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Opinion of the Court-Norcross, J.

posed of in the following manner: "We therefore come at once to a consideration of that question, and, of course, in doing so assume, for argument's sake, that the section of the Revised Statutes relied upon and the rules and regulations of the land department did not prohibit a deputy mineral surveyor from making a location of mineral land." (Lavagnino v. Uhlig, 198 U. S. 452, 25 Sup. Ct. 716, 49 L. Ed. 1119.)

While the decisions of the land department, on matters of law, are not binding upon the courts, they should not be overruled except when they are clearly erroneous. (Hastings & Co. v. Whitney, 132 U. S. 357, 366, 10 Sup. Ct. 112 33 L. Ed. 363.) In order to arrive at a correct solution of the questions, it will be advantageous to review the several decisions of the land department bearing directly upon the point in controversy; but, before doing so, it will be well to give a brief review of how the section in question came to be incorporated, in its present form, in the Revised Statutes.

The General Land Office was first established April 25, 1812, by act of Congress entitled: "An act for the establishment of a General Land Office in the Department of the Treasury." (2 Stat. 716.) Section 10 of this act provided as follows: "No person appointed to an office instituted by this act, or employed in any such office, shall directly or indirectly be concerned in the purchase of any right, title, or interest, in any public land, either in his own right, or in trust for any other person, or in the name or right of any other person in trust for himself, nor shall take or receive any fee or emolument for negotiating or transacting the business of the office. Any person offending in the premises against the prohibitions of this act shall forfeit and pay one hundred dollars; and upon conviction, shall be removed from office."

Congress on July 4, 1836, passed "An act to reorganize the General Land Office." (5 Stat. 107.) This act provided for quite a large number of officers, clerks, and employees, and fixed their salaries. Section 14 of this act provided that "all and every of the officers whose salaries are herein before provided for, are hereby prohibited from directly or indirectly purchasing, or in any way becoming interested in the pur

Opinion of the Court-Norcross, J.

chase of any of the public land; and in case of a violation of this section by such officer, and on proof thereof being made to the President of the United States, such officer so offending shall be forthwith removed from office." We think it quite clear that both the act of April 25, 1812, and that of July 4, 1836, related solely to the General Land Office; i. e., the governmental bureau in Washington charged with the administration of the public lands, and the officers and employees in that bureau. By the act of July 4, 1836, which remained in force until the adoption of the Revised Statutes, it is clear, we think, that the prohibitory provisions of section 14 did not apply to any persons other than the officers whose salaries were provided for in that act. Had the language of section 14 been incorporated into the Revised Statutes, without change of verbiage, it is difficult to conceive of its receiving the interpretation given by some of the land decisions to the provisions of section 452 of the Revised Statutes, no matter what that department may have thought of the wisdom of such construction.

The act of June 27, 1866, "An act to provide for the revision and consolidation of the statute laws of the United States" (14 Stat. 74), did not authorize the commission to change the manifest.meaning of a statute. The statute provided that "the commission shall bring together all statutes and parts of statutes which, from similarity of subject, ought to be brought together, omitting redundant or obsolete enactments, and making such alterations as may be necessary to reconcile the contradictions, supply the omissions, and amend the imperfections of the original text."

In the case of Logan v. United States, 144 U. S. 302, 12 Sup. Ct. 617, 36 L. Ed. 429, it was held that it is not to be inferred that Congress, in revising the statutes, intended to change their effect, unless an intention to do so is clearly expressed. To the same effect, see the cases of United States v. Ryder, 110 U. S. 739, 4 Sup. Ct. 196, 28 L. Ed. 308; Mc Donald v. Hovey, 110 U. S. 629, 4 Sup. Ct. 142, 28 L. Ed. 239; Stewart v. Kahn, 11 Wall. (U. S.) 502, 20 L. Ed. 176; Murdock v. City of Memphis, 20 Wall. (U. S.) 617, 22 L. Ed. 429; Smyth v. Fiske, 23 Wall. (U. S.) 382, 23 L. Ed. 47.

Opinion of the Court-Norcross, J.

It has also been held by the same court upon numerous occasions that in construing Revised Statutes, where a doubt arises, it is admissible to recur to its connection in the act of which it was originally a part. (Doyle v. Wisconsin, 94 U. S. 51, 24 L. Ed. 64; United States v. Hirsch, 100 U. S. 35, 25 L. Ed. 539; United States v. Bowen, 100 U. S. 513, 25 L. Ed. 631; Meyer v. Car Co., 102 U. S. 11, 26 L. Ed. 59; Bate Refrigerating Co. v. Sulzberger, 157 U. S. 39, 15 Sup. Ct. 508, 39 L. Ed. 601.)

The same court has also held that reference to the original statutes cannot be had to control Revised Statutes when the meaning thereof is plain. (United States v. Bowen, supra; Arthur v. Dodge, 101 U. S. 36, 25 L. Ed. 948; Vietor v. Arthur, 104 U. S. 499, 26 L. Ed. 633; Deffeback v. Hawke, 115 U. S. 402, 6 Sup. Ct. 95, 29 L. Ed. 423.)

