On the 30th of September, 1863, the aggregate quantity of the surveyed public lands which were not disposed of in any way was 133,487,495 acres. Operations under the Agricultural College Act.By the act of 2d July, 1862, Congress made provision for "donating public lands to the several States and Territories which may provide colleges for the benefit of agriculture and the mechanic arts;" the law authorizing the grant of 30,000 acres for each senator and representative in Congress, according to the apportionment by Census of 1860. Under this law, the whole quantity which falls to the "loyal States" (accepting), in "place" and in "scrip," is as follows: 1st. In "place"-acres, 1,500,000-that is, the States holding public lands within their limits are required to take such lands in satisfaction of their claims under the grant. 2d. In "scrip"-acres, 5,280,000-which the States not holding public lands are to receive and dispose of to assignees, who may locate according to certain stipulations in the act; the proceeds of sale to subserve the purposes of the law. The States which had accepted prior to 30th September, 1863, are the following: Iowa... Accepting lands in the State. Kansas........... Operations under other Grants to 30th September, 1863.-Under the several grants named, the whole number of acres selected by the grantees, or disposed of by warrants and patents issued to the above date, was as follows:Swamp Land Act...... 57,923,737 Railroad Grants of 1856 and 1857......... 12,758,845 Military Services (Bounty Land)... 64,976,772 Homestead Act..... 1,456,515 Of this land there Cost, dc. of the Public Lands.-In the year 1850, John Wilson, then Commissioner of the Land Office, made a report on the cost of the public lands, including the purchase-money for Louisiana, Florida, &c., and also the cost of extinguishing the Indian title, for survey, management, &c. At that period the public lands sold and unsold covered an area of 424,103,750 acres, the cost of which for purchase-money and the extinction of the Indian title was $61,121,717, or an average cost of 14 cents per acre. had been surveyed to the date of that report 304,448,627 acres, at an expense of $6,369,838, or an average of 2130 cents per acre. To the same time there had been sold and disposed 140,387,837 acres, the cost of selling and managing which had averaged 5 cents per acre. From these figures we deduce the following as the average cost per acre of the public lands prior to 1850, including purchase-money, cost of survey, and cost of sale and management: Cts. per Acre. Michigan... Minnesota.... Wisconsin Illinois and Missouri 66 Iowa and Wisconsin... 66 Wm. Cuddy. Kansas and Nebraska.. Minnesota.. Dakota Territory. Washington Territory. Henry A. Wiltze. Mark Delahay. Wm. D. Washburn. Geo. D. Hill. Edwin F. Beale. .Byron J. Pengra. Anson G. Henry. ...John Pierce. Levi Bashford. New Mexico Territory............ John A. Clark. LAND OFFICES, REGISTERS, AND RECEIVERS. LAND OFFICES, REGISTERS, AND RECEIVERS.-Continued. Offices. La Crosse, Wisconsin................ Eau Claire, Wisconsin Junction City, Kansas... Olympia, Washington Territory Santa Fé, New Mexico Territory. Registers. Geo. A. Mitzger.. F. P. Ramirez........ Dana E. King Abner Tibbetts. Luke Marvin Wm. A. Starkweather... PATENT OFFICE. Established (as now organized) July 4, 1836. The date above given is that of the act providing for an office to be denominated the Patent Office, the chief officer of which shall be called the Commissioner of Patents; but it is not to be understood that the Patent system of the United States dates from that time. Section 8 of Article I of the Constitution empowers Congress to promote the progress of science and useful arts by securing to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries; and by virtue of this authority Congress passed an act as early as April 10, 1790, enabling inventors to secure their rights by letters patent. There was additional legislation in 1793, 1800, and in 1810, in which last-named year the President was authorized to have erected or purchased a separate building for the Post Office and "the keeper of the patents." In 1828, another building was authorized for the Post Office and Patent Office, and on the 4th of July, 1836, still another for the Patent Office alone. On the 15th of December of the same year, the old office was destroyed by fire. The building erected under the authority of the act of 1836 is that which occupies the G Street front of the magnificent pile of pies Patent Office buildings, which now extend over two entire blocks of the city of Washington. The force employed in the Patent Office consists of the Commissioner, Chief Clerk, 3 Chief Examiners, 10 Examiners, Disbursing Clerk, and Librarian, already named, with their salaries respectively, among the executive officers of the Interior Department; and, in addition, 8 assistant examiners, at a salary of $1800, 5 second assistant examiners, at a salary, of $1600 each, a machinist Receivers. Milton Barlow. William T. Matlock. Charles B. Lines. Francis E. Adams. at $1600, 6 clerks, at salaries of $1400 to $1600 each, Brief Statement of the Operations of the United Number of applications received from Oct. 1, 1862, to 30th Sept. 1863, inclusive........ 