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Show UNITED STATES LANDLAWS ( Copyrighted l'.rlu hy Cola W. Shepherd, Shep-herd, Colony, Wyoming) There seem s to be a widespread in in si ml i i-H t ;tinl 1 iik as to the duties ;ind responsibilities of United States Commissioners in connection with land office work. Many people refer to them as U. S. Land Commissioners, Commission-ers, This title is wrong and misleading. mislead-ing. There was such an office many years ago, but it has been abolished and now there is no such officer as t'. S. Land Commissioner. The ofn-cer ofn-cer who is authorized to take land proofs and filings is a United States Commissioner, appointed hy the Judge of the federal court, and hi is an officer of the federal court and under the Department of Justice, not the Interior Department, or Land Department De-partment as it is called in the west. A United States Commissioner is primarily a court commissioner, appointed ap-pointed to transact court business, hut congress has provided that people peo-ple who wish to make out land papers pa-pers may go before a United States Commissioner and swear to such papers pa-pers instead of going before the register reg-ister or receiver of the district lan office. This is merely a convenience to the public, for otherwise every en-tryman en-tryman would have to go, and usually usual-ly take two witnesses, before the register and receiver whenever he had any land papers to make out. A United States Commissioner is land office. He is not an agent for the land office and does not pass on any papers he executes. In taking final proofs he must see that the proceedings pro-ceedings are regular and that the answers t othe questions bring out all the pertinent facts; also that the witnesses are examined separately, and are each duly sworn, and he must transmit final proof testimony to the land office, although he does not have to collect and transmit the fees in connection with final proofs unless he wishes 'to. In executing the entries and other papers he is not in any way responsible respon-sible for the correctness of the papers pa-pers he executes, but merely for the fact that they were duly subscribed and sworn to before him, as set forth in his certificate. He may, if he chooses, and the entryman desires him to. prepare any and all papers, and may charge any reasonable fee for so doing, but when he is preparing prepar-ing papers, other than final proof testimony, he is acting as agent for the entryman, and not in any official capacity. A United States Commissioner's place in land office work is similar to a notary public's work in connection connec-tion with conveyancing. If one takes a deed to a notary public for acknowledgement, ac-knowledgement, the notary does not need to know whetehr the person who makes the teed owns the land or not. whether there are priar mortgages mort-gages or not, or whetehr the deed Is properly drawn. The notary merely satisfies himself that the person who signs the deed is the one who appears ap-pears before horn and acknowledges it. and that is as far as his respons.-bility respons.-bility goes. If the purchaser finds that the property was mortgaged he cannot hold the notary responsible. So it is with United States Commissioner. Commis-sioner. He cannot be expected to represent the Government in any sense, and as an official of the Unite.t States Court hi; is not responsible for the preparation of land papers any more than he is for carpenter work or any other services which he may perform for th public. He is not paid any salary and Is not, furnished with any maps, plots, records, blank forms, or other supplies. sup-plies. He must buy all blank forms he uses, and if he wants copies of land office plots he must make them himself, or hire somebody else to make the. the same as any other Individual. In-dividual. The land office doesnot furnish fur-nish him with records of filings made in his neighborhood, or recognize him in any way. The Postoflfice Department De-partment does not carry his mail freen when It contains land business, as that is not cosldered part of his official business. All the compensation he gets is the fees he charges. In some cases United Unit-ed States Commissioners have spent much time and money in preparing themselves to handle land office work for their clients, and they render valuable services to entrymen, for which services they are permitted to charge any reasonable fee, and they shohld be entitled to compensatio In proportion to the services rendered. render-ed. " I |