From August 1, 1882, the date of the last report of this office, to the beginning of my term, January 8, 1883, the following number of patents have been issued:

From January 8, 1883, the beginning of my term, to August 1, 1884, the following number of patents have been issued:

Since August 1, 1882, and up to January 8, 1883, the commencement of my term of office, Swamp Land Districts have been organized and reported to this office as follows:

Since January 8, 1883, and up to August 1, 1884, Swamp Land Districts have been organized and reported, as follows:

Since August 1, 1882, and up to January 8, 1883, evidence of the complete reclamation, or of the expenditure of two dollars per acre on the land embraced, for works of reclamation, for the following described Swamp Land Districts, were received:

During my term of office, and up to August 1, 1884, evidence of complete reclamation, or the expenditure of two dollars per acre on works of reclamation, has been received from County Boards of Supervisors for the following described Swamp Land Districts, and the proper statements in relation thereto have been sent to the County Treasurers:

Amount collected as Surveyor-General, from August 1, 1882, to August 1, 1884. Amount collected as Register of State Land Office, from August 1, 1882, to August 1, 1884

$9,730 00

6,451 00

Total amount collected.__.

$16,181 00

In connection with the item of fees, I regret the necessity of reporting that one of the clerks in the office of the Surveyor-General (since discharged) took and appropriated to his own use $956 of the money of the State, but upon the discovery of the deficiency, and upon demand being made, restored the amount taken.

GENERAL OFFICE WORK.

Some of the new maps furnished during the administration of my predecessor have been carefully compared with and substituted for the old ones, and copies of United States township maps have been procured.

The largely increased inquiry concerning application for and sale of the lands of the State has resulted in an enormous amount of correspondence and clerical work, compelling the full force of the office to work from two to four hours over-time each day.

In the discharge of my duties as Surveyor-General, I found it necessary to visit Washington, D. C., last Winter, to perform the duties formerly assigned to the Agent of the State of California, and to avoid the necessity of such absence from this office, I most earnestly recommend the passage again of an Act providing for the employment of an agent to represent this State in Washington.

PROPOSED CHANGES IN RELATION TO THE SALE OF STATE SCHOOL LANDS.

Permit me most respectfully to call your attention to certain imperatively necessary changes in the Political Code relative to the disposition of State lands.

Section 3498 provides: "All applications filed in the SurveyorGeneral's office must be retained sixty days before approval." By an Act passed April 28, 1880, it was evidently intended to amend Section 3498, as shown by Section 6 of said Act, by the following additional provision: "And must be approved (when there is no conflict) by the Surveyor-General at the expiration of six months." But, unfortunately, this additional provision is clearly void, because it is not expressed in the title of the Act (see Art. 4, Sec. 24, Constitution) and also is erroneously appended to Section 3548, instead of Section 3498, which is not mentioned.

Section 3498 should be amended to provide as follows:

SECTION 3498. All applications, under whatsoever Act, filed in the office of the SurveyorGeneral must be retained sixty days, and must be approved (when there is no conflict) by the Surveyor-General at the expiration of six months. And all unapproved applications, which have been on file over six months, wherein the contest has not been referred to Court, or a demand made for an order of reference, as provided in Section 3414, Political Code, shall be canceled.

By the passage of an Act as outlined, the records of this office will be relieved of a very large number of "dummy" locations, which have incumbered the records for many years, and in future prevent parties who do not seek to purchase in good faith from withholding lands from sale for a longer period than six months.

Of the lands of the State there still remain unsold sixteenth and thirty-sixth sections, aggregating many thousands of acres. The Act of April 28, 1880, which required settlement upon all school lands as prerequisite to the purchase thereof, practically withdrew from sale those tracts which are suitable only for grazing. The choice lands were surveyed and sold years ago, and those that remain are either recently surveyed or are what remain from old surveys. As long as the present law is in force, these lands will remain unsold, and the stockmen will have the free use thereof, the schools will be deprived of the revenue from their sale, and the counties receive no taxes thereon.

Permit me to suggest an amendment to the present law, providing that school lands that are not suitable for cultivation, and have been surveyed for five years, and remain unsold, may be located in tracts of six hundred and forty acres, without settlement.

In concluding this report, permit me to explain my reasons for omitting to include the statistical tables heretofore compiled from the reports of the County Assessors:

Section 483, Political Code, provides what the report of the Surveyor-General shall include-Part 4 says: "To require County Surveyors and Assessors to collect and transmit to him, at such times as he may direct, information relative to the subject-matter of his biennial reports."

Section 4081, Political Code, provides: "The Board must require Assessors to report to the Surveyor-General annually, etc.; but by the passage of the Act of March 14, 1883, entitled "An Act to establish a uniform system of county and township governments," said Section 4081 was virtually repealed, and Section 50 of said Act of March 14, 1883, now provides that "the Board must require the Assessors to report to the State Board of Equalization annually," etc. Therefore it would be a useless duplication for me to include these statistics, which are to be a part of the report of the honorable State Board of Equalization.

Section 483, Political Code, should be amended by striking out Part 4 of said section.

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