R. S. 2929-2930 [Repealing Clause.] SEC. 5. That all laws or parts of laws inconsistent, contrary to, or in conflict with the present act, be and the same are hereby repealed, and that this act take effect from and after its passage. Where there are two conflicting patents outstanding, the Register may cancer the last entry, but he is without authority to decide between a purchaser of land from the State and the State itself. State vs. Buck, 46 An. 656. PROVISION FOR THE SALE AND LOCATION OF ONE MILLION ACRES OF SWAMP AND OVERFLOWED LANDS. [Register Authorized to Sell-Minimum Price.] 2929. Land warrants for one million acres of the swamp and overflowed lands, authorized to be issued and sold by the first section of the act entitled "An Act to provide for the sale of one million acres of the swamp and overflowed lands," approved March 15, 1855, so far as they have already been issued, shall be located on the swamp or overflowed lands donated by acts of Congress of second March, 1849, and twenty-eighth September, 1850; the warrants to be issued for not more than six hundred and forty, nor less than forty acres, according to the laws regulating the surveys and legal subdivisions of sections adopted by the United States. Any shallow lakes which have become the property of the State, and are susceptible of being reclaimed wholly or in part, and not navigable, the area of which has been ascertained by survey recognized by the State, may also be sold under the provisions of this section. No lands shall be sold for less than one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre (Act 247, 1855, 306). MeDade et al. vs. Bossier Levee District, 109 La. 625. [Maps to be obtained and Preserved.] 2930. The Register of the State land office shall preserve plats or maps of all the swamp lands donated to Louisiana, certified to by the Surveyor General, and shall mark thereon, on each tract of land purchased, the number of the certificate issued therefor, and shall keep a well bound book in his office, in which shall be entered, in proper form, all the lands thus sold, to whom sold, and for what price, which book and map. shall be carefully preserved, and shall be deemed official records. R. S. 2931-Act 12, 1881 [List of Sale to be Made Annually.] 2931. It shall be the duty of the Register to furnish annually to the Auditor of Public Accounts, on or before the first day of October, a descriptive list of all lands sold by them during the preceding year. [False Certificate of Entry, Penalty.] 2932. The issuing of any false or fraudulent certificate of entry or for purchase of land, shall be deemed a felony, and upon conviction thereof, the party so offending shall be sentenced to pay a fine of five thousand dollars, and be impris oned for a term not exceeding ten, nor less than two years. [Proceeds of Swamp Land, How Applied.] 2933. The net proceeds of the sales from swamp and overflowed lands shall be held by the State as a special fund, to be applied to such leveeing and draining as may be necessary for the reclamation of the swamp and overflowed lands, in conformity with the terms of donation. Act 12, 1884, p. 19. AN ACT to transfer a certain balance in the State Treasury, now credited to the Levee and Drainage Fund, to the General Engin eer Fund, for levee purposes. SECTION 1. That the amount of one hundred and ninety-one thousand dollars ($191,000), now in the State Treasury to the credit of the Levee and Drainage Fund, be and the same is hereby directed to be transferred to the credit of the General Engineer Fund, for levee purposes, and the same shall be made use of according to existing laws, solely for the purpose of expenses incurred during the years 1883 and 1884. SEC. 2. That the State Treasurer be directed to transfer all moneys arising from the future sales of swamp lands to the General Engineer Fund, for levee purposes, except so much thereof as may be necessary for the payment of the salary of the Register of the State Land Office, all expenses of said office, and such appropriations as may be made therefor; provided, that twenty per cent. of all amounts arising out of future sales of swamp lands shall be set apart for the sub-levee districts of Caddo, Red River, DeSoto, Natchitoches, Bossier, Grant, Rapides, Ouachita, West Carroll, Morehouse, Catahoula, Richland and Franklin. SEC. 3. That all laws or parts of laws in conflict with this act, be and the same are hereby repealed. R. S. 2934-2939 [Preference to be Given Certain Purchasers.] 2934. All persons who have heretofore entered or located, or may hereafter enter or locate school warrants or internal improvement warrants on the lands donated to this State by the United States, shall have a preference right to purchase the lands from the State at the minimum price of one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre, whenever the entries or locations made under the warrants shall have been rejected by the Secretary of the Interior, on the ground that the lands so entered, purchased or located, have inured to the State under the acts of Congress donating the swamp lands to this State, approved March 2, 1849, and September 25, 1850; but the above preference right shall not affect the right that pre-emptors or other persons may have already acquired. PRE-EMPTION RIGHTS. 