, 1870-04-15
WASHINGTON : ::
Our. Public. Lands,
Their 0verseer, Joseph s. Wilson.
His Report for 1860.
Curious Feature. Of the Land Sys.tm.

Curious Features Of the Land Sys.en
Il The RAILWAY and 0ther Grabs.
Il (YRoA QUE OWN NcoKAEruxpKsr1
WASHINGTON, April Il.
0hace-holdAEs may bo divided into three q
four classes- ..
The first is the caroless of6oe-holdar. VII
commits his anairn to his Chief Clerk; th
Chief Clerk hands them over to the eecon
clerk, and 90 they drop down, until they reac
Agang OF thieves. This h&s bean tbs casa 10
tbs last twenty yeara with Indian Bureau
Next, you have tho opinion4ted oi8oe-holde,
Ike Ar. Boutwell,, who directs hia mind to on
or two things, concentrates his vholo eaarsio
upon them, and let's the rest so to pot
The legal office holder is the third species
who reduces Ill questions to propositions i
law, and, wble he is generally spt to be right
Is often imparfectly informed. Attorney Gen
eza1 Hoar and, pe1haps, General Coz arc q
Next, We have the fossy, bustling. or aner
getic ofiice-holder, Like General Capron, MI
Mullet, or Admiral Porter.
TIE LAND coO6Hs1o1Ea.
After passing these classes, you come to in
dlE'duals who are entirely and solely them
selves snch il Joseph s. Wilson, Comuis
sioner OF the General Land Ofica. Wilson be.
longs to family Of Federal oface-holdets, whe
have worked up from allow beginnings, and
| they e1plify IN their SUCCESS the bane3ts Of ,
! permanent civil service, Ar. Wilson's fathe,
Wa, II ! an not mistaken, An Irishmau And =
porter or body-serrant about the Patent Ofsea.
He worked al Of his days under the United
States Government, and put his sons in hum.
bio places under the same jealous employer.
One Of them hAs been IN Auditor OF the Treas
u1y; second one has kept about the Depart
whils the third generation Of boTs went intn
tho army and the navy. This fAmily Is, there
forc raEe e1emphdcahon Of the old goyarn-
9cnt otticlals, such Is are described in modern
English novels; .-
eaucns sense, and yct keeps bis pl.ce, or nesr
bis Place, through Al political mutations b.
1eason Of his unfai1fng gen;ality md hia az
t1aoEt1inary information and industry, And.
by this means, he has 80 inuoven himself vith
the intricate and rast land system of tha
United States that no Secretary Of the Iute1ior
c1Fes to TT the experiment Of displaciug him.
aB superior in office IT,, in general pa];ti-
can, and he can have no fear that Wilson
wants TO undermine him, and, therefore, whi]e
mutation, revolution, and scandal have, at
one time or another, Affected tha pstent Bn.
roau, tho Indian Bureau, the EducsHonsi 1u.
Teau, the Agricultural Bureau, &C., The Land
Otice, in its general mauaRemant. hxa hcon
sieAdfast IS the lind itself ~N-
Ihe American land system il altogether the
most national and extensive department Of
parativo proportions as Is the eolo1isl estah-
1sment to the English Government, the
police system To the French, or tho uil;tay
system to tho Russians. What a petty thine
u tho American asmy! How little the Amer.
ssn navy: But how insignificant Is even the
atatc department to The immense work nf
managing, surveying, parceliing out. Giving
eHay' and adjuating the titles, and providing
LOT the tutufo regimen Of nearly the fourth
pat q ~ habitablo North America. ONT Of
l,6S s9S, 400 acres in al the Un1tod States jeas
Sos, 567, ,665 ACRES. -
OUR RIAL ESTATE.
