Page:Federal Reporter, 1st Series, Volume 8.djvu/418

 404 FBDBEAIi REPORTER. government, not only without authority of law, but in express viola- tion of law and against its positive provisions, and is consequently null and void, and passes no title whatever. It is further claimed that the timea limited by the second section of the act of 1804 for making locations and returns of survey have been, by several successive acts of congress, renewed and extended. By the act of July 7, 1838, (5 St. at Large, 262,) the time was extended to August 10, 1840. That act provides that — "Ail entries and surveys wiiich may have heretofore been made wlthin the said reservation, in satisfaction of any such warrants, on latids not previously entered or surveyed, or ou lands not prohibitad from entry and survey, shall be held good and valid, any omission h&i-etofore to extend the time for the making of such entries and surveys to the contrary notwithstanding." This act of 1838 was revived and continued in force on August 19, 1841, (5 St. at Large, 449,) untilJanuaryl, 1844; in 1846, (9 St. at Large, 41,) until January 1, 1848 ; on July 5, 1848, (9 St. at Large, 245,) until January 1, 1850; and on February 20, 1850, (9 St. at Large, 420,) until January 1, 1852. This is the last act by whieh the time was extended or authority given for making locations of Virginia military warrants on any lands within the reservation. The act of March 3, 1855, (10 St. at Large, 701,) granted a further time of two years, after the passage of that act, within which it should be lawful to make and return surveys and warrants, or certified copies of warrants, tothe general la'nd-offioe, of lands which liad,prior to Januai-y 1, 1852, been entered within the Virginia military district; but this act does not affect lands which had been both entered and surveyed prior to January 1, 1852. And the most recent enactment on the subject, the act of May 27, 1880, provides (section 2,) that "all legal surveys returned to the land-office on or before March 3, 1857, on entries made on or before January 1, 1852, and founded on unsatisfied Virginia military conti- nental warrants, are hereby declared valid." The resuit is that all lands in the Virginia military district, entered and surveyed prior to January 1, 1852, of which, however, at that date, the surveys and warrants, or copies thereof, had not been returned to the general land- office, were, and have ever since continued to be, released from all claim by virtue of such entry, surveys, and warrants ; and that any patent issued therefor, purporting to be, in pursuance of such extin- guished claim, is without authority of law, in violation of its express provisions, and null and void. Such, at least, is the nature and nec- essary extent of the claim of the complainant, and this review of the legislation on the subject on which that claim is based, has been made