Arizona citizen., 1878-04-05
The Surveyor GeneraIship.

AVPC duu DdFlS SpOhe eBHlnSs l0 bill on the ground that the removal O '. the records of these offices would prov , extremely inconvenient.
 5 Major Powell presented a plan fo l making surveys in the future on thr Glodetic system.
 - Land Commissioner Williams spok, at length before the Committee in ia
 vor of the proposed change At pres ent he said the government spend. sixty-five cents for experimenting tht ,I expenditure of every dollar spent or , surveys, the appropriation for survey,
 being $500, 600, and that for Surveyors
 General, $165,000. He firmly advoca
 ted the establishments of the contract system and substituting therefor paid
 employees who would carry on surveys
 at per diem compensation, retaining
 an office in each State and Terri
 tory where records should be kept, but directing the surveys from Washing.
 ton. Under the contract system, he said, there had been no certainty what
 ever that surveys had been performed
 as stated, and the General Land Office
 found it impossible to superintend
 these surveys properly.
 I Wiggington, who is member of the
 Committee, is strongly in favor of the
 proposed change, and a majority of the | ICCmmit;ee appear to favor it.
 Luttrell and most of the Pacific coast members oppose it.
 Representative Page than made an argument tO show that the enactment
 of the bill would tend to dangerous naturalization; that it is not in the
 interest of economy; will rctard the settlement of the public domain; quin- truple the expense of pubic surveys, and harshly discriminate in favor of the rich, against the poor He said {:
 In the first place, the bill abOlishes the office of SurveyOr-General and provides for the removal of all maps, records, etc, to Washington. This would be a great hardship Co the peo- I quire them to travel three thousand miles and expend large sums of money to perfect or protect their titles. Agri- cultural settlers would be at the mercy of rich claimants; poor miners would often be unable to patent small mining claims, and litigation would be great ly increased. As to the more valuable mines fraudulent surveys would abound, and great and unnecessary expense and delay would be experienc- ed by Deputy Surveyors in re establish ing obliterated landmarks. These rec Ords are beng daily needed for refer .ence by settlers, who are unable to employ attorneys to examine them and by surveyors in the field. He also argued that it would be unwise to abolish the contract system and to have Government maintain an army of sur veyors and assistants, including the purchase of outfits and an expenditure sufficient to complete under existing laws, large portion of the public surveys.
 Representative Davis confirmed what his cOlleage had said and read several corrobOrative letters receivedI by him from California, earnestly op- posing the proposed removal of rec ords.
 Secretary Schurz complains that the reduction of the appropriation for, punishing depredators on timber lands prevents any effective action to that end and is a virtual hint to offend CTS to continue depredations.
 Texas-Pacific Railroad Title to be
 Investigated.
 WASHINGTON, March 25.-The fol- lowing resolution was introduced byI Hewitt of New York:
 Whereas, The Texas-Pacific Rail road Company has memoralized Con- gress praying for the passage of an act authorizing and directing the Secre- tary of the Treasury to endorse upon it's bonds, amounting to $27,67S per- mile a guarantee of five per cent in- terest for and in the name of the United States; and, whereas, said Texas Paci- fic Railroad Company proposes to se- cure said bonds, upon which the Unit ed States are asked to guarantee in- terest as aforesaid, by a mortgage upon, among other things, 600 miles of itsl projected road, extending from Worth to Fl Paso, in the State of Texas; and. whereas, the title of said company tol said 500 miles of road between FOrtl Worth and Fl Paso, and it's ability tOI execute a valid mortgage upon the same, was not raised or inquired into by the Committee on Pacific Railroads as shown by a report from that Com, mittee, signed by William R. Mor- risOn; therefore,
 Resolved, That the Judiciary Com mittee be instructed to enquire into the same.
 Referred to the Judiciary Committed.
 TiIden's Income.
 NEW York, March 26.-Judge Blatch- ford, of the United States D' q Court, gave decision today in s.. the United States against ex-Goyerno Samuel J. Tilden, to recover somel $l50,G00 income tax alleged to be duel the Government by defendent COunsell for Nr. Tilden set up demurrer and the case was argued at great length. HeI sustains the defendants demurrer toI the first count in the complaint. Onl the other eleven counts he sustaIns plaintiff, the United States, in their demurrer in answer tO the defense, | that Government was not bound i by the action of the United States As sess3r as its agent, an that Tilden was required himself 10 return his income, l. which he had not done. The case l. ! now to proceed to trial by jury on al question as in the amount of income O.l Tilden during the years in which he made no returns. h three years Tildpn allowed the United States As sessOr to make return, and paid tax nm such retllru fOucfhpr with Dpualfv |