PUBLIC DOCUMENTS. 



701 



DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE. 



Detailed statements of the disbursements through 

 the Department of Justice will be furnished by the 

 report of the Attorney-General, and, though these 

 have been somewhat increased by the recent acts of 

 Congress, " to enforce the rights of citizens of the 

 United States to vote in the several States of the 

 Union," and " to enforce the provisions of the four- 

 teenth amendment to the Constitution of the United 

 States," and the amendments thereto, I cannot ques- 

 tion the necessity and salutary effect of those enact- 

 ments. Reckless and lawless men, I regret to say, 

 have associated themselves together, in some locali- 

 ties, to deprive other citizens of those rights guar- 

 anteed to them by the Constitution of the United 

 States, and to that end have committed deeds of 

 blood and violence ; but the prosecution and punish- 

 ment of many of these persons have tended greatly 

 to the repression of such disorders. I do not doubt 

 that a great majority of the people in all parts of the 

 country favor the lull enjoyment by all classes of 

 persons of those rights to which they are entitled 

 under the Constitution and laws ; and I invoke the 

 aid and influence of all good citizens to prevent or- 

 ganizations whose objects are by unlawful means to 

 interfere with those rights. I look with confidence 

 to the time, not far distant, when the various advan- 

 tages of good order and peace will induce an aban- 

 donment of all combinations prohibited by the acts 

 referred to, and when it will be unnecessary to carry 

 on prosecutions or inflict punishment to protect 

 citizens from the lawless doings of such combina- 

 tions. 



Applications have been made to me to pardon per- 

 sons convicted of a violation of said acts, upon the 

 ground that clemency in such cases would tend to 

 tranquillize the public mind, and, to test the virtue 

 of that policy, I am disposed, as far as my sense 

 of justice will permit, to give to these applications a 

 favorable consideration; but any action thereon is 

 not to be construed as indicating any change in my 

 determination to enforce with rigor such acts so long 

 as the conspiracies and combinations therein named 

 disturb the peace of the country. It is much to be 

 regretted, and it is regretted by no one more than 

 myself, that necessity lias ever existed to execute 

 the enforcement _ act. No one can desire more than 

 I that the necessity of applying it may never again 

 be demanded. 



INTERIOR DEPARTMENT. 



The Secretary of the Interior reports satisfactory 

 improvement and progress in each of the several 

 bureaus under the control of the Interior Depart- 

 ment. They are all in excellent condition. The 

 work, which in some of them for some years has 

 been in arrears, has been brought down to a recent 

 date, and in all the current business is being prompt- 

 ly dispatched. 



INDIANS. 



The policy which was adopted at the beginning 

 of this Administration with regard to the manage- 

 ment of the Indians has been as successful as its 

 most ardent friends anticipated within so short a 

 time. It has reduced the expense of their manage- 

 ment, decreased their forays upon the white settle- 

 ments, tended to give the largest opportunity for the 

 extension of the great railways through the public 

 domain and the pushing of settlements into more 

 remote districts of the country, and, at the same 

 time, improved the condition of the Indians. The 

 policy will be maintained without any change, ex- 

 cepting such as further experience may show to be 

 necessary to render it more efficient. 



The subject of converting the so-called Indian 

 Territory south of Kansas into a home for the Indian, 

 and erecting therein^ a territorial form of govern- 

 ment, is one of great importance as a complement of 

 the existing Indian policy. The question of removal 

 to that Territory has, within the past year, been pre- 



sented to many of the tribes resident upon other 

 and less desirable portions of the public domain, and 

 has generally been received by them with favor. As 

 a preliminary step to the organization of such a Ter- 

 ritory, it will be necessary to confine the Indians, 

 now resident therein, to farms of proper size, which 

 should be secured to them in fee ; the residue to be 

 used for the settlement of other friendly Indians. 

 Efforts will be made in the immediate future to in- 

 duce the removal of as many peaceably-disposed In- 

 dians to the Indian Territory as can be settled prop- 

 erly, without disturbing the harmony of those already 

 there. There is no other location now available, 

 where a people, who are endeavoring to acquire a 

 knowledge of pastoral and agricultural pursuits, can be 

 as well accommodated as upon the unoccupied lands 

 in the Indian Territory. A territorial government 

 should, however, protect the Indians from the in- 

 roads of whites for a term of years, until they be- 

 come sufficiently advanced in the arts and civiliza- 

 tion to guard their own rights, and from the disposal 

 of the lands held by them for the same period. 



LANDS. 



During the last fiscal year there were disposed of, 

 out of the public lands, 11,864,975 acres, a quantity 

 greater by 1,099,270 acres than was disposed of the 

 previous year. Of this amount, 1,370,320 acres were 

 sold for cash; 389,460 acres located with military 

 warrants ; 4,671,332 acres taken for homesteads ; 

 693,613 acres located with college scrip; 3,554,887 

 acres granted to railroads ; 465,347 acres granted to 

 wagon-roads ; 714,255 acres given to States as swamp 

 land ; 5,760 acres located by Indian scrip. The cash 

 receipts from all sources in the Land-Office amounted 

 to $3,218,100. During the same period, 22,016,608 

 acres of the public lands were surveyed, which, add- 

 ed to the quantity before surveyed, amounts to 58,3,- 

 364,780 acres, leaving 1,257,633,628 acres of the pub- 

 lic lands still unsurveyed. 



The reports from the subordinates of the Land- 

 Office contain interesting information in regard to 

 their respective districts. They uniformly mention 

 the fruitfulness of the soil during the past season, 

 and the increased yields of all kinds of produce. 

 Even in those States and Territories where mining 

 is the principal business, agricultural products have 

 exceeded the local demand, and liberal shipments 

 have been made to distant points. 



PATENTS. 



During the year ending September 30, 1872, there 

 were issued from the Patent-Office 13.626 patents ; 

 233 extensions ; and 556 certificates and registries 

 of trade-marks. During the same time 19,587 appli- 

 cations for patents, including reissues and designs, 

 have been received, and 3,100 caveats filed. The 

 fees received during the same period amounted to 

 $700,954.86, and the total expenditures to $623.- 

 553.90, making the net receipts over the expendi- 

 tures $77,400.96. 



Since 1836, 200,000 applications for patents have 

 been filed, and about 133,000 patents issued. The 

 office is being conducted under the same laws and 

 general organization as were adopted at its original 

 inauguration, when only from one hundred to five 

 hundred applications were made per annum. The 

 Commissioner shows that the office has outgrown 

 the original plan, and that a new organization has 

 become necessary. This subject was presented to 

 Congress in a special communication in February 

 last, with my approval and the approval of the Sec- 

 retary of the Interior^ and the suggestions contained 

 in said communication were embraced in the bill 

 that was reported to the House, by the Committee 

 on Patents, at the last session. The subject of the 

 reorganization of the Patent-Office, as contemplated 

 by the bill referred to, is one of such importance to 

 the industrial interests of the country, that I com- 

 mend it to the attention of Congress. 



