146-38. Pending entries.

All entries which have been filed with entry-takers within one year prior to June 2, 1959, or filed more than one year prior to June 2, 1959, but still pending due to the filing of protest to the entry, shall be processed pursuant to the provisions of Chapter 146 of the General Statutes as it read immediately prior to June 2, 1959. Every such entry shall be paid for within one year from the date of entry, unless a protest be filed to the entry, in which event it shall be paid for within one year after final judgment on the protest; and all entries not thus paid for shall become null and void, and shall not be subject to renewal. It shall be the duty of both the enterer and protestant to conclude, within 12 months from June 2, 1959, all actions wherein a protest has been filed, and such cases shall be given preference on the dockets of the courts of the State. Any action not so concluded shall be deemed a lapse as to enterer and protestant. It is not the intent of this proviso to void any previous grant of the State of North Carolina, or to divest any vested right, but to terminate all rights accrued on account of an entry wherein no grant has been made. Provided that the resident judge of the superior court or the judge holding the superior courts of the district where the land lies, may, for good cause shown, extend the time within which an action in which a protest has been filed is required by this section to be concluded; but no single extension shall exceed one year in duration. A copy of this section shall be mailed by the Secretary of State to all parties to actions wherein protests have been filed as may be determined by records available in his office, and to all clerks of the superior court of the State.