COMMITTEES ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT 275 



the geological structure and national resources of the public 

 domain ; (3) the Land Office, controlling the disposition and sale 

 of the public lands, including all question of title and record. 

 The Land Office was to get its surveys and measurements from 

 the Coast and Interior Survey, and its information regarding 

 the value and classification of lands from the Geological Survey. 

 The latter organization was to call on the Coast and Interior 

 Survey for all mensuration data, but would be " authorized to 

 execute local topographical surveys for special purposes." All 

 three organizations were to be in the Department of the Interior. 



The committee also recommended that a commission be 

 formed to codify the laws relating to the survey and disposition 

 of public lands and propose a classification and valuation of 

 them and a system of surveys for land-parcelling. Other recom- 

 mendations related to the form of publications and the disposi- 

 tion of collections of natural history and other specimens made 

 during the prosecution of the surveys."^ 



This report, as already mentioned, was transmitted to Con- 

 gress in December, 1878. It was no sooner printed than the 

 War Department, through the Secretary of War, George W. 

 McCrary, and the Chief of Engineers, General Humphreys, 

 entered a protest against the adoption of its provisions. Sec- 

 retary McCrary adopted the argument made before the Com- 

 mittee of the Academy by H. G. Wright, Acting Chief of 

 Engineers, that in view of the fact that the War Department had 

 been long engaged in survey work, that its experience in such 

 work was extensive and diversified, that it had devised and 

 perfected instruments and methods of work, and that it main- 

 tained an efifective system of safeguarding expenditures, it was 

 for the best interests of the Government that the work should 

 continue under its direction.^"* 



General Humphreys' objections to the Academy's plan were 

 of a somewhat different character. As already mentioned, he 



^°' For the full report, see Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for 1878, pp. 19-22. House Misc. Doc. 

 no. 7, 46th Congress, ist Session. 

 ""Sen. Exec. Doc. no. 21, 45th Congress, 3d Session, p. 1. 



