All returns relative to the public lands shall be made to the Secretary of the Interior or such officer as he may designate.
(R.S. § 456; July 31, 1894, ch. 174, § 7, 28 Stat. 207; 1946 Reorg. Plan No. 3, § 403, eff. July 16, 1946, 11 F.R. 7876, 60 Stat. 1100.)