The daily sentinel., 1912-06-15

is required to furnish every home
steader a copy of this letter within
go days. and the homesteaders are
allowed four months within which to
elect whether they will make final
proof under this or the old law; new
ertheless, many of them will not want
to wait that long.
The bill in full follows:
An act to amend section 2291 and
section 2297 of the revised statutes
of the United States relating to
homesteads.
Be it enacted by the senate and
house of representatives of the
United States of America in congress
assembled. That section 2291 and sec
ton 2297 of the revised statutes of
the United States be amended to read
as follows:
Sec. 2291. No certificate. however.
shall be given or patent issued there
for until the expiration of three
years from the date of such entry;
and If 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
devisee, in case of her death, proves
by himself and by two creditable wit
nesses that he. she, or they have a
habitable house upon the land and
have actually resided upon and cul-
tivated the same for the term of
three years succeeding the time Of
filing the affidavit and makes affi-
davit that no part of such land has
been alienated. except as provided in
section 229S, and that he, she. or
they will bear true allegiance 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 To-
cal land office notice of the begin
ming of such absence, the entrymen
shall be entitled to continuous
leave of absence from the land for
a period not exceeding five months
in each year after establishing resi-
dence, and upon the termination of
such absence the entryman shall file a
notice of such termination in the
local land office. but in case of com
mutation the 4 months actual resi-
dence as now required by law must
be shown. and the person commut-
ing must be at the time a citizen of
the United States; Provided. That
when the person making 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 requir-
cd nf tho haI ha 1ipaI
cepting 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
less than one-siXteenth of the area
of his entry. beginning with the sec
ond year of the entry, and not less
than one-eighth, beginning with the
third year of entry, and until final
proof, except that in the case of en-
tries under section six of the enlarg-
ed-homestead law double the area of
cultivation herein provided shall be
required, but the secretary of the in
terror may. upon satisfactory show
ing. under rules and regulations pre-
scribed by him, reduce the required
area of cultivation; Provided. That
the above provision as to cultivation
shall not apply to entries under the
act of April, 2Sth. 1904. commonly
known as the Kinkaid act. or entries
under the act of June 18th, 1902,
commonly known as the reclamtion
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 60 days
after the passage of the act, send a
copy of the same to each homestead
entryman of record who may be af-
fected thereby, by ordinary mail to
his last known address, and any
such entryman may, by giving notice
within one 120 days after the pas
sage of this act, by registered letter
to the register and receiver of the
local land Office, elect to make proof
upon his entry under the law under
which the same was made without
regard to the provisions of this
act
Sec. 22S7. If, at any time after
the filing of the affidavit as required
in section 2290 and before the eX-
piration of the three years mentioned
in section 2291, it is proved, after
due notice to the settler, to the sat
isfaction of the register of the land
office that the person having filed
such affidavit has failed to establish
residence within six month after the
date of entry. or abandoned the land
for more than six months at any
time. then in that event the land so
entered shall revert to the govern
ment; Provided. That the three years
narind of residence herein fixed shall