PREFERENCE RIGHTS TO EX-SERVICE MEN Joint resolution giving to discharged soldiers, sailors, and marines a preferred right of homestead entry. (Joint resolution, February 14, 1920, Public Res. No. 29, ch. 76, 41 Stat. 434) [Sec. 1. World War veterans given preferred right of 60 days under homestead and desert-land laws.]-That hereafter, for the period of two years following the passage of this act, on the opening of public or Indian lands to entry, or the restoration to entry of public lands theretofore withdrawn from entry, such opening or restoration shall in the order therefor, provide for a period of not less than sixty days before the general opening of such lands to disposal in which officers, soldiers, sailors, or marines who have served in the Army or Navy of the United States in the war with Germany and been honorably separated or discharged therefrom or placed in the Regular Army or Naval Reserve shall have a preferred right of entry under the homestead or desert-land laws, if qualified thereunder, except as against prior existing valid settlement rights and as against preference rights conferred by existing laws or equitable claims subject to allowance and confirmation: Provided, That the rights and benefits conferred by this act shall not extend to any person who, having been drafted for service under the provisions of the selective service act, shall have refused to render such service or to wear the uniform of such service of the United States. (41 Stat. 434.) Sec. 2. [Powers of Secretary.]-That the Secretary of the Interior is hereby authorized to make any and all regulations necessary to carry into full force and effect the provisions hereof. (41 Stat. 435.) Textual note.-The substance of this act, combined with public resolutions of January 21, 1922, and December 28, 1922, mentioned in the notes below and public resolution of June 12, 1930, is codified as section 186, title 43, United States Code. NOTES Amendment. This resolution amended by resolution of January 21, 1922 (42 Stat. 358); further amended by public resolution No. 79, December 28, 1922 (42 Stat. 1067), extending its provisions to those citizens of the United States who served with the allied armies during the World War, and who were honorably discharged upon the resumption of citizenship in the United States, provided the service with the allied armies was similar to service with the Army of the United States for which recognition is granted by said resolution No. 29, as amended. (See 49 L. D. 430. See also 49 L. D. 123.) Public Resolution No. 85, June 12, 1930 (46 Stat. 580) amends the above joint resolution of February 14, 1920, as amended by joint resolution approved January 21, 1922, and as extended by joint resolution approved December 28, 1922. Effect of amendment on orders of restoration prior to January 21, 1922.Lands that had become subject to general disposition prior to January 21, 1922, will not be affected by said amendment, but where lands have been restored heretofore and the period of 63 days' preference right provided by Circular 678 (47 L. D. 346), had not expired January 21, the preference right for the officers, soldiers, sailors, and marines will be held to extend for the period of 91 days from the beginning of the period. (49 L. D. 1.) Regulations. Proof of military service required. General Land Office regulations of March 31, 1920 (47 L. D. 346), C. L. No. 936, October 2, 1920; and instructions of November 18, 1921 (48 L. D. 302), C. L. 1064, December 19, 1921. Regulations at 47 L. D. 346 amended by instructions of General Land Office dated January 24, 1922; C. L. No. 1099, March 29, 1922. See also circular letters Nos. 871 and 874. 1 February 25, 1920 OIL LEASING ACT [Extract from] An act to promote the mining of coal, phosphate, oil, oil shale, gas, and sodium on the public domain. (Act February 25, 1920, ch. 85, 41 Stat. 437) OIL AND GAS Sec. 13. [Prospecting permits-Shall not be within known producing fields-Notice of application for unsurveyed lands-Corner marks on reserved tracts-Drilling periods, etc., in Alaska.]-That the Secretary of the Interior is hereby authorized, under such necessary and proper rules and regulations as he may prescribe, to grant to any applicant qualified under this act a prospecting permit, which shall give the exclusive right, for a period not exceeding two years, to prospect for oil or gas upon not to exceed two thousand five hundred and sixty acres of land wherein such deposits belong to the United States and are not within any known geological structure of a producing oil or gas field upon condition that the permittee shall begin drilling operations within six months from the date of the permit, and shall, within one year from and after the date of permit, drill one or more wells for oil or gas to a depth of not less than five hundred feet each, unless valuable deposits of oil or gas shall be sooner discovered; and shall, within two years from date of the permit, drill for oil or gas to an aggregate depth of not less than two thousand feet, unless valuable deposits of oil or gas shall be sooner discovered. The Secretary of the Interior may, if he shall find that the permittee has been unable, with the