East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1912-06-17
FULL TEXT OF THE BORAH- JONES THREE
YEAR LAND LAW AS IT WAS SIGNED JUNE 6

year homestead bill as 1t was signed
by President Taft on June 6. It will
be noted that the law takes the form
of an amendment to sections 229l and
2297 of the revised statutes. Under
the terms of the new law, a copy will
be sent to each homestead entryman
by the secretary of the interior. The
three-year law follows:
Be it enacted by the senate and
house of representatives of the Unit
ed States of America in congress as
sembled, That section 1921 and sec
ton 2297 of the revised statutes OF
the United States be amended to read
as follows:
section 2291. No certificate, how
ever, shall be given or patent issued
therefor until the expiration of three
years from the date of such entry:
and II at the expiration of such time,
or at any time within two years
thereafter, the person making such
entry, or If he be dead his widow, or
in case of her death his heirs or de-
visee, or in case of widow making
such entry her heirs or devisee. in
case of her death, proves by himself
and by two credible witnesses that
he, she, or they have habitable
house upon the land and have actually
resided upon and cultivated the same
for the term of three years succeed
! ing the time of filing the affidavit,
and makes affidavit that no part of
such land has been alienated, except
as provided in section 22SS, and that
he, she or they will bear true allegi-
ance to the government of the United
States, then in such case. he, she, or
they if at that time citizens Of the
United States, shall be entitled to a
patent, as in other cases. provided by
| law: Provided, That upon filing in
the local land office notice of the be-
ginning of such absence, the entry
men shall be entitled to a continuous
leave of absence from the land for a
period not exceeding five months in
each year after establishing residence,
and upon the termination of such alb
sence the entryman shall file a notice
of such termination in the local land
office, but in case of commutation
the Il months actual residence as now
required by law must be shown. and
the person committing must be at the
time a citizen of the United States
Provided, That when the person maxi
ing entry dies before the offer of final
proof those succeeding to the entry
must show that the entryman had
complied with the law in all respects
to the date of his death and that they
have since complied with the law in
all respects, as would have been re-
quired of the entryman had he lived
excepting that they are relieved from
any requirement of residence upon
| the land: Provided further, That the
| entryman shall. in order to comply
| with the requirements of cultivation
| herein provided for, cultivate not les'
| than one-sixteenth of the area of his
entry. beginning with the second year
of the entry, and not less than one
| eighth, beginning with the thirc
| year of the entry, and until fina'
| proof except that in the case of en-
tries under section of the enlarged
| homestead law double the area of cul-
tivation herein provided shall be re-
|
terror may upon satisfactory show
ing. under rules and regulations pre-
| scribed by him. reduce the required
area of cultivation: Provided, Tha
the above provision as to cultivation
shall not apply to entries under the
act of April 2S, 1904, commonly
known as the Kinkaid act or en-
tries under the act of June II. 1902
commonly known as the reclamation
act and that the provisions of this
section relative to the homestead pc
riod shall apply to all unprotected en-
tries as we'll as entries hereafter
made upon which residence Is re-
: quired: Provided That the secretary
of the interior shall, within so days
after the passage of this act, send &
copy of the same to each homestead
entryman of record who may be af-
fected thereby, by ordinary mail tc
his last known address, and any such
entryman may, by giving notice with
in 100 days after the passage of this
= act, by registered letter to the regis
, ter and receiver of the local land Of
flee, elect to make proof upon his
entry under the law under which the
same was made without regard to the
provisions of this act
section 2297. If, at any time after
the filing Of the affidavit as required
in section 229O and before the expi-
ration of the three years mentioned
in section 2291, it is proved, after
due notice to the settler, to the satis-
faction of the register of the land Of
flee that the person having filed such
affidavit has failed to establish resi-
dence within six months after the
date of entry or abandoned the land
for more than six months at any
time, then and in that event the land
so entered shall revert to the govern
ment: Provided That the three
years period Of residence herein
fixed shall date from the time Of es-
tablishing actual permanent residence
upon the land: And provided further,
That where there may be climatic
reasons. sickness, or other unavoid-
alb lecause, the commissioner of the
general land office may in his dis
erection allow the settler 12 months
from the date of filing in which to
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