Amador ledger., 1907-11-22
Hay as to
Legal Residence.
Hunting up Land Frauds.

Charging that Charles z. Vicini,
district attorney of Amador county,
had become mixed up as to the exact
locality of his legal residence, the
United States land Office filed suit in
the United States district court yes
terday to vacate the patent obtained
By him to 160 acres of land in Ell
Dorado county, whioh, it is charged
was gotten by fraud
According to the papers in the case,
Vicini swore that he and his family
had been living on grant of l60
acres of government land in FL
Dorado county in the summer of 1901
for IA months.
At that time he had been three
years in the office of district attorney
and his legal residence was in Amador
county.
In order to obtain a patent to the
land, on which he had IA months be-
fore located a homestead entry, vicini
is alleged to have sworn that he had
lived there for the time required by
law to complete title.
The suit filed yesterday is a pro-
ceeding in equity only, the criminal
part of the action being barred by the
statute of Limitations. +. Call,
Nov. II.
The people of this county were
generally astonished upon reading
the above item in substantially the
same terms in all the San Francisco
papers of Sunday last. 1t was the
first information they had received
on that score, and came as a surprise
to all. The unaccountable part of
the affair was that one holding the
office of district attorney should
attempt to file upon land in another
county under the homestead laws of
the United States. The locality of
the l60 acres in question is not stated
other than that it is timber land in
Ell Dorado county. 1t is therefore
no doubt far up in the mountains,
some thirty miles away from the
county seat of Amador. The laws
concerning residence on homestead
claims are very exacting. They de-
mand residence in good faith; that is
that the settler make the claim his
home. 1t is not sufficient that he
visit the land every once in a while.
He must have his home thereon.
Now the state law regarding the resi-
dence of the district attorney is
equally stringent. That official is re-
quired to reside at the county seat of
the county whose legal representative
he is. The duties of his office will
not permit his absence from the seat
of government, and the law prohibits
certain county officials among whom
is the district attorney, from being
absent for two months. Such absence
would doubtless render the party
liable to be ousted from Office. The
homestead, it appears from the above
item, was what is known as a COM
muted entry; that is, the settler upon
satisfactory proof of not less than IA
months actual residence, is allowed
to prove up and pay cash tor the land
at the rate of 81. % per acre.
Under the present federal law, be-
fore patent is issued on any entry,
an agent of the United States is re-
quired to visit every tract applied
for and proved up on, and make re-
port thereon.
A representive of the land depart
ment was in this and Ell Dorado
county several months ago, and visit
ed all the homestead and tim ber
claims for which a patent was pend
ing. He went up in the timber region
around Hams station.
One of the unaccountabIe features
of this affair, which is being severely
commented upon, is how it came to
pass that such glaring instance of
violation of the homestead law should
pass muster throught the land depart
ment, and remain undeteched, or at
least unventilated, until the statutory
time mad elapsed which precIuded
reaching the offender by criminal
proceedings. 1t is rumored that this
phase of the matter will be searching
Iy Investigated by the authorities,
with a view OF ascertaining who is
responsible for the failure.
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