REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF THE GENERAL LAND OFFICE. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, GENERAL LAND OFFICE, Washington, September 6, 1919. SIR: I have the honor to submit a report of the transactions of business in the General Land Office for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1919, together with my suggestions for new legislation. AREA OF LAND ENTERED AND PATENTED. The total area of public and Indian lands originally entered and allowed during the fiscal year ended June 30, 1919, is 11,$71.181.50 acres, not including 137,403.27 acres embraced in finals not heretofore counted as original dispositions of land. The latter area is constituted as follows: Public auction, 104,721.15 acres; abandoned military reservations, 7,509.29 acres; cash and private sales, individual claimants and small holding claims, 14.090.26 acres; preemption entries, 86.26 acres; and soldiers' additional homesteads, 10,996.31 acres. The area of 11,871,181.50 acres is an increase of 1,596,549.89 acres, as compared with the area originally entered and allowed during the fiscal year 1918. This increase in allowed entries is due to the stock-raising homestead act of December 29, 1916, 5,559,235.11 acres having been allowed under that act. The area patented during the fiscal year is 10,777,001.349 acres, an increase of 1224,519.132 acres, as compared with the fiscal year 1918. Of the above area 8.312,318.888 acres were patented under the homestead laws, an increase of 1,819,521.072 acres, not including as homesteads 13.331.12 acres patented as soldiers' additional entries. CASH RECEIPTS AND EXPENDITURES. The total cash receipts from the sales of public lands, including fees and commissions ($1.194,472.10), sales of reclamation townsite ($13,863.86), and sales of lands in the Oregon and California. railroad grant ($114.008.32), for the fiscal year 1919 were $2.817,03.27. The total receipts from the sales of Indian land were $1.357,781.54. Other receipts aggregated $98,829.19. The total receipts of this bureau during the fiscal year 1919 were $4.303,674.20. The total expenses of district land offices for salaries and commissions of registers and receivers and incidental expenses during the fiscal year ended June 30, 1919, were $794,984.62. The aggregate expenditures and estimated liabilities of the public land service including expenses of district land offices and surveys made from the appropriations for surveying the public lands outside of railroad land grant limits, were $3,026,554.46, leaving a net surplus of $1,277,119.74 of receipts over expenditures. Disbursements from the following special deposit trust funds and reimbursable appropriations are not included in the above figures as receipts or expenditures: From deposits by individuals for surveying the public lands, $47,020.65; from surveying within land grants (reimbursable), $12,572.36; from opening Indian reservations (reimbursable), $2,672.93; and from surveying and allotting Indian reservations (reimbursable), $54,705.49. THE FIELD SERVICE. The sum made available for the Field Service for this year was $500,000. The average number of field employees maintained under this appropriation during the year was 97, and in addition thereto the cost of maintenance of offices of the chiefs of field divisions and the clerical assistance required for them was paid from this appropriation. The total amount of cash collected and turned into the Treasury as the result of the work of the field force during the fiscal year was $101,298.96; of this amount, $26,754.57 was in settlement of tim-' ber trespass cases and $30,648.45 was secured from timber sales; $43,895.94 was recovered through civil and criminal action brought by the Department of Justice in cases of depredations on the public lands and violations of the public land laws. In addition, there has been turned into the Treasury $10,944.41, which represents royalty on coal mined during the past year from a tract in Colorado. This tract has been patented, but title thereto was recovered through suit, and under the decree of court the lessee from those deriving title from the patentee was protected, and the Government therefore now stands, while this lease runs, in the position of lessor. Under a lease known as the Gebo lease involving certain lands in Wyoming, entered into on August 29, 1912, under and pursuant to private resolution No. 4, approved August 1, 1912, by the department with the Owl Creek Coal Co., by which certain coal lands were leased to said company for a term of 10 years for the purpose of mining and selling coal on a royalty basis, there has been collected during the past year $26,193.35. The mining operations are under the supervision of the Bureau of Mines. As a result of investigations by the field employees, 164,363.83 acres have been restored during the year to the public domain. Of this amount, 79,040 acres represent fraudulent entries (taking an average of 160 acres to each entry) canceled through proceedings based upon special agents' reports; 85,323.83 acres restored to open range by abatement of unlawful inclosures without suit. Special agents have investigated and reported on 17,399 cases, 3,447 of which were adversely and 13,952 favorably reported. Two hundred and fifty-two hearings in Government contest cases have been held. Civil suits in 65 cases were recommended to the Department of Justice as the result of investigations made during the year. Eighty-six were tried in court, of which 60 were won and 26 lost. As the result of the successful prosecution of these suits, $43,895.94 was recovered and 8,091.26 acres were restored to the public domain, of which 6,180 acres had been unlawfully inclosed. Of the criminal cases tried during the year, 14 resulted in convictions, under which there were 6 prison sentences imposed and fines amounting to $1,000 paid. Mention was made in the last annual report of the difficulty in securing competent new men to take the place of those who had left the Field Service. This