Arizona republican., 1910-12-26

upon a showing that the substantial
 rights of the applicants for the new
 trial have been injuriously affected.
 Should the register and receiver re-
 fuse to grant a motion for a new
 trial no appeal will be allowed from
 that order It also is provided by the
 new rules of parctice that where
 pending a contest. the time for sub
 hitting final proof on the entry or
 claim arrives. the entryman may Sub-
 init the proof but is not required to
 make payment of the purchase money or the commissioners as the case may
 be. until after the disposition of the contest
 As under the former rules, appeals
 to the commissioner of the general lanC office from the decisions of the
 register and receiver must be filed within thirty days. and appeals from
 the decisions of the commissioner of the general land office to the secre- tary of the interior must also be filed within thirty days from notice of the decision. In this respect the former rule is materially changed. Under the practice. a person desiring to appeal from the decision of the commissioner of the general land office was allowed sixty days within which to file his appeal
 Motions for review and re-review of the decision of the secretary of the interior are abolished by the new rules and instead provision is made for petition for rehearing which h.. ha adx-arCa party to the contest and filed within thirty days after notice of the deci- sion. By the old practice. where review was sought of the decision of the secretary of the interior. a mo tion to that effect was filed in the land office where it was first determ- ined and if entertained the papers returned to he served upon the ad- verse party. The new rules erect material changes in this respect. greatly shortening the period of liti- gation and reducing the work of the officials of the department.
 The rule providing for the assess ment of costs in contest proceedings also has been changed in that where no preference right is sought by the contestant, each party to a proceed ing before the land department is re- quired to pay the costs of his direct examination of his own witnesses and his cross-eXamination of his Oppo- nent's witnesses. Under rne old rules it was the practice to require each party to pay the costs of the direct and cross-examination of the witnesses called by him, and in such cases it frequently occurred that the cross examiner asked numerous ques- tions which were not relevant and for which the party calling the witness did not think that he should be called to pay. The new rules obviate all such difficulties and if a party to the proceedings should ask questions that are decided to be not relevant to the issue it will be at his own expense
 It is confidently believed by the law officers of the department of the interior that under the new rules of practice contests can be disposed of more expeditiously both for the de- partment of the interior and those interested in the lands involved in the contests. The new rules are de- signed to establish a higher stand ard of efficiency in the administra- tion of the land laws. and the off cials of the department are confident also that speculative contests, of which so many. are brought upon tri- vial excuses. will be materially re- duced if not entirely eliminated. while a bona fide contestant who seeks, to acquire title to a tract of public land will not be hampered by a prodigious burden of unnecessary red tape as in the past.