35TH CONG.... 1ST SESS.

a detailed account of the business transacted in their respective offices.

The report of the supervising inspectors, marked 15, will be found among the documents accompanying this report, and gives the operations of the law under which they are appointed for the past year.

The operations of the Light-House Board, with the condition of the works under their charge, will be found in the report from that body, No. 16.

A disposition on the part of the board to curtail a system which has been extended beyond the wants of commerce, should recommend it to the favorable consideration of Congress.

The duties devolving upon those having charge
of this branch of the public service have been per-
formed with satisfaction and ability.
All which is respectfully submitted.

HOWELL COBB,
Secretary of the Treasury.

Hon. JOHN C. BRECKINRIDGE,
Vice President of the United States,
and President of the Senate.

Report of the Secretary of the Interior.

Department of THE INTERIOR,
December 3, 1857.

SIR: In presenting an exhibit of the operations of this Department, attention is first invited to the important and diversified interests connected with the administration of our public domain, respecting which the accompanying report of the Commissioner of the General Land Office furnishes interesting details, with a gratifying view of our extended land system. American legislation has shown its superior practical wisdom by its simplicity and adaptation to the wants of our people in its code of land laws, in regard to the improvement of which few suggestions can be made. The leading fact attracting our attention is the vast extent of the operations of the land bureau. The public domain covers a surface, exclusive of water, of 1,450,000,000 of acres. It stretches across the continent, and embraces every variety of climate and soil, abounding in agricultural, mineral, and timber wealth, everywhere inviting to enterprise, and capable of yielding support to

man.

Report of the Secretary of the Interior.

the colonial laws of their different sovereignties.
And there is no branch of jurisprudence where
greater research and extent of legal erudition
have been displayed by our judicial tribunals,
than in the determination of the intricate questions
which have arisen, been discussed, and judicially
determined in connection with this branch of the
service. These foreign claims are of every diver-
sity of shape, and everywhere scattered over the
public domain, interrupting the regularity of our
surveys, with which they are necessarily inter-
locked, and exhibit in striking contrast the irreg-
ularities of the foreign surveys, when compared
with the simplicity and beauty of our own rec-
tangular system; showing the difference in the
modes of distributing estates, one of which con-
cedes to the favorites of princes immense bodies
of the choicest lands, whilst the other subdivides
the public territory, so as to deal with every
citizen in a spirit of enlarged liberality. In the
growth of our immense territory, in the way and
by the means already mentioned, there remained
and still remain unextinguished, the claims,
rights, and possession of the aborigines. The
General Government of the Union, at the dawn
of our political existence, adopted the principle
asserted by the colonizing Governments of Eu-
rope, to the effect that the absolute title was in the
United States, subject only to the Indian right of
occupancy, and with the unconditional privilege
of extinguishing that right.

Under the operation of these principles, the
purchase and extinguishment of the Indian right
has been gradually progressing in the ratio in
which lands in Indian occupancy were demanded
by our people for settlement. Pari passu have
the lines of the public surveys been carried, in
preparing the way for homesteads, and the means
by which to pass to our people unincumbered and
indefeasable titles.

The surveying system is now organized into twelve different districts, and the lines of the public surveys have already been extended over more than one fourth of the whole surface of the public domain. That surface, as heretofore stated, is 1,450,000,000 acres. Of this, there have been surveyed and prepared for market, of net public lands, that is, exclusive of school lands, &c., 401,604,988 acres, of which quantity 57,442,870 acres have never been offered, and are, consequently, now liable to public sale; in addition to which, there were upwards of 80,000,000 acres subject to entry at private sale on the 30th September last.

This great inheritance was acquired, first by the voluntary cessions of several of the original thirteen States; then by the Louisiana purchase obtained from Napoleon by the treaty of 1803. The next enlargement of our territory was ef- Of the public domain, there have been disposed fected by the treaty of 1819 with Spain, ceding the of by private claims, grants, sales, &c., embracFloridas to the United States; then its furthering surveyed and unsurveyed land, 363,862,464 extension was effected by the treaty of 1848, at Guadalupe Hidalgo, with Mexico, ceding New Mexico and California. Subsequently, Texas accepted the proposition of this Government establishing her boundaries, for the "relinquishment by the said State of all territory claimed by her exterior to said boundaries." The last accession to the public domain is that, in 1854, from Mexico, known as the "Gadsden purchase," covering a surface of 23,161,000 acres, south of the Gila river.

