COMMITTEES ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT 269 



sharp attack upon the system of army explorations and its fruits; 

 and he was met by the military members of the Academy with 

 the plea that army officers had done all that, under the circum- 

 stances, and considering their education to another business, 

 could fairly be expected of them, and that for this they deserved 

 gratitude rather than blame." °' 



By 1874 the discussion as regards the surveys had become 

 more animated and more widespread. It intruded itself upon 

 the attention of Congress and found its way into the columns of 

 various magazines and reviews. At this time there were in 

 existence six distinct surveys or systems of surveys of western 

 portions of the United States. The United States Geological 

 Exploration of the Fortieth Parallel, nominally under the direc- 

 tion of the Engineer Corps of the Army, but conducted by a 

 civilian, Clarence King; the United States Geological and 

 Geographical Survey of the Territories under the direction of 

 the Department of the Interior and conducted by Dr. F. V. Hay- 

 den ; the Geographical and Geological Explorations and Sur- 

 veys West of the One Hunderdth Meridian, commonly called 

 " Wheeler's Survey," under the Engineer Corps of the Army 

 and conducted by Lieut. Wheeler; the U. S. Geographical and 

 Geological Survey of the Rocky Mountain Region, under the 

 Department of the Interior and conducted by Major J. W. 

 Powell; the land-parcelling survey carried on by the General 

 Land Office of the Department of the Interior; and finally, the 

 U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, under the Treasury Depart- 

 ment. 



These various surveys dififered in their history, their objects, 

 and their methods. Their work was not coordinated and to a 

 certain extent the territories in which they operated overlapped. 

 Referring to the rivalry between civil and military directors 

 of these surveys the Nation, in the article from which quotation 

 has already been made, remarked in 1874: 



" It appears that the War Department looks with something of jealousy— a 

 natural jealousy, perhaps, at which we ought not to be surprised — at this inter- 

 ference of civilians with what had once been its exclusive province ; and its dis- 



"' The Nation, May 21, 1874, p. 328. 

 19 



