People's Pilot, Volume 4, Number 33, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 2 February 1895 — LAND OFFICE REFORM. [ARTICLE]

LAND OFFICE REFORM.

CHANGES URGED TO SIMPLIFY THE WORK. Report of Dockery Experts—Repeal of Section Providing a Bonus for Successful Conte«tants Is Recommended — Capital News. Washington, Jan. 31.—The report of the experts employed under the jurisdiction of the Dockery commission on a bill to regulate the engrossing and recording of inblic land patents has been laid before the house. The report embodies a history of the organization of the general land office, describes the character of the work in the several divisions and makes sundry recommendations that will result in a saving to the government. The experts recommend that the private land claims division and pre-emption division be consolidated as a misct.llaneous land claims division, and that the railway division and the swamp lands division be consolidated as the land grants division; that all patents be prepared and recorded under division of the recorder of the land office in order to provide uniform methods, to concentrate the records and to comply with lav.; that the patterns and lists be prepared by the use of typewriting machines, by which duplicate copies can be made, saving the time of at least twenty clerksand the possibility of errors in the transcribing; that the abstracts from registers and receivers be consolidated and one abstract, signed by both officers, substituted. The total estimated saving by the adoption of these recommendations is s<lß,Bßl,

Some chtitfiges in the praetive of the interior department regarding contested land.cases is probable as a result of a reconar rendation of the Dockery commission. This commission made a favorable report on a bill recently introduced in congress to repeal section 2 of theaet of May 14, 188(1, which provides a bonus for successful contestants in land case s. Expecting that threequarters of the contest work will cease toy rea ion of the repeal of this of this section, the commission estimates that a suvii |> - will be made of the salaries of a bout three-fourths of the clerks now engaged in such work in the generi*! laud office. This annual saving a ill amount to S32,(MXk In addition t»» this sum the repeal of the prov Mon for a bonus in the act 'of 1880 wflll, says the commission, facilitate the public land business for the people and dispense with the odious featu res of the informer. The public landis committee has adopted the recommendations of the commission and sug pest that they ba inserted as a part of t>ie legislative appropriation bill. Likely- to Kill the MeaHure. Waßiiingb>n, Jan. 31.—The open eagerness of the I’acifice railroad lobby for thm passage of the Reilly refunding bill has aroused bitter opposition to the measure, and although the debate is in its infancy the weight of intelligent opinion is that the pending proposition will be defeated.