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226

PUBLIC LANDS IN IRRIGATION DISTRICTS

Sec. 8. [Disposal of receipts.]—All moneys derived by the United States from the sale of public lands herein referred to shall be paid into such funds and applied as provided by law for the disposal of the proceeds from the sale of public lands. (39 Stat. 509; 43 U.S.C. § 630)

EXPLANATORY NOTES

Popular Name. This Act is popularly known as the Smith Act, being so named for Congressman Addison T. Smith of Idaho.

Transfer of Functions. References in the text to "Receiver" and "Register" should be interpreted as referring to the Secretary of the Interior or an officer designated by him. The Acts of October 28, 1921, 42 Stat. 208, and March 3, 1925, 43 Stat. 1145, consolidated the offices of "Receiver" and "Register" in district land offices, and au

thorized the President to appoint "Registers" of such offices. Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1946, 60 Stat. 1100, abolished all Registers of the District Land Offices, their functions to be performed by the Secretary of the Interior or, subject to his direction and control, by such officers and agencies of the Department of the Interior as he may designate.

Legislative History. H.R. 12365, Public Law 196 in the 64th Congress. H.Ř. Rept. No. 458. S. Rept. No. 578.

227

ENTRY RIGHTS FOR SETTLERS, YUMA PROJECT

An act for the relief of certain settlers under reclamation projects. (Act of August 17, 1916, ch. 349, 39 Stat. 516)

[Certain settlers under Yuma project allowed to make farm-unit entry, credited with previous residence and improvements.]—Repealed.

EXPLANATORY NOTES

Statute Repealed. The Act of December 16, 1930, 46 Stat. 1028, repealed this statute and other "obsolete sections and parts of sections of the Revised Statutes and Statutes at Large." Section 2 of the repealing act provides that: "Rights or liabilities existing under the foregoing statutes or parts thereof on the date of the enactment of this Act shall not be affected thereby." Before repeal, the statute read as follows: "Any person who has heretofore established residence upon and improved any tract of land within the irrigable area of the Yuma reclamation project in Arizona withdrawn from entry under the provisions of the

reclamation law and acts supplementary thereto and amendatory thereof, and who shall have made valuable improvements upon such lands, and who has resided thereon in good faith for two years prior to the passage of this act, may make entry for the farm unit upon which his residence is established, and that such residence and improvements heretofore made shall be credited upon his final proof." (39 Stat. 516)

Legislative History. H.R. 10116, Public Law 212 in the 64th Congress. H.R. Rept. No. 654. S. Rept. No. 581.

228

SALE OF LANDS, TOWN SITE OF NEWELL

An act authorizing the Secretary of the Interior to sell the unsold and unappropriated portions of lands within the town site of Newell, S. Dak., and for other purposes. (Act of September 8, 1916, ch. 477, 39 Stat. 852)

[Sec. 1. Certain town-site lands in Newell, S. Dak., reserved for Belle Fourche project-Remaining lands to be appraised and sold.]-The Secretary of the Interior is hereby authorized and directed to reserve and set apart such portions of the unsold and unappropriated lands within the town site of Newell, Butte County, South Dakota, as he deems necessary for administrative purposes in connection with the Belle Fourche irrigation project, and after subdividing the remaining portions of such lands into tracts that in his judgment would render the same most salable, and, appraising the reasonable value of each such tracts, sell the same, for not less than the appraised value, at public auction to the highest bidder, on such terms and under such rules and regulations as he may establish. (39 Stat. 852)

Sec. 2. [$15,000 of proceeds to be special domestic water-supply fund for Newell Balance to reclamation fund.]-Of the proceeds of such sales, after deducting all expenses incurred in the subdivision, appraisement, and sale of said lands, an amount not exceeding $15,000 shall be covered into the Treasury of the United States in a special fund available only for expenditure by the Secretary of the Interior to provide or assist in providing the said town of Newell, Butte County, South Dakota, an adequate system of water supply for domestic purposes, under such terms and conditions as may be provided by the Secretary of the Interior, or for such other and further public improvements as the Secretary of the Interior and the municipal authorities of said town may agree upon. The net proceeds of such sale in excess of $15,000, if any there be, shall be covered into the Treasury of the United States and credited to the reclamation fund in accordance with existing law for the sale of town sites on reclamation projects. (39 Stat. 852)

Sec. 3. [Authority to make rules and regulations.]-The Secretary of the Interior is hereby authorized to make such rules and regulations as may be necessary for carrying into effect the provisions of this act. (39 Stat. 853)

EXPLANATORY NOTES

Not Codified. This Act is not codified in the U.S. Code.

Legislative History. H.R. 12889, Public Law 285 in the 64th Congress. H. R. Rept. No. 657. S. Rept. No. 771.

