“ The words of the statute are direct and make it very plain that if at the expiration of two years from the date of the receiver's receipt on final entry there is 'no pending contest or protest' against the entry its validity no longer may be called in question in the Land Department-that is to say, 'the entryman shall be entitled to a patent * * * and the same shall be issued to him.' The purpose to fix his right and to command its recognition is obvious. ”

“ That purpose is to require that the right to a patent which for two years has been evidenced by a receiver's receipt, and at the end of that period stands unchallenged, shall be recognized and given effect by the issue of the patent without further waiting or delay-and thus to transfer from the land officers to the regular judicial tribunals the authority to deal with any subsequent controversy over the validity of the entry, as would be the case if the patent were issued in the absence of the statute. ”

“ At that time the land was withdrawn for forest purposes, but with the qualification that prior homestead settlers who continued in good faith to maintain their claims should be permitted to carry them to entry and patent. Newton claimed to be a prior settler and within the qualification. In due course, after publication of the regular notice, he submitted commutation proofs under the homestead law and paid the purchase price and the legal fees. The local land officers found the proofs satisfactory, permitted him to make final entry and issued thereon the usual receiver's receipt. ”