30 U.S.C. § 31 — Oath: agent or attorney in fact, beyond dis-

Page 16 TITLE 30—MINERAL LANDS AND MINING § 30 Plan No. 3 of 1946, § 403, set out in the Appendix to Title 5. See also Transfer of Functions note set out under sec- tion 1 of this title. § 30. Adverse claims; oath of claimants; req- uisites; waiver; stay of land office pro- ceedings; judicial determination of right of possession; successful claimants’ filing of judgment roll, certificate of labor, and de- scription of claim in land office, and acreage and fee payments; issuance of patents for en- tire or partial claims upon certification of land office proceedings and judgment roll; alienation of patent title Where an adverse claim is filed during the pe- riod of publication, it shall be upon oath of the person or persons making the same, and shall show the nature, boundaries, and extent of such adverse claim, and all proceedings, except the publication of notice and making and filing of the affidavit thereof, shall be stayed until the controversy shall have been settled or decided by a court of competent jurisdiction, or the ad- verse claim waived. It shall be the duty of the adverse claimant, within thirty days after filing his claim, to commence proceedings in a court of competent jurisdiction, to determine the question of the right of possession, and pros- ecute the same with reasonable diligence to final judgment; and a failure so to do shall be a waiver of his adverse claim. After such judg- ment shall have been rendered, the party enti- tled to the possession of the claim, or any por- tion thereof, may, without giving further notice, file a certified copy of the judgment roll with the register of the land office, together with the certificate of the Director of the Bureau of Land Management that the requisite amount of labor has been expended or improvements made there- on, and the description required in other cases, and shall pay to the register $5 per acre for his claim, together with the proper fees, whereupon the whole proceedings and the judgment roll shall be certified by the register to the Director of the Bureau of Land Management, and a pat- ent shall issue thereon for the claim, or such portion thereof as the applicant shall appear, from the decision of the court, to rightly pos- sess. If it appears from the decision of the court that several parties are entitled to separate and different portions of the claim, each party may pay for his portion of the claim, with the proper fees, and file the certificate and description by the Director of the Bureau of Land Management whereupon the register shall certify the pro- ceedings and judgment roll to the Director of the Bureau of Land Management, as in the pre- ceding case, and patents shall issue to the sev- eral parties according to their respective rights. Nothing herein contained shall be construed to prevent the alienation of the title conveyed by a patent for a mining claim to any person what- ever. (R.S. § 2326; Mar. 3, 1925, ch. 462, 43 Stat. 1144, 1145; 1946 Reorg. Plan No. 3, § 403, eff. July 16, 1946, 11 F.R. 7876, 60 Stat. 1100.) Editorial Notes CODIFICATION R.S. § 2326 derived from act May 10, 1872, ch. 152, § 7, 17 Stat. 93. AMENDMENTS 1925—Act Mar. 3, 1925, affected words, in third and fourth sentences of text, now reading ‘‘United States supervisor of surveys’’, and words, in third sentence of text, now reading ‘‘pay to the register $5 per acre.’’ Such words formerly read ‘‘surveyor-general’’, and ‘‘pay to the receiver five dollars per acre’’, respec- tively. Such act is treated more fully in notes under section 29 of this title. Executive Documents TRANSFER OF FUNCTIONS Director of the Bureau of Land Management sub- stituted for United States Supervisor of Surveys fol- lowing the words ‘‘certificate of the’’ in sentence begin- ning ‘‘After such judgment’’ and following the words ‘‘description by the’’ in sentence beginning ‘‘If it ap- pears’’. In the establishment of the Bureau of Land Management by Reorg. Plan No. 3 of 1946, § 403, eff. July 16, 1946, 11 F.R. 7876, 60 Stat. 1100, set out in the Appen- dix to Title 5, Government Organization and Employ- ees, the office of Supervisor of Surveys was abolished and the functions and powers were transferred to the Secretary of the Interior, to be performed by such offi- cers or agencies of the Department as might be des- ignated by the Secretary. Under that authority, the functions and powers formerly exercised by the Super- visor of Surveys were delegated to the Chief Cadastral Engineer, subject to the supervision of the Director of the Bureau of Land Management. In the general reorga- nization and realignment of functions of the Bureau, the office of the Chief Cadastral Engineer was abol- ished, and the functions of that office have been dele- gated to the Director of the Bureau of Land Manage- ment. See 43 C.F.R. § 9180.0–3(a)(1). ‘‘Director of the Bureau of Land Management’’ was substituted for ‘‘Commissioner of the General Land Of- fice’’ following the words ‘‘register to the’’ in sentence beginning ‘‘After such judgment’’ and in sentence be- ginning ‘‘If it appears’’ following the words ‘‘judgment roll to the’’ on authority of Reorg. Plan No. 3 of 1946, set § 403, set out in the Appendix to Title 5. Section 403 of Reorg. Plan No. 3 of 1946, abolished the office of the Commissioner of the General Land Office and consoli- dated the functions of the General Land Office with the Grazing Service to form the Bureau of Land Manage- ment. Office of register of district land office abolished and all functions of register transferred to Secretary of the Interior, or to officers and agencies of Department of the Interior as Secretary may designate, by Reorg. Plan No. 3 of 1946, § 403, set out in the Appendix to Title 5. § 31. Oath: agent or attorney in fact, beyond dis- trict of claim The adverse claim required by section 30 of this title may be verified by the oath of any duly authorized agent or attorney in fact of the adverse claimant cognizant of the facts stated; and the adverse claimant, if residing or at the time being beyond the limits of the district wherein the claim is situated, may make oath to the adverse claim before