229

YUMA AUXILIARY PROJECT

An act to provide for an auxiliary reclamation project in connection with the Yuma project, Arizona. (Act of January 25, 1917, ch. 20, 39 Stat. 868)

[Sec. 1. Certain lands to be set apart and sold-Sale of water rights— Limitation as to works and water delivery-Determination of value and costs by Secretary of the Interior.]—The Secretary of the Interior is hereby authorized to set apart any lands in the State of Arizona heretofore or hereafter withdrawn under the reclamation law, in connection with the Yuma reclamation project, as an auxiliary reclamation project or unit, and sell, in tracts of such size as he may determine of not more than one hundred and sixty acres to any one purchaser, the lands so set apart and believed to be susceptible of irrigation, at public sale under suitable regulations, for not less than the reasonable value per acre of the land plus the estimated cost per acre of reclamation works to be constructed for the reclamation of said lands, so set apart plus the proportionate cost per acre of the works previously constructed and available therefor. That appurtenant water rights for lands in private ownership may be sold for not to exceed one hundred and sixty acres to any one person at a price equal to the estimated cost per acre of the works to be constructed plus the proportionate cost per acre of the works previously constructed and available for the lands, if any there be, payment to be made under the same terms as for public land under the provisions of section two. Final water-right certificate shall not be issued to such private land until payment has been made in full. No works shall be constructed nor water delivered through any of the works of the Yuma project for the irrigation of any such private lands unless application has been made to purchase a water right for such land under the terms and provisions of this section. The Secretary of the Interior, at or prior to the time of sale, shall fix and determine (a) the reasonable value of the land per acre; (b) the estimated cost per acre of the works to be constructed; and (c) the proportionate cost per acre of the works previously constructed and available for the lands offered for sale. (39 Stat. 868)

EXPLANATORY NOTES

Cross References, Project Boundaries Modified. (1) The Act of June 13, 1949, 63 Stat. 172, severed certain lands from the Yuma auxiliary project and legally described the project's boundaries. (2) The boundaries described by the 1949 Act were modified by the Act of February 15, 1956, 70 Stat. 16, to exclude therefrom some two hundred eighty-five and thirteen one-hundredths irrigable acres, more or less, which are legally described in the Act. Both the 1949 and the 1956 Acts appear herein in chronological order.

Cross Reference, Appropriation and Repayment. Public Resolution No. 51 of February 21, 1925, 43 Stat. 962, authorized an appropriation out of the reclamation fund for operation and maintenance and completion of construction of the irrigation system of the first Mesa unit, Yuma auxiliary project, and also provided for the repayment into the fund of the amount appropriated. The 1925 Act appears herein in chronological order.

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Sec. 2. [Requirements of bidders-Methods of sale-Terms of purchase— Issue of patents-Preference rights-Return of actual cost of irrigation works required.]—All bidders at such public sale shall be required to make a deposit of ten per centum of the amount bid for the tract proposed to be purchased, and upon notice from the Secretary of the Interior that such bid has been accepted shall be required to pay fifteen per centum additional within sixty days after such notice. In case of failure to do so the deposit shall be forfeited and the corresponding lands shall be available for further sale. In case the bids for the lands shall not aggregate a sufficient amount within six months from the time fixed for the filing of bids to meet the probable cost as announced, all deposits shall be returned. The remaining seventy-five per centum of the purchase price shall be paid in three annual installments, with interest at six per centum per annum on deferred payments until paid, running from the date of notice to pay the additional fifteen per centum, but advance payments may be received at any time. Upon full payment of the purchase price patent shall issue for the lands, and no qualification or limitation shall be required of any purchaser or patentee except that he be a citizen of the United States. Such patent shall also contain a grant of a water right appurtenant to the land: Provided, That any person who has made an entry which is now valid and subsisting, or who has a preference right to make entry, for any irrigable land embraced within the limits of the auxiliary project, may purchase said land at the price of $2.50 per acre and shall be subject to the same payments for the irrigation works as is required of persons holding private lands under the provisions of section one hereof: Provided further, That the purchasers or owners of the land to be irrigated under said auxiliary reclamation project shall also agree to pay to the United States the total actual cost of the works of said auxiliary reclamation project in the event that the actual cost of said works shall exceed the estimated cost thereof. (39 Stat. 869)

1. Qualifications of purchasers

NOTE OF OPINION

Under this act no qualification or limitation shall be required of any purchaser or patentee of public land except that he be a citizen of the United States. A corporation cannot become a purchaser of public land at the sale. A purchaser is not required to live on or in the neighborhood of the land purchased. One who now holds lands under a Federal irrigation project is not barred from becoming a purchaser. Departmental regulations, October 3, 1919.

Section 2 of this act, which imposes the qualification of citizenship upon “any purchaser or patentee" of lands within the Yuma Auxiliary project, Arizona, did not contemplate the restriction of the right of original entry or purchase to native born or to those who had theretofore become citizens, but the conditions of the statute as to citizenship are sufficiently met if, at the time of the issuance of patent, the patentee is a citizen of the United States. Departmental instructions, 48 L. D. 235 (1921).

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