CHAP. 35.-An Act To change and fix the time for holding the district and circuit courts of the United States for the northern division of the eastern district of Tennessee. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the terms of the circuit and district courts of the United States for the northern division of the eastern district of Tennessee, held at Knoxville, Tennessee, shall commence on the first Mondays in March and September of each year, instead of the second Mondays in January and July, as is now provided by law; and each of said terms shall continue as long as the presiding judge may deem necessary. Pending causes. SEC. 2. That no action, suit, proceeding, information, indictment, recognizance, bail bond, or other process in either of said courts shall abate or be rendered invalid by reason of the change of time in the holding of the terms of said courts, but the same shall be deemed to be returnable to, pending, and triable at the terms herein provided for. SEC. 3. That this Act take effect from and after its passage, the pub- Repeal, etc. lic welfare requiring it; and that all laws and parts of laws conflicting with this Act be, and are hereby, repealed. Approved, February 27, 1896. CHAP. 36.—An Act Authorizing and directing the Secretary of the Navy to donate one condemned cannon and four pyramids of condemned cannon balls to W. H. Wallace Post, Numbered Sixty-six, Grand Army of the Republic, of Eldorado, Kansas, and for other purposes. February 27, 1896. Donated to Grand Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Secretary of the Navy Condemned cannon. be, and he is hereby, authorized and directed to donate one condemned Army Post, Eldorado, cannon and four pyramids of condemned cannon balls to W. H.Wallace Kans. Post, Numbered Sixty-six, Grand Army of the Republic, of Eldorado, Kansas, for the soldiers' monument to be erected in said town: Provided, That in the judgment of the Secretary of the Navy, such articles can be spared without detriment to the public interest: And provided further, Expenses. That the United States shall not be subjected to any expense on account of such donation. Approved, February 27, 1896. Provisos. CHAP. 37.-An Act To amend section fifty-two hundred and ninety-four of the Revised Statutes of the United States relative to the power of the Secretary of the Treasury to remit or mitigate fines, penalties, and forfeitures, and for other purposes. etc. March 2, 1896. Remission of fines, R. S., sec. 5294, p. etc., on vessels ex Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That section fifty-two hundred and ninety-four of the Revised Statutes of the United States, approved December fifteenth, eighteen hundred and ninety-four, be, and the 1098, amended, same is hereby, amended so as to read as follows: "SEC. 5294. The Secretary of the Treasury may, upon application Remission of fines, therefor, remit or mitigate any fine, penalty, or forfeiture provided for tended to forfeitures. in laws relating to vessels or discontinue any prosecution to recover penalties or relating to forfeitures denounced in such laws, excepting the penalty of imprisonment or of removal from office, upon such terms as he, in his discretion, shall think proper; and all rights granted to informers by such laws shall be held subject to the Secretary's powers of remission, except in cases where the claims of any informer to the share of any penalty shall have been determined by a court of competent jurisdiction prior to the application for the remission of the penalty or forfeiture; and the Secretary shall have authority to ascertain the facts upon all such applications in such manner and under such regulations as he may deem proper." Approved, March 2, 1896. March 2, 1896. Fort Smith and West pany granted right of way, Indian Territory ern Coal Railroad Com Location. Bridge. Width. Stations, etc. Provisos. Limit for stations. Damages. Referees. Oath, etc. CHAP. 38.—An Act To grant the Fort Smith and Western Coal Railroad Company a right of way through the Indian Territory, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Fort Smith and Western Coal Railroad Company, a corporation created under and by virtue of the laws of the State of Arkansas, be, and the same is hereby, vested and empowered with the right of locating, constructing, equipping, operating, using, and maintaining a railway, telegraph, and telephone line through the Indian Territory, beginning at a point to be selected by said company on the Western boundary line of the State of Arkansas, at or near the city of Fort Smith, Sebastian County, and running thence by the most practicable route through that part of the Indian Territory occupied by and known as the Choctaw Nation, in a southwesterly direction through the counties of Scullyville, Sans Bois, Gaines, and Tobucksy, to a point on the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railway, in said Choctaw Nation, between McAlester and South Canadian, with a switch from a point on said line to form a connection with the Saint Louis and San Francisco Railway at a point on that railroad, to be located between Cedars Station and the Backbone Tunnel. And with the right to build in the line of said railroad, a bridge across the Poteau