the clerk of any court of record of the United States or of the State or Territory where the adverse claimant may then be, or before any notary public of such State or Territory. (Apr. 26, 1882, ch. 106, § 1, 22 Stat. 49.) Page 17 TITLE 30—MINERAL LANDS AND MINING § 35 § 32. Findings by jury; costs If, in any action brought pursuant to section 30 of this title, title to the ground in con- troversy shall not be established by either party, the jury shall so find, and judgment shall be entered according to the verdict. In such case costs shall not be allowed to either party, and the claimant shall not proceed in the land office or be entitled to a patent for the ground in con- troversy until he shall have perfected his title. (Mar. 3, 1881, ch. 140, 21 Stat. 505.) § 33. Existing rights All patents for mining claims upon veins or lodes issued prior to May 10, 1872, shall convey all the rights and privileges conferred by sec- tions 21, 22 to 24, 26 to 28, 29, 30, 33 to 48, 50 to 52, 71 to 76 of this title and section 661 of title 43 where no adverse rights existed on the 10th day of May, 1872. (R.S. § 2328.) Editorial Notes REFERENCES IN TEXT Sections 21, 22 to 24, 26 to 28, 29, 30, 33 to 48, 50 to 52, 71 to 76 of this title and section 661 of title 43, referred to in text, were in the original ‘‘this chapter’’, meaning chapter 6 of title 32 of the Revised Statutes, consisting of R.S. §§ 2318 to 2352. CODIFICATION R.S. § 2328 derived from act May 10, 1872, ch. 152, § 9, 17 Stat. 94. Provision of this section respecting prosecution of ap- plications for patents for mining claims in General Land Office, pending May 10, 1872, was omitted from the Code. § 34. Description of vein claims on surveyed and unsurveyed lands; monuments on ground to govern conflicting calls The description of vein or lode claims upon surveyed lands shall designate the location of the claims with reference to the lines of the pub- lic survey, but need not conform therewith; but where patents have been or shall be issued for claims upon unsurveyed lands, the Director of the Bureau of Land Management in extending the public survey, shall adjust the same to the boundaries of said patented claims so as in no case to interfere with or change the true loca- tion of such claims as they are officially estab- lished upon the ground. Where patents have issued for mineral lands, those lands only shall be segregated and shall be deemed to be pat- ented which are bounded by the lines actually marked, defined, and established upon the ground by the monuments of the official survey upon which the patent grant is based, and the Director of the Bureau of Land Management in executing subsequent patent surveys, whether upon surveyed or unsurveyed lands, shall be gov- erned accordingly. The said monuments shall at all times constitute the highest authority as to what land is patented, and in case of any con- flict between the said monuments of such pat- ented claims and the descriptions of said claims in the patents issued therefor the monuments on the ground shall govern, and erroneous or incon- sistent descriptions or calls in the patent de- scriptions shall give way thereto. (R.S. § 2327; Apr. 28, 1904, ch. 1796, 33 Stat. 545; Mar. 3, 1925, ch. 462, 43 Stat. 1144; 1946 Reorg. Plan No. 3, § 403, eff. July 16, 1946, 11 F.R. 7876, 60 Stat. 1100.) Editorial Notes CODIFICATION R.S. § 2327 derived from act May 10, 1872, ch. 152, § 8, 17 Stat. 94. AMENDMENTS 1925—Act Mar. 3, 1925, affected words now reading ‘‘United States supervisor of surveys’’ in first and sec- ond sentences of text. These words formerly read ‘‘the surveyor-general.’’ This act abolished the office of sur- veyor general, and transferred to and consolidated with the Field Surveying Service, under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Supervisor of Surveys, the administration, equipment, etc., of such office. Executive Documents TRANSFER OF FUNCTIONS Director of the Bureau of Land Management, sub- stituted for United States Supervisor of Surveys wher- ever appearing. In the establishment of the Bureau of Land Management by Reorg. Plan No. 3 of 1946, § 403, eff. July 16, 1946, 11 F.R. 7876, 60 Stat. 1100, set out in the Appendix to Title 5, Government Organization and Employees, the office of Supervisor of Surveys was abolished and the functions and powers were trans- ferred to the Secretary of the Interior, to be performed by such officers or agencies of the Department as might be designated by the Secretary. Under that authority, the functions and powers formerly exercised by the Su- pervisor of Surveys were delegated to the Chief Cadas- tral Engineer, subject to the supervision of the Direc- tor of the Bureau of Land Management. In the general reorganization and realignment of functions of the Bu- reau, the office of the Chief Cadastral Engineer was abolished, and the functions of that office have been delegated to the Director of the Bureau of Land Man- agement. See 43 C.F.R. § 9180.0–3(a)(1). See also note set out under section 1 of this title. § 35. Placer claims; entry and proceedings for patent under provisions applicable to vein or lode claims; conforming entry to legal sub- divisions and surveys; limitation of claims; homestead entry of segregated agricultural land Claims usually called ‘‘placers,’’ including all forms of deposit, excepting veins of quartz, or other rock in place, shall be subject to entry and patent, under like circumstances and condi- tions, and upon similar proceedings, as are pro- vided for vein or lode claims; but where the lands have been previously surveyed by the United States, the entry in its exterior limits shall conform to the legal subdivisions of the public lands. And where placer claims are upon surveyed lands, and conform to legal subdivi- sions, no further survey or plat shall be re- quired, and all placer-mining claims located after the 10th day of May 1872, shall conform as near as practicable with the United States sys- tem of public-land surveys, and the rectangular subdivisions of such surveys, and no such loca- tion shall include more than twenty acres for each individual claimant; but where placer claims cannot be conformed to legal subdivi-