The Supreme Court has said, in reference to acquired lands, that "the people change their Sovereign; their right to property remains unaffected by this change. Consequently, when the United States succeeded to the ownership of that portion of our territory derived from treaties with foreign Powers, the first and paramount duty in the disposal of the public lands was to separate private from public property.

In obedience to this well-settled principle of public law, and under the especial obligations of treaties, the United States have established boards of commissioners, conferred powers on registers and receivers, opened the courts of the United States for the adjudication of foreign titles, and in multitudes of cases confirmed such titles by special acts of legislation.

These classes of titles are known under the generic description of " private land claims," and are of every species, from minute parcels in the form of lots in Spanish towns to rural claims, ranging in size from one hundred arpents and less to a million and a half acres.

These titles are of British, French, Spanish, and Mexican origin, all depending for validity on

acres, which, deducted from the whole surface, as
above stated, leaves undisposed of an area of
1,086,137,536 acres.

During the fiscal year ending June 30, 1857,
and the quarter ending September 30, 1857, public
lands have been surveyed and reported to the
extent of 22,889,461 acres. During the same
period 21,160,037.27 acres have been disposed of,
as follows: For cash, 5,300,550.31 acres; located
with military warrants, 7,381,010 acres; returned
under swamp land grant, 3,362,475.96 acres ;
estimated quantity of railroad grants, of March,
1857, 5,116,000 acres. The amount of money
received on cash sales is $4,225,908 18.

This shows a falling off in land receipts from those for the corresponding period of the preceding year of $5,322,145 99; with a falling off during the same period, in the location of lands with warrants, of more than twenty per cent.

Whatever may have been the cause of this diminution, the fact demonstrates that, long before the prostration of all credit by the suspension of the banking institutions, the investment in wild lands had greatly decreased.

In the territory of the United States there are eighty-three organized land districts, each having a register and receiver, for the sale and disposal of the public lands. Yet we have no land district. for either the Territory of New Mexico or Utah. In New Mexico the public surveys have been executed to a very limited extent, owing to Indian hostilities. In Utah the surveys had rapidly progressed, until the surveyor general abandoned his post owing to reported hostilities of the Mormon authorities at Salt Lake City. The extent of the

SENATE & HO. OF REPS.

surveys, since the beginning of the operations in Utah, exhibits a sphere of field work embracing 2,000,000 acres.

A due regard for the public interests, as well as a proper respect for the prosperity and advancement of New Mexico, would justify, if not loudly call upon Congress to establish a land office and a board of commissioners for the adjudication of Spanish and Mexican claims in that Territory. It is important to its future prosperity promptly to separate private property from the public lands, before the settlements become dense, and consequent conflicts of claim and title arise.

By the act of April 24, 1820, the old credit system of sales of land was abolished, the cash system instituted, and the minimum price fixed at $1 25 per acre. This is the great basis of our present system of sales. The policy of the law is to favor the actual settler. It is a humane, wise, and just policy. When the hardy pioneer breaks off from the comforts and security of a long settled community, and encounters the hazard and endures the hardships and deprivations of a new settlement in the forest, he has rendered a positive service to the Government; and to deny him the right of securing his home and improvements, in preference to all others who would profit by his sacrifices, would be a crying injustice.

When an actual settler goes upon lands which have been offered for sale, and builds himself a house, the law allows him twelve months within which to pay for a preemption right of one hundred and sixty acres. . If he enters upon unoffered land, or lands which have never been surveyed, he is permitted to file his declaration of intention to enter, and is not required to pay for his preemption till the day appointed by proclamation for public sale of the lands. Public policy may cause an indefinite postponement of the sale of the land, and the consequence is, that with this inchoate, imperfect right, he continues to occupy without perfecting his title. This privilege to enter being a personal right, its transfer or assignment is prohibited by law.

By thus conceding a privilege, and fixing no time in which he is required to perfect his title, an interest is created in opposition to a public sale by proclamation, when the good of the country may require it. The suggestion, therefore, that settlers upon unoffered lands should be required to make their proof and payment within a specified period, is approved.

Preemptions upon unsurveyed lands are now limited to particular States and Territories. A general law authorizing preëmptions upon lands of this character, superseding or repealing special statutes on the subject, would conduce to the harmony of the system; and such a law is recommended.

In order to remove all doubt in the construction of existing law, preemption privileges should also be extended to alternate reserved railroad sections, in cases where settlements have been made after the final allotment. The enhanced value of such lands presents only a stronger reason why preference should be given to settlers over all others.

