Arizona republican., 1910-12-26
LAND OFFICE
 LITIGATION The New Rules Become
 Effective NATURE OF THE REFORMS
They Will Make Things Easier for the Poor, Pre- vent Needless Contests and Expedite Such as May Be Instituted.


 needed reform in the rules of prac- tice governing cases before the United States local offices, the general land office and the department of the in terior has been approved by Secre- tary Ballinger and will become et- fective February 1 as announced briefly in recent press despatches. The new rules are the result of seV- eraI years of careful study of the situation by the law officers of the department of the interior and of the general land office and the new rules are confidently expected to expedite contests and litigation in connection with public land matters by the aboli- tion of an excessive amount of red tape which year by year has grown up around methods of procedure. The evils of this time honored red tape have long been a needless burden upon the poor settler of the west and have favored the rich contestant ire duently in unjust and merely specu- Iative contests Often it has been the case that bona fide settlers have been robbed of their rights and forced into surrender of their claims through the
  sible by needless red tape Often the rightful claimant would not have the money nor the time to defend his rights under the old procedure. It was a condition of affairs which in a measure defeated the avowed pur- pose of the homestead law. placing an unnecessary burden of hardship and often suffering on honest settlers and resulting indirectly in actual loss in population and wealth to states of the west.
 Under the new rules a contest may be initiated only by a person who seeks to acquire title to. or who claims an interest in the land in volved. and he cannot offer as the basis of the contest any cause of il- legality or invalidity which is shown by the records of the general land of flee As for example: If it is claim ed that the entryman has entered more land than he is entitled to un der the law. the contest will not be allowed because the truth of the charge can be verified from the rec ords of the general land office. In cases where those who do not seek to acquire title to a tract of land embraced in an entry or claim, or who do not claim an interest in the land. file an affidavit of contest the contest will not be allowed. but the charge will he referred to a special agent of the general land office for investigation This of course, makes or expedition of work and at once abolishes a prolific source of delay in litigation.
 By the rules. as soon as an affi davit of contest is filed in the local land office it is made the duty of the register and receiver to forward immediately a copy to, the commits sioner of the general land office at Washington. and. if the affidavit is sufficient. to issue notice of contest directed to the persons adversely in terested It is provided that this notice must be served on the adverse party to the suit either personally or by publication. and service by regis tered mail, where the registry return receipt is filed. is considered personal service. The party whose claim is contested must within thirty days after personal service, or within twenty days after the fourth publi- cation. where service is by publica tion, file with the register and re- ceiver at the proper land office an answer under oath meeting and re- plying to the allegations of the con- test. and must at the same time file proof of service of a copy of his answer upon the contestant. If the party whose entry or claim is con tested fails to serve and file an an- swer the allegations of the contest will be taken as admitted and it will not be necessary for the contestant to prove the charges in his affidavit
 Upon the filing of an answer to a contest. as provided in the new rules. the register and receiver will issue notice of hearing at which the par ties will appear and submit testi- mony. It is provided that these hearings may be set either before the register and receiver of the local land office Of the district in which the land involved is situated. or before other officers authorized to take tes- timony. and officers authorized to hear testimony may under the new rules exclude from trial all witnesses except the one testifying and the par ties to the proceedings If the de .. fendant to a contest should demur to the sufficiency of the evidence the register and receiver will at once rule upon it and if the demurrer is over ruled and the defendant elects to in troduce no evidence but relies upon his demurrer. he will not be afforded any further opportunity to submit evidence.
 By the new rules registers and re- ceivers are authorized to grant new trials only upon the ground of newly discovered evidence. and nd new trial will be ordered in any event except