which is designated on a scale corresponding to that of the enlarged Capitol, will make the defects more conspicuous. "The immediate construction of the new stairways upon the plan favorably reported by the Committees of Public Buildings and Grounds in 1875, is much to be desired." RECONSTRUCTION OF THE INTERIOR DEPARTMENT BUILD. ING. The destructive fire of September 24, by which a portion of the Interior Department building was destroyed, was made the subject of special report, dated October 12, 1877. The measures adopted for the protection of the exposed wings are deemed sufficient to secure the walls from further damage, and to protect the rooms beneath until such time as the reconstruction of the building shall be completed. A substantial temporary roof has been erected, the damaged flues repaired, and the exposed walls covered with brick laid in cement so as to secure them against the action of water and frost. The rooms vacated by the Land Office and Patent Office have been reoccupied, and the business of the department is carried on with but little inconvenience. Aside from the damage to the building, the only material loss reported is that of the models contained in the two wings, and out of what is left of these models it is believed that at least ten thousand can be saved by judicious and skillful treatment. It is a subject of congratulation that all of the valuable records of the department were preserved, they having been stored in rooms that have proven practically fire-proof. The prompt reconstruction of the building is a necessity, and I recom. mend that authority and means be asked from Congress for the prosecution of the work at the earliest practicable moment. In the rebuilding, two essentials, aside from the restoration of the destroyed model-halls, should be provided for. First, the erection of a fire-proof roof over the entire building; second, the creation of more room for the present and future wants of the department. For many years past the present building has been too small to accommodate the several bureaus of the department. The Pension Office and Bureau of Education have long occupied quarters rented from private parties, and the Indian Office has recently been crowded out on account of the fire and the demand for room to accommodate the bureaus that remain. The taking of the census and the preservation of its bulky records require room impossible for the department to furnish without hiring from private individuals suitable buildings for the purpose. This condition of affairs is against public economy and injurious to the public service. In the reconstruction of the building, it is deemed feasible to so enlarge its capacity as to provide for the bureaus of the department. Whether the accomplishment of this end will be best promoted by the erection of a building across the court-yard, or by other means, must of necessity be left to the skilled architect to decide. As a means to secure the completest success in the reconstruction of the building, I would recommend that the Secretary of the Interior be authorized to invite competition in the submission of pla ns for the new structure, and to appoint a commission of three practical men'skilled in the art of building to determine upon the best plan submitted. I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, C. SCHURZ, Secretary of the Interior. The PRESIDENT. REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF THE GENERAL LAND OFFICE. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, SIR: I have the honor to transmit herewith the annual report of this office, showing the business during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1877, under the several laws relating to survey and disposal of the public. lands and the condition of business at the close of said year. The sales of public lands for cash are about one hundred thousand acres more than the sales for the fiscal year next preceding, while the number of acres entered under the homestead and timber-culture laws is 2,698,771.56 acres less. During the fiscal year there were certified for railroad purposes 700,791.96 acres, showing a decrease, as compared with the previous year, of 300,986.58 acres; certified for wagon-roads, 61,543.18 acres. The list of selections now awaiting examination cover 714,758 acres. During the fiscal year ending June 30, 1877, 14,103 acres of land were entered under the provisions of the mining laws, and 13,243.92 acres were patented, involving a large amount of clerical labor in the examination of each claim and the preparation of the patent, owing to the numerous conflicts which exist. Seventy-one more patents were issued during the past fiscal year than the year preceding, varying in area, the smallest being of an acre. During the fiscal year there were certified to the State of Louisiana under the act of March 2, 1849, (such certificate having the force and effect of a patent,) 39,353.54 acres, being an increase over the preceding year of 32,011.36 acres. And during the same period there were patented to the various States under the act of September 28, 1850, (Revised Statutes, sections 2479 and 2480,) 375,064.82 acres, being an increase over the preceding year of 281,526.16 acres. The total disposals of public lands under existing laws for the past fiscal year amount to 4,849,767.70 acres, less by 1,674,558.66 acres than the disposals in 1876. Up to June 30, 1877, the public surveys have been extended over 713,572,737 acres, 10,847,082 acres having been surveyed the past fiscal year, leaving a total of unsurveyed lands of 1,101,197,183 acres. CLERICAL FORCE AND WORK OF THE GENERAL LAND OFFICE. By reference to the statements of the condition of the work in the several divisions of the bureau, it will not escape your observation that a very large arrearage is shown, much of it the accumulation of former years, while a considerable percentage has been added during the year in consequence of the insufficiency of the clerical force to keep up with the constant press of the current business. Year after year my predecessors in this office have urged upon Congress the necessities of the public service in this regard, and since my induction as Commissioner I have labored with renewed effort to the same end. Thus far, however, it does not appear to have reached the judgment of Congress that a paramount need of the country is daily sacrificed upon the altar of a false economy, and the most sacred interest of the hardy pioneers of civilization, that of speedy acquisition and security of their homes and hearthstones, is continually ignored