Feb, 20, 1879] 



NATURE 



n\ 



out, was a thoroughly competent one. They might as 

 well insist that nobody is competent to pass a judgment 

 on poetry unless he has written an epic, or to criti- 

 cise fine art if he has not painted a picture, or 

 modelled a statue. The Bureau of Engineers has done 

 such admirable work and deserves such thorough respect, 

 that its best friends can only hope that it will not embitter 

 a fruitless struggle against the inevitable. We have no 

 fear that its scientific prestige will in the least be dimin- 

 ished by the projected revolution. The nature of the 

 change will be best understood from the following ex- 

 tracts from the Bill of the Committee on Appropriations, 

 which has been read twice and " committed to a com- 

 mittee of the whole House on the state of the Union and 

 ordered to be printed " : — 



"For the salary of the Superintendent of the Coast 

 and Interior Survey, 6,000 dollars : Provided, That 

 the present coast and geodetic survey, with supervisory 

 and appellate powers over the same authorised by law, is 

 hereby transferred from the Treasury Department to the 

 Department of the Interior, and shall hereafter be known 

 as the Coast and Interior Survey, and shall have charge 

 of all surveys relating to questions of position and men- 

 suration of the coast and interior, except the special sur- 

 vey necessary for geological purposes, the survey of the 

 northern and north-western lakes now under the direction 

 of the War Department, and local surveys required for 

 the improvement of rivers and harbours and surveys 

 necessary for military purposes immediately connected 

 with the operations of the army, in accordance with the 

 plan reported to Congress by the National Academy of 

 Sciences, under the Act of June 20, 1878, entitled *An 

 Act making Appropriations for Sundry Civil Expenses of 

 the Government for the Fiscal Year ending June 30, 1 879, 

 and for other purposes : ' And provided further. That 

 the offices of surveyors-general are hereby abolished, to 

 take effect on June 30, 1879; ^^d the compensa- 

 tion of said surveyors-general, and all employees under 

 them, shall cease on that day ; and the duties pertaining to 

 the offices of surveyors-general shall thereafter be per- 

 formed by the Superintendent of the Coast and Interior 

 Survey; and the parcelling surveys of the public lands 

 shall hereafter be made by employees of the Coast and 

 Interior Survey : And provided further, That the rectan- 

 gular method with township and sectional imits shall be 

 retained wherever it can be appropriately and econo- 

 mically applied, but all surveying by contract shall be 

 prohibited ; and the Superintendent of the Coast and 

 Interior Survey is hereby authorised to adopt such addi- 

 tional surveying methods as he may deem most economic 

 and accurate ; but the surveys of mineral claims shall be 

 made by deputy surveyors, as now provided by law. And 

 such of the archives and records now in the offices of the 

 surveyors-general as may not be required for the office of 

 the Superintendent of the Coast and Interior Survey 

 shall be turned over to the governors of the several States 

 and Territories, upon the same terms and conditions and 

 in the same manner that the archives have heretofore 

 been delivered to the State authorities in States where 

 the public surreys have been completed and the offices 

 of the surveyors-general closed : And provided further, 

 That the Secretary of the Interior shall direct the archives 

 and records of the surveyor-general's office of any State 

 or Territory to be kept in the place where they are now 

 located, if thereby the interests of the people of said State 

 or Territory will be best subserved, such archives and 

 records to be placed under the charge of an employee of 

 the Coast and Interior Surrey: And provided further. 

 That hereafter siu"veys of public lands shall, at the discre- 

 tion of the Secretary of the Interior, be made under the 

 deposit system, on petition of not less than five persons 

 for the survey of a township ; the sum of money to be 

 deposited for the survey of the township shall equal the 

 cost of the survey at the present rates allowed for the 



several classifications of the land to be surveyed, including 

 such sum as shall be estimated for office-work : Provided, 

 That the excess of any deposit over and above the 

 aforesaid cost shall be returned to the depositor ; and all 

 moneys so deposited and actually required for said 

 survey and office-work, for the amount of land for the 

 survey of which the petition is filed, shall be applicable, 

 either in the hands of the depositor or his assignee, to- 

 pay for lands to which the said depositor or others may 

 be entitled under the law. It shall be the duty of the 

 Commissioner of the Land Office to make all needful 

 rules and regulations necessary for carrying into effect 

 the detail of this law, so far as relates to the new condi- 

 tions established by it in reference to the public lands. 



"For the salary of the Director of the Geological 

 Survey, which office is hereby created, who s h all be 

 appointed by the President by and with the advice and 

 consent of the Senate, 6,000 dollars : Provided, That this 

 officer shall have the direction of the geological sur\-ey, 

 and the classification of the public lands and examinatioik 

 of the geological structure, mineral resoiu-ces, and pro- 

 ducts of the national domain, in accordance with the plan 

 reported to Congress by the National Academy of Sciences 

 under the act of June 20, 1878, entitled 'An Act making 

 Appropriations for Simdry Civil Expenses of the Govern- 

 ment for the Fiscal Year ending June 30, 1879, ^"^ for 

 other purposes ; ' and that the director and members of 

 the geological survey shall have no personal or private 

 interests in the lands or mineral wealth of the region 

 under survey, and shall execute no surveys or examina- 

 tions for private parties or corporations ; and the Geo- 

 logical and Geographical Survey of the Territories, and 

 the Geographical and Geological Survey of the Rocky 

 Mountain Region, under the Department of the Interior, 

 and the Geographical Surveys west of the looth [meri- 

 dian, under the War Department, are hereby discon- 

 tinued, to take effect on June 30, 1879 ; and all collections 

 of rocks, minerals, soils, fossils', and objects of natural 

 history', archaeology, and ethnology, made by the Coast 

 and Interior Survey, the Geological Survey, or by any 

 other parties for the Government of the United States, 

 when no longer needed for investigations in progress, 

 shall be deposited in the National Museum. 



"That all laws, parts of laws, and all departmental 

 regulations relating or having reference to the coast and 

 geodetic survey now in force and effect are hereby con- 

 tinued in force and effect, and made applicable to the 

 Coast and Interior Survey until changed by competent 

 authority. 



" For the expense of a commission on the codification 

 of existing laws relating to the survey and disposition of 

 the public domain, and for other purposes, 20,000 dollars : 

 Provided, That the commission shall consist of the Com- 

 missioner of the General Land Office, the Superintendent 

 of the Coast and Interior Sur\-ey, the Director of the 

 United States Geological Survey, and three civilians, to 

 be appointed by the President, who shall receive a per 

 diem compensation of 10 doUars for each day while 

 actually engaged, and their travelling expenses ; and 

 neither the Commissioner of the General Land Office, 

 the Superintendent of the Coast and Interior Survey, nor 

 the Director of the United States Geological Survey^ 

 shall receive other compensation for their services upon 

 said commission than their salaries, respectively, except 

 their travelling expenses, while engaged on said duties ; 

 and it shall be the duty of this commission to report to 

 Congress within one year from the time of its organisa- 

 tion : first, a codification of the present laws relating to- 

 the survey and disposition of the public domain ; second, 

 a system and standard of classification of public lands 

 as arable, irrigable, timber, pasturage, swamp, coal, 

 mineral lands, and such other classes as may be deemed 

 proper, having due regard to humidity of climate, supply 

 of water for irrigation, and other physical characteristics ;. 



