Democratic Sentinel, Volume 8, Number 40, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 31 October 1884 — THE PUBLIC DOMAIN. [ARTICLE]

THE PUBLIC DOMAIN.

Points from the Report of the Commisioner. i t The Commissioner of the General Land Office, says a Washington dispatch, has submitted his report of the operations of the office for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1884. The sales, entries, and selections of public lands embraced 26,834,041 acres; Indian lands, 697,129 acres; total, 27,531,-’ I 170 acres—an increase over lhe year 1883 of : 8,101,137 acres, and over 1882 of 13,222.003 I acres. The receipts from the disposals of public lands were $11,840,993; from Indian lands, $938,137; total. $12,779,100—an increase over 1883 of $1,073,364, and an increase over 1882 of $1,392,750, to which is to be added $10,275 received for certified copies of records, making the total receipts for the year $12,789,405. The total number of entries and filings was 286,812, aggregating 40,625,000 acres, an increase over the preceding year of 60,724. The number of entries approved for patenting under the pre-emption and other laws was 60.276, an increase over the previous year of 6,429. The agricultural patents numbered 51,337, an increase of 855 over the preceding year. The number of private cash entries was 9,894, and 3,206,095 acres were sold under the pre-emption law, an increase of 920,385 acres over the preceding year. The receipts from cash sales were $10,302,582, an average of over $1.32 per acre; 3,118 tracts of land, embracing 200,002 acres, were sold at public sale at an average of $2.94 per acre. The Commissioner renews his recommendation that the pre-emption law be repealed, and deems it important that the homestead law be amended so as to require proof of actual residence and improvement for two years, before a homestead entry may be committed to cash payment. He recommends the repeal of the timber culture act, the act providing that lands covered by relinquishments shall be subject to entry immediately upon cancellation at the local office, the desert land law and the timber and stone land act, There were 1,076 miles of railroad constructed during the year under the various grants. The Commissioner suggests that a commission be appointed to examine and decide upon unsettled private land claims in New Mexico, Colorado, and Arizona, and recommends the re-establ shment of the boundary line between Colorado and Utah, and the survey of the boundary line between Dakota and Montana and in Yellowstone Park. Thirty-two cases of illegal fencing of public kinds have have been reported, the area inclosed aggregating 4,431,980 acres. Twelve cases have been acted upon and suits recommended to compel the removal of the fences. A very large number of complaints remain uninvestigated for want of facilities. The Commissioner says that the portion of the public lands still rem lining should be economized for the use of actual settlers only. An act reserving the public lands, except mineral and timber reserves, for entry under the homestead law, with amendments to prevent evasion of its wise restrictions, would be a measure meeting this end. In conclusion, the Commissioner points out the necessity for the immediate adoption of some measure by which the natural forests may be preserved at the headwaters of important rivers and their tributaries, and in such other situations where their preservation is expedient for c’imatic effect and other good reasons of utility. He says there is no good reason why lands worth from $25 to SIOO per acre for timber should be sold for $1.25 and $2.50 per acre as at present, and he favors the withdrawal from sale or entry, under existing laws of all distinctively timber lands of the United States, until examination and appraisement can be made. After examination permanent timber reserves should be established where deemed desirable, aud provision made for the sale nt not less than the appraised value of the remainder.