A false oath taken before a clerk of a court under section 2294, Revised Statutes, or the proper officer under section 2293, or under the said acts of May 26, 1890, and March 2, 1895, is perjury, the same as if taken before the register or the receiver.

Where a wife has been divorced from her husband or deserted, so that she is dependent upon her own resources for support, she can make homestead entry as the head of a family or as a femme sole.

A single woman who makes a homestead entry and marries before making proof does not by her marriage forfeit her right to make proof and receive patent for the land, provided she does not abandon her residence on the land to reside elsewhere. Where two parties, however, unite in marriage, each having an unperfected homestead entry, both entries can not be carried to patent. A residence elsewhere than on the land entered for more than six months at any one time is to be treated as an abandonment of the homestead entry under section 2297, Revised Statutes. (Appendix No. 1, p. 137.)

APPLICATION FOR A HOMESTEAD.

To obtain a homestead the party should select and personally examine the land and be satisfied of its character and true description.

He must file an application, stating his name, residence, and postoffice address and describing the land he desires to enter (Form 4-007, p. 238), and make affidavit (Form 4-063, p. 238) that he is not the proprietor of more than 160 acres of land in any State or Territory; that he is a citizen of the United States, or that he has filed his declaration of intention to become such, and that he is the head of a family, or over 21 years of age, as the case may be; that his application is honestly and in good faith made for the purpose of actual settlement and cultivation, and not for the benefit of any other person, persons, or corporation, and that he will faithfully and honestly endeavor to comply with all the requirements of law as to settlement, residence, and cultivation necessary to acquire title to the land applied for; that he is not acting as agent of any person, corporation, or syndicate in making such entry nor in collusion with any person, corporation, or syndicate to give them the benefit of the land entered, or any part thereof, or the timber thereon; that he does not apply to enter the same for the purpose of speculation, but in good faith to obtain a home for himself, and that he has not directly or indirectly made, and will not make, any agreement or contract in any way or manner, with any person or persons, corporation or syndicate whatsoever, by which the title which he might acquire from the Government of the United States should inure in whole or in part to the benefit of any person except himself; and, further, that since August 30, 1890, he has not entered under the land laws of the United States, or filed upon, a quantity of land agricultural in character, and not mineral, which, with the tracts now applied for, would make more than 320 acres, and that he has not theretofore had the benefit of the homestead laws, and must pay the legal fee and that part of the commissions which is payable when entry is made.

On compliance by the party with the foregoing requirements, the receiver will issue his receipt for the fee and that part of the commissions paid (Form 4-137, p. 239), a duplicate of which he will deliver to the party. The matter will then be entered on the records of the district office and reported to the General Land Office.

HOMESTEAD SETTLERS ON UNSURVEYED LANDS.

A homestead settler on unsurveyed public land not yet open to entry must make entry within three months after the filing of the township plat of survey in the district land office. (Act May 14, 1880, 21 Stat. L., 140; Appendix No. 15, p. 156.)

SIMULTANEOUS APPLICATIONS.

In cases of simultaneous applications to enter the same tract of land under the homestead laws, the rule is as follows:

First. Where neither party has improvements on the land the right of entry should be awarded to the highest bidder.

Second. Where one has actual settlement and improvement and the other has not, it should be awarded to the actual settler.

Third. Where both allege settlement and improvements, an investigation must be had and the right of entry awarded to the one who shows prior actual settlement and substantial improvements, so as to be notice on the ground to any competitor. (Report of General Land Office for 1866, p. 19; also case of Helfrich r. King, 3 Copp's L.-O., p. 164.)

RESIDENCE OF APPLICANT MUST BE STATED.

The applicant must in every case state in his application his place of actual residence and his post-office address, in order that notices of proceedings relative to his entry may be sent him. The register and receiver will note the post-office address on their tract books.

INCEPTIVE RIGHTS OF HOMESTEAD SETTLERS.

An inceptive right is vested in the settler by the proceedings hereinbefore described. He must, within six months after making his entry, establish his actual residence in a house upon the land, and must reside upon and cultivate the land continuously in accordance with law for the term of five years. Occasional visits to the land once in six months or oftener do not constitute residence. The homestead party must actually inhabit the land and make it the home of himself and family, as well as improve and cultivate it.

