OCR Text |
Show ments at the time of the segregation of the reservation under the propision of the act of July 1. 1902 (32 Stats.. 641)? (2) what e~d e n e eis necesasryto establish the claim of "lot holders" in order to entitle them to payment for the lots under said provision? (3) How ahali the Liactualv alue at the time of such appraisement" be ascertained by the appraiser, and what evidence should be required by him of the lot holder in order to establish the actual value of the town lot? In an opinion of May 19, 1904, approved by the Secretary on the same day, it was held: The descrintive nhrase "town lots" a ~ ~ l iteo ap arcels of land either suweyed and A A - - platted as a part of a town, or parcels of land settled upon and uaed for those purposes distinctly incident to urban life. A tract or parcel of ground not suweyed or platted as lots, Lnd occupied for farm or agr icu~tural~nr~oseian ~nios s ense to b e considered as a town lot. It is not porrible togive a direct and rxplicit answer to the second qorsrion askd. The evidence IIeVQ2P;Iryt o e~txL11i~thhe rlaim oi aJot 1)oldt.rw ill vary will) the rir-cumstances of the different cases. If one holds under a written instrument, that should he produced as the best evidence of his claim. If he holds by reason of occu-pancy, the fact of such occupancy should he clearly established hy the proof, and he should be required to show suoh occupancy or such use and control of the lot as would give the public notice of his claim. If he holds under the n q e s and customs prevailing, proof should be required of those usagea and customs, and of the claim-ant's compliance with all thinga required to be done by him. In short, he should be required to establish his claim to the astiefaction of the officer charged with the duty of aooraisine these lots. 1i is liiekise impMlsible to give explicit answer to the third question. A just and equitable conclusion as to the actual value of any lot must, neceaaarily, rest largely in the wise discretion and sound judgment of the officer making 'the appr48ement. The direction is "to appraise, at their actual value at the time of such appraiss-ment, all town lots held by citizens of the United States." The word "held" must be given some such meaningas occupied, poasemed, or contiolled. It implies some-thing more than a mere naked claim not involving the element of personal connee tion with the land, and yet something less than ownership, because there was no suoh thing as actual individual ownerehip of these lands. The character and value of the claim or title asserted is clearly not the intended memre of appraisal. The claim of these lot holders, based on occupancy; was one which might, if the land had been included in a town site, have ripened into a preference right of purchase upon the terms prescribed by law. The value of such a claim would probably be much less than the "actual vslue" of the lot which is to be ascertained. The provision is "to appraise at their actual value * * * all town lots held by htizena of the United States," not "to appraise at its actual value the claim of every citizen of the United States holding a. town lot." To recognise one deprived of only a possessory or occu-pancy claim, which might or might not have ripened into something better, as entitled to pay for the tull value of the lot may seem holly unwarranted, but that WM a matter for Coneress to determine. The laurnwe of the law is not ambignous or uncertain. The tiinga to he appraised are townlo&, and the standard of appraiml is "their actual value." The only ground upon which to baaeadoubt is to be found in the apparent inconsistency of paying one for something he really never owned. Imnrovementsupon these lots are to be appraised and paid for under another pro-vision of the law, and are therefore not to betaken into consideration iu appraising the lots, which are to be ap.p. r aised as if improved. II lots in rhia town hare bwu the ruhjccf of pttrchase and mle, the raluea govern-ing in thoee tran~sctioneo ught to afiord some criterion for the appraisement now to |