exercise of diligence to test the land in the time granted by the permit, extend any such permit for such time, not exceeding two years, and upon such conditions as he shall prescribe. Whether the lands sought in any such application and permit are surveyed or unsurveyed the applicant shall, prior to filing his application for permit, locate such lands in a reasonably compact form and according to the legal subdivisions of the publicland surveys if the land be surveyed; and in an approximately square or rectangular tract if the land be an unsurveyed tract, the length of which shall not exceed two and one-half times its width, and if he shall cause to be erected upon the land for which a permit is sought a monument not less than four feet high, at some conspicnous place thereon, and shall post a notice in writing on or near said monument, stating that an application for permit will be made within thirty days after date of posting said notice, the name of the applicant, the date of the notice, and such a general description of the land to be covered by such permit by reference to courses and distances from such monument and such other natural objects and permanent monuments as will reasonably identify the land, stating the amount thereof in acres, he shall during the period of thirty days following such marking and posting, be entitled to a preference right over others to a permit for the land so identified. The applicant shall, within ninety days after receiving a permit, mark each of the corners of the tract described in the permit upon the ground with substantial monuments, so that the boundaries can be readily traced on the ground, and shall post in a conspicuous place upon the lands a notice that such permit has been granted and a description of the lands covered thereby: Provided, That in the Territory of Alaska prospecting permits not more than five in number may be granted to any qualified applicant for periods not exceeding four years, actual drilling operations shall begin within two years from date of permit, and oil and gas wells shall be drilled to a depth of not less than five hundred feet, unless valuable deposits of oil or gas shall be sooner discovered, within three years from date of the permit and to an aggregate depth of not less than two thousand feet, unless valuable deposits of oil or gas shall be sooner discovered, within four years from date of permit: Provided further, That in said Territory the applicant shall have a preference right over others to a permit for land identified by temporary monuments and notice posted on or near the same for six months following such marking and posting, and upon receiving a permit he shall mark the corners of the tract described in the permit upon the ground with substantial monuments within one year after receiving such permit. (41) Stat. 441.) Textual note. The above section is codified, in substance, as section 221, title 30, United States Code, the introductory word "That" being omitted; "under this act," in line 4, being changed to "under sections 181 to 194, 201, 202, 208, 211 to 214, 221, 223 to 229, 241, 251, and 261 to 263 of this title"; and the worsd "Provided, That," and "Provided further, That," at the beginning of the two provisos being omitted. NOTES Prospecting permits.-The Secretary of the Interior has discretionary authority under section 13 of this act to deny an application for an oil and gas prospecting permit embracing lands within a reclamation withdrawal, which though owned by the United States, have been dedicated to purposes authorized by law, if the permit may not be granted except at the risk of serious impairment or perhaps complete loss of their use for the purpose to which dedicated. (Martin Wolfe, 49 L. D. 625; C. L. 1258, September 20, 1923.) The word "authorized" as used in section 13 of this act is to be construed as clothing the Secretary of the Interior with discretionary authority in the granting of oil and gas permits under that section. (Idem.) An oil and gas prospecting permit will be denied under section 13 of the act of February 25, 1920, for lands dedicated to some special public purpose, such as a bird reservation, if drilling operations will jeopardize or impair the use of the land for the special purpose to which it was dedicated. (J. D. Mell et al., 50 L. D. 308; C. L. 1258, September 20, 1923; C. L. 1259, September 24, 1923.) Lands acquired by purchase or condemnation pursuant to section 7 of the reclamation act, when no longer needed for reclamation purposes, can be disposed of only at public auction, and the proceeds derived therefrom must be placed in the reclamation fund to the credit of the particular project; such lands and the oil and gas deposits therein are not subject to prospecting or lease under the act of February 25, 1920. (Idem.) See 54 I. D., 346, for revision of permit. Improvements.