These volumes of local and temporary legislation contain also a digest of all Indian treaties affecting the titles to public lands; a list of all existing military reservations, with the authority therefor, and the boundaries thereof; and a copious citation of cases, wherein, by subject-matter, the leading decisions of the Federal and State courts and of the United States executive officers upon public land questions may be readily referred to. The entire legislation is brought up to the 1st of December, 1880. J. A. WILLIAMSON. J. W. POWELL. PREFACE. This volume was prepared by the codification committee of the Public Land Commission, which was created by an act of Congress approved March 3, 1879 (Statutes at Large, Vol. 20, p. 394), and continued by an act of Congress approved June 16, 1880 (Statutes at Large, Vol. 21, p. 245). It contains the existing legislation of Congress of a general and permanent nature concerning the disposition and survey of the public domain. The present laws have been compiled in an orderly manner, but without changing either their substance or text. Each general subject of legislation is collated in a separate chapter, but the sections are, for convenient reference, numbered consecutively throughout the volume. Under each section complete references are given to the antecedent legislation upon the same subject and out of which said section has grown. Copious citations are also made under each section of all decisions construing the same in any manner, and embracing decisions by the Federal courts, the supreme courts of the several public land States and Territories, the Department of Justice, the Secretary of the Interior, and the Commissioner of the General Land Office. All legislation of a local or temporary character has been omitted from this volume. The same appears in a second volume, wherein the entire chain of Congressional land acts is arranged chronologically for each State and Territory, and properly connected. It contains a table of authorities, wherein all judicial and executive decisions bearing upon each subject-matter are cited. WASHINGTON, December 1, 1880. J. A. WILLIAMSON, Commissioners. |
