entitled IAN Act to amend Sections
2215 and 22I6 of the Revised Statutes of
the nited States providing for the Selec-
ton OF lands Tor educational purposes in
lieu OF those appropriated for other pur-
poses," 1t was provided, among other
things, that other lands of equal acreage
are also hereby appropriated and granted
and may be selected by said State or Ter
ritory where Sections l6 or So are mineral
land, or are included within any Indian,
military, or other reservation, or are
otherwise disposed OF by the United
States"
That by an Act of the Congress of the
United States, entitled IAN Act to repeal
timber culture laws, and for other pur-
poses," approved March 3, 1891, it was
provided, among other things, 'that the
President of the United States may, from
time 10 time, set apart and reserve, in any
State or Territory having public land
lands, wholly or in part covered with
timber or underground, whether of COM
merclaI value or not, as public reserya-
tons; and the President shall, by public
proclamation, declare the establishment
OF such reservations and the limits
thereof" That in pursuance of the last
mentioned Act of Congress, the President
of the United States has duly set apart
and reserved in the State of California
large bodies of land bearing forests as
Ft.lN j.
declared the establishment of such reser-
Vatlons and the limits thereof. That such
forest reservations have been duly de-
clared and made at various times inter
mediate the passage of the said last mem
toned Act OF Congress and the date of
this petition. That such various forest
reservations are known as and called the
San Gabriel Reservation, the San Madre
observation, the San Bernardino Reser-
walton, the Sierra Nevada Reservation.
and the Trabuca or San Antonio Reser-
Walton, and include, in the aggregate
more than 100000 acres OF public land.
That the forest reservations so made and
declared, lncluue lands of the sixteenth
ana thirty-siXth sections. granted to the
State OF California i'll place and for lieu
selection bases, as aforesaid to the extent,
in the aggregate, of more than 100000
acres.
That the general laws of the State of
California constitute the Surveyor-Gen-
eral, the general agent of the State for the
location and sale of the sixteenth and
thiry-siXth sections and the lands in
lieu thereof granted to this State as afore-
said, and provide that all persons desir-
ing TO purchase any of such lands shall
present their application to the Sur
veyor-General. Section 1914 Of the Po-
litical Code of California provides that
leach application for lands must be ac-
cOmpanied with fee of 50, and no ap-
plication shall be received, filed or noted
in any way until such fee is paid The
Surveyor-General shall charge the same
fees as allowed the Register for like serv-
ices, and all fees collected by either the
Surveyor-General or Register shall be
paid into the State Treasury on the LIST
OF each and every month and placed to
the credit of the general fund, and said
officer shall on the first Monday OF each
month make n written report to the State
Controller stating the amount of fees so
paid, together with the sources from
which they We're derived and the several
amounts by items" And Section 34O6 of
the said Political Code provides that the
rveyor-Geueral must, when applica-
ton is made 10 him to purchase any
lands in lieu of the sixteenth and thirty
sixth sections. Communicate with the
United States Land Office and ask that
the lands described in the application be
accepted in part satisfaction of the grant
under which 1t Is sought to be located -
That Section 1895 Of the said Political
Code requires that the Register of the
State Land Office keep separate accounts
and records in relation to each class of
lands to which the State is entitled.
which record must show. among other
things, the number of each location. the
name of the locator and description by
legal subdivisions of the land located
That Theodore Reichert is, and for