Arizona state miner., 1924-02-02
DUTIES OF U. S. COMMISSIONER

| OAAACO WOlh' MdAy pSOplS ISISI "
them as United States Land Com
missioners. This title is wrong and
misleading. There was such an Of
| flee many years ago, but it has been
abolished and now there is no such
officer as United States Land Com
missioner. The officer who is au-
| thOriZed to take land proofs and fill
ings is United States Commissioner
appointed by the judge of the federal
court, and he is an officer of the fed
eral court and under the department
of justice, not the interior department,
or land department as it is called in
the west.
A United States Commissioner IS
primarily court commissioner, ap-
pointed to transact court business,
but congress has provided that people
who wish to make out land papers
may go before a United States Com
missioner and swear to such papers
instead of going before the register
or receiver of the district land office.
This is merely a convenience to the
public, for otherwise every entryman
would have to go, and usually take
two witnesses, before the register and
receiver whenever he had any land
papers to make out.
A United States Commissioner is
not in any way connected with the
land office He is not an agent for
the land office and does not pass on
any papers he executes. In taking
final proofs he must see that the pro-
ceedings are regular and that the an
swers to. the questions bring out all
the pertinent facts also that the wit
nesses are examined separately and
are each duly sworn, and he must
transmit final proof testimony to the
land office, although he does not have
to collect and transmit the fees in
connection with final proofs unless
he wishes to.
In executing entries and other pa
pers he is not in any way responsible
executes, but merely for the fact that
they were duly subscribed and sworn
to before him, rs set forth in his GER
tificate He may, if he chooses end
the entryman desires him to, prepare
any and all, ra~ers, and may charge
INV reasonable fee for so do ng, but
when he is preparing papers, other
than final proof testimony, he is act
ing as agent for the entryman, and
not in any official capacity. A
A United States Comissioner's place
in land office work is similar to
notary public's work in connection
with c0nveyancing. If one takes a
deed to a notary public for acknowl-
edgement, the notary does not need
to know whether the person who
makes the deed owns the land or not,
whether there are prior mortgages. or
not, or whether the deed is properly
drawn The notary merely satisfies
himself that the person who signs the
deed is the one who appears before
him and acknowledges it, and that is
as far as his responsibility goes. If
the purchaser finds that the. property
was mortgaged he cannot hold the
notary responsible. So it is with c
United States Commissioner. He
cannot be expected to represent the
government in any sense, and as an
official of the United States Court
he is not responsible for the prepara-
ton of land papers any more than he
is for carpenter work or any other
services which he may perform for
the public.
He is not paid any salary and is not
furnished with any maps, plots, rec
ords, blank forms or other. supplies.
He must buy all blank forms he uses,
and if he wants copies of land office
plots he must make them himself, or
hire somebody else to make them, the
same as any other individual The
land office does not furnish him with
records of filings made in his neigh
borhood, or recognize him in any way
The postoffice department does not
carry his mail free when it contains
land business, as that is not consid-
cred part of his official business.
All the compensation he gets is
the fees he charges. In some cases
United States Commis5ioners have
spent much time and money in pre-
narine themselves to handle land OF