, 1879-03-15
SWAMP LANDS.

SECOND REronr or THE STATE AGENT.
The second report Of Isaac X. Hit, Illinois
State Agent, has just conlr from the printer,
and Is IN substance rs follows:
Since Ills last report much timo has been de-
voted 10 the adjustment Of tho claims Of the
several counties ngatnst the United Stntcs
growing out Ut tho suyoral Swamp-Lnn,1 acts nf
Congress. Application for over Sli0,0 Of cash
Indemnity has been made, but not acted on by
the General Land Office for want Of clerical
force, etc. 10 adjust the swanp'lanil claims Of
nil tho States would requtre tho Commissioner
money. During last winter application was
nlude to tha Commissioner to certify
certain swamo-lant selections along. tile
1llIno's Central. This covered couple Of
and md was rotusct5. Tie Secretary Of tho iute-
rfor, to whom 1t Was appealed reversed tlle de-
cisioly. Analher aooleation, made To hayo ccr-
tan swamp selections certified, was refused,
and tsc appeal sustained; but bill Was intro
Ut tle State 10 unsuryeycd Islands in the waters
III and Oil tic border Of tho State, md under IT'S
Jurisdiction, TINS been formally asserted unacr
tic SwampLul.d act Of 1850, and IN approxl-
1nato estimate madc nf the number uf such
Islands, which aggregate about uiuety-threc. OF
this, Kendall has ten, Winnvhago teiI, Piks ten,
aud Calhoun eight. This guiu,. however,
slnco many Of tho islands havo been
washed away Btnce the original surveys were
made. The counties supposed tn bo entitled 10
new selections OF swamp and overturned lands
BY way Of indemnity haYo been notified. Il Is
difficult for il.e agency tD toll what counties
nre thus entitled, or to what extent entitled.
Eac could ascertain, however, hy making au
examination Of the field notes or survey III
the field. In tho case of uycrlloWeh lands no
critical examination would bu necessary. The
County Of Lawrence has liicu Il list Of now So
lccsons amounting to 13,sO aStes, most Of Il
being lands oycrtowcd b.. the Wabash and tho
Em6arraa. The land Indemnity duo Illinois
will rcach 400 900 acrcs, Of which amount 1ol,-
| geo is represented hy indemnity scrip
hstsSsn 9issy 'ssa son,, anu uaass aiss'sa souae
bill 80 this scrlp will he surrendered, aud In
lieu Ut It Indemnity certificates tu lots OF eighty
and 100 acres will issue subject to socatton BY
the asstrnee any lutit subject to presumption
or homestead entry In any OF the Stntcs nl!.l
strip Is held in aboyaurc on the ground TINT
there Is no vacant ln11d subject to entry within
tic State upon which, to losAtc It. Tho General
l.and Otilce has been asked to lssns a patent
10 the State for +0,000 acrcs approved to IT
originally under Tho swamp-Land acts. In
thu Atatp slnd General Government, . caso
| Inns heun prcnnrcd for trial both In tic Northern
| ulni Soutl.crn Districts United States Court.
| The report then gors On to gtvc number of
dorumcnts bearing upon the general subject.
acts, committee reports, etc. The expenso of
tile stntc Agency succ December, 1876 Is
$4,702, ulul the total c1penao sincc July, 1875,
! $l2,B5l It ts requested That such portion OF
th!s as may appear Just be reimbursed. ihe
Counties which are tie bene{ctartcB of the work
eight tcounttcs Interested III swamp-Land acts,
| only i've llaye sold out 10 speculators. The re-
Ina{ung ones have been 1udlcl0us In thelE dis.
posal oE iheir swamp lands.