The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1892-12-14
GOOD WORK DONE.

There is one membe Of President Harri-
sons political family who has made record
that humilates his predecessors, and puts
his successor on his mettle That is John
W. Noble, Secretary OF the Interior Under
his predecessors, Lamar and Villas. the de-
partment was genuine circumlOeutiOn
Office, where the art OF how-not-to-do-it was
brought to perfection. 1t was equally i'm
possible to get the department to order n
survey or 10 Issue a patent. Thousands of
purchasers of public land, who had complied
with all the formalitieS Of law, were put off
with frivolous excuses when they wanted
TO perfect their titles. a swarm Of aitor-
neys made living by jogging the memory
Of land Office officials, generally with very
little success. The department was plunged
into so profound a lethargic slumber that 1t
was impossible to awaken it.
NJ Noble turned over new leaf. He
pointed out TO the officials of the Land De-
partment that they were there 20 do BUSH
ness, not to read newspapers. And he said
it in way that WORTHLESS who. like Fat Joe,
protested against the disturbance of their
peaceful slumbers, naturally bestirred them
selves and got TO work, SO that in tie four
years of Mr.. Mobiles administration $50. 953
final entries which were legacy from Mr.
Villas were all disposed Of. sos, 123 agrienl-
tural patents were Issued against 1924 in
the four years of Lamar and Villas. and four
times as many acres OF public land surveyed
as under those easy-going officials The
most torpid department of the Government
was suddenly quickened into life. People
found TO their aEaZement that IL was pcs
sible to do business with the land Office. 1t
will be interesting to note how long this
millennium will last.
1t will be impossible to say how long the
lard office will continue to be an important
department of the Government until all the
public lands are surveyed. 1t is vaguely
supposed that there are nearly 800, 600, 600
acres exclusive of Alaska) yet unsurveyed
but The statements on the subject which are
occasionally embraced in reports of the
Secretaries are mere cOnjectures. The
people at the land Office in this city have
only vague idea of the unsuryeyed area of
public land in this State: il is supposed TO
be about 10000 900 acres. Last year
12.717,0G0 acres were surveyed in all the
States-at which rate we shall be well into
the nineteenth century before the survey is
completed. The sales last year amounted
to 1864 900 acres. and the patents issued
for lands previously entered TO Is, 40, 900
acres. OF the lands unsurveyed west of the
broken land. requiring much labor and irri-
CATION to make il available for agriculture;
but much of it may he found valuable when
the pressure of population leads to more
thorough exploration.
There is very little land in the world
which can be set down as absolutely value
less If 1t lies so that water can be laid down
on it. Students of geography observe with
interest the respective shares Which have
been taken by nature and by man In i'm
parting fertility to localities. At the time
OF Caesars conquest of Gaul the region ow
known as the Low C0un tries appeared to be
an iireelaimablc swamp; it is now one of
the most fertile portions of Europe. bikes,
not nature, has done the work. When the
Moorish empire Of Granada was in its glory
the rough and wild mountain ranges of Spain
south Of the Tagus were blooming garden
neglect has restored them to their primitive
condition of wilderness. Within tie his
t0ric period the island of Malta was Jagged
rock, scared by wind and sun, without a
shoVelful of earth on 1t: soil was brought
from Italy In baskets, bags and boxes, and
now Malta raises splendid crops OF cotton,
wheat. honey oranges aud figs. 1t is need
less to remind the reader of the maryels
which Industry has wrought in the densely
peopled provinces of China By converting
deserts into farms.
Whenever the day comes that all the land
in the United States which VIII grow wheat
and corn without manure, and almost with
out cultivation, is taken mp people viii turn
their attention to the tracts which the Gov
eminent now negleets to survey because
there is no prospect Of selling them, and
then it will be found that the country can
support many more people than any one
now imagnes.