PA, PERS ACCOMPANYING THE ANNUAL REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF THE GENERAL LAND OFFICE, For the fiscal year ending June 30, 1877. Operations under the laws governing the survey and disposal of public lands, and amount of clerical labor performed in the General Land Office, during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1777, as reported by the heads of the several divisions of the bureau. DIVISION A. During the past fiscal year there were written and recorded in this division 4,083 letters, covering 1,617 pages of folio record, and transcripts were furnished amounting to $8,837.60. The excess of four thousand one hundred and ten patents transmitted over those issued, is caused by the retransmission of that number to individuals of such as had been returned from discontinued local offices. The average number of clerks of all grades-including second class only-employed in this division during the past fiscal year, has been twenty-three, which is the present force, showing a decrease from the previous year of about twenty, notwithstanding which more work has been accomplished, and a far greater degree of accuracy attained, than was done under the old practice of sending a large proportion of the patent writing to be prepared by unskilled, and in most cases incompetent, persons out of the office. As a matter of general interest, I desire also to present the following. facts and statistics, as carefully collated from the records in this division. The oldest patent of record in the General Land Office was issued in 1793, and from that date to the present time there have been prepared, engrossed, recorded, and transmitted, of agricultural patents, from this division, in the several States and Territories, as follows, to wit: There have also been issued, for lands throughout the different States and Territories, patents on military bounty-land warrants under the Also under the old military acts of 1790, 1791, 1801, and 1812 estimated.... 50,000 On surveyors generals' certificates and special acts........ On Choctaw scrip under treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek of March 3, 1830.. 2,732 2,722 Making a total of...... 2,785, 784 Exclusive of patents issued under mineral, swamp, railroad, canal, and wagon road, school, and private grauts. All the patents as thus given are recorded in books of about five hundred pages each, prepared for the purpose, and now aggregate nearly seven thousand volumes, kept in cases in the halls of the building, for want of rooms in which to place them. The muniments of title on which these patents are founded and records made aggregate at this time no less than ten million eight hundred and ninety-eight thousand five hundred and forty-five papers, and should any single one of all that number be lost or destroyed, the title to some man's realty would be clouded or lost, according to the character of the missing document. The certificates, receipts, proofs, and other papers are systematically arranged by States, land districts, and numerical numbers, so that any paper named can at once be referred to by the clerks in charge of the files. Until recently, these papers and records were filed in open cases in the public halls of the building and in rooms lighted only by gas, where any person, from curiosity or other motive, could handle and inspect at his leisure. With a view to greater security, however, I have caused locks to be placed upon the doors of all cases in the hall, and, as far as practicable, in the rooms. But, in view of the recent disaster to the building by fire and water, I would suggest that further and more ample provision be urged for the safety of papers of such value to all who hold title to lands purchased from the United States. There still remain in the files of this office not less than three hundred thousand undelivered patents, and fully as many more at the various local offices which the owners neglect to procure, notwithstanding all the efforts put forth to accomplish that object; and I would further suggest that the attention of Congress be called to this subject, that proper legislation be had, and an appropriation made sufficient to continue the work of preparing lists of such patents, looking to their delivery, now stopped for want of force, and relieve this office of such a burden, before the patents are entirely ruined by time and for want of care. I would also state that many of the older records of these patents, through time and by reason of having been filled in with poor and perishable inks, are already nearly, and in some cases entirely, illegible, and will need to be renewed at no distant day. This is the case to such an extent at this time that in preparing certified copies from such records the copy is not allowed to leave the office until it has been carefully compared with the original papers upon which the patent was founded. C.-PUBLIC LANDS DIVISION. The number of letters referred to this division during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1877, was Number of letters written Pages of record occupied thereby Number of cases sent to recorder. Number of postings.... Number of circulars transmitted The number of acres sold for cash during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1877, was Being an increase of 99,994.70 acres over the previous fiscal year. Number of acres entered under the homestead laws for the fiscal year Being a decrease of 697,811.50 acres, as compared with the previous fiscal year. 23, 733 19, 250 13, 726 26, 885 102, 512 2, 318 740, 686. 57 2, 178, 098. 17 Number of acres entered under the timber-culture laws for the fiscal year 520, 673.39 Being a decrease of 87,311.48 acres, as compared with the previous fiscal year. Number of acres located with agricultural college scrip during the fiscal year....... Being a decrease of 1,040 acres, as compared with the previous year. Land grant approvals. Indemnity school selections approved.... Selections for agricultural colleges.. Internal improvement selections. Selections for universities 1, 280.00 Acres. 27, 973. 92 63, 443. 04 50, 984. 91 3, 235.83 155, 637.70 Being a decrease of 73,309.38 acres, as compared with the previous fiscal year. |