Oakley v. Stuart

Citations

• 52 Cal. 521

Syllabus

<p>Construction of Land Laws.—Courts should not depart from a construction of legislative acts relating to the public lands of the State, by those immediately charged with their administration, if it accords with the natural meaning of the acts construed, unless it has proved to he productive of confusion or promotive of litigation, or otherwise in conflict with the-policy of the law.</p> <p>Cases Distinguished.—The present case is clearly distinguishable from that of Booker v. Johnson, 49 Cal. 3, in which none of the applications were made intermediate the survey in the field and the filing of the official plat in the-United States Land Office.</p> <p>Survey in the Field—What Is ?—As determined by the practice of the Land' Departments of the United States and of the State, lands are surveyed when, the lines are run in the field and monuments or marks established by the proper surveyor.</p> <p>State Lands—Mode of Sale Prescribed by the Legislature. —The State may dispose of the land it owns in the present or in expectancy, and a resident may apply to purchase the same in such manner as the Legislature may deem proper—the applicant’s right to the land being contingent on its acceptance as a part of a grant to the State.</p> <p>State Lands—Application to Purchase —Certificate.—At anytime after an authorized survey in the field of land included in a Federal grant to the State, an application in due form by a person competent to make it, to purchase such land, may he made and filed in the State Land Office; but the-issuance of a certificate of purchase to the applicant will be subject to the acceptance of the land applied for by the Register of the United States Land Office as a part of such grant.</p> <p>Rights of Applicants—When in Abeyance — How Determined.—Application to purchase land of the State and acceptance of the location by the Register of the United States Land Office are not contemporaneous acts; and the rights of applicants wall remain in abeyance until th