Bisbee daily review., 1911-02-09
REPORT IF GREAT INTEREST ID
 ARIZONA

Ahc report or the commissioner Of the general land office to the secre- tary of the Interior for 1910, hand somely bound. has been received at
 the office of the surveyor general.
 From its many interesting pages art
 gleaned some matters of information
 of special interest in Arizona, among them the following:
 A paragraph on the subject of a
 new division, says: Tt has been deemed advisable and sanctioned by
 you (secretary of the interior), to send all the government contested cases to a new division which was created for that purpose. Under for mer practices division P or the division which had jurisdiction over the work of the special service force, also took jurisdiction of the contest. cd cases. It was thought that this carried into the contest too much Of the personality of the force whicl
 had the duty of preparing and trying the case, and that. therefore, it was not good administration. Under the present practice the determination of the case is absolutely divorced from any inferences which may have sur rounded the preparation and trial of the case, and the record only is sub mitted to the lawyer who acts as al Indicating officer. By eliminating from the papers the special agents report 1t is considered that any pos, sibility of an undue influence being exercised in the mind of the deciding officer is removed. This is further achieved by seperating the adjudicat- ing division from the division which had nho nf hA the trial of the case"
 Concerning surface law the report says: "Of the important legislation passed by the last congress affecting the public lands, that under which the homesteader can secure a sur face patent to his land, where the land is underlaid by coal, will prove of the greatest benefit; and it will when its provisions are thoroughly understod and its operation properly inaugurated. obviate the. delay which IS now experienced and also the nee essary contest over the existance or non.existence of coal upon any par ucular tract of land, under which coal deposits are alleged to exist. The homesteader will secure that wkich he seeks tan agricultural entry upon y. the government will reserve for flu. ture disposition the coal which may be found in the ground beneath. TLe provisions of the act of March 8. 1909, opened the way for proper understanding of the new act, and 1t is felt that there will be little diff. culty in the correct administration There have been received in this office several applications to purchase the coal deposits in cases where the surface patent has already been granted under the provisions of this act"
 In the many tables of statistical items of interest. Some of them are as follows:
 Of the total area of 113,956 square miles, or 72,931,S $40 acres in Arizona. there are 116 square miles or 74,24O acres of water surface.
 From the passage of the act of March 9, 1877 to June 90, 1910, the original desert land entries in Ari. zona numbered 524S, with an acrage of 1,465, 435.25 and the final entries numbered S32 with a total acreage of 243,4S6.14. Evidently some of the entrymen failed to prove up. The cost of the original entries was $414.- 253.20 ard of the final entries S2S4,- s5S.9l, or a total paid for entries Of s649,2I2. H.
 Since the act of March 8, 1873, 10 June 90. 1910. there have been 24 coal land entries in Arizona with a total acreage of 3,S2S.39, at an ex- peuse of $46,2S3.90.
 June 30. 1910, the amount of un- and unreserved govern ment laud in Arizona was 41,491 1869 acres, of which 12,361,S ,S14 acres have been surveyed ard 29,129,555 acres remain to be surveyed.
 The estimated area of the national forests in Arizona at the same date was 15,214,745 acres.
 The total amount of unimproyed public land of all kinds in Arizona on June 90 was 51,726.O16 acres, the amount of surveyed land being 21.- 131, ,5S4 acres.