The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1889-09-20
THE PUBLIC LANDS.
Report of Acting Commissioner Stone Sparks
Criticised Statistics and other Matters.

Report of Acting Commissioner Stone Sparks
Criticised Statistics and other Matters.
WASHINGTON, Sept. 49, The arrival re
port of the acting commissioners general
land Office William NJ. Stone, has been sub
mitted to the secretary of the interior. In
opening his report Commissioner Stone re
fers to the accumulation of business in the
Office which had been left over, from for
mer administrations, and which was partly
due to the increasing work of the local
land offices. The system in force
he says, was not promotivc
of speedy dispatch of business
especially in the case of the board of re
view created by Commissioner Sparks,
which he abolished as a hinderance to
good, safe and quick work in the office,
Commenting on Mr.. Sparks unfortunate
and unwarranted suspicion that wide
spread system of fraud prevailed, and Mr..
Sparks assertion that the proportion OF
fraudulent filings to the total number of
filings made and relinquished, may be esti-
mated at 100 per cent, Mr.. Stone says:
This wholesale arrangement of claimants
on the public domain should not have been
made without the most conclusive evidence
to sustain it, The report goes on to say
that no general misconduct on the part of
western settlers has been found.
During the year 20, 141 agricultural pat
ents were issued, covering II, 191, ll9 acres
of land, an increase over the preceding
year of more than three million acres.
Mineral patents TO the number of 9,l3l,
covering an acreage of 1905 were issued.
There were patented for the benefit of
railroads under the law 425 GAG acres, and
under swamp land grants to states
259, ri acres. State selections under edu-
catiOnal grants were approved to the eX
tent of 1872, 800 acres, and lands to Indians
patented under various acts to the amount
of 1885, 800. The tosal cash receipts of the
Office from sales of land and fees were
%, go, 225, a decrease of more than three
million dollars as compared with the pre-
viOus year During the year surveys were
accepted to the amount of 4,544, 312 acres,
principally in Dakota, Montana and New
Mexico.
Commissioner Stone calls attention to
certain allowances made to deputy sur
veyors by the first comptrolers of the
treasury in the years 1886 and 1887 which,
in his opinion, were grossly irregular and
a palpable usurpatiOn of powers and duties
specially belonging to the commissioner of
the general land office.
The report refers to the unsettled condi-
ton of private land claims in New Mexico
and Arizona and the urgent need of con
gressional action to settle titles in these
territories.
Referring to the act of March 3. 1889.
which authorizes the secretary of the in
terror to adjust each of the railroad grants,
and if any have been enormously certified
or patented, TO commence proceedings to
cancel them, the report states that of
pending selections 2l,650,S46 acres have
been suspended, awaiting the action of
Congress.
Attention is called to the fact that more
than eighty million acres of land have been
claimed under the swamp land act in
various states Florida aloe, while hav-
ing total acreage of but 1881, 520 acres
having lists FLED for -, 222l 1863 acres as
swamp land.
''There can be no doubt" says the re-
port THAT large quantities of land, amount
ing to millions of acres, have been patented
to the states enormously as swamp when
in fact they were and are good agricultural
lands.''
The work of examining -parte mineral
entries is said to be two and half years
in arrears.
The report recommends that when
homestead or presumption claimant receives
patent and mineral is discovered subse-
quehtly on his claim his certificate of en-
try shall act as a bar to any mining claim
upon discovery made subsequent to his
entry.
The report recommends the repeal of all
laws relating to public timber, and the en-
actment of general law, plain, concise and
unmiStakable III meaning
Fewer fraudulent entries have been
made during the year than for many years
past, owing to increased vigilance, but
several cases are mentioned in the report
where syndicates sought to obtain coal
land by fraudulent means and in one case.
had they succeeded, the commission alone
would have amounted to S550,OOO
The opening of Oklahoma is referred to
as an important event for several years in
the administration of the land office