2935, 2936. Extension of time granted certain settlers. Notice to be given by Register; advertisement he shall make. Superseded by Act 75, 1880, printed at p. 1347. SALE OF INTERNAL IMPROVEMENT AND SCHOOL LANDS. [Price of Lands Per Acre.] 2937. The price of the internal improvement land which has been located and the location of which has been approved, shall be one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre, and the price of land warrants to locate upon the remaining portion of the land granted by act of Congress, and which has not been located by the State, shall be one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre (Act 316, 1855, p. 401). [Patents to Purchasers.] 2938. It shall be the duty of the Governor of the State to issue patents to purchasers on the payment of the purchase money, in case of pre-emption or private entry of lands already located; and on the approval of the location, in case of purchase of a land warrant. [Maison Rouge Grant-Rights of Pre-emptors.] 2939. If the location of the Maison Rouge grant, made under special instructions from Governor Mouton, bearing date R. S. 2940-2941 eighteen hundred and forty-five, shall hereafter be perfected, and the title of the same be declared to vest in the State, each and every individual entitled by the laws of the United States to a right of pre-emption thereon, shall be entitled to the same pre-emption right under the laws of the United States; and when any individual shall prove to the satisfaction of the State Register or Receiver, that he is entitled to a pre-emption right under the laws of the United States on the location aforesaid, it shall be the duty of the State Receiver to allow such individual to purchase the same at the rate of one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre. [Price of Maison Rouge Lands.] 2940. Any individual having at the date of such location, a farm in cultivation on the Maison Rouge grant, shall be entitled to a right of pre-emption on one hundred and sixty acres, embracing his settlement, at one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre, and shall have the further privilege of purchasing the remainder of the tracts, as purchased from D. W. Cox, at the minimum price of the State lands; and on sufficient proof being made to the Register of the State land office, entitling any person to purchase under this section, he shall allow the same to be made as contemplated therein. This section shall not affect the right of any pre-emption allowed by the preceding section, and to prevent conflict between individuals on account of the lot lines by which the sales were made to them by D. W. Cox, on the United States land surveys, the purchases from the State, in such case, shall be made jointly by them according to the United States surveys, and afterwards the lands shall be divided between them according to the lot lines by each paying, pro rata, for the amount of land received. [Bastrop Grants-Rights of Pre-emptors.] 2941. The same privilege guaranteed to the claimants under the Maison Rouge grant shall be extended to claimants under the grant to Baron de Bastrop. No person shall have the benefit of this act claiming the right of pre-emption who is settled on lands claimed by other persons under Spanish grants until the lands are declared by law to belong to the United States or to the State of Louisiana. R. S. 2942-2944 [Settlers on Sixteenth Sections.] 2942. Settlers on the sixteenth section, who settled prior to the extension of the public surveys over the township with the Maison Rouge and Bastrop grants shall be entitled to pay for their improvement made before the survey, as hereinafter provided (Act 235, 1855, 277). [Value of Improvements, How Ascertained.] 2943. When the sale of the sixteenth section is legally ordered, and it shall appear to the satisfaction of the parish treasurer that any person or persons had settled and improved the same or any part thereof, prior to the extension of the survey over the same, it shall be his duty to appoint one appraiser, the settler, or his agent, shall have the right of appointing another; the two of selecting a third; and the three, after being sworn, shall assess the improvements put upon said lands, and the value of the use of said lands during the time shall be also assessed and deducted from the value of the improvements, and the settler shall be entitled to receive the value of his improvements so appraised out of the proceeds of the sale, from the first payment or payments thereon; provided, that in all cases the assent of the majority of the legal voters within the township shall be given to the provisions of this act, to be taken at the same time that the rates are taken for the sale of the land. [Settlement of Price by Purchaser.] 2944. When the cash payment is not sufficient to pay for the improvements as above provided, then the parish treasurer shall cause the purchaser to execute his note for the balance due in favor of the settler, his or her heirs or assigns, with personal security, to the satisfaction of the person entitled to receive the money, which shall be deducted from the amount of the first installments due on account of the purchase; provided, the State shall not realize less than one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre for any land sold under this act. A' sale of "Sixteenth Sections" by the parish treasurer, without an election held in accordance with the acts of Congress donating the sixteenth sections, is a nullity, and does not give a title to the purchaser. Telle vs. St. Tammany School Board, 44 An. 365. So also is a sale a nullity when it is made, without appraisement, for less than $1.25 per acre. Id. The title is vested in the resident taxpayers of the township, and they may sue to annul the illegal contract. Nor need |