River, whose plan of construction shall be first approved by the Secretary of War. SEC. 2. That a right of way of one hundred feet in width through said Indian Territory is hereby granted to the said Fort Smith and Western Coal Railroad Company, and a strip of land one hundred feet in width with a length of two thousand feet in addition to the right of way is granted for such stations as may be established, but no such grant shall be allowed but once in every ten miles of the road, no portion of which shall be sold or leased by the company, with the right to use such additional grants where there are heavy cuts or fills as may be necessary for the construction and maintenance of the roadbed, not exceeding fifty feet in width on each side of the right of way, or as much thereof as may be included in said cut or fill: Provided, That no more than such addition of land shall be taken for any one station: Provided further, That no part of the lands herein granted shall be used except in such manner and for such purposes only as shall be necessary for the construction and convenient operation of said railway, telegraph, and telephone lines, and when any portion thereof shall cease to be used such portion shall revert to the said Choctaw Nation. SEC. 3. That before said railway shall be constructed through any lands held by individual occupants according to laws, customs, or usages of the Choctaw Nation through which it may be constructed, full compensation shall be made to such occupant for all property to be taken or damage done by reason of the construction of said railway. In case of failure to make amicable settlement with any occupant, such compensation shall be determined by the appraisement of three disinterested referees, to be appointed by the President of the United States, who, before entering upon the duties of their appointment, shall také and subscribe before competent authority an oath that they will faithfully and impartially discharge the duties of their appointment, which oath, duly certified, shall be returned with their award. In case the referees can not agree, then any two of them are authorized to make the award. Either party being dissatisfied with the finding of the referees shall have the right, within ninety days after the making of the award and notice of the same, to appeal by original petition to the United States district court for the central district of the Indian Territory, sitting at the place nearest and most convenient to the property sought On depositing double to be condemned, where the case shall, be tried de novo. When proceedaward work may be gin. ings have been commenced in court the railway shall pay double the amount of the award into court to abide the judgment thereof, and then have the right to enter upon the property sought to be condemned, and proceed with the construction of the railway. Each of said referees shall receive for his services the sum of four dollars per day for each Appeal. Expenses. day they are engaged in the trial of any case submitted to them under this Act. Witnesses shall receive the usual fees allowed by the courts of said Choctaw Nation. Costs, including compensation of the referees, shall be made a part of the award and be paid by said railway company. Provisos. SEC. 4. That said railway company shall not charge the inhabitants Freight charges. of said Territory a greater rate of freight than the rate authorized by the laws of the State of Arkansas for services or transportation of the same kind: Provided, That the passenger rates on said railway shall not exceed three cents a mile. Congress hereby reserves the right to regulate the charges for freight and passengers on said railway and messages on said telegraph and telephone lines until a State government shall exist in said Territory, within the limits of which said railway or part thereof shall be located, then such State government shall be authorized to fix and regulate the cost of transportation of persons and freight within their respective limits by said railway. Congress expressly reserves the right to fix and regulate at all times, Interstate transpor the cost of all transportation by said railway whenever such transpor tation shall extend into more than one State: Provided, however, That the rate of such transportation of passengers, local or interstate, shall not exceed those above expressed: And provided further, That said railway company shall carry the mail at such price as Congress may by law provide, and until such rate is fixed by law the PostmasterGeneral may fix the rate of compensation. tation. Maximum rates. Mails. Additional pay to Choctaw Nation. Annual rental. Provisos. Appeal by general SEC. 5. That said railway company shall pay to the Secretary of the Interior, for the benefit of the Choctaw Nation, through whose lands said railway may be located, the sum of fifty dollars, in addition to the compensation provided for by this Act, for property taken or damaged by the construction of the railway for each mile of railway that it may construct in said Territory, said payment to be made in installments of five hundred dollars as each ten miles of road is graded. Said company shall also pay, as long as said Territory is owned and occupied