section of said act, there has been issued by this office scrip or certifi cates entitling the coufirmees or their assigns to locate 429,979.16 acres of land.

While the act of 1860 provided for the issue of patents for lands confirmed in place, it will be observed that it fails to provide for the issue of patents for lands located by the aforesaid scrip. The only evidence of title, therefore, that can be obtained to lands located thereby is the certificate of entry issued by the register and receiver of the land office in whose district the location is made, upon the surrender by the holder of the scrip under which the location is made.

In view of the foregoing, I have the honor to recommend appropriate legislation directing the Commissioner of the General Land Office to issue patents for lands located by the aforesaid scrip or certificates of location.

SUPERVISION OF SURVEYS.

The first section of the act of Congress approved May 18, 1796, entitled "An act providing for the sale of the lands of the United States in the territory north west of the river Ohio, and above the mouth of the Kentucky River," provides that

A surveyor general shall be appointed, whose duty it shall be to engage a sufficient number of skillful surveyors as his deputies, whom he shall cause, without delay, to survey and mark the unascertained outlines of the lands lying northwest of the river Ohio, and above the mouth of the river Kentucky, in which the titles of the Indian tribes have been extinguished, and to divide the same in a manner hereinafter directed; he shall have authority to frame regulations and instructions for the government of his deputies, to administer the necessary oaths upon their appointments, and to remove them for negligence or misconduct in office.

The second section provides for the method of survey; the fourth section for the sale of lands" under the direction of the governor or secretary of the western territory and the surveyor general."

General Rufus Putnam was appointed by the President the first surveyor general of the United States, (northwest of Ohio River,) the pub. lic lands being then under the administration of the Treasury Department, and all letters addressed to the surveyor general up to June 17, 1812, were signed by the Secretary of the Treasury.

It will be seen by the foregoing that in the beginning there was but one surveyor general for the whole country. He had authority to ap point competent deputies to assist him in the work. By various acts of Congress, since passed, the number of surveyors general has been increased, and the price per mile been fixed under contract system.

The practical result of the legislation increasing the number of surveyors general has not been such as to commend it to the country, and I am clearly of the opinion that the whole system should now be changed. I suggest and urge this on the ground of economy, and the belief that the work of public surveys would be more faithfully and permanently executed under the direction of one officer. There are now sixteen surveyors general, the maintenance of whose offices will cost during the present fiscal year $128,609.27, while expending in public surveys only the small sum of $300,000, being at the rate of about fortythree cents for superintending the expenditure of each dollar.

One surveyor general, employing not to exceed forty clerks, and at a cost not exceeding fifty thousand dollars, could, under the present contract system, if that were to continue, perform all the work in a more satisfactory manner than it is now done at so much greater cost. The reasons why this could be done are obvious to those who will investi

gate the subject. The salaries of sixteen surveyor generals, the rent of sixteen offices, the fuel and lights for the same, the employment of sixteen chief clerks, each at a salary, in most instances, as great, if not greater, than that received by the principal clerk of surveys of the whole United States, under whose direction and supervision all surveys are made, and by whom the accuracy of all the work is tested, could be dispensed with, and in lieu thereof substitute one surveyor general, one chief clerk, and the necessary number of clerks, as before stated.

The contract system for public surveys should be at once annulled and set aside. All surveys should be made by a regular staff or corps of officers selected by the surveyor general as his assistants on account of their fitness for the service. It should be the duty of such assistants to go into the field and make the surveys in person. If this system were adopted, it would certainly insure better work at less cost than by the present mode. The assistants, working at a fixed salary, would have no motive for doing the work imperfectly, as they might have if under contract, which, in my opinion, is a sufficient reason for saying that the surveys would be made in a more satisfactory manner. There can be no reasonable doubt that surveys made in this manner would cost less than by the present contract method. is true that the prices now allowed by law are too small to admit of large profits being made in the survey of mountainous or densely timbered lands, if the work be properly done. One reason why this is true is found in the fact that many of the persons surveying under contract are not well skilled in their work, and have not the means of procuring the necessary equip ment for camp and field to enable them to do the work in the most economical manner. Most contractors in the Western States and Territories have to pay ruinous rates of interest for money to enable them to go into the field at all, and yet, with all these adverse circumstances to contend against, they make good profits on surveys of arable or level lands.

