El Nuevo mexicano., 1917-03-01
HAVE
NO RECOURSE FROM
RULING, JONES SAYS
MUST ABIDE BY DEPARTMENT
RULING AND RETURN TO DIS
TRicT LAND OFFICE TO PER-
Feet APPLICATIONS

HN-+HNN HNHH.
The ruling OF u. s. Land Commits
sioner Clay Tallman, requiring al
hom~esteaders under the new 640-acr
act to return within the Santa Fe Ian
district to re-file applications, be
cause proper blanks were not avail
able January 2 and for some tim
after that date, will have to be fol
lowed. This is the opinion Of U. S
Senator-elect A. A. Jones, formeri.
assistant secretary Of the depart
ment of the interior, to whom Regis
ter Delgado and Receiver Vigil of thu
local United States land office ap
pealed, in the hope tnat congress
would pass a bill changing this regu
lation in regard to the amendatory
affidavit and thus saving time and ex'
pense to 1000 persons who filed y
the Santa Fe district, and many thou
sands in other land districts.
There seems to be nothing to do in
this matter but to abide by the ruling
of the department. says Mr.. Jones
who encloses a letter sent him by
Alexander Vogelsang, first assistant
secretary Of the department of the in
terror.
Mr.. Vogelsang's letter, which will
undoubtedly interest all homesteaders
and their families and friends, is as
follows
Washington, D. c., Feb. ri, 1917.
My Dear Senator:
IL am in receipt of your letter Of
February Is, 1917, and the letter. ad-
dressed to you by the register OF the
land office at Santa Fe, N. NJ,
(which is herewith returned), con-
corning the requirement in the regu-
Of January "a, 1917, that the
affidavit, a~mendatory of the imperfect
to enter land under the
stock-raising homestead act, must be
executed before either the register or
the-receiver or before a United States
commis sioner or a judge or clerk of
q court of record in the county or
land district in which the land lies.
ut was the opinion of the depart
nent after carefully considering the
whole subject that, inasmuch as the
amendatory affidavit would Of neces-
sity contain allegations bearing on
applicants right of entry, the affidavit
would in fact form a part of the home
stead application and should, there
fore, in view of the provisions of Sec
lion 1894, United States statutes
fprinted on pages 20 and 23 Of the in
closed Circular 414), be executed in
he same manner as the application.
while a large number of appli-
may be put to considerable
and expense to amend their
applications, the department would
lot be warranted in waving a clear
statutory requirement, or II postpon-
ng to a later date the required
of incomplete applica-
ions. Many citizens who have
to make entries under the act
until the approval forms were
AVAILABLE, and their applications in
many instances conflict with the in
'omplete applications which were
lied within a few days after the ap-
,roval of the act by persons who were
lot familiar with the provisions
hereof. These junior applicants
you'd have ground for complaint If
he department made it possible to
lefeat their rights by applications
which r. insufficient and which arc
lot amended within the reasonable
ime fixed by the regulations.
Cordially yours,
ALEXANDER VOGMSANG,
First Assistant Secretary"
Hon, A. A. Jones,
Room 1875, Senate OFFICE Building,
Washington, d. c.