REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF THE GENERAL LAND OFFICE. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, GENERAL LAND OFFICE, Washington, D. C., October 7, 1886. SIR: I have the honor to submit herewith the annual report of the General Land Office for the fiscal year which ended June 30, 1886. In my previous report I referred to the imperative need of reform in the administration of the public land laws, to the end of protecting the public interest rather than ministering to the advantage of speculation and monopoly, private or corporate. With the means at my command, and in a spirit of justice to the Government and fairness to the public, I have sought to inaugurate and carry out such reform. The steady purpose in which I have endeavored to reflect the aims approved by all good men has been the protection of the public domain and its preservation for inhabitancy by actual cultivators, to whom it rightfully belongs. No higher duty could inspire nor more important public service demand the resolute and devoted efforts of an official. I found this great estate of the people rapidly wasting under a system in which the Government appeared to have no place except as an agency for its own despoilment. It has been my endeavor to establish and maintain the principle that the Government has a deep interest in its public lands. I found illegality and fraud intrenched in the system and defended in the practice of the land department. It has been the object and purpose of all my efforts to maintain the integrity of the laws and to secure the rights of actual settlers to actual homes on the public lands. The evidences of "widespread, persistent land robbery" laid before you in my last report were furnished by the officers and agents appointed by the last administration. The developments of the past year under the agencies of the new administration have justified every word said in that report. The work of correcting the evils pointed out and known of all men is not a holiday pastime. It was not anticipated by me that it would be such when I entered upon it. On the contrary, it was expected then, as it has since proven to be, a work requiring intense labor and sleepless vigilance. By the devotion to it of 3 such ability as I possess, with the cordial co-operation and assistance of the officers of this bureau, and guided by the wisdom of the superior authority of the Department, this work has been commenced and carried on during the year, with whatever of successful result the accompanying pages may show. ABSTRACT OF DISPOSALS AND RECEIPTS. The sales, entries, and selections of public land under the various acts of Congress relating thereto embrace 20,991,967.18 acres, and of Indian lands 1,132,596.74 acres, making a total of 22,124,563.92 acres; being an increase over the year 1885 of 1,129,050.34 acres, and a decrease, as compared with the fiscal year 1884, of 5,406,606.08 acres. The receipts from the disposals of public lands are $7,412,767.31; from sales of Indian lands, $1,607,729.63; a total of $9,020,496.94, being an increase as compared with the year 1885 of $400,898.62, and a decrease as compared with the year 1884 of $3,758,633.39; to which is to be added $10,587.40 received for certified copies of records furnished by the General Land Office, making the total receipts for the year from all sources $9,031,084.34. The following is a statement in detail: State selections-school, swamp, and internal improvements Total area of public land entries and selections... 80.00 19, 472. 02 1,753. 84 2,311,537. 30 440.00 318, 613. 70 20,991, 967. 18 The foregoing does not include the following entries, the areas of which have previously been reported in the original entries of the respective classes: Commuted homesteads (section 2301 R. S.). Commuted homesteads (act June 15, 1880) Final desert-land entries Final homestead entries... Final timber-culture entries.. Acres. 720, 415.72 144, 713. 46 150, 328.86 2,663, 531.83 Total areas previously reported...... 141, 693.97 3,820,743.84 In addition to the foregoing, and not included in the total areas of current sales, entries, and selections, are pre-emption, homestead, and miscellaneous filings, viz: Number of pre-emption filings............. Number of soldiers' declaratory statements. Number of filings upon Indian lands..... Miscellaneous filings Total...... The area of land embraced in these filings aggregates 8,432,000 acres. CASH RECEIPTS. From cash sales..... From homestead fees and commissions... From timber-culture fees and commissions.. From military bounty-land warrant locations From fees on scrip locations... From pre-emption and other filings From fees for reducing testimony to writing.. From fees on donation claims.. From fees on state selections From fees on railroad selections. From fees on wagon-road selections.. Total receipts from public lands..... Receipts from disposal of Indian lands.................. From fees for transcripts of record furnished by General Land Office... 