During the fiscal year ending June 30, 1877, there were expended in the surveys of public lands the sum of $215,942.42, for which there were surveyed 10,847,082 acres. Add to this the further sum of $146,933.58 which it cost to maintain the surveyor generals' offices in the sixteen districts where the surveys were made, and it is found that the total cost amounts to $362,876.

I hazard nothing in saying that under the system of having but one surveyor general and assistants, as proposed, a much larger area could have been surveyed and in a better manner. In many of the surveying districts lines and corners, established only a few years since under the contract system, are entirely obliterated.

It may be urged against this system that it would not be convenient for settlers and others, interested in any district where there are unsurveyed public lands, to procure such surveys as might be desired, if the surveyor general's office in the district were abolished or removed. No such argument can be successfully maintained. The rule is now for the surveyors general to make surveys in such parts of their several districts as they deem best, and all contracts for surveys before they become binding are sent to this office for approval. An order to survey any particular township in any district can be sent to an assistant in less time than a contract could be prepared, sent here, approved, and returned to the surveyor general, all of which must be done before the work can be commenced. I therefore recommend

First. The consolidation of all the offices of surveyors general into one, which shall be located in Washington.

Second. The abolition of the contract system.

Third. The appointment of a surveyor general of the United States, who shall be authorized to appoint as many assistants as may be required to personally make the surveys as fast as may be deemed necessary or provided for by law.

SURVEY OF ISLANDS AND BEDS OF MEANDERED LAKES, SLOUGHS, AND PONDS.

The survey of small islands in navigable meandered waters in the States where the offices of surveyors general had been closed and no appropriation of funds applicable for the purpose had been provided, was authorized by this office in 1868, to be executed at the expense of the applicant.

Office circular of June 10, 1868, (revised December 1, 1874,) embodied the regulations governing such surveys. The applicant is required to describe the particular island requested to be surveyed, with reference to the lines of public surveys adjoining the same, to furnish affidavits of disinterested persons of the existence of such lands, and to deposit the requisite amount to cover the cost of the survey; but with the understanding that the payment for such survey would confer no preferenceright in the purchase of the land, such lands when surveyed being held subject to homestead and pre-emption rights under existing laws.

July 13, 1874, a circular was issued prescribing regulations for the survey of beds of lakes, (not navigable,) sloughs, and pounds over which the lines of the public survey were not extended at the date of the original survey, but which from the presence of water at the date of such survey were meandered, but which have become dry land sufficiently for agricultural purposes, by evaporation or from other causes. These regulations were similar in their requirements to those for the survey of islands. Such islands and beds of lakes, sloughs, ponds, or bayous were held to be public lands, the property of the United States.

The regulations embraced in these circulars were not new in their substance, but were simply a formulation of the pre-existing practice of the office theretofore administered with reference to the class of lands to which they were applicable.

I found surveys which had been made under these instructions pending before the Department when I assumed my present official position, and have permitted them to be treated, as was contemplated by the instructions, as a matter of good faith to parties interested; but after a careful consideration the conclusion is reached that not only is there no specific enactment which authorizes this action as set forth in the instructions above referred to, but there is grave doubt whether the United States has any claim to such islands or dried up lake beds, and whether they do not come under the sovereignty of the States respectively within the limits of which they are situated, and it was therefore determined that such surveys should not further be authorized. Aside from this question of title there are many other important considerations connected with this subject. It is impossible, from anything in the possession of this office, to arrive at anything like a correct computation of the number of these islands and surveyable lake beds; but there is sufficient to warrant the statement that the number is quite large and is constantly increasing. They are often found in localities which, from nearness to growing cities or villages, or from being within thickly and long settled neighborhoods, gave them a high value, and they became, as this office has had experience, objects of contention and strife, and affect the interests of whole

communities. The labor that will be imposed upon this office if the past system should be continued, would be very great, and I therefore am of the opinion that let the title rest where it may, Congress should pass an act transferring any title the United States may possess to the respective States, when such lands can become subject to the operation of State laws. The whole subject is worthy the attention of Congress, and indeed both public and private interests require its early attention.

ADJUSTMENT OF SWAMP LAND GRANTS UNDER THE ACT OF CONGRESS APPROVED MARCH 2, 1849, SEPTEMBER 28, 1850, AND MARCH 12, 1860.

