The Powder River County examiner and the Broadus independent. [volume] (Broadus, Mont.) 1919-1935, 1922-06-30

BY COLA W. SHEPARD.
sL1TT1 VERSUS
TALK
toee.sisAtsd 1874 ~ Cela -: shep-
81 ct Ssess wySS 90. a. = .s e:
oDoo1o1 asGaAeo0ooGJ
Ever s'nce the publication OF Vel
umne a Of the Land Decisions, con-
tanning the lecision Of the secretary
In the case Of 6lette versus Hhl, the
points therein decided havs been Civ
en- . great deal Of publicity through
out the west. and In Some cases a
wrong construction has been placed
upon this decision. In order to clear
up the doubt which has arisen tn the
minds Of some entrymen because Of
newspaper account Of this ruling the
case II here reviewed.
Hill made homestead entry on July
10. 1915. and obtained m extension Of
time in which to establish residence
until May 16, 1916. He built q house
on the land in January. 1915. On May
IL, 1915. he established . residence on
the land and lived there Tor three
days. He lived on the land . week or
ten days during June, four days dur
ing July. three days during August.
one day In September, four days in
October, two days in November and
two days in December. During the
fall he remodeled his house ut an ex-
pense Of 500. In November. ten acres
were broken and in December he let
a contract fer the beraktng Of more
land, and 100 acres were broken I'M
der this contract the following sum-
mer.
In March. 1917. Slette filed q contest
against the entry, alleging that the
entryman has wholly abandoned said
lands for q period Of more than six
months last past. and during said Pc
riods Of six months last past the said
Hill has not had or maintained 6 resi-
dence in good faith upon said lands"
To make the matter entirely clear it
may be well to quote the law under
which this contest was brought. 1t
reads: IF, at any time after the fill
ing of the affidavit as required in Sec
ton 1890 and before the three years
mentioned in 1891. it is proved. after
due notice to the settler. to the satis-
faction of the register Of the land CT
fice that the person having fled 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 tn land Sc en-
70 ho1 tn tho
|. And provided further, that
where there may be climatic reasons,
sickness, or other unavoidable cause
the commissioner Of the general land
office may. in his discretion. allow the
settler twelve months from the date
of fling in which to commence his res
idence on said land under such rules
and regulations as he may prescribe
The local officers held that Hills en-
try was not subject tC. attack. but the
general land office reversed the local
officers on appeal filed by Slette. From
this decision Hill appealed to the sec.
rotary Of the interior. who held that
"Whfle entryman's residence prior t
the date Of the contest would not sus'
tain final proof, it was sufficient. witt
the improvements made, to indicate
that he had no intention of abandon
ing the land. Less than, ten months
had elapsed from the date etrymar
was required to establish residence
and more than forty months Of thu
statutory life CT the entry remained
IA charge of abandonment is no
sustained by evidence 10 the effect tn
residence maintained was not of tn
character contemplated by Section 22s
r. S.. as amended by the act Of jun
6. 1912. provided sufficient of the lit
time CT the entry remains within which
to meet the requirements of the Law
as to residence. unless it is made t
appear that the entryman has no
acted in good faith.
ut clearly appearing that entryma
has not abandoned the land. nor oct
ed in bald faith. the contest must b
dismissed"
There is nothing radically new i
this decision, and it hoes not relev
entrymen from actually residing o
their lands for the full term require
by law, but it does protect them frOl
contest during the first years of I'll
entry so long as they do not abandc
the entry and are showing good faiti
In some of the newspaper versions {
this decision 1t was made tc apes
that an entry could not De conteste
70 long o. there remained enough tin
for the entryman to complete his res
dence within five years from data I
the entry. The decision ices no. Z
far but II the entcyman has show
complete good faith, AMI has lived q
the land enough to preclude a chars
Of abandonment. he canpOt be cOnte8
ell simply because he has failed
: make full St. en- months actual res
: entry.
E LOBSOH