§ 2501.
The Secretary of the Interior, or such officer as he may designate, is authorized to decide upon principles of equity and justice, as recognized in courts of equity, and in accordance with regulations to be approved by the Secretary of the Interior, consistently with such principles, all cases of suspended entries of public lands and of suspended preemption land claims, and to adjudge in what cases patents shall issue upon the same.
(R.S. § 2450; [Feb. 27, 1877, ch. 69, § 1], [19 Stat. 244]; [Sept. 20, 1922, ch. 350], [42 Stat. 857]; 1946 Reorg. Plan No. 3, § 403, eff. July 16, 1946, 11 F.R. 7876, [60 Stat. 1100].)