At the expiration of five years, or within two years thereafter, or, in case of entries existing at the date of the act of July 26, 1894 (28 Stat. L., 123; Appendix No. 50, p. 213), within three years thereafter, he may make proof of his compliance with law by residence, improvement, and cultivation for the full period required, and must show that the land has not been alienated except as provided in section 2288, Revised Statutes (sec. 2291, Rev. Stat.; Appendix No. 1, p. 136), as amended by section 3 of the act of March 3, 1891 (26 Stat. L., 1095; Appendix No. 45, p. 205).

The period of continuous residence and cultivation begins to run at the date of actual settlement, in case the entry at the district land office is made within the prescribed period (three months) thereafter or before the intervention of a valid adverse claim. If the settlement is on unsurveyed land the latter period runs from the filing of plat in the district land office. (Act May 14, 1880, 21 Stat. L., 140; Appendix No. 15, p. 156.)

CULTIVATION IN GRAZING DISTRICTS.

In grazing districts, stock raising and dairy production are so nearly akin to agricultural pursuits as to justify the issue of patent upon proof of permanent settlement and the use of the land for such purposes.

FINAL PROOF.

A settler desiring to make final proof must file with the register of the proper land office a written notice, in the prescribed form, of his intention to do so, which notice will be published by the register in a newspaper to be by him designated as nearest the land, once a week for six weeks, at the applicant's expense.

Applicants should begin to make their proofs in sufficient time to complete and file them in the local office within the statutory period of seven (or eight) years from date of entry (see pp. 14 and 34).

The final affidavits and proof may be made before the register or receiver; before any commissioner of the United States circuit court having jurisdiction over the county or parish in which the lands are situated, or before the judge or clerk (not necessarily the clerk in the absence of the judge) of any court of record of the county or parish in which the lands are situated (act May 26, 1890, 26 Stat. L., 121; Appendix No. 39, p. 196), or before any United States court commissioner appointed under the provisions of the act of March 2, 1895 (28 Stat. L., 744; Appendix No. 65, p. 221); but the proof can not be made outside of the county, unless before the register or receiver, or unless the lands are situated in an unorganized county, when the proof may be made in an adjacent county, as held in Secretary's decision of October 2, 1890, in case of Edward Bowker, 11 L. D., 361.

Proofs can only be made by the homestead claimant in person, and can not be made by an agent, attorney, assignee, or other person, except that in case of the death of the entryman proof can be made by the statutory successor to the homestead right, in the manner provided by law.

HEIRS OF A HOMESTEAD SETTLER.

Where a homestead settler dies before the consummation of his claim, the widow or, in case of her death, the heirs may continue settlement or cultivation, and obtain title upon requisite proof at the proper time. If the widow proves up, title passes to her; if she dies before proving up and the heirs make the proof, the title will vest in them. (Sec. 2291, Rev. Stat.; Appendix No. 1, p. 136.)

Where both parents die, leaving infant children, the homestead may be sold for cash for the benefit of such children, and the purchaser will receive title from the United States, or residence or cultivation may continue for the prescribed period, when the patent will issue to the children. (Sec. 2292, Rev. Stat.; Appendix No. 1, p. 136.)

A homestead right can not be devised away from a widow or minor children.

In case of the death of a person after having entered a homestead, the failure of the widow, children, or devisee of the deceased to take up residence on the land within six months after the entry, or otherwise to fulfill the demands of the letter of the law as to residence, will not necessarily subject the entry to forfeiture on the ground of abandonment. If the land is cultivated in good faith the law will be considered as having been substantially complied with. (Tauer v. The Heirs of Walter A. Manu, 4 L. D., 433.)

HOMESTEAD CLAIMANTS WHO BECOME INSANE.

The rights of a homestead claimant who has become insane may, under act of June 8, 1880, be proved up and his claim perfected by any person duly authorized to act for him during his disability. (21 Stat. L., 166; Appendix No. 18, p. 159.)

Such claim must have been initiated in full compliance with law, by a person who was a citizen or had declared his intention of becoming a citizen, and was in other respects duly qualified.

The party for whose benefit the act shall be invoked must have become insane subsequently to the initiation of his claim.

Claimant must have complied with the law up to the time of becoming insane; and proof of compliance will be required to cover only the period prior to such insanity; but the act will not be construed to cure a failure to comply with the law when the failure occurred prior to such insanity.

The final proof must be made by a party whose authority to act for the insane person during his disability shall be duly certified under seal of the proper probate court.

CONVERSION OF PREEMPTION INTO HOMESTEAD CLAIMS.