Not counting Alaska, there are ,00O. 900. 600 |
of acres Of underlined, undistu1bed public End
tn ~ re e. United States OF enough to give TO-
TtS Tsst Ess o, people finn Of 1o6 aeses apiece.
this SIZE, In addition to this the immense |
railroad, Indian, mineral and educational in |
tefcsts OF tho United States are thoroughly /
poahd up IN this land syBtem- Indeed, Il
mmisht 2 almost be said that tho United States
,,o5e e'ament t was department Of the public
pletea the American people would be attend-
ing 20 themselves and their goyernmeut tothn
pubic real estate. And tho custodian and
osefseer man Of this monstroua untnhabited |
t15us empire = the old gentleman whom have IN
You will eco him in one OF the corner rooms
q t9s great Dotic edidce in Washington, called
Tue tatcnt Oftico- He la thick set, snn.rn-
ahouldeEed, graJ-haired, rather puffy and
s.1S reaE,iaced -; old gentleman: generally about
and iistle less than half -conbod,
and bearing a, striking resemblance to aons
brooches and boots. Close to 60 5ears Of are.
born IN Washington, 4 man with litc4a7 and
E. editorial rather than q legal turn Of mind.
Joe 10 ~Ison .S is probably aa unique speci-
you can find l IL aat'ean ii tbs oaielM sa4a,n As
neni. This square, large, cs2neta5
book-sttcwn Office IL where he spends H.
better part Of bis Lie. Two littlo caFpetei
dens open out Of it, into which be retires. 10
;,otdlng to tradition, to boil tca four times
ea he is cipheEins up the public lands. Ho
,lsers abont Ave houty IN the tuenty-four to
iream Of the pnblic Lands. Occasionally be in
brought out to some little party Or other to
.ead a an essay, or = lecture, for which be is
nente: But. though it be upon Cromwell ~
a4ns Charlea the First, or Marlborough. yn,
I'll always find that, in some way or othar. tha
ecnlre takes ita beginning or culminstes Ia tha
Iuesnon OF the public lands. This versatile old
gentleman is the chief literary hand about tho
s'na II al the strange and instructive
REF ared or superintendent vere 10 bc pub-
lshed, the Government Printing Office would
ave hut one author. He wrote the intfoluc-
ION TO the lsss census, giving history Of Ill
20 eenauses taken By al the nations since
'oAh counted the animals at the door Of Tia
r.. You viii find his suggestions il The scri.
ultufh reports and in Tic Smithsonian re-
oHs, Agood deal Of the correspondence Of
ne ae state Department With foreign Ministers
ad archives i. on "Joo" Wilson's ac-
punt infoa.tian se1 he m Is ,,ma!s aos. hunting
latter which nobody thought Of before, hui
Fou follow it cut, you will find 1t last that
Is an exhalation Of the public land business.
lis early ,epoE5s are more remarkable for |
eport is not inde1ed: and public officer {
ught to be tined half his salary for issuing
,,Port without an index. But II you will tako q.
hson's reports for the last few years, md !
sad the se4-inPosed and vagarions part Of
0 noddle IN the public service that winks IN
many directions. and ia 20 thoroughly {
l1'ous to epread information. The gtyle Of !
u IepoftA Is often looee md hAaty. For ex- =
aIis: e. here sre the first words Of The report {
First That system has entended to all i,
% public lands in the States md Territories e
the republic. except Alasks and Wyoming. :
which the public land system is not well in- d
Iou perceive that here is adiseoonected sem h
hse e. II the very beginning Of Apublic report j,
This Is no worse than the mass OF our nnbrc E
ports. but Instance It to ahow what 1oose q
ltof1A work is done over cur public locu- G
ents- The fatal facility and cheap access to il
Government Printing Office has made Il 4
ts16le to toes In there heap OF disconnect- ii
and uiy-digeated matter, much Of which is =,
entlrely Lost ~ diamonds buried in some L
1ddJ Ers1lizn river. -
oPkS yorR EY18. oil
Let Us search ont OF this report conc points IL
eetanE our mighty land syetem. n
lot OF the seventeen STAKES admitted to the ~
non since our Independence, naarly niuo =. =
st Of Illinois have been oorpletoiy mos.. n
ed cut, and their land archives TRANSFERRED th
the Stata authorities, namely: Iova md n
seo1tEi. This shows rs how uew We sra vet ~
an empire. The stakes are not driven which pr
Inc the desezt from the government, -
he whole OF this 1ooee public domain ia d. | OF
!ed INTO fifteen surveying department.. -
n with Surveyor General for ita rne- ~ ~
,o1, and he aud his small army Of deputiea r.
Q ss N the days Of the c2riy Wotld,-bv tho ~ ~
rural h0d-mArks which nature hAa set m ~
o Thousand persons constitute this iittie ~ ~
q! Oh 6ufSeFp<n- Every dAy, while Va 70 ~