5,133 Patents issued, including re-issues and de- Number of Extensions granted.. Financial Statement. 62 3,897 40 370 Balance in the Treasury, 1st Oct. 1862 $48,157 21 Deduct expenses during the same time Leaving in the Treasury, Oct. 1, 179,378 55 $227,535 76 189,803 13 $67,732 63 PATENT-OFFICE OPERATIONS FOR TWENTY-SEVEN YEARS. TABLE exhibiting the Business of the Office for Twenty-seven Years, ending September 30, 1863. An act of Congress, approved July 9, 1862, authorized the President to appoint a Commissioner of Indian Affairs, to have the direction and management of all matters arising out of Indian relations, subject to the revision of the Secretary of War (now Secretary of the Interior). The duties of the Bureau are administered by the Commissioner and Chief Clerk (already named, with their respective salaries, under the head of Executive Officers of the Interior Department), assisted by 27 clerks, at salaries ranging from $1200 to $1800, 1 draughtsman, at $1600, 2 messengers and 2 laborers, at salaries of $400 to $840 each; and several hundred superintendents, agents, clerks, interpreters, farmers, blacksmiths, schoolmasters, laborers, &c. in the Indian country, at salaries ranging from $2000 a year down to $20 a year. It is difficult to convey an adequate idea of the business of this Bureau in general terms, and the details are too numerous for the space that can be devoted to the subject. The greater part of the business of the Bureau relates to the fulfilment of treaty stipulations with the Indian tribes for the payment of annuities in money and in goods; in the regulation of the intercourse between the Indians and the traders; in efforts to introduce agriculture and some of the mechanic arts, and the rudiments of school education, among the more manageable tribes; in efforts to maintain peaceful relations among tribes inclined to hostilities, and, in general, such supervi sion as will conduce to their welfare. The treaties made previous to 1843 fill a large octavo of 612 pages, and those made since fill half as many more; the annual appropriation bill for the current year occupies 20 closely printed pages of Little and Brown's edition of the Statutes at Large, and the amount of money thereby appropriated is $2,117,962. These general statements may serve to convey some idea of the extensive details of the affairs managed by the Bureau. * Year ending September 30. All the other years named are to December 31. The receipts fell off to so great an extent in 1861 that Congress appropriated in 1862 $50,855.49 to meet the deficiency. Statement showing the Tribes of Indians within the United States Territory, Number of Souls, and Place of Residence of each Tribe, as made up from the best data in the possession of the Indian Office in November, 1863. missioner and Chief Clerk (already named, with their salaries, under the head of Executive Officers of the Interior Department), assisted by 12 clerks at $1800 each per year, 30 clerks at $1600 each per year, 52 clerks at $1400 each per year, 50 clerks at $1200 each per year, 6 messengers at $700 to $840 each per year, 5 laborers and a watchman at $600 each per year. The Commissioner's estimate for salaries and office expenses for the years 1864-5, is $232,840. The date above given is that of the act which | affairs of the office are administered by the Comfirst authorized the appointment of a Commissioner of Pensions. While the office created by this act was designed to be of short duration, it was continued by subsequent legislation until the 19th of January, 1849, when the office was made permanent on account of the large accumulation of business consequent upon the Mexican War. Originally the acts of the Commissioner of Pensions were subject to the supervision of the Secretaries of War and the Navy; but by the act of 3d March, 1849, establishing the Interior Department, the supervisory power is transferred to the Secretary of the Interior. It is the duty of the Commissioner of Pensions to execute, under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior, such duties in relation to the pension and bounty-land laws as may be assigned to him by the President. The The following statement will exhibit the number and character of the army pensioners on the rolls, June 30, 1863, and the annual amounts payable to said pensioners; also the same particulars estimated by the Commissioner for the years ending June 30, 1861 and 1865 : Army Pensioners and Pensions, June 30, 1863, and Estimates of the Pension Office for 1861-5. Statement of the Number and Yearly Amount of Army Pensions on the Rolls in each State and Territory on June 30, 1863. Total............ 7,248 $570,648 18 $1,045 1,573 $129,684 4,820 $526,266 13,659 1,227,642 The foregoing table exhibits the number of pensioners in each class, as they stood on the rolls, June 30, 1863, and the amounts annually payable. The total amounts actually paid in the same year to the several classes above enumerated were as follows: To invalid pensioners, $383,670; to Revolutionary soldiers, $26,430; to widows of Revolutionary soldiers, $132,237: to widows, mothers, orphans, &c. in wars since the Revolution, $342,731; total actually paid in the year ending June 30, 1863, $885,068. |