A person who has made settlement on a tract and filed his preemption declaration therefor, may change his filing into a homestead if he continues in good faith to comply with the preemption laws until the change is effected; and the time during which he has resided upon and claimed the land as a preemptor will be credited upon the period of residence and cultivation required under the homestead laws (acts of March 3, 1877, 19 Stat. L., 404, May 27 and June 14, 1878, 20 Stat. L., 63 and 113; Appendix No. 7, p. 149). In his first homestead affidavit he must set forth the fact of a previous preemption filing, the time of actual residence thereunder, and the intention to claim the benefit of such time, as provided for in the act. In making final proof on his homestead entry he is required, in addition to the usual affidavit and proof, to make the prescribed "preemption homestead affidavit" (Form 4-071, p. 244).

LEAVES OF ABSENCE.

There are three laws providing for leaves of absence in certain cases, that of March 2, 1889 (25 Stat. L., 854; Appendix No. 33, p. 170), which provides generally for cases of destruction or failure of crops, sickness, or other unavoidable casualty rendering the settler unable to support himself or persons dependent on him upon the land; that of July 1, 1879 (21 Stat. L., 48; Appendix No. 14, p. 154), providing for the special case of the devastation of grasshoppers; and that of January 19, 1895 (28 Stat. L., 634; Appendix No. 61, p. 219), providing for the relief of homestead settlers who suffered from the forest fires which prevailed in northern Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Michigan during the summer and autumn of 1894.

The third section of the first act provides for permission to be granted in certain cases by the register and receiver of the proper district land office for parties claiming public land as settlers under existing laws to leave and be absent from the land settled upon for a specified period, not to exceed one year at any one time. The applicant for such permission will be required to submit testimony to consist of his own affidavit, corroborated by the affidavits of disinterested witnesses, executed before

the register or receiver or some officer in the land district using a seal and authorized to administer oaths, setting forth in detail the facts on which he relies to support his application, and which must be sufficient to satisfy the register and receiver, who are enjoined to exercise their best and most careful judgment in the matter, that he is unable by reason of a total or partial destruction or failure of crops, sickness, or. other unavoidable casualty to secure a support for himself or those dependent upon him upon the land settled upon. In case a leave of absence is granted the register and receiver will enter such action on their records, indicating the period for which granted, and promptly report the fact to this office, transmitting the testimony on which their action is based. In case of refusal the applicant will be allowed the right of appeal on the usual conditions.

The facts to be shown embrace the following, viz:

1. The character and date of the entry, date of establishing residence upon the land, and what improvements have been made thereon by the applicant.

2. How much of the land has been cultivated by the applicant, and for what period of time.

3. In case of failure or injury to crop, what crops have failed or been injured or destroyed, to what extent, and the cause thereof.

4. In case of sickness, what disease or injury, and to what extent claimant is prevented thereby from continuing upon the land; and, if practicable, a certificate from a reliable physician should be furnished. 5. In case of "other unavoidable casualty," the character, cause, and extent of such casualty, and its effect upon the land or the claimant. 6. In each case full particulars upon which intelligent action may be based by the register and receiver.

7. The dates from which and to which leave of absence is asked. The foregoing is not to be understood as imposing restrictions upon settlers over and above what the statute contains, or to modify the conditions therein prescribed for the enjoyment of the right, but merely to indicate what facts should be set forth in the required affidavits, leaving with the registers and receivers of the several district offices the duty of making application of the law to the particular cases presented, subject, of course, to the supervisory authority of the Department.

The act of 1879, with reference to devastations of grasshoppers, has ceased to bear the importance it originally possessed, no serious grasshopper incursions having occurred of late. The following are the official instructions thereunder:

The first section of said act provides that homestead and preemption settlers on public lands where crops have been destroyed or seriously injured by grasshoppers may leave and be absent from said lands for a period not to exceed one year continuously, under such rules and regulations as the Commissioner of the General Land Office shall prescribe, being allowed afterward to resume and perfect their settlement as though no such absence had occurred. The second section provides that the time for making final proof and payment by preemptors whose crops had been destroyed or injured as aforesaid may, at the discretion of the Commissioner, be extended for one year. (21 Stat. L., 48; Appendix No. 14, p. 154.)

A settler desiring to take advantage of the provisions of this act should file with the register and receiver a written notice of intended absence, bearing his own signature, and embracing a statement that he had sustained loss or failure of his crops. This should be noted on the tract 6145-2