62 THE U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 



cation of the public lands." In the same act, however, pro- 

 vision was made for the creation of a commission of five 

 members, of whom the Director of the Geological Survey was 

 to be one, to report to Congress "first, a codification of the 

 present laws relating to the survey and disposition of the pub- 

 lic 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; third, 

 a system of land-parceling surveys adapted to the economic 

 uses of the several classes of lands; and, fourth, such recom- 

 mendations as they may deem wise in relation to the best 

 methods of disposing of the public lands of the western por- 

 tion of the United States to actual settlers." The commission 

 appears to have given consideration to the practicability of 

 a classification of the public domain in advance of disposi- 

 tion, and to have decided adversely to any change in the 

 existing practice in this regard. 



Accordingly, the Director of the Survey stated in his first 

 annual report : 



Upon examination of the existing land system, I have as- 

 sumed that Congress, in directing me to make a classification 

 of the public lands, could not have intended to supersede the 

 machinery of the Land Office, and substitute a classification 

 to be executed by another bureau of government, without 

 having distinctly provided for the necessary changes within 

 the Land Office, and adjustment of relations between the 

 two bureaus. 



I have therefore concluded that the intention of Congress 

 was to begin a rigid scientific classification of the lands of 

 the national domain, not for purposes of aiding the machinery 

 of the General Land Office, by furnishing a basis of sale, but 

 for the general information of the people of the country, and 

 to produce a series of land maps which should show all those 

 features upon which intelligent agriculturists, miners, engi- 

 neers, and timbermen might hereafter base their operations, 

 and which would obviously be of the highest value for all stu- 



