Omaha daily bee., 1910-10-11

| The Department Of the Interior has a
varied lot OF things to look after. Patents,
! pensions. public lands, bounty lands In
/ dams. education, conservation reclama-
! ton, mining, public parks, map making
water resources-these are some Of the
things which occupy the attention OF the
! secretary OF the interior, Like all other
cabinet officers he has his assistant score
tary. There are two IN his department
| One has immediate oversight Of Indian hf-
fairs, public lands and appropriations
while the other mas charge of matters per
| tanning to the bureau Of education, the
patent office and the pension office
There is also chief clerk, the man upon
whom devolyes the duty OF supervising
the work Of the department, and seeing
! that the orders of his superior officers are
carried out. There is also an assistant
attorney general, a disbursing officer, and
| chiefs Of the divisions Of mails and files,
publications and supplies.
| The patent office ranks first among the
| bureaus OF the Interior department
| Thomas jefferson is the inventor OF the
| American patent system. The patent Of
flee always has been a self-supporting in
| stitution. In point of fact, II has created
a surplus of 100000 from the fees re-
ceived from inventors II now desires to
/ have a home of its own, and thinks Uncle
sam ought TO allow 1t TO use it's 5000 900
surplus for building such a home. Al
though the building which houses this
! bureau is known as the patent office, II is
in reality the home Of the Interior de-
partment
Patents are being applied for at the rate
Of $1,000 year. and are issued at the rate
! Of about $500 year. There have been
upwards of 100000 applications filed since
the organization of the office and more
than a million patents have been granted.
They are now expiring at the rate of
about 22,OOO a year Many inventors are
embarrassed by lack Of funds, as is shown
by the fact that over 5000 patents are with
| held each year because the patentees have
| been unable to make the final payment
! thereon. The first fee is Sl5 and the final
| one SEQ There are also fees prescribed
! for the resistance of patents, for design
patents, caveats, assignments, drawing, etc.
1t Is becoming difficult to find profitable
patentRble ideas. In one division of the
patent office there is kept list OF all the
patents on wrenches, and 1t would seem
that thousands of wrench patents have ex-
hausted nearly every patentable idea in
that line. The same is true OF every other
case Of slot machines there are thousands
of them, of all shapes and sizes, even dowr
to one which will take the picture of any
man trying TO pass a bad nickel, but which
will shine his shoes II the nickel is a gooC
one.
The pension office is one OF the bigges
money handling bureaus OF the government
Since the civil war IT has paid out abou
$40 0OO,O 900 in pensions More than 100000
applications have been filed, and upwar,
of 100000 of these nave been allowed
There are now about $50 900 pensioners car
Fied on the rolls. Applications are still
coming in at the rate of some 66OOO a year
and are being allowed at the rate of 900
a year. IT has already paid out more tina
fifty times as much for pensions on accoun
of the civil war as was paid out on &C
. count of the revolutionary war. The pen
i sion list on account OF the civil war is NOR
o than thirty times as great as that OF a.
n other American wars together.
: Pensions are secured in two ways-unde
I general legislative enactment and by spe
j cial acts Of congress. The bulk of the pen
:. sions are allowed upon applications cor
forming to the general legislation, Thos
: whose records are so defective that the
p cannot be granted under general legisa
: ton as a rule carry their troubles to con
gress, and that body annually passes thou
sands Of special acts enabling men to &c
their names upon the roll who Otherwis
: could not do so.
= The commissioner Of the general land Of
flee is charged with the survey, manage
: ment and disposition of the public land
and the settlement Of conflicting titles I
= those lands. He also executes all laws rt
: lating to the surveying, prospecting, locat
: ing, etc, of land in the national forests
!, II an Indian reservation Is to be opened u
= ii is his duty to arrange the time and mar
= ner Of the drawing, and to handle all do
n tails relating to the establishment Of I'll
homesteaders on their new farms. TIL
b. sale OF public lands in the United State