by the Indians in common, to the Secretary of the Interior the sum of fifteen dollars per annum for each mile of railway it may construct in said Territory. The money paid to the Secretary of the Interior under the provisions of this Act shall be paid over to the Choctaw Nation: Provided, That Congress shall have the right, so long as their lands are occupied or possessed by the citizens of the Choctaw Nation in common, to impose such additional taxes upon said railway as it may deem just and proper for their benefit: Provided further, That if the general council. council of the Choctaw Nation shall, within two mouths after the filing of maps of definite location, as set forth in section six of this Act, dissent from the allowances provided for in this section, and shall certify the same to the Secretary of the Interior, then all compensation to be paid to said Choctaw Nation under the provisions provided in this Act shall be determined as provided in section three for the determination of the compensation to be paid to the individual occupants of the land, with the right to appeal to the courts upon the same terms, conditions, and requirements as therein provided: Provided further, That the amount awarded or adjudged to be paid by said railway company to said Choctaw Nation shall be in lieu of the compensation the said nation will be entitled to receive under the provisions of this section. Nothing in this Act shall be construed to prohibit Congress from imposing taxes upon said railway, or any Territory or State hereafter formed through which said railway shall have been established, from exercising the same power as to such part of said railway as may lie within its limits. Said railway company shall have the right to survey and locate its railway immediately after the passage of this Act: Provided, howerer, That if said right of way shall pass over or through any land allotted to an Indian in accordance with any law or treaty, it shall be the duty of the Secretary of the Interior to provide for obtaining the consent of said allottee or allottees to said right of way, and to fix the amount of compensation to be paid said allottees for the right of way Award to be in lieu of additional pay. Taxation. Survey, etc. Consent of allottees. Vol. 26. p. 1096. to which proof is to be presented or before an officer designated by the Act of May twenty-sixth, eighteen hundred and ninety, within the county in which the land is situated; but such claimant may have his or her personal evidence taken by a United States court commissioner or a clerk of any court of record under such rules and regulations as the Secretary of the Interior may prescribe. Approved, March 4, 1896. March 4, 1896. Indian Territory. Right of way to Gainesville, McAles- Time extended. Smith, Ark. Right of way. CHAP. 41.-An Act To amend an Act entitled "An Act to grant to the Gainesville, McAlester and Saint Louis Railroad Company a right of way through the Indian Territory." Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the provisions of section. nine of the Act entitled "An Act to grant to the Gainesville, McAlester and Saint Louis Railroad Company a right of way through the Indian Territory," approved March first, eighteen hundred and ninety-three, be, and the same hereby are, extended for a further period of three years. SEC. 2. That section one of said Act be so amended as to make the city of Fort Smith the terminus of said road on the western border of the State of Arkansas. SEC. 3. That section two of said Act be amended to read as follows: "SEC. 3. That a right of way of one hundred feet in width through Width reduced, etc. said Indian Territory is hereby granted to the Gainesville, McAlester and Saint Louis Railway Company and a strip of land one hundred feet in width, with a length of two thousand feet in addition to the right of way is granted for such stations as may be established, but such grant shall be allowed but once for every ten miles of the road, no portion of which shall be sold or leased by the company, with the right to use such additional grounds where there are heavy cuts or fills as may be necessary for the construction and maintenance of the roadbed, not exceeding fifty feet in width on each side of said right of way, or as much thereof as may be included in said cut or fill: Provided, That no more than said addition of land shall be taken for any one station: Provided further, That no part of the lands herein granted shall be used except in such manner and for such purposes only as shall be necessary for the construction and convenient operation of said railroad, telegraph, and telephone line, and when any portion thereof shall cease to be so used such portion shall revert to the nation or tribe of Indians from which the same shall have been taken." Provisos. Secretary of Interior to approve route, etc. Vol. 27, p. 526. SEC. 4. That section six of said Act be amended by striking out all after the word "Provided," and inserting the following: "That a map of definite location showing the entire route of said road through the Indian Territory shall be filed and approved by the Secretary of the Interior before any part of the said road shall be constructed." Approved, March 4, 1896. March 6, 1896. Reservation, Wash. CHAP. 42.