The mode of disposing of the public lands under existing legislation is simple, uniform, and complete. Lands are introduced into market, and opened to free competition at public sale by the President's proclamation, which, at the same time, notifies settlers to come forward and secure their homes at the minimum price, without risk of competition at public sale. Then such lands as remain thus undisposed of, are open to free purchase at private sale, at the ordinary minimum of $1 25 per acre; or when in market ten years and upwards, at reduced prices-always, however, with the preference right of purchase

awarded to the actual settler.

The public domain is the property of the United States, and the individual citizens thereof have equal rights of purchase. Actual settlers, as already shown, are amply protected by law from interference, and efficient safeguards are thrown around their rights. As an evidence of this, it is estimated that, in the sales of the last year, three fourths of the sold and located lands were taken for actual settlement. Large districts of the public lands are valuable, however, only for the timber found upon them: they are unsuitable for settle

35TH CONG....1ST SESS.

ment; and to restrict their purchase to settlers alone, would prevent their sale for an indefinite period, and hold out a standing temptation to trespass and plunder.

An amendment of the law fixing the maximum compensation of the registers and receivers, so as to restrict the payment for any one quarter or fraction of a quarter to a pro rata allowance, both for salary and commissions, is approved and recommended.

Under the bounty land law of 3d March, 1855, large sums have been received at some of the local land offices for the location of warrants, and claims have been presented by several of the officers for the whole amount of fees collected. The General Land Office has decided, and the decision has been sanctioned by the Department, that, in view of the limitation as to maximum in the act of 20th April, 1818, and the terms of the second and third sections of the act of 22d March, 1852, in connection with the act of 1855, there is no authority of law for the allowance of any excess over the maximum compensation for commissions, as fixed by said act of 1818.

The act of 12th January, 1825, authorizes repayment of purchase money to be made from the Treasury in all cases of sales of lands made by the local land officers, where the Government is unable, from want of title in itself, to issue patents to the purchasers.

My predecessors have construed this act as providing for repayments in all cases where, from any cause, the sale could not be confirmed; and the uniform practice has been in conformity with that view of the law.

This practice is unquestionably founded in strict justice, and I have not deemed it best to disturb it, although inclined to the opinion that a strict construction of the law would limit its operation to the class of cases specifically embraced therein. Should any doubt be entertained of the propriety of my action in this particular, such amendatory legislation is respectfully recommended as may be called for in the premises.

Report of the Secretary of the Interior.

wide dissimilarity, too, of the provisions of the
various treaties recently negotiated with the sev-
eral tribes, agreeing, however, in this, that legis-
lation by Congress is made a prerequisite to the
full enjoyment by the Indian of the rights they
were intended to secure to him, furnishes a
weighty reason for the revision and codification
of the laws now in force; and it is to be hoped
that Congress will give its early attention to the
subject, and prescribe, in one comprehensive en-
actment, a well-considered, compact, and uniform
system of laws for the regulation of Indian in-

tercourse.

The Indian tribes within our limits, numbering about three hundred and twenty-five thousand souls, may be divided into three classes: The first-wild, roving, fierce, retaining all the traditionary characteristics which marked the race before the advent of the white man-eke out by plunder the uncertain subsistence derived from the chase. To this class, comprising nearly three fourths of the whole number, belong most of the bands whose hunting grounds lie in the interior of the continent, and in the Territories of Oregon and Washington. These tribes are controllable only through their fears. They are, ostensibly, our friends, because they dare not openly avow hostility; and this must continue to be the case as long as they retain their roving habits. The Indian office is powerless to effect any amelioration of their condition until they can be induced to adopt fixed habitations. To the accomplishment of this preliminary step the efforts of the Indian bureau are now directed; and it is hoped that, with the aid of the military arm of the Government, the system of colonization, which has elsewhere been so productive of good, may be successfully applied to these tribes.

The tribes of California, Utah, Texas, New Mexico, and a portion of those in Oregon, constitute the second class. Some three years since the policy was adopted of concentrating these Indians on small reservations, where they might be practically taught the industrial arts, and labor for their support under the immediate supervision of their agent. These establishments are, in fact, manual-labor schools on a large scale; and I am gratified to be able to state that the happiest results have followed their introduction. The two great difficulties to be encountered in effecting the civilization of the Indian, are his impatience of restraint and his aversion to labor; and these are not to be overcome by abstract teachings. He must be taught practically, if at all, The report of the Commissioner of Indian Af- the immense superiority of a settled over a rovfairs furnishes an interesting view of a peculiaring life, and the value and dignity of labor. This, people, with whom this Government holds the most complicated relations.

