The Cheyenne daily leader. [volume] (Cheyenne, Wyo.) 1870-1884, 1877-04-17
The Government Surveys.

NeS WIN eOAS
by the government we hope to see the
next Congress consolidate and, put in
some systematic order the various gov
eminent surveys and explorations in
the western territories.
There are now three principal sur
veying parties, which take the field
every summer and spend the winter in
Washington, employed in the double
task of working out their field notes and
lobbying in Congress for next years
appropriations. AS the gentlemen en-
ployed in these scientific labors are. or
at least ought to be, scientific men, it
is certainly not fair that they should
have to give any part of their time to
the painful work Of buttonholing Con-
gressmen for the mea to continue
their explorations. 1t is an indignity
that science should have to stand about
in the lobby. The three principal sur
veys are those Of Lieut.. Wheeler, called
the Geographical Survey of Territories
West of the One Hundreth Meridian;''
DR.. Hayden's Geological and Geo
graphical Survey of the Territories"
and Major Powell's Geographical and
Geological Survey of the Rocky Noun
tain Region" Kings important "Geo-
logical Exploration of the Fourteenth
Parallel, " has been completed, we In
derstand, and Mr.. King is now seeing
through the press the last volume and
charts. There are besides these a
Black Hills surveying party and, we
believe, some others.
The three first named are the princi-
pal surveys now going on. Hayden and
Powell are under the Interior Depart
ment. The last Congress gave S75, 900
to the Hayden survey, $4,000 to the
survey, and $780, 900 with transportation
by the War Department, to Wheeler.
We take it for granted that all three of
these parties are headed by able men
and do useful and important work. But
we notice that a not unnatural rivalry
between the three, each working indie
pendently of the others, leads to the
~ iVStlCoSl1 SoDllN pOOhS,
which are no doubt pleasing and seduc-
tive gifts to Congressman when the APP
preparation bills are coming up for
scrutiny, but which are certainly the
cause of trouble and waste of time to
men of science here and in Europe, to
whom the results of these surveys are
for the present Of the greatest impor-
lance. Why for instance, should each
of these expeditions publish an indie
pendent account of the natural history
of its regions, including descriptions of
all the animals found, when, as is easily
seen if one compares the different issues,
they cover the same animals, with very
few exceptions? 1t would surely be
better to have N systematic account,
easy of reference, and then note the ex-
ceptional animals, if any. No one can
examine and compare the numerous and
sometimes very costly publications
made by these surveys without seeing
that a great deal of public money is
wasted on mere book-making work of a
kind which can make only confusion
and ~vexation for scientific men, and
worse for laymen who seek information.
We venture to say that the numerous
and bulky volumes, enough to form a
library, which have been put forth by
these different expeditions, if properly
edited and condensed, as they would be
if the expeditions were all controlled by
one head, could be compressed into a
tenth of the space they now occupy and
be a hundred times more useful, besides
costing very much less to the country.
Nor is this all. The work of these
expeditions is conducted in so unsyste-
matte manner that, as the charts and
other records show, one survey in its
work often o~verlaps the other; and thus
duplicates expenses by needless resur-
veys; and not only this, but causes an
other waste in the duplication of printed
volumes of often very costly charts.
For instance, WI notice that Wheeler's
Survey, volume 8, publication of 1875,
contains a map of the Twin Lakes
| WhlSh oSCLlo W uS SUBSTANTIALLY lHe
same as the map Of the Twin Lakes
at page SO of Hayden's Report for 1873.
We do not mean that Lieutenant
Wheeler has taken a copy of Hayden's
map, but that the two parties have evil
IDENTIFY covered the same ground by their
surveys. Again the triangulation charts
of Wheeler, 1875, and Hayden, 1873, to
a considerable extent cover the same
ground, and here must have been a
serious waste of human effort, not to
speak of money. We should think not
. less than fifty thousand dollars must
have been flung away here. Again
Kings and Powell's reports show du.
plications to the amount, we Judge, Of
at least eight thousand square miles Of