—An Act Granting to the Columbia and Red Mountain Railway Company a right of way through the Colville Indian Reservation, in the State of Washington, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United Columbia and Red States of America in Congress assembled, That there be, and is hereby, Mountain Railway Company granted granted to the Columbia and Red Mountain Railway Company, a corright of way Colville poration organized under the laws of the State of Washington, a right of way to the extent of one hundred feet on each side of the center line of said railway across the Colville Indian Reservation, in the State of Washington, commencing at a point at or near the Little Dalles on the Columbia River, in Stevens County, in said State, and running thence in a northerly direction by the most feasible route to the international boundary line between the United States and British Columbia, together Location, etc. Proviso. eight of chapter five hundred and sixty-one of the acts of the second session of the Fifty-first Congress and amendments thereto is extended accordingly as to the patents herein referred to. But no patent to any Bona fide purchasers. lands held by a bona fide purchaser shall be vacated or annulled, but the right and title of such purchaser is hereby confirmed: Provided, That no suit shall be brought or maintained, nor shall recovery be had withdrawn. for lands or the value thereof, that were certified or patented in lieu of other lands covered by a grant which were lost or relinquished by the grantee in consequence of the failure of the Government or its officers to withdraw the same from sale or entry. purchasers. Decree of court. SEC. 2. That if any person claiming to be a bona fide purchaser of Claim of bona fide any lands erroneously patented or certified shall present his claim to the Secretary of the Interior prior to the institution of a suit to cancel a patent or certification, and if it shall appear that he is a bona fide purchaser, the Secretary of the Interior shall request that suit be brought in such case against the patentee, or the corporation, company, person, or association of persons for whose benefit the certification was made, for the value of said land, which in no case shall be more than the minimum Government price thereof, and the title of such claimant shall stand confirmed. An adverse decision by the Secretary of the Interior on the bona fides of such claimant shall not be conclusive of his rights, and if such claimant, or one claiming to be a bona fide purchaser, but who has not submitted his claim to the Secretary of the Interior, is made a party to such suit, and if found by the court to be a bona fide purchaser, the court shall decree a confirmation of the title, and shall render a decree in behalf of the United States against the patentee, corporation, company, person, or association of persons for whose benefit the certification was made for the value of the land as herein before provided. Any bona fide purchaser of lands patented or certified to a railroad company, and who is not made a pa ty to such suit, and who has not submitted his claim to the Secretary of the Inte rior, may establish his right as such bona fide purchaser in any United States court having jurisdiction of the subject-matter, or at his option, as prescribed in sections three and four of chapter three hundred and Vol. 24, p. 557 seventy-six of the Acts of the second session of the Forty-ninth Congress. SEC. 3. That if at any time prior to the institution of suit by the Attorney-General to cancel any patent or certification of lands erroneously patented or certified a claim or statement is presented to the Secretary of the Interior by or on behalf of any person or persons, corporation or corporations, claiming that such person or persons, corporation or corporations, is a bona fide purchaser or are bona fide purchasers of any patented or certified land by deed or contract, or otherwise, from or through the original patentee or corporation to which patent or certification was issued, no suit or action shall be brought to cancel or annul the patent or certification for said land until such claim is investigated in said Department of the Interior; and if it shall appear that such person or corporation is a bona fide purchaser as aforesaid, or that such persons or corporations are such bona fide purchasers, then no such suit shall be instituted and the title of such claimant or claimants shall stand confirmed; but the Secretary of the Interior shall request that suit be brought in such case against the patentee, or the corporation, company, person, or association of persons for whose benefit the patent was issued or certification was made for the value of the land as herein before specified. Approved, March 2, 1896. CHAP. 40.—An Act Relating to final proof in timber-culture entries. Establishing rights of parties. Claims of purchas ers to be investigated before entering suit to cancel patent. March 4, 1896. Public lands. Presenting of final proofs, timber-culture Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That timber-culture claimants shall not be required, in making final proof, to appear at the land office claims. |