The interesting communication, which accompanies this report, of the late Secretary of the Territory of New Mexico, respecting the mineral resources of that distant Territory, suggests the propriety of providing for a geological survey thereof. It is not doubted that vast quantities of gold and silver, copper, lead, and iron ores are to be found imbedded in its soil; and their discovery and development could not fail to conduce to the public prosperity.

The members of the Indian tribes within our limits, while they are not citizens, cannot, with strict propriety, be termed foreigners. "Domestic dependent nations, their relations to the United States resemble those of a ward to his guardian. They look to our Government for protection, and appeal to it for relief to their wants. While we negotiate treaties with them, which are ratified with all the solemnity befitting a contract to which nations are parties, we undertake to construe and execute their provisions, acknowledging no responsibility but such as we may owe to truth, honor, and justice. As the limits of our civilization have been extended, the number of these children of the forest with whom our people are brought into immediate contact is greatly increased. Treaties multiply; rights are acquired; mutual obligations are assumed; obedience is promised on the one part, protection is guarantied on the other. The Indian bureau is grown to be a great foreign office, conducting the correspondence and adjusting the relations of more than sixty interior governments; while it is at the same time charged with the control, regulation, and protection of the rights of the individual members of those Governments.

In the performance of these duties questions are presented of the most difficult character, in the solution of which it is almost impossible to arrive at a conclusion which shall reconcile the necessities of sound policy with the requirements of the law. The intercourse act of 1834 was adapted to a condition of affairs which no longer exists, and it might be judiciously modified. The

SENATE & HO, or REPS.

practicable. The country is unsuited to his wants;
it has no sufficient supply of wood or water, and
a removal there would but be the means of hast-
ening on his bitter fate. Where he now is, he
must make a stand and struggle for existence, or
his doom is sealed. If he cannot adopt the habits,
and rise to the level of his white neighbor, he
must pass away; and the necessity of devising
some policy which shall meet the emergency
presses itself upon the Government at this time
with peculiar force. So far as the Indians of the
central and northern superintendencies are con-
cerned, the question is especially embarrassing.
Treaties have, within the last three years, been
negotiated with most of these tribes, by which
their lands, with the exception of small reserva-
tions, have been ceded to the United States.
Other treaties have been made, by which indi-
vidual reservations have been secured, in the ex-
pectation that the Indian would settle down, each
upon his own farm, and gradually and insensibly
attain the level of his neighbors. Unhappily for
the success of this scheme, an unprecedented tide
of emigration pressed into Kansas and Nebraska.
The fertility of the reservations, greatly enhanced
in value by the rapid settlement of the country,
tempted alike the cupidity of the land speculator
and of a class of settlers by no means punctilious
in their respect for the right of the Indian. The
result has been disastrous. Trespassed upon
everywhere, his timber spoiled, himself threat-
ened with personal violence, feeling unable to cope
with the superior race that surrounded and pressed
upon him, the Indian proprietor has become dis-
heartened. Many of them have abandoned their
reserves, and still more desire to sell. These
Indians now ask for patents, as they have a right
to do, for their selections. The treaties vest in
Congress the power of providing for their issu-
ance, "with such guards and restrictions as may
seem advisable for their protection therein." There
can be no doubt that our people will succeed m
getting possession of these homes of the Indian.
If Congress shall fail to act, and thus open no
door by which the Indians can divest themselves
of their titles, it may be apprehended that un-
scrupulous men will, without law, obtain posses-
sion of their lands for a trifling consideration,
and stand the chances of an ultimate title. The

interest of the reserve requires the passage of a
law regulating the alienation of his right to his
land, and securing him the payment of a fair
equivalent for the same.

has been productive of evil rather than good. It
represses industry and self-reliance, it encourages
idleness and extravagance, and draws around them
a swarm of unprincipled traders. In many of the
treaties which have lately been negotiated with
these tribes, this provision has been inserted:
"The object of this instrument being to advance
the interests of said Indians, it is agreed" that
"Congress may hereafter make such provision
by law as experience shall prove to be neces-