The act of September 20, 1850, has been held by the Supreme Court to have been a present grant. The act provides that it shall be the duty of the Secretary of the Interior to make accurate lists and plats of the same, and transmit them to the governors of States, and at their request to issue patents therefor. The provisions of the law have not been fully carried out, nor have the grants to the several States been adjusted. Lapse of time makes the adjustment more difficult. Many States are demanding their rights under the act, and, at the present rate of settlement, years must elapse before the swamp and indemnity lands can be ascertained.

The quantity of land selected for the several States under the acts of March 2, 1849, September 28, 1850, and March 12, 1860, is 67,683,045.76 acres; of this quantity 51,315,355.59 acres have been approved, and of the approved selections 47,923,306.91 acres have been patented. There remains of the approved lands 3,392,048.68 acres to be patented, and of the selected lands 16,367,690.17 acres remain to be approved and patented.

Under existing regulations of the Department these lands, which are distributed among the States from Florida to Oregon, must be examined in the field before approval. Many years must elapse before this can be done, unless Congress will appropriate money for a larger clerical force. I have now but one agent in the field, and have to pay his expenses out of the contingent fund of the bureau. There should be at least forty efficient men engaged on this work. The extent of the grant should be ascertained at the earliest possible date, and the lands passing under the grant should be conveyed to the several States.

I therefore recommend that you call special attention of Congress to this matter, and urge an appropriation sufficient to insure a speedy adjustment of this grant.

LAPSED RAILROAD GRANTS BY REASON OF NON COMPLETION.

A large number of grants for railroad purposes have expired by lim itation, the roads for whose benefit they were made not having been constructed within the period prescribed by law; and I desire to invite attention to this subject which, though deserving of special consideration, has never heretofore been presented to Congress.

Most, if not all, grants contain clauses limiting the time within which the work of building the roads shall be performed, and recite that in the event of a failure on the part of the companies to comply with the conditions imposed, the "lands shall revert to the Government." A case involving this question was brought to the Supreme Court from Wiscon sin, and that body, at its October term of 1874, declared that such clause, to wit, "the lands unsold shall revert to the Government,” (if

the road be not completed,) is a condition subsequent, being in effect a provision that the grant to the extent of the lands unsold shall be void if the work designated be not done within the period prescribed.

After some discussion as to the manner in which the reserved right of the grantor for breach of the condition must be asserted, so as to restore the estate, the court say: "In the present case no action has been taken either by legislation or judicial proceedings to enforce a forfeiture of the estate granted." (Schulenberg et al. vs. Harriman, 21 Wall., 44.)

It will, therefore, be seen that provisions for reversions are conditions subsequent, and cannot operate until a declaration of forfeiture, either by some judicial proceedings authorized by law, or by legislative assertion of ownership on the part of the United States; and if this be not enforced, the title remains unimpaired in the grantee.

I append hereto a tabular statement showing the grants in this condition, the dates on which they were made, with reference to the acts of Congress by volume and page of the statutes; the road for whose benefit they were made; the States or corporations to which granted; the date of expiration of the grant by limitation of statute; the estimated quantity of lands which would inure to the State or corporation under the grant if road had been completed in due season, and which had been withheld from ordinary disposition; the number of miles of line constructed; the approximate quantity of lands which the State or corpora tion has earned under the grant by partial completion of the road, and the quantity patented or certified under the grant up to June 30, 1877. The roads named in the list were uncompleted at the date of the expiration of their respective grants, so far as this office has been advised, and most of them remain in that condition. Great bodies of land which have not been earned, and which of course cannot be patented to the States or corporations under the grants, are withheld from sale or entry, and there is no manner now by which settlers can acquire title to them. The companies cannot sell, and this office has no authority to recognize appropriations made under the various laws.

I think it important that some action should be taken by Congress, looking either to the enforcement of the forfeiture of the grants or extending the time for the completion of the roads. If the latter course should be pursued the claims of bona fide settlers who have gone upon the lapsed lands in large numbers, and whose entries thereof have, in many instances, been permitted by the district officers, should be recog nized, protected, and confirmed. As their cases now stand there is but one course for this office to pursue in passing upon such claims and entries, and this works great hardship, which should be avoided as a simple matter of justice in case the grants are resuscitated and extended. I, therefore, recommend that the attention of Congress be specially called to this subject, and that legislation thereon be urged.

Below is a list of the companies, together with the date of the act granting the lands, expiration of the time allowed for completion of the 1oad, quantity granted, &c.