BULLETIN

No. 7. J

WAR DEPARTMENT, WASHINGTON, March 8, 1920.

Joint resolution of Congress-Preferred right of homestead entry to discharged soldiers, etc.

Act of Congress-Amendment of the Army appropriation act approved July 11, 1919; purchase of land and construction work at certain military posts-----

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I__Joint resolution of Congress-Preferred right of homestead entry to discharged soldiers, etc.-The following joint resolution of Congress is published to the Army for the information and guidance of all concerned:

Joint resolution giving to discharged soldiers, sailors, and marines a preferred right of homestead entry.

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That hereafter, for the period of two years following the passage of this Act, on the opening of public or Indian lands to entry, or the restoration to entry of public lands theretofore withdrawn from entry, such opening or restoration shall, in the order therefor, provide for a period of not less than sixty days before the general opening of such lands to disposal in which officers, soldiers, sailors, or marines who have served in the Army or Navy of the United States in the war with Germany and been honorably separated or discharged therefrom or placed in the Regular Army or Naval Reserve shall have a preferred right of entry under the homestead or desert land laws, if qualified thereunder, except as against prior existing valid settlement rights and as against preference rights conferred by existing laws or equitable claims subject to allowance and confirmation: Provided, That the rights and benefits conferred by this Act shall not extend to any person who, having been drafted for service under the provisions of the Selective Service Act, shall have refused to render such service or to wear the uniform of such service of the United States.

SEC. 2. That the Secretary of the Interior is hereby authorized to make any and all regulations necessary to carry into full force and effect the provisions hereof.

Approved, February 14, 1920.

[009, A. G. O.]

II__Act of Congress-Amendment of the Army Appropriation Act approved July 11, 1919; purchase of land and construction work at certain military posts.-The following act of Congress

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is published to the Army for the information and guidance of all concerned:

AN ACT To amend the Army Appropriation Act for 1920, and for the purchase of land and to provide for construction work at certain military posts, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the paragraph under the subheading "United States Service Schools" under the heading "General Staff Corps" of the Act entitled "An Act making appropriations for the support of the Army for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1920, and for other purposes," approved July 11, 1919, be, and the same is hereby amended by substituting the words "the Infantry School, Camp Benning, Georgia," for the words "the Infantry School of Arms at Fort Sill, Oklahoma," and the "Infantry School of Arms, Fort Sill, Oklahoma," where the same appear therein.

SEC. 2. That the third paragraph under the heading "Reserve Corps" and subheading "Ordnance Supplies for Military Equipment of Schools and Colleges" of the Act entitled "An Act making appropriations for the support of the Army for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1920, and for other purposes," approved July 11, 1919, be, and the same is hereby, amended to read as follows:

"That no part of any of the appropriations made herein nor any of the unexpended balances of appropriations heretofore made for the support and maintenance of the Army or the Military Establishment shall be expended for the purchase of real estate or for the construction of Army camps or cantonments, except in such cases at National Army or National Guard camps or cantonments which were in use prior to November 11, 1918, where it has been or may be found more economical to the Government, for the purpose of salvaging such camps or cantonments, to buy real estate than to continue to pay rentals or claims for damages thereon, and except where industrial plants have been constructed or taken over by the Government for war purposes, and the purchase of land is necessary in order to protect the interest of the Government: Provided, That there may be expended for the purposes hereinafter specified, from the unexpended balances of appropriations heretofore made for the support and maintenance of the Army or the Military Establishment which are available for such purposes, and, when any such balances are exhausted, from the appropriations made for such purposes under this Act, the several sums as follows:

INFANTRY.

"To complete the Infantry school at Camp Benning, Georgia: For the purchase of real estate, $515,252; for the construction and completion of buildings and the sixty centimeter engineer railroad, now in process of construction, $320,000; total for

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Infantry school, $835,250: Provided, That no part of the unexpended balances of appropriations heretofore made for the support of the Army shall be expended for construction at Camp Gordon, Georgia, and the Secretary of War is hereby directed to sell the real estate and buildings of said camp to the best advantage of the Government, the proceeds of such sale to be covered into the Treasury to the credit of miscellaneous receipts: Provided further, That said sale shall not be made prior to June 30, 1921.

66 MOTOR TRANSPORT CORPS.

"To complete motor transport schools as follows:

"At Camp Holabird, Maryland: For the purchase of real estate, $140,000.

"At Camp Normoyle, Texas: For the construction and completion of main shops, $30,000; for the purchase of real estate, $2,500; for the construction and erection of steel storage buildings, $161,000; in all, $193,500.

"For the purchase of real estate at Camp Eustis, Virginia, $42,198.23.

66 FIELD ARTILLERY.

"To complete Field Artillery training centers:

"At Camp Knox, Kentucky: For the purchase of real estate, $811,338: Provided, That no land shall be purchased west of the Illinois Central Railroad tracks and north of the Tip Top-Grayhampton Road; for general construction work, $50,000; for completion of the Dixie Highway, $100,000; for plumbing, heating, and refrigeration, $25,000; total for Camp Knox, $986,338: Provided, That no part of the unexpended balances of appropriations heretofore made for the support of the Army shall be expended for construction at Camp Taylor, Kentucky, and the Secretary of War is hereby directed to sell the real estate and buildings of said camp to the best advantage of the Government, whenever conditions are such that Camp Knox is prepared to take over the Field Artillery School now being conducted at Camp Taylor, Kentucky, and in no event later than June 30, 1921, the proceeds of such sale to be covered into the Treasury to the credit of miscellaneous receipts.

"At Camp Bragg, North Carolina: For the purchase of real estate, $1,128,000; for construction as follows: For hospital, painting, and carpentry, $5,000; for glazing one hangar, $1,000; for siding on the administration building, $1,500; for gravel roads in reservation, $10,000; for gravel road to Fayetteville, North Carolina, $25,000; for incidental work and miscellaneous, $2,500; total for Camp Bragg, $1,173,000: Provided, That no part of the unexpended balances of appropriations heretofore made for the support of the Army shall be expended for construction

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