For their numbers, the income of most of these
tribes, in the way of annuity, is large; but expe
rience has shown that the system heretofore pur-
the colonization system appears to be accomplish-sued, of paying them in money at stated periods,
ing, and it is certainly the most effectual and eco-
nomical plan yet devised for his reclamation.
The Indians along the west bank of the Mis-
souri, those of Kansas, and the four great tribes
occupying the territory west of Arkansas, form
a third class, differing in many particulars from
either of the others. Generally true and reliable,
they constitute a people for whom we justly feel
the deepest sympathy and the greatest solicitude.
The degree of civilization to which these tribes
have attained varies greatly in different localities.
Some of them, steeped in ignorance, thoroughly
degraded, seem, in their contact with our people,
to have lost the rude virtues that characterized
them in a savage state, and acquired from civili-
zation only its vices Others have rapidly ad-
vanced, socially, morally, and in the knowledge
of the useful arts, until they have become fit to
be recognized as citizens. Here and there is
found one whose talents, attainments, and integ-
rity, constitute him an ornament to his race, and,
while he challenges our admiration and respect,
furnishes practical evidence of the capacity of the
Indian for high civilization.

When those tribes who once resided east of the Mississippi river were induced to leave the graves of their fathers and emigrate to the west, the Congress of the United States gave them a solemn pledge that the country where they now reside should be forever" secured and guarantied" to them. The westward march of emigration, however, has overtaken the Indian, and now begins to press upon him; and it is evident that a critical period in his history has been reached. To attempt his removal still further west is im

sary.

If Congress, in the exercise of this power, should clothe this Department with some discretion in the payment of annuities, so that the same could be used as a means of their moral reform and elevation, instead of the injurious system now prevailing, of distributing money per capita, decided advantages may be reasonably anticipated.

The plan which has suggested itself as the most likely to arrest the demoralization now rapidly increasing, and, at the same time, lay a solid foundation for their ultimate civilization, may be briefly outlined thus:

They should be gathered on smaller reservations and in denser settlements. They must be familiarized with the idea of separate property, by encouraging them to erect houses as homes for themselves and their families. For this purpose the reservations should be divided into farms of suitable size, and distributed among the individuals of the tribes, to hold, in severalty, as their separate and private estate, but without the power of selling, mortgaging, leasing, or in any manner alienating the same, except to members of the same

35TH CONG....1ST SESS.

tribe with themselves. Settlements by white men within the reserves should be prohibited, and the prohibition rigidly enforced; and increased efforts should be made to suppress the sale of ardent spirits, to effect which the cooperation of the Indian authorities should be secured. Farms should be established in central positions, at which all the children of the tribe should be collected and required to labor, and where they could be taught the rudiments of an education. A certain portion of them should be apprenticed to useful trades, and the surplus of the proceeds of their labor, whether on the farm or in the workshop, should be divided among their parents. Here they would be taught the great truths that labor is honorable, and that want and suffering inevitably follow in the train of improvidence and idleness. Implements of husbandry, blankets and clothing, useful articles of furniture, books, and, indeed, everything which promises to give comfort to their homes, should be purchased and divided per capita.

Should their income be more than sufficient to meet the outlay required for these purposes, then the remainder might be paid in money. Now the annual indiscriminate distribution of their national funds among the Indians is gradually working their ruin; whereas a wise policy, such as any parental Government should adopt, would necessarily produce the happiest results.

The details of the system should, of course, be modified to suit the varied conditions of the several tribes; but the uniform application of its leading ideas to the government of the tribes in the central and northern superintendencies is, I conceive, indispensable.

Report of the Secretary of the Interior.

be done by peaceful means. Let an appropria-
tion be made to defray the expenses of a delega-
tion from each of the large tribes in those distant
Territories, to Washington and other eastern
cities. Let them know, by personal observation,
our numbers, see our improvements, and estimate
our strength. They would readily conclude that
further hostility would be absurd; and when they
carried the story of our greatness and power to
their people, a change would come over their
minds, and we might then reasonably hope for
the establishment, by treaties, of good under-
standing and perpetual peace between us. Such
an appropriation would be, in my judgment, an
act of true economy.

During the past year a large amount was paid into the Treasury of the United States on account of moneys belonging to certain Indian tribes. The several treaties under which this amount was derived devolved upon the President the duty of causing it to be invested in some "safe and profitable stocks, to be held by the Secretary of the Interior in trust for the respective tribes. In pursuance of your directions, these Indian trust funds were invested in State stocks which were deemed safe and profitable. The amount of bonds purchased was $1,481,476 03, costing $1,291,077 49.

