_Pre-emption._—Any person being the head of a family, or widow, or single man over 21 years of age, and a citizen of the United States, or a person who has filed his declaration to become such, by settling upon and improving any of the “offered,” “unoffered,” or unsurveyed lands of the United States, may obtain a pre-emption right to purchase 160 acres so occupied, at the regular government price, whether it be $1.25 or $2.50 per acre. Where the tract is “offered” land, the settler must file with the District Land Office his statement as to the fact of settlement, within thirty days thereafter, and within one year must make proof to the Land Office, of his actual residence and cultivation, and secure the land by payment in cash or Land Warrant. Where the land has been surveyed and not offered at public sale, the statement must be filed within three months after settlement, and payment made within 21 months. Where settlement is made upon unsurveyed lands, the settler is required to file a statement within three months after the survey, and pay within eighteen months thereafter. No person is entitled to more than one pre-emption right. _The Homestead Privilege._—The Homestead laws give to every citizen the right to a Homestead of 160 acres minimum, or eighty acres double minimum. To obtain Homestead, applicant must swear that he is the head of a family, or over the age of twenty-one, a citizen, or has declared his intention to become such; and that the entry is for his exclusive use and benefit, and for actual settlement and cultivation. When an applicant has made actual settlement upon the land he desires, he must make affidavit of the fact before the Land Register, and pay fees amounting, on 160 acres of minimum land, to $18, or an equal sum for eighty acres of double minimum, for which he gets a receipt; and after five years’ occupation and cultivation of the land, he is entitled upon proof of such cultivation to a patent or full title to the Homestead. Any loyal person in the naval or military service of the United States, may acquire a Homestead by reason of his family occupying land and making the application in his stead. All officers, soldiers, and sailors who have served in the army or navy for ninety days and remained loyal, may enter 160 instead of 80 acres of double minimum lands. The fees above for entering Homestead apply to surveyed lands in Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, Missouri, Minnesota, Kansas, Nebraska, Dakota, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Florida, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. In California, Nevada, Oregon, Colorado, New Mexico, Washington Territory, Arizona, Idaho, Utah, Wyoming, and Montana, the fees are $22 instead of $18. A settler having filed a pre-emption declaration, may change his filing into Homestead, and receive the benefit of the Homestead laws. If a Homestead settler does not wish to remain five years on his land before obtaining title, he may pay for it in cash or Land Warrants. Lands