468 



LANDS, PUBLIC. 



respectively in the offices of surveyors-general, 

 in local land-offices, and in the General Land- 

 Office at Washington. 



Surveys are made under appropriations of 

 Congress and under what is known as the indi- 

 vidual deposit system. Prior to July 31, 1876, 

 appropriations were made by separate item for 

 the several surveying districts; subsequently 

 a gross sum was apportioned, to be used at 

 the discretion of the Secretary of the Interior. 

 The annual appropriations for the years 1880 

 to 1886 were $300,000 and upward. Since that 

 date they have been $50,000. The actual 

 available appropriation of the fiscal year 1888 

 was $40, 000, an item of appropriations for sur- 

 veys and resurveys being devoted to examina- 

 tions of work in the field before approval of 

 contracts. An additional $10,000 was allowed 

 on March 30, 18S8, for deficiencies. Thirty- 

 five contracts for the year were approved. The 

 appropriations for surveys of Indian lands for 

 the fiscal year 1888 were $135,000. 



The system of deposits by individual settlers 

 in payment for desired surveys of lands, cer- 

 tificates of deposit to be received in payment 

 for lands by act of 1871, within township sur- 

 veyed, and by act of March, 1879, for any lands 

 in the possession of the Government under the 

 pre-emption and homestead laws, has been the 

 occasion of serious abuse. The act of Aug. 7, 

 1882, restricted receipt of certificates in pay- 

 ment of lands to the district within which 

 surveys were made. The amounts of deposits 

 have largely exceeded the appropriations of 

 Congress, and vast arid tracts, undisposable, 

 the subdivision of which is undesirable, have 

 been surveyed at heavy expense and without 

 reference to the judgment of surveyors-general. 

 From 1880 to 1885 the amount of special de- 

 posits for surveys was $5,813,368.58, against 

 $2,093,000 appropriated by Congress, and dur- 

 ing this period alleged fraudulent returns were 

 made of surveys nnattempted or egregiously 

 performed. Among these are the " Benson 

 cases," or " California syndicate," still under 

 prosecution. In 1885 numerous contracts were 

 suspended and ultimately disapproved. None 

 were approved for 1886 and 1887. The amount 

 deposited for surveys under this system during 

 1888 was $68,578.50, and five contracts were 

 awarded and approved. Surveys of railroad 

 lands are made under deposits from com- 

 panies. 



The total number of acres of public domain 

 surveyed to June 30, 1887, was 973,723,495. 

 During 1888, 2,912,342-32 acres were surveyed. 

 Surveys have not been extended over Alaska 

 and the public-land strip. The highest prices 

 paid per linear mile for surveying have been 

 $75 for State and Territorial boundaries astro- 

 nomically determined; for outboundaries of 

 Indian reservation, $25; for principal bases and 

 meridians, standard parallels, $20; for town- 

 ship lines, $18; section lines, $12. The rates 

 prescribed by law per linear mile for surveys 

 of public lands have ranged at various times 



from $3 to $20. The present mileage allowed 

 for public surveys $5, $7, and $9 for section, 

 township, and meander lines is below statu- 

 tory rate, and reported inadequate by the 

 Commissioner of the General Land-Office. The 

 estimated cost per acre of surveys from the 

 beginning of the system to June 30, 1880, was 

 three and a quarter cents. The estimated cost 

 to Dec. 1, 1883, was from tsvo and a half to 

 three cents and a half per acre. 



Disposal. The authority to dispose of public 

 lands, vested in Congress was first exercised 

 through the Board of Treasury (three commis- 

 sioners), which made sales and gave certificates 

 from May 20, 1785. The first patent, or deed 

 in fee-simple, for land from the Government 

 was authorized to be issued by the President, 

 April 21, 1792. This title is purely allodial, 

 and deprived of the last vestige of feudal im- 

 port. There are fifty-seven forms of land pat- 

 ent in present use by the United States. The 

 number of acres patented or otherwise passed 

 title to or conveyed during 1888 is 8,605,194'29. 

 The General Land-Office, under direction of a 

 commissioner, was created April 25, 1812, sub- 

 ordinate to the Treasury Department. It was 

 reorganized July 4, 1836, and on March 3, 1849, 

 was transferred to the Interior Department. 

 It is at present organized in fourteen divisions. 

 The first patents for land were signed by the 

 President, upon recommendation of the Secre- 

 tary of the Treasury, countersigned by the 

 Secretary of State, and recorded in his office. 

 Mineral lands were disposed of by the Secretary 

 of War prior to 1849. 



A plan for the disposition of the public lands, 

 submitted to Congress July 20, 1790, by Alex- 

 ander Hamilton, Secretary of the Treasury, is 

 the basis of the prior and existing land serv- 

 ice of the Government. The act of March 3, 

 1795, provided for the application of net pro- 

 ceeds of sales of public lands to the payment of 

 the national debt. They were to create a por- 

 tion of the sinking-fund, and sales were ordered 

 in the Northwest Territory, May 18, 1796. All 

 sales were made under the credit system, on de- 

 posit of one-twentieth of the purchase-money. 

 The total amount of sales under this system 

 was 13,642,536 acres, for which $27,900,379.29 

 were received. Cash payment for lands was 

 ordered in 1806, and the credit system was 

 finally abolished in 1820. The act of May 10, 

 1800, created defined districts of public lands 

 open to disposal at local offices in charge of 

 registers and receivers of public moneys. The 

 first land-offices were within the Northwest 

 Territory. But little change of organization 

 has taken place to the present day. Registers 

 and receivers are bonded officers, who make 

 disposals of public lands, transmitting accounts 

 to the General Land Office, and returns to the 

 Treasury. Their salary is fixed at $500, with 

 receipts from fees not to exceed $3,000. There 

 are at present 111 local land-offices, with an 

 equal number of registers and receivers. Va- 

 cant tracts of public lands in States containing 



