Waterbury evening Democrat., 1892-12-05
INTERIOR DEPARTMENT
Secretary Noble's Annual Re-
 port to the President.
REVIEW OF LAND OFFICE WORK.

The Eleventh Census-Operations of the
 Patent Ohice-Enormous Business of the
 Pension Bureau-Nicaragua Canal Pro-
 Ject Warmly Endorsed.
 WASHINGTON, Dec. 5.-The annual re- port of Secretary Noble to the President is an interesting document and covers fully and in detail the operations of this Department.
 The volume of work accomplished dur ing the present administration is shown to greatly exceed that of any like pre- ceding period.
 In the General Land Office on June 80, 1888, there were pending $50, 953 fina entries, and the accumulation steadily increasing These have all been dis posed of. During the present admins tration 39S 12S agricultural patents have been issued against 162, 754 in the pre- ceding four years, representing an excess in acreage of 37, ,659, $40 acres. Nearly four times greater area of public lands has been surveyed than during the prev ious four years, and there has been @ great increase iu mineral and coal patents issued. Tie selections of public lands by the States for educational and internal Improvements have greatly exceeded the work of any previous years.
 The policy of making forest reserves in the Western States and Territories has been greatly advanced during the past year. Six such reserves have been ere ated by Presidential proclamation, making an area of 5, 252, 26O acres. The system of irrgating the arid lands of the Western country has been greatly advanced by tine selection of sites for reservoirs, and by extending tbeSa irrjUutinp in nnjnncr inn with forest preserves.
 Educational work among the Indians has been greatly increased and improved in efficiency. There has been an in- crease of over 13 per cent. in attendance | of children in the schools, the total being | l9, 793 scholars for 1892 New Indian reservation boarding schools have been tration.
 Strict discipline has been enforced and | better education fostered n uniform sys- | tenn of text books and course of study | has been adopted, and the compilation of | the rules for the conduct of the schools l has been prescribed, thus establishing a l thorough and uniform system. | Under the policy of Indian allotments, | negotiations with If tribes during the 1 present aiministr ration has resulted in
 the opening up for public settlement o | nearly 26.U0O, 900 acres of land. Other l negotiations which are pending will l when ratified add 10, 900, 900 acres more l Allotments of lands in severalty to the l Indians have been made in very large | numbers, and 5, 900 to whom patent | have been issued have by operation O | law become citizens of the United States The Census publications have been re A ceived with favorable indorsemen throughout the civilized nations. Witt l the exception of a small amount of work l on vital statistics and population and ths
 statistics of manufactories and agricul
 ture all the regular work of the Eleventl | Census is about completed.
 The number of patents granted wa
 23, 626, the total receipts were ST. 26S,
 724. 35, and the expenditures $1, 114, 134,
 23. The amount in the Treasury to thu
 credit of the Patent Office is now $4, 1O2,
 34l. 09.
 l The volume of business handled an,
 disposed of by the Pension Office durin
 the past year is shown to have beel
 enormous. There were on June 30, 1899 | S76, ,06S pensioners borne upon the rolls
 being 199, 9OS more than were on tn
 rolls at the close of the last fiscal year ] The estimates for the deficiency for thi E year is $l0 DOS, 631, and the estimate fo l fiscal year eniing June 30, 1894, is $165, ! 000,0 ,000.
 The Secretary's report enters into quit l an interesting review of the facts sho w
 by the annual reports of the governor
 of the various Territories.
 Regarding the Nicaragua canal tn
 Secretary expresses the opinion that thi | enterprise is of the utmost importance tC
 the welfare of our country in either peac or war, and should have most favorabl
 recognition by Congress.
 The report is replete with informatio as to the great bureaus mentioned, an
 gan be fully appreciated only by carefl
 perusal.