same difficulty was experienced during the past year, which resulted in maintaining an average force of 97 agents, as against 100 for the preceding year. Owing to the fact, however, that practically all of the field employees who entered the military service have returned, it is hoped that the force will be maintained at its full quota during the coming year. Satisfactory results have been obtained in the field work, especially in disposing of a great many of the older cases pending for investigation. The examinations necessary in connection with stock-driveway work, referred to in my last report, have been practically completed in connection with all but very recent applications. During the past year the field force investigated and reported upon a number of very important cases involving fraudulent entry of public lands and also of trespass upon public lands, with the result that recommendations have been made to the Department of Justice looking to the recovery of a large area of patented land and thousands of dollars as damages for trespass committed. During the past year the cost of transportation by automobiles amounted to approximately $65,000, an average of 23 cents per mile. Information from other bureaus of this department which used Government-owned machines shows that transportation in the field cost approximately 10 cents per mile. In view of the apparent excessive cost where private machines were used, and, further, owing to the fact that in many cases reports indicate that it was impossible for our field men to obtain machines where and when needed, Congress was requested to provide for the purchase of motor-propelled passenger-carrying vehicles for the use of the Field Service. The sundry civil bill provides that $15,000 of the appropriation for protecting public lands, timber, etc., may be used in the purchase and maintenance of such vehicles, which will be used at once for that purpose. During the close of the fiscal year reports of serious forest fires on public lands were received from the field. The fires were especially severe in southern Idaho. The chiefs of field divisions, in whose districts the fires occurred, were directed to assume charge of fire fighting operations and to fully cooperate with local organizations with a view to confining, and, where possible, extinguishing the fires. The only appropriation carrying funds available for the purpose of defraying the expense incurred in this work is the appropriation for protecting public lands, timber, etc., carrying $500,000. This appropriation though not intended by Congress for any such purpose, except perhaps in some very minor amount, has been quite heavily drawn upon. After conference with the General Land Office, identical bills were introduced in Congress, S. 2702 and H. R. 7625, appropriating $500,000, or as much thereof as may be necessary, for the purpose of protecting timber on the public lands from forest fires, to be expended under the supervision of the Secretary of the Interior, either directly or in cooperation with the Department of Agriculture, or the State, or private fire protection associations. Also, for the reimbursement of the appropriation for protecting public lands, timber, etc., in so far as said appropriation has been or shall be drawn upon to meet the expense of fighting fires on the public domain. I think it is entirely safe to assume that practically one-third of the $500,000 appropriated in the abovementioned appropriation will have been expended in combating these fires. If the Field Service organization, the expenses of which is entirely paid from this appropriation, is to be kept intact and the work carried on, it is absolutely necessary that some provision be made by Congress at an early date to reimburse this appropriation to the full amount expended. OIL-LAND CLAIMS. In my report for 1917, a very full statement was submitted as to the situation in the oil fields of California and Wyoming, in the matter of claims pending in the Land Department and before the courts and the main questions involved therein; while in my last report the additional data necessary to bring the oil story up to date was furnished, and the same course will be adopted this year. CALIFORNIA. The following tabulation indicates the present situation in respect to mineral applications for withdrawn oil lands in California as well as the unentered lands involved in suits by the Government: Awaiting termination of adverse suits by private parties. 4 960.00 1,055.76 640.00 Pending before the Register and Receiver on adverse charges by the United States. Awaiting receipt of decision by Register and Receiver. Awaiting completion of hearing.. Pending in General Land Office on hearing record.. Pending before the Secretary on appeal or motion. Patented in last fiscal year. Canceled in last fiscal year. Now pending outside naval reserves.. Lands in these entries involved in suits by the Government. Unentered lands involved in suits by the Government. 2, 516. 79 Lands outside naval reserves involved in suits by the Government attacking patents issued to the Southern Pacific R. R. Co. 133, 183. C3 IN NAVAL RESERVE NO. 1. Now pending in naval reserve No. 1. Pending before register and receiver on adverse charges by the United States Lands in these entries involved in suits by the Government. 160.00 1 160.00 10,751.54 IN NAVAL RESERVE NO. 2. Pending before the register and receiver on adverse charges by the United States.. Unentered lands in naval reserve No. 2, involved in suits by the Government. Lands in naval reserve No. 2 involved in suits by the Government attacking patents issued to the Southern Pacific R. R. Co.... Pending before the register and receiver on adverse charges by the United States.. 55 15,028.09 Lands involved in suits by the Government attacking patents issued to the Southern Pacific R. R. Co..... 26, 757.22 9,545. 66 3,477.68 159, 298. 17 Status of proceedings.-In my last report attention was directed to the necessity of having the court suits involving entered lands 117 47 |