Belington progressive. [volume] (Belington, W. Va.) 1912-1927, 1922-10-19

4 some very interesting things done oy
/ the Interior Department Albert Ba-
con Fall, former U. S. Senator from
New Mexico, took charge of that De-
pertinent as Secretary of the Interior
in March, 1921, as member of Presi-
dent Harding's official family. Owing
to the war, Secretary Fall faced some
serious problems in the various bur-
eaus.. First of all, let me tell you
| just what this department does.
i There sre nine bureaus: the general
land Office, having charge Of al1lpublic
lands; the Indian office, which has to
| do with all affairs of the Indians; the
Pension bureau which looks after pen
sions for veterans for all wars in
which the United States has taken
part; the Patent office, where patents
on inventions are granted; the Bur-
eau of Education, from where edu-
cational matters in Federal territory
are handled and surveys made for the
benefit of our entire school system;
and tht Geological Survey, one Of the
most interesting bureaus. From this
bureau mineral and land investigat-
ions are made in every part Of the
United States and possessions. Then
there is the Reclamation Service.
This bureau does some wonderful
work in retaining waste and desert
land and making it fit to live upon
and to grow crops. The Bureau of
Mines is another. During the recent
terrible mine disaster in California;
the Bureau of Mines had terrible
mine disaster in California, the Bur-
eau of Mines had men there, ex-
perts in their mining industry of the
country. The National Park Service
directs all of the work in connection
with the upkeep of the national parks.
In addition to these bureaus the In
terror Department runs the Howard
University at Washington, a college
for colored men and women, and st.
Elizabeth's Hospital. national hos
pital for those who are i'll mentally.
"When Secretary Fall took over
this work he was not content to sit
back in his chair and let the depart
ment run any old way. He got on a
train and he went all over the United
States so that he might get into per-
sonal touch with all the land and re-
clamation projects. During the war
the attention Of the department was
naturally focused upon war time pro-
jeets so that the development of pub
lie lands was neglected. This made
it necessary for the department, not
only to keep up with the days work
but to work very hard to make up for
lost time. When he went into office,
Mr.. Fall found that hundreds of peo-
pie were requesting their land pat
ents and that these cases dated way
back. He cut the red tape at once
in this matter so that the homestead
division is now handling the work of
today and not of yesterday or last
year, as it was in the past admins
tration. Because these people
couldn't get their land patents they
were unable to get loans Of money So
that they could buy livestock and i'm
plements to work their land. By
getting speedy action, Mr.. Fall placed
assets in the hands of these people
amounting to about $40,000,00
what has he done in the Pension
Office?" asked Jack
''In that office, Jack, a comparison
of the work done in 1921 with the
years 1920 and 1919 when the de-
partment was under Democratic CON
troll, is rather interesting. Mr.. Fall
disposed of 91,515 claims in the first
year Of his administration as COM
pared with 1896 in 1920 and II ,240
in 1919. But the most interesting
part of these figures is shown in the
fact that this work was done with a
smaller force. The force for 1921
was 867 as against 962 in 1919"
In the Patent Office, under the adj
ministration of Secretary Fall, re-
cord year and half has been noted.
The work has increased in this bur-
eau over 20 per cent so far this year
over the past year.
"Of great interest to the veterans
of the late war is the information
that under Mr.. Falls supervision
during the last year 1878 acres of
reclaimed land have been opened and
distributed to 270 veterans.
|. '"While it may not be as important
as some other things, yet the keep
ing of the great tracts Of wonderful
lands out west such as Yellowstone
Park, under government control is a
wonderful thing. The present admin,
istration has accomplished some fine