The republic. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1849-1853, 1852-12-15

A This provision Of law, ii is expected, will be tn
means Of relieving the country from much embar
rassment by preventing conflicts which nigh
arise by the survey as public property of land
that should properly be held in reservation unit
| the final adjudication shalI have been had-an
hereafter in such claims may be utimatcl
held TO be invalid, il will be qui'e easy 10 exten;
the lines of the public surveys over them, ant
connect the same with the contiguous surveys.
In the same law Congress has further provide'
for an associate law agent for California, Learned
in the law and skilled In the Spanish and Englisi
languages and, with this additional aid, il 10 hopet
the commissioners will be able TO press the bust
mesa entrusted to them and bring their labors to
close as speedily as possible. #" H..t
beg leave to invite the attention of Congress To
| the proprety of prescribing by legislation some
measure for ascertaining and settling any privat,
rights which it may be our duty to recognise in
OaEGos. in view of the stipuatons in the treaty
| 18th August, lS46, at Washington, between the
United Stats and Great Britain. In prosecuting
the public surveys in that Territory. this office was
| for the government Of the surveyor general, in
order that he might avoid as far az practicable
any interference with valid rights. The action Of
that officer, however, in the matter. in the absence
OF legislation, must necessarily be partial and in
| conclusive; and therefore must again advert to
the subject in the hope that proper legislation may
be had at the present session, In case Govern
ment should not avail itself of the right of pur-
| chase recognized in the treaty.
The duties of the private land claim branch of
the service arc now extremely intricate and one
rous. BY reason Of the enhanced value of proper
ty generally throughout the country, conflicting
interests arise, and perplcxing questions IF law
and of fact are constantly coming before the De-
partment for examination and decision, often in
voving interests TO an immense amount. And
when such progress shall have been made by the
tribunals constituted for the adjudication of private
land titles in California will bring them before
the General Land Office, for it's examination and
dehnitive action in the way of issuing United
States patents Tor the same, our labors and respon-
sibilites will be seriously increased in this branch
of the service.
The attention of Congress is called to the re-
Communications heretofore made for euch legisa-
ton as will authorize this office under the direction
OF the President, 20 survey and dispose Of lands
served for military and other purposes, when the
object for which they were originally set apart has
been accomplished. Numerous reservations of this
character now exist, and in many instances present
| an almost insoperabe difficulty to the settlement
and sale of large bodies Of land. By the act of
1919, the Secretary OF War ia authorized to sell
abandoned military reservations, but there 10 no
authority anywhere to dispose of land reserved for
naval timber. The expediency of having uni
form system in the whole matter has been 30 fully
explained heretofore, and is evident that further
remark ID deemed unnecessary. DO
The surveys of the public lands in several of the
s ates have been closed and the archives of the
offlces OF the surveyors general have been turned
to the officers of the respective States in &C
cordance with the provisions of the act of June H.
1910. similar course will soon have To be adopt
ed with reference to Of the other States and
in all such cases the power to survey resurvey,
subdviuc lands ceases when the Office of the
surveyor general 10 thus abolished. In fact il ia
sight and proper that this expense on the public
lands should be abated as speedily it can pro-
perry he done. Daily experience, however, evinces
the necessity for the continuance OF this power
the public lands until they all disposed of, and
the only proper and economical Arrangement that
seems expedcnt and practicable is to place it in
this office. This would o6viete all Inconvenience
that can arise from abolshing the offices OF sur
veyors general under the act of $780, and secure
at nominal expense all the advantages that could
! accrue from their continuance under such crcum-
staoCes.
! beg leave to call your attention to the interest
ing reports of the several surveyors general here
with submitted, showing succinctly the extent Of
the operations of that branch of the service during
the past year, the present condition of their dis.
tric,s and the surveys proposed for the ensuing
season, Their Office labors, it will be perceived,
have been rendered extremely onerous by the =
lection of the swamp aud overlooked lands, and
examinations in relation 10 and defective
surveys. The work, however, is progressing sat
isfactorily. and strenuous Efforts have been made
to bring il to a close as speedily it can be done
with due regard to the public interest
AZ the sales of the public lands progress in diff
ferent Offices, the necessity arises for consolidating
Districts provided for by the act of 18th June $780,
and for removing the land Offices 10 be more
convenient to the unsold portions of the district.
Some OF the recent laws contain provisions author
izing the President to remove the land offices from
time to time, as the Necessities and convenience of
the public may require; and as there is the same
necessity in all like for the exercise Of this
power, ] recommend that a general provision of
law be made to that effect.
The adjustment of the grant of swamp an
overlooked lands made by the acts of ID March
lS49, and 2Sth September, 1850. has progressed
slowly, notwithstanding great diligence and &C
tivity in the force engaged on it. The selection
of the lands embraced by these grants was
trusted to the surveyors general OF the several
States where those Offices existed. and TO the regis
States where the Office Of surveyor general had
been abolished The reason for this course was.
that the surveyors general had access to all the
field notes, and the land officers to all the descrip-
tive notcs; whereas, except of few of the States,
there not complete sets Of either the files
of this office. 1t was we'll understood that many
of the lands had been surveyed IN very dry sea-
sons, or when the ground was frozen, and hence
the field descriptive notes would not indicate all
that were Of the character embraced by the grant.
In cases OF this kind the officers were authorized
to receive and act on such responsible and reliable
testimony should be produced by the authori-
ies OF the States. No reports have yet been re-
ceived from some of the officers, though urged
peatcdly TO hasten their action, that the e ant
may be closed
cause of the numerous conflicts that have grown
out Of this grant. The suspension Of the sale ind
disposal Of al the public domain was not contem.
plated by the. Q laws, and could not be made I'M
less spe cally directed by Congress, and hence nu
merous entries and locations have been made of
lands claimed by the States under these laws The
grant took effect from the dates of the acts making
il, and therefore in numerous cases conflicts OF
title arise which have TO be adjudica,ed by the
Department. TO relieve this difficulty ne far as
practicable, suggest that where such lands have
been purchased authority he granted for paying
over the purchase money to the State on n relin-
quisbment by the Governor, or other officer ap-
pointed by him for that purpose, OF all the right
of the State in and to such lands and where
those lands were located by warrants or scrip, to
authorize the State to locate n like amount else
where upon a similar REIMBURSEMENT
Exclusive OF THE difficulty, however, the labor
in adjusting these grants is very great, as all
the lists returned have to be carefully compared
with the tract-books; all selections where the land
was disposed of previous to the passage of the
lave, annulled; and those since suspended; all the
selections then posted, lists of them pre-
pared and sent to the Land Office, and also to
the Governors, with diagrams exhibiting the lands
embraced by the LETS; and, on the request OF the
Governor, the patents then issued. As all
this work must be done in conncxioa with the
current business Of the office, and but few can he
employed on il, the progress must necessarily be
slow.
II is proper hero to state that doubts have re-
Gently been suggested whether the tide of the Uni