-Public lands withdrawn for a reservoir site, which can not be restored to the public domain without damage to the project, or which have, because of improvements placed thereon, become lands that may be sold only for the benefit of the reclamation fund, are not subject to the operation of the leasing act of February 25, 1920. (Idem.) Public lands withdrawn for a reservoir site, or other similar purpose, which contain deposits of oil or gas, may be restored and leased pursuant to the act of February 25, 1920, where their restoration can be effected without damage to the project, or unless, because of improvements placed thereon, the lands have become subject to disposition only by sale for the benefit of the reclamation fund. (Idem.) Lands subject to statute.-This section limits the right of the Secretary of the Interior to receive applications for oil and gas prospecting permits and to grant licenses thereunder to lands containing such deposits owned by the Uinted States. (Work v. Mason (1925), 6 Fed. (2d) 474, 55 App. D. C. 349.) Circular letters.-Circular letter No. 1300, May 8, 1924, refers to instructions prohibiting Department of Interior employees from acquiring oil, gas, or mining leases covering Indian land. For instructions relating to coal-prospecting permit under section 2 of this act see 49 L. D. 646. See also C. L. 1244, July 26, 1923. Miscellaneous.-See 52 L. D. 171 (Anna M. Derden), regarding assignment of oil and gas prospecting permit. Sec. 35. [Disposal of receipts-To the Treasury-To the reclamation fund-To States for roads, etc.-From naval petroleum reserves to the Treasury.]-That 10 per centum of all money received from sales, bonuses, royalties, and rentals under the provisions of this act, excepting those from Alaska, shall be paid into the Treasury of the United States and credited to miscellaneous receipts; for past production 70 per centum, and for future production 522 per centum of the amounts derived from such bonuses, royalties, and rentals shall be paid into, reserved, and appropriated as a part of the reclamation fund created by the act of Congress, known as the reclamation act, approved June 17, 1902, and for past production 20 per centum, and for future production 372 per centum of the amounts derived from such bonuses, royalties, and rentals shall be paid by the Secretary of the Treasury after the expiration of each fiscal year to the State within the boundaries of which the leased lands or deposits are or were located, said moneys to be used by such State or subdivisions thereof for the construction and maintenance of public roads or for the support of public schools or other public educational institutions, as the legislature of the State may direct: Provided, That all moneys which may accrue to the United States under the provisions of this act from lands within the naval petroleum reserves shall be deposited in the Treasury as "Miscellaneous receipts." (41 Stat. 450.) Textual note.-The substance of this section is codified as section 191, title 30, United States Code. NOTES Naval petroleum receipts.-The State of California is not entitled to any portion of moneys derived from the products of lands in naval petroleum reserves, under provisions of leasing act of February 25, 1920, the last proviso of section 35 thereof requiring that all such moneys shall be deposited in the Treasury as "Miscellaneous receipts." (1 Comp. Gen. 422.) For digest of decisions and opinions in connection with the administration of this act see 47 L. D. 463. For departmental decisions see J. D. Mell et al., 50 L. D. 312; and instruc tions of May 23, 1924, 50 L. D. 501. Circular letters.-No. 934, September 25, 1920, regulations governing production of oil and gas under oil leasing bill. No. 955, January 10, 1921, and No. 1228, June 15, 1923, reports on oil prospecting permits or leases. No. 1228, June 15, 1923, applicant prohibited from drilling upon any constructed works of Reclamation Service (Bureau of Reclamation), or upon the right of way therefor. No. 1259, September 24, 1923, additional stipulation to be incorporated in oil and gas permits. $5,000 bond required. No. 1261, October 11, 1923, oil and gas waiver by homestead entryman. Sec. 37. [Provisions applicable to all deposits-Exception as to valid existent claims-Perfection of valid claims allowed.]-That the deposits of coal, phosphate, sodium, oil, oil shale, and gas, herein referred to, in lands valuable for such minerals, including lands and deposits described in the joint resolution entitled "Joint resolution authorizing the Secretary of the Interior to permit the continuation of coal mining operations on certain lands in Wyoming," approved August 1, 1912 (Thirty-seventh Statutes at Large, page 1346), shall be subject to disposition only in the form and manner provided in this Act, except as to valid claims existent at date of the passage of this Act and thereafter maintained in compliance with the laws under which initiated, which claims may be perfected under such laws, including discovery. Textual note.-The substance of this section is codified as section 193, title 30, U. S. C. NOTE See note "Mining claims held valid" following section 7, act June 17, 1902. Act of August 21, 1935, 49 Stat. 674, amends secs. 13, 14, 17 and 28 of above act. See act of Feb. 7, 1927, 44 Stat. 1057, making applicable the general provisions of sections 1 and 26 to 38 inclusive of above act to permits and leases issued under the act of Feb. 7, 1927, and amending sections 1 and 3 of above act to include potassium. |