Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-12-06
THE PUBLIC DOMAIN
Over Thirteen mNeion Acres Disposed
ofDuring)the Year.
INCREASED PENSION DISBURSEMENTS
Needed improvement of the Ana
costa Flats.
CALL FOR HALL OF RECORDS

The annual report of the Secretary of the
Interior has been made public. 1t is a vol
luminous document covering the operations
of the department in detail.
There were disposed of during the fiscal
year ended June 30, 1900, public lands ag
gregating 13,453, Ss7.98 acres, classified as
follows: Cash sales, 1,17S,9s2. At acres; mis-
cellaneous entries. embracing homesteads,
timber culture, land warrants, scrip loca-
lions, state selections, swamp lands, rail-
road and wagon road selections Indian al
lotments. etc. 12,2l2, 4s2. 40 acres. and In
dian lands, 2425O9 acres; showing an in
| crease of 4,271 4I4S0 acres as compared
| with the aggregate disposals for the pre-
ceding fiscal year.
| The total cash receipts during the fiscal
| wear from various sources including dis
| posal of public land, "a O56 SO So and In
! dian land, $239 1899; from depredations on
| public lands, 5,602.99: from sales of tim
| Der on forest reserves, SIS, 756. %; from sales
| of government property, Si,3S1.35 and for
| furnishing copies of record and plats $14,
400. %; aggregate. $4,379. 10, an increase
of $1,309, 620.76 over the preceding fiscal
year
| The total expenses of district land Offices
! for salaries and commissions of registers
and receivers, incidental expenses, and ex-
penses Of depositing public moneys, during
the fiscal year ended June 80, 1900. were
$727, 5S1.9s an increase, as compared with
the fiscal year ended June 80 1899, of &c.,,
| 1871.
The total area Of the public lands may be
| stated to be approximately LOT, SS1, 662
acres, of which on, 49,, $50 acres are undis-
! posed of and 154, 745,7s2 acres have been re-
| served for various purposes.
| Twenty mine thousand five hundred and
| forty-eight patents for agricultural lands
| were issued during the fiscal year. contain
Ing approximately 4,7276 acres. a de-
| crease Of 4,S59 in number and III, 440 in
| acreage over the previous year.
| On June 30, 1899, there were II forest res
| ervations created by presidential proclama-
| lions under section "a Of the act of March3,
1891 (26 Stat 1880, embracing an area of
46, 425,529 acres. During the year the Olym-
| pic forest reserve, In the state of Wash
| ington. was reduced 265,O4O acres, its pres
ent area being 1925S40 acres. The Prescott
! reserve, in Arizona, was enlarged from TO-
$40 acres to 4256so acres, and the Big Horn
! reserve, in Wyoming, was enlarged from
| 1,127, $50 to 1.1SO,S0 acres.
! One new reserve the Santa Ynez. in Cali
| fOrnia, embracing area of 14J, 900 acres
was created during The year.
There were therefore on June 30. 1900, 30
| forest reservations. embracing an area of
On October 10, 1900, by presidential proc
| lamation, the Crow Creek forest reserve.
| In Wyoming, was created with an area Of
! $500 acres.
Increase in Pensions.
The Secretary devotes considerable space
to a discussion of pensions. He says:
lie ACT OF May ~, lSb, IS an amend
ment of the act of June p. 1890, and,
among other things. provides that in de-
termining the inability of soldier claimant
to earn a support each and every infirmity
shall be duly considered and the aggregate
OF the disabilities shown be rated.
Supplemental instructions have accord
ingly been issued to examining surgeons
for their guidance i'll the examination of
claimants for pension and increase of pen
sion under this act the reports of
medical examinations made under these in
structions show marked improvement in
the work of the sEtgsonS In this class of
ca ses.
THE act of May g. 1900, extends the pro-
visions of the act Of June 81, 1890, to such
widows as are without means of support
other than their daily labor and an actual |
net income not exceeding $3.50 per year.
Directions have therefore been given to |
re-examine all claims of widows for pension |
under section } of the act Of June 81 1880, |
heretofore rejected, and in each instance |
where the conditions shown warrant the |
belief that applicant may be entitled to |
pension under said section as amended |
May 9, 1900 blank application is forward |
ed to the applicant, with definite instruc- |
lions as to its execution and the evidence |
required. The same action is taken in |
pending claims where the conditions shown |
warrant the belief that under the practice |
existing prior to May 8. 1900, the claim |
would have been rejected.
1T is believed that under the operations |
of this act there will be a marked increase |
in the number of pensioners during the
present year, and that the annual pay |
ments for pensions will be increased by
from $3000O0O to S4,OO0.OOO."
The Secretary suggests a remedy for the
evil of disagreement in Interpretation of |
pension laws At present no method Of OBJ |
tanning judicial Interpretation of the pen
sion laws. although their administration
directly affects many thousand citizens and |
involves an annual expenditure of millions |
of dollars of public moneys. If decisions
Of the Supreme Court could be had upon a
Tod
greatly simplify the work of the pension |
bureau, would inspire confidence in the in
depreciation of the pension laws. and would
lead to uniform action in their administra-
ton.
There has been disbursed on account of
pensions since 1860, 81 612 1927 ,64S.91.
Land Irrigation.
The Secretary says on the subject Of irri-
cation:
1.-The Importance of providing, through
wise administration, the opportunities for
homes for many millions Of citizens is so
great that some steps should be taken
toward completing our knowledge Of the
extent to which the arid lands may be re-
deemed and putting this knowledge to
practical application. AS a step in this d.
rection the recommendation has been made
that the amount allotted for work of this
character under the geological survey be
increased considerably. AS further step
a commission, composed of experts now en-
gagged in various lines OF examination of
water and forest resources should be
formed, to assemble and digest the data
acquired by the various bureaus, and pre-
sent these recommendations to Congress.
The question Of irrigation has passed beyond
the experimental stage and both theory and
practice have demonstrated the necessity
of the reclamation of the vast quantities
of arid land now neglected. which, as was
once said about Australia, will If ticked
with straw be taught to laugh har-
vest the straw in this instance being
water. The establishment of a division
having charge Of matters relating to irri-
cation is now under consideration.