in Dade, Monroe, and Collier Counties and for the improvement thereof. SEC. 4. The place of the central offices of the commission shall be fixed by said commissioners. SEC. 5. The said commission is authorized and empowered to acquire title in the name of the State of Florida to any lands that the Interior Department may designate, in Dade, Monroe, and Collier Counties, as an area for a national park. SEC. 6. The Secretary of the Interior is hereby authorized, in his discretion, to accept, on behalf of the United States, title to the lands, referred to in this act, in Dade, Monroe, and Collier Counties. SEC. 7. That the administration, protection, and development of the aforesaid park lands shall be exercised under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior by the National Park Service, subject to the provisions of the act by the Federal Government of August 25, 1916, entitled "An act to establish a National Park Service and for other purposes," as amended: Provided, That the provisions of the act approved June 10, 1920, known as the Federal water power act, shall not apply to this park: And provided further, That the minimum area to be administered and protected by the National Park Service shall be at least five-sixths of the area indicated by the National Park Service for said national park: Provided further, That no general development of this area shall be undertaken until a major portion of said area shall have been accepted by said Secretary of the Interior. SEC. 8. The commission hereby appointed, as an agency of the State of Florida, is vested with the power of eminent domain to acquire in the name and in behalf of the State of Florida, and to condemn, for park purposes, land and other property, including dwelling houses, outbuildings, yards, and gardens within the area to be designated by the Department of the Interior as hereinbefore set out. The power of eminent domain hereby conferred shall be exercised under and in pursuance of the provision of article 6, chapter 11, title 3, second division, Revised General Statutes of Florida, and it shall in no case be necessary to allege or prove that an effort has been made to agree with the owner upon a fair and reasonable price for the acquisition of any property sought to be acquired; that every judgment rendered in such proceedings shall bind the land and bar all persons claiming title thereto or interest therein; quiet the title thereto; and shall be forever binding and conclusive upon and against all persons. It shall not be an exception to such conclusiveness that the person is an infant, lunatic, or is under disability, and every other person shall have recourse against the award paid into court for any loss he may suffer by reason of being so concluded. SEC. 9. Title or control of any land or any interest therein within the area as later designated by the Department of the Interior may be acquired by said commission by purchase, gift, bequest, or any other lawful means for the transfer of title; and said commission is further authorized to acquire land and other property by purchase, gift, bequest, or otherwise. SEC. 10. The commission is vested with the power to contract, give, grant, convey, and transfer to the United States of America SR-72-1-VOL 1-6 for national park purposes all right, title, and interest which it in the name of the State of Florida may hereafter acquire in lands or other property within the area hereinbefore mentioned. Any conveyances under said contract shall be executed by and in the name of the State of Florida, by the governor thereof, attested by the secretary of state, and sealed with the great seal thereof; and no other warrant or authority shall be required for the recordation of any such instrument. SEC. 11. The said commission is authorized and empowered to designate some person or persons as attorney for it, and in its name to appear, prosecute, or defend any actions or proceedings in which the State or said commission may be a party under the provisions hereof. SEC. 12. The United States of America is authorized to acquire by conveyance made pursuant to this act, the lands hereinabove mentioned, and for the purposes set out in an act of Congress, but this consent is given upon condition that the State of Florida shall retain a concurrent jurisdiction with the United States in and over such lands so far that civil process in all cases and such criminal process as may issue under the authority of the State of Florida against any person charged with the commission of any crime, without or within said jurisdiction, may be executed thereon in like manner as if this consent had not been given. Power is hereby conferred on the Congress of the United States to pass such laws as it may deem necessary for the acquisition of the said lands for incorporation in such national park, and to pass such laws and make or provide for the making of such rules or regulations of both civil and criminal nature, and to provide punishment therefor as in its judgment may be necessary for the management, control, and protection of such lands as may be acquired by the United States under the provisions of this act. SEC. 13. After the Secretary of the Interior shall have designated an area for a national park in Dade, Monroe, and Collier Counties, in the State of Florida, it shall be lawful for said commission to institute, in the name of the State, condemnation proceedings, under article 6, chapter 11, second division, Revised General Statutes of Florida, for the acquisition of said lands, if not otherwise acquired. SEC. 14. No part of the funds derived from gifts, donations, subscriptions, or allotment, other than current expenses of the commission, shall be expended until it shall have been made to appear to said commission; (a) That the Secretary of the Interior has, in pursuance to an act of Congress, designated the area to be acquired within Dade, Monroe, and Collier Counties, for general development for national park purposes. (b) That adequate financial provision has been made by or on behalf of the said commission for the purchase of said designated area. SEC. 15. All laws conflicting herewith are hereby repealed. SEC. 16. This act shall take effect at the time the Secretary of the Interior is authorized to accept the area heretofore described for national park purposes. Approved May 25, A. D. 1929. 72D CONGRESS 1st Session } SENATE { REPORT AUTHORIZING SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR TO ISSUE PATENTS FOR LANDS HELD UNDER COLOR OF TITLE JANUARY 7, 1932.-Ordered to be printed Mr. BRATTON, from the Committee on Public Lands and Surveys, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany S. 1588] The Committee on Public Lands and Surveys, to whom was referred the bill S. 1588, having considered the same, report favorably thereon with recommendation that it pass. An identical bill (S. 4308) was reported favorably by this committee and passed by the Senate in the Seventy-first Congress. The bill, as introduced, is substantially identical with the act approved June 8, 1926. It authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to issue a patent or patents to a tract or tracts of public land in the State of New Mexico, not exceeding in the aggregate 160 acres, in cases where such land has been held in good faith and in peaceful, adverse possession by a citizen of the United States, his ancestors or grantors, for more than 20 years under claim or color of title, upon which valuable improvements have been placed and/or some part thereof has been reduced to cultivation, such patent or patents to issue upon payment of $1.25 per acre. The bill reserves all minerals to the United States. Upon the enactment of the act approved June 8, 1926, many holders of small claims in New Mexico, under color of title, proceeded to submit proof in quest of patent. Some completed their proofs and secured patents. Others were in process of so doing, when the general act approved December 22, 1928, became a law. The Secretary of the Interior held that such general law repealed, by implication, the special act applicable to New Mexico, and thus declined to issue further patents at the price of $1.25 per acre, but exacted payment of the appraised value of the land as provided in the general act. This created a distinction among claimants occupying identical positions, each having all the elements of equity possessed by the others. It is the view of the committee that a holder of a small claim in New Mexico, not exceeding 160 acres, which has been held |