and disregarded. By the regular appropriations for the current fiscal year, provision is made for one Commissioner, one chief clerk, one recorder, one law clerk, three principal clerks, five clerks of class four, twenty-two clerks of class three, forty clerks of class two, seventy clerks of class one, one draughtsman, one assistant draughtsinan, two messengers, three assistant messengers, eight laborers, and two packers, to which an additional allowance was made by a clause in the sundry civil act to the amount of the expenditure of ten thousand dollars, available from March 3, 1877, to enable me to bring into market the vacant lands in the Southern States under act of June 22, 1876. These allowances and provisions were greatly reduced from the esti mates submitted, and have not sufficed, as before stated, to keep up the current work of the bureau. As an illustration, I would mention the fact that the correspondence in the public lands division is six months behindhand, not only caus ing great inconvenience to the office, but absolute wrong to individuals, who, addressing the Government upon important matters, are obliged to wait months for reply, instead of receiving answer at once, as would be the case were private individuals concerned in the same manner as the Department. It would seem to be a matter of the merest and commonest courtesy, as well of individual right, that letters received by the office, often involving matters of great moment to the settlers and others interested in acquiring the public lands, be speedily and properly answered, in such reasonable time as will enable parties to take advantage of the season in the preparation for crops and the making of homes and improvements, without risk of an adverse decision tardily rendered, and often doubly vexatious and burdensome on account of the added time, labor, and expense devoted to the improvement of the lands of which they are deprived. The contests relating to conflicting claims are still further in arrears. The examination of these conflicts cannot be undertaken by mere novices in official life, nor by men possessing even the highest order of clerical ability, without legal training and the acquisition of those habits of care, research, and judicial observation which enter into the judg ments of courts. No ordinary tests of admission to departmental clerkships will properly fill these positions. It is in consequence of these facts that this office is at present so far from efficient organization. The compensation allowed to the classes of clerks necessarily assigned to the making up of official decisions in all branches of the bureau is too small to secure first class men, acquainted with law, and especially with land statutes, and with the current and routine of departmental practice, and possessing the requisite tact, discretion, and power of dis crimination to act upon these important questions, covering the ele ments of title to the entire body of lands disposed of by the Govern ment. The number of clerks should be largely increased in all the higher grades. Into these classes should then be introduced men of first class talent and legal acquirements, ready versed in the law, and familiar, as far as possible, with the practice in land cases. The salaries of the heads of divisions appointed to superintend the work of these classes, including the recorder and law clerk, should be raised to twenty-five hundred dollars each, and the chief clerk, who is required by law to act as Commissioner in the sickness or absence of the head of the bureau, or in case of vacancy in that office, and must, therefore, be fully quali fied for its duties, should receive not less than three thousand dollars per annum. With ten heads of division, including the recorder, law clerk, and three principal clerks, at twenty-five hundred dollars each, ten clerks of class four as assistants at eighteen hundred each, a principal draughtsman at two thousand dollars, and an addition of ten to each of classes three and two above the number allowed by the last appropriation, I could so arrange the work as to double the efficiency of the office in a very short time. Without some additional assistance of this kind it must remain for an indefinite period in its present very unsatisfactory condition. I have not in the foregoing set before you any statement whatever respecting the recent interruption to the work caused by the late disastrous fire. It is safe to assert, and this will be found within the facts, that at least two months have been taken from the time of the whole office by the delays and interruptions incident to the casualty. This will in effect consume one-sixth of the annual appropriation for the regular salaries, and a much greater portion of the contingent fund. Of course it will be no more than mere repairing to add sufficient to the present force to make up this item of actual loss. The service of the Land Department is too valuable to the country to be allowed to suffer from such causes, especially at a time when it is already largely in arrears, in spite of its every effort to keep pace with the current busi ness. The increase asked for is only sufficient to put the office on a sound working basis for regular service. To this estimate should be added appropriations for special service in various departments, such as swamp land adjustments, timber trespass investigations, and other matters taken up in their regular connection elsewhere in this report. The force of messengers and laborers is also insufficient to secure the proper dispatch of the public business. The former should be increased one-half and the latter one-fourth in order to subserve the reasonable convenience of the bureau and those doing business before it. As now organized, the lack of messengers frequently compels the interruption of the work of clerks of every grade, from the lowest to the highest, and the consumption of much valuable time in communicating with distant rooms, which could be more economically paid for at the proper salary than by devolving it upon the clerks and heads of divisions at the present rates of compensation. I would also recommend legislative provision for a competent stenog. rapher, at a salary of sixteen hundred dollars per annum. The necessity for the service of such a person in this bureau must be equally as obvious as it is for other departments and bureaus of the Government for which provision is made. LAW LIBRARY. Questions of the utmost importance, involving vast interests requiring the most thorough and careful research and examination, are continually |