50,676 2, 391 6,772 2,621 62, 460 $5,757,891 06 986, 873 62 484,766 00 843 00 11 00 148,375 25 435 78 55 00 4,616 12 28,895 48 5 00 7,412,767 31 1,607, 729 63 10,587 40 Total. 9,031,084 34 ENTRIES AND FILINGS. The total number of entries and filings made during the year is 249,808, aggregating 34,377,307.76 acres; an increase of 8,284 entries and filings over the year 1885, and a decrease of 37,004 as compared with the year 1884. The number of entries and filings posted on the records is 325,914, a decrease as compared with the year 1885 of 73,079. Fifteen thousand five hundred and fifty-six homestead, timber-culture, and other contests, exclusive of pre-emptions, were examined and acted upon. Two hundred and twenty-four cases were confirmed by the board of equitable adjudication. CASH SALES. The number of private cash entries is 4,295, embracing 631,981.36 acres; an increase of 158,957.52 acres. Final proof was made upon 15,712 pre-emption claims, embracing 2,279,218.39 acres, being a decrease of 32,078.32 acres; 865,129.18 acres are embraced in commuted homesteads, a decrease of 262,314.57 acres. The total cash sales, including land sold at public and private sale, pre-emption, commuted homestead, mineral lands, timber and stone lands, &c., amount to 4,789,016.07 acres. The amount received from cash sales is $5,757,891.06, an average of a fraction over $1.20 per acre, or $1.38 +, exclusive of original desert-land entries. PUBLIC SALES. Thirteen tracts of land, embracing 589.15 acres, were sold at public sale in the various land districts at an average price of a fraction less than $1.60 per acre. HOMESTEADS. The number of original homestead entries made during the year is 61,638, embracing an area of 9,145,135.76 acres; an increase, as compared with the year 1885, of 10,761 entries and 1,729,250.23 acres. Final proof was made on 19,356 entries, embracing 2,663,531.83 acres; a decrease of 2,710 entries and 369,147.28 acres. Two thousand six hundred and twenty-one soldiers' declaratory statements were filed, covering 419,360 acres. TIMBER-CULTURE ENTRIES. Thirty-four thousand nine hundred and ninety-six timber-culture entries were made, embracing 5,391,309.38 acres; an increase of 4,010 entries and 636,303.81 acres. Final proof was offered on 1,036 entries, embracing 141,693.97 acres. PRE-EMPTION. Fifteen thousand seven hundred and twelve pre-emption entries were made during the year, embracing an area of 2,279,218.39 acres; a decrease of 88 entries and 32,078.32 acres. Seven hundred and fifty individual contests were decided. The number of pre-emption cases remaining unacted upon at the close of the fiscal year was 36,460. DESERT LANDS. Two thousand five hundred and eighteen desert-land entries were made, embracing 753,688.63 acres; a decrease of 248 entries and 174,561.43 acres. Final proof was made on 487 entries, embracing 150,388.86 acres. TIMBER AND STONE LAND ENTRIES. Four hundred and twenty-nine entries, embracing 50,693.62 acres, were made under the timber and stone land act of June 3, 1878, in the States of California and Oregon and Washington Territory (to which states and territory and the State of Nevada the act is only applicable), being a decrease of 598 entries and 88,608.31 acres as compared with 1885. AGRICULTURAL PATENTS. The number of public and private cash entries under the homestead, pre-emption, timber-culture, timber-land, and desert-land laws approved for patenting is 54,566. MINERAL LANDS. Thirteen hundred and fifty-one mineral entries, embracing 23,211.21 acres, were made, and 1,389 mineral applications filed. Two hundred and thirty-one adverse claims were filed against entries of mineral lands. There were 77 coal entries, embracing 10,167.37 acres, and 665 coal filings. The above is a decrease of 305 entries and 13,290.59 acres of mineral lands, a decrease of 66 mineral applications, and an increase of 33 in the number of coal-land entries, with an increased area of 4,212.24 acres. There was also an increase of 50 in the number of adverse claims filed. Eight hundred and two ex parte cases have been examined, 91 contest cases decided, 675 lode and placer claims patented, and 15 coal patents issued. Twenty-six hundred and fifty-eight unexamined cases are on file, and 2,184 examined and suspended cases await further action by the claimants. Three hundred and fifty-three contests remain undisposed of. STATE SELECTIONS. State selections were made under educational and internal-improvement grants aggregating 318,615.70 acres, an increase of 19,374.02 acres over the year 1885. |