Can it be said that it is plain from the provisions of section 452 of the Revised Statutes that the provisions thereof were intended to apply not only to the officers, clerks, and employees in the General Land Office at Washington, but also to apply to the officers, clerks, and employees of the offices of the various United States surveyors-general in the various states and territories? And, if it cannot be so said, will such a construction be aided by a reference to section 14 of the act of 1836, supra? We think it quite clear that, if it is a proper case for recurrence to the latter act to construe the section in question, so broad an interpretation cannot be made.

The land office has rendered a number of decisions construing the provisions of section 452, supra, some of which have direct reference to its application to deputy mineral surveyors appointed under the provisions of Rev. Stats., 2334, supra.

In the case of Grandy v. Bedell, 2 Land Dec. Dep: Int. 314 (1883), Mr. Secretary Teller, quoting section 452, Rev. Stats., says (page 315): "It will be observed that the section quoted, and this is the only statutory provision bearing on the subject, does not extend to clerks in the district offices, but by its terms is confined to those employed in the General Land Office. Your office has, however, by rule, extended

Opinion of the Court-Norcross, J.

the operation of this statute so as to include clerks in the local offices; and this department held in the case of State of Nebraska v. Dorrington, 2 Copp, Land Laws, 1882, p. 647, the defendant being at the time of making his timber culture entry a clerk in a local land office, that such fact was sufficient ground for the cancelation of the entry." The claimant, Bedell, was a receiver's clerk in the local land office at date of making the timber culture entry in contest, but at date of initiation of contest by Grandy he had resigned his position. The secretary therefore held: "Taking these facts into consideration, and the further one that he was not by express provision of law incompetent to make the entry, I am of the opinion that it should be permitted to stand." The instructions issued by Commissioner McFarland on August 28, 1883, and reported in 2 Land Dec. Dep. Int. 313, indicate that in the opinion of the land department there was no statutory inhibition against entries of public land by land department employees outside of those in the General Land Office. The instructions referred to are as follows: "Gentlemen, I am in receipt of the receiver's letter of July 7, 1883, in which the following question is submitted to this office: Is it admissible for a register or receiver or special agent or clerk to make a timber culture entry in a district other than the one in which he is located? I reply that I think such entry, excepting as to special agents, is admissible. The officer or clerk making such entry should state in his affidavit the particular position he holds, that the entry may be intelligently dealt with."

Subsequently, in 1890, the land department appears to have modified views above expressed, holding in the case of Herbert McMicken, 10 Land Dec. Dep. Int. 97, and 11 Land Dec. Dep. Int. 96, that a clerk or employee in the office of a United States surveyor-general was clerk or employee in the General Land Office, and hence fell within the inhibition of section 452, Rev. Stats.

Under the decision in McMicken's case, supra, a general circular was issued by the land department, dated September 15, 1890, and reported in 11 Land Dec. Dep. Int. 348, stating that: "In accordance with said decision, all officers,

Opinion of the Court-Norcross, J.

clerks, and employees in the offices of the surveyors-general, the local land offices, and the General Land Offices, or any persons, wherever located employed under the supervision of the Commissioner of the General Land Office, are, during such employment, prohibited from entering, or becoming interested, directly or indirectly, in any of the public lands of the United States."

The above rule has since been generally adhered to by the department, although in the case of Winans v. Beidler, 15 Land Dec. Dep. Int. 266, decided in 1892, the land department appears to have again modified its views as to the construction of section 452, Rev. Stats.. holding that Winans, who was employed as a copyist in the General Land Office at Washington, could perfect a homestead entry made shortly before his appointment to such position.

The first reported case in which the land department passed upon the right of a deputy mineral surveyor to make entry of lands is Denison v. Willits, 11 Copp, Land Owner, 261 (1884), in which Commissioner McFarland said: "There seems to be no valid objection as to the right of a deputy surveyor to make a mineral entry, in which case he cannot act in any other capacity than that of claimant."

The next case in which the question arose was that of Lock Lode, 6 Land Dec. Dep. Int. 105, wherein the secretary said: "But one question is in this case, viz., the right of a deputy mineral surveyor to make a mineral entry in the district for which he is appointed." He then quotes section 2319, Rev. Stats., declaring all mineral deposits on public lands to be open to exploration and purchase, and adds: "Section 2325 of the United States Revised Statutes provides that any one authorized to locate a mineral claim may procure a patent for the same upon compliance with certain requirements and conditions therein specified. Deputy surveyors are appointed by the surveyor-general of each surveying district, under and by virtue of the authority conferred in section 2334 of United States Revised Statutes. Under this section, the surveyors general of the several districts appoint as many competent deputy surveyors for mining claims as may apply to them for such appointment, and give bond in the sum of $10,000

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