The Tucumcari news and Tucumcari times. [volume] (Tucumcari, N.M.) 1907-1921, 1909-10-02

REoIsTERs IN THE SELECTION
OF N,wsPAPERs ron THAT PuR-
Department of the Interior, General
Land Office, Washington, d. G., Au
gust IL, 1909.
Registers and Receivers Of United
States District Land Offices.
Sirs; This Office IL in daily receipt
Of complaints from editors and publish.
ers Of newspapers to the effect that
their publications are not accorded the
patronage which should be bestowed
upon them, In accordance with the law
and regulations on entries Of public
lands.
The object OF the law requiring pub.
lication Of such notices In TO bring TO
the knowledge and attention Of all
persons who are or who might be In.
terested In the lands described therein,
or who have information concerning
the illegality or i~nvalidity Of the rs.
serted claims thereto, the fact that Ii
II proposed to establish and perfect
such claims, to the end hat they may
interpOse any objection they may have,
or communicate information possessed
by them to the officers Of the land de
partmont. Ii Is unnecessary TO state
that this object can not be secured By
a notice published in a paper which has
no circulation among the people resi-.
dent In the locality in which the affect.
ed land il situated, and that %inattention
20 or disregard Of their duty in this
behalf on the part Of registers will re.
suit in the total subversion Of the lnw
aud the defect Of its purpose and In.
tent. To the end, therefore, hat you
may be fully instructed concerning your
official obligation In the premises, and
that you may be urged TO an alert and
diligent performance Of the duty which
the law imposes upon you, your atten
ton is directed TO the several rules
now 20 be stated aud which should gov.
ern and control you in the discharge OF
your official obligation:
First. A notice Of intended final
proof must he published IN a newspaper
Ut established character aud ~ general
circulation in the vicinity of the land
affected thereby, such paper having a
fixed and we'll known place II publica.
ton. No newspaper shall be deemed
a qualified medium Of notice unless II
shall have been continuously published
during an unbroken period Of six
months Immediately preceding the pub
LEGATION Of the notice, nor unless 1t
shall have applied for and been grant.
ed the privilege Of transportion in and
by the United States mails at the
ate provided by law for second.class
matter tsec. 427 to 437, inclusive, Post.
al Laws and Regulations), p privilege
available 20 all newspapers having a
legitimate list of subscribers and IA
known place Of publication.
Second. The notice must In all cases
be published in the newspaper which
may be printed and issued at a place
nearest To the land which the notice
affects. BY the word nearest a.
here used Il il not intended that geo
graphical proximity shall be measured
on an air line drawn between the land
and the place of publication, but by
the length of the shortest and princi
pally travelled ~thoroughfare between
such places, being the highway ordi,
narily used and employed for travel
by vehicles Of any kind. But this
qualification shall not be intended as
authorizing any nantes; pervisiOn OF
the spirit Of the rule, but simply to
dispense with any strict rule based on
geographical distance.
Third. II Is not necessary that the
newspaper nominated as the medium
Of such notice shall be published in
the same county as that In which the
land lies, or even in the same land dis
trict, On the contrary, n newspaper
published In an adjoining county, If
its place Of publication is nearer 20
the land than that OF any other news
paper, must be designated as the agen.
cy OF publication, II IL Is also qualified
by reason of its general circulation
ia the vicinity of the affected land.
Fourth. The law invests registers
with discretion in the selection Of
newspapers TO be the media OF notice
in such cases rs are here referred to,
but the discretion is official in charac.
ter, aud not n purely personal and
arbitrary power 10 be exercised with.
out regard for the object OF the law
by which IL is conferred. II follows
that a register action in the exer
else Of such discretion is subject TO
review by this office IN any ease where
IL is sufficiently alleged tina. the dis.
erection has been abused, meaning
thereby that it has been exercised IN
a manner peryersiye of the object Of
the law in requiring such notices TO
be published. This power of review
will ordinarily be exercised and made
effective IN a proper case by holding
the final proof to have been preceded
by insufficient notice; but 1t may be
res0rted 10 and exercised, IN any case
in which It may be shown that a reg.
ister II persistently designating a
mauifestIy inefficient medium oil no,
tice, by foTbiddiug the further publ
cation of notices IN such a newspapers
until It shall have acquired and suGi
GENTLY established its possession OF
the requisite qualifications. In 9th,
CT words, where II mas once been de.
termined that "A newspaper IL not "a
competent medium OF notice, IL is
within the power OF this office TO for
bid the continued selection OF thPt
newspaper as the mean OF publication
without awaiting repeated abuses OF
discretion on the part OF "A register aud
a determination in each separate ia
stance that the notice was ineilectu
ally published. This course OF action
will, therefore, be pursued whenever
II Is shown that a register is b~estowing
his patronage upon an alleged news.
paper which Is not entitled to that
character, being merely a private ad
Vertislng agency or published for
some special purpose aud not as a gen.
eral disseminatoT Of news, or where
such paper has no actual bona hde
or reasonable meritori0us circulation,
or Is not in fact published at It's pre-.
tended place Of publication, but at
some other place.
Fifth. Where a register acts in the
reasonable and not manifeStly unfair