Interior Department

The reporl of the seeretary of the interior exhibits tua sitoation of the nuraerons and in teresting branches of tlie public service 1:011nected with thib ilepartment. Í oommend tuii riport and the vamabla recommemiations of the secretary to tne eareful attentiou of the cou-iress. Thirty-ttve thousand patents were Usued for igricultural lanls and l(Xi patents ere issued o Indians on aüotl meuts of their holdings in everalty, tne land so allotted benjf inalienable by the Indian allottees for a period ■f t.enty-flve years after patent. Thei'e were certifled and patented on account f railroftd and wagon-road grants uunug ihe vear 866,860.46 acres ol' land and at the close of he year2,OiK,liuo acres were embraced in the ist8 of selection made by railroad and wagonoad compauies and awaited settlement The election of swamp lands and that taken as in deuinity therefor since the passage of tha act provichng for t e same in 184Sïam.int tonearly quite 8O,5tKJ.U00 acres, of which 59,00(,0üU have been patente 1 to siates. About 13S,(XXI acres were patented during tlie last year. Nearly 830,000 acres of school and education grantó wereapproved during the year, a,d at its closs l,S50f3w.81 aerea reiuained uuadiusied. li ..r. cl i. ni ot Public i.ainU. lt appears that the appropriation for the eur rent year on account of spooial service for the proteciiou of public lands and the tiinber thereouismuch less than those for previous years and inadequate for a efficiënt, performance of the work. A larger suin of monev than has been appropriated duriug a nuubr of years past ou tnis account has been returne 1 to the goverument as a result of the labora 01 these employcd in the particular service mentioned and 1 hope it will nut be crlppled bv insafflcient appr pnation. I fully en lorse th'o remmumdi Vm of the secreta y thatade uato prute. tion bc; pmvided (or 'oor 'orest reserves and tlial a compre hei,sive forestry system be ioiangurateU. Boch kueir.s ana superintendente as are aecuuary to protect the foresta airead; reservad should be provlded. 1 am of the opinión thar there shouid be an aoandonmyrit ot the policy ■anctioned by tue present laws which the government tor a verv sniall consi.ieration is lapidly losing ütle to immense tráote of land coveren with tinlber which should be properly leserred as permanent soureee of tiinlcr snpply. Thu snggëstion that a chance be made in the of secnring surveys of the public lands is espeoially woi-tliy of eonsidei ation. I am sat t-ned that these Bnrveys should be made bv a corps of competent s.irveyors nnder the immediate control and direction of the commissioner of the general land office An excoedinidy important re ornmeudatlon of the setTetary reiates to the marnier iu which contests and liiigated cases growing out of efforts to O"tain government land are determined. The ontire testlmonv upon which thes." controversiea depend in all their stages is taken belore tile local registers and receivers id yet these offlcers have 110 power to subpcenee witnesses or to enforce their attendaiico to testify. These cases, numbering threa or four thousand annually. are sent tjy the loca' üfficeiB to the oommissioner of the general land ofnce for his act on. The ezigencles of is other dnties oblige him to act nron the decisions of the register and receivers without sa r: u ■ ity of thoroush pe] sonsl examination. ftüarly Cwo thoosand t toM caen are appealea annually trom the comznissioner td the íecretary of Eñe interior. Bmdened with other Impottant administrativo dutieshiadetermination oí these appeals must be almcwl perfonctorya d ba.ed apon the examinan. n of ntlit i-s, iiiough thi determinfttion oí th. seo' retury uperatis u.s a ftn:u adjudicaiion u,on rights of very ereat importance. I concur iii tue opinión hat Uiy commtesioner of thu gonoral land oílice shoixLl be relieved f roiu the duty of decidiug litigaled land casen, and that tlie di cis. ons of th.s coart shor.Ul Ije final, at leatt so far as the decisiona of the departinent are now tlaJ The proponed court might be given autho. uy to oertify queotions of law in matte, s of espeÉh.l impoitauce to tbe súpleme cuurt of tlie United otates or the toare nf appsala l'or the Uistriot of Columbia for decisión The creation of Buch a tribunal ould t-xpediatc t..e cbnpusal of cases and insure deeisions of a moro batiatju tory character. The register and re ceivers who originally hear and decide the dlsimti'sshuuld be invested with aiühority t. rompel witnes-ses to atteud and testify ü.i'ore tbem [TIib presi'.ent then takes up the Indias question and mates suggestions tó f arther thcir welfare. J IVits.fMiiTs on tlie üoils. At the close ot the last fiscal yéar. on theÜOtü dayof June, lt.n, there were !K!).:44 pevsons on our pension olls, bcing t uet increase of ;j.-' over the nttmber reported at the end of the previeras year. These pensioners may be clasuilied as tollows: Soldiere nd sailors, survivors of all war, o. (i's. widows an i i ehitives of dereahe BOldiers, ï ,16 : army nurses in the war of the rebellion, 41 . Of the e peusi.mers 3Í.03J are gurvlving soldier of lndian and other vare prior to the late civil war, and the widows and r, latives of sin-h soldiere. The remainder, uumbering 837,505, are receiv ing pensions on account of the war of the rebelliou. and of the 409.314 are on the rolls ander the nul hoi ity of the act of Juno i't, 18il, somo tunes called the dejiendent pension law. Th3 total aiuoimt expended for pen.sious during the year was $139,804,461.0 , leaving an unexpended balance trom the sum appropriated of ï-'.'i,:.'0., Tja ti-"). Tue suiu necessHry to meet pension expenditnres for the yi ar endiug Junetf). 18UU. i;i esumated at SI 40.1)00,00(1. The commissioner of pensions is of the opinión that tnu year lUBö, bema ti.e tliirüetn after the close of the war of the rebelliou, must, according to all sensible human caieulation, see the liich st limit of the pension roll. and that itter that year it must begin lo decline. 'Ihe claims pending in t..e bureau have decreased more than H0.li n durinu the year. A large proportion of thn irew claims nlad are tor increase ol pension by tliose now on the rolls. Tue num ber of certiticates issued was 80,213. The uamea dropped f rom theroils for all causes during the year nunibcruu ü7,0öl. Amonour pensionéis are uine widow s and three daughters of soldiers of the revolution and forty-Hve survivors of the war uf lol. The president here refrrs to pension frauds beiug ezposed and the work on the eleven th census.