The investment having been made at a time of unusual financial embarrassment, we were enabled to make a profit of $190,398 54 for the Indian tribes, and at the same time to afford relief, to some extent, to the business community.

The report of the Commissioner of Pensions presents a satisfactory view of the operations of that bureau during the last year. The business of the office has been brought up to date, as nearly as it is practicable; and the large clerical force, required to dispatch the heavy labors devolved upon it by the recent laws granting bounty land, has been reduced, so as to conform to the present exigencies of the office.

The condition of affairs in the southern superintendency presents a gratifying spectacle. The four great tribes of Choctaws, Chickasaws, Cherokees and Creeks, with the kindred band of Seminoles occupying the territory west of Arkansas, have steadily improved in morals, in education, in the comprehension of, and respect for, the rights of persons and of property, and in a knowledge of the theory and principles of government. They have regularly organized governments, constructed upon the model of our own, State constitutions, governors, legislatures, codes of laws, and judicial magistracies to expound them. There the path of duty is plain. Every encouragement should be held out to them to persevere in well doing, until the period arrives when, ripe for cit-volving the distribution of certain pension moneys izenship, they shall be admitted to the full enjoyment of all its rights and privileges.

SENATE & Ho. of REPS.

naked act of legislation by an executive officer. I felt no hesitation, therefore, in ordering a discontinuance of the practice in question; and all the cases coming within it will be indefinitely suspended, unless Congress shall pass a law giving to children and grandchildren the pensions their deceased ancestors would have received had the proper proof been made out during their lifetime.

A pension is a bounty given by Government for meritorious personal service, and the first law granting pensions for revolutionary services confined the bounty to the indigent soldiers. But, whether this restriction be correct or not, it is self-evident that the great inducement, in all pension laws, is to relieve and compensate, in his own proper person, the self-sacrificing soldier, who risked his life, wasted his energies, and neglected his private affairs in the service of his country. The law has extended its beneficence from the soldier to his widow, and there it has stopped. If Congress shall take one step further, and provide for children and grandchildren on account of the services of their ancestors, the question arises, why take care of the children and grandchildren of those whose fortune it was to live till Congress had passed a pension act, and not of those, equally meritorious, who died in the service, or who dragged out a miserable existence, uncared for and unrecognized by the Government?

The children and grandchildren and great grandchildren should be contented in the rich inheritance derived from a glorious ancestry, in the liberties they enjoy, and in the institutions which give them protection. Congress has not been unmindful of our revolutionary heroes. It has dealt out to them with no sparing hand. Up to the 30th June, 1857, under the pension laws of 1818, 1828, and 1832, $43,011,960 had been paid to revolutionary soldiers; and under the acts of 1836, 1838, 1848, and 1853, $18,302,660 had been paid to the widows of our revolutionary soldiersmaking an aggregate, in money, of $61,314,620, besides large donations of land and disbursements of money, under other laws, on account of revo

For some years past, the practice has prevailed
of paying to the children, and sometimes to the
administrators, of deceased revolutionary soldiers
and their deceased widows, the amount of pen-lutionary services.
sion to which such soldiers or widows would
have been entitled had they succeeded in making
good their claims during their lifetime, but never
to grandchildren, as such. At the last term of
the Supreme Court it was decided, in a case in-

which had been paid to an administrator for the

exclusive benefit of the children of a deceased
widow of a revolutionary soldier, that grand-
children, per stirpes, stood in the same relation to
such claims as children; and it was subsequently
contended that the effect of that decision was not
only to affirm the legal correctness of the practice
alluded to, but to enlarge it, so as to embrace a
class of claimants not previously recognized by

it.

The discriminations pointed out by the Commissioner of Pensions as existing between the invalid and half-pay pensions for the Army and the Navy, would seem to demand revision and correction by Congress. Some reorganization of the systems upon which those pensions are granted is desirable, not only because of the inadequacy of the lower rates to relieve the wants of those intended to be benefited, but because of the manifest propriety of making like provision for those of corresponding grades in the two arms of the service who may become disabled while in the faithful discharge of duty.

During the past year 41,483 warrants for bounty land have been issued, requiring, to satisfy them, 5,952,160 acres of the public domain; and the number issued under all the bounty land acts of Congress from the revolutionary war to the present time is 547,250, requiring, to satisfy them,

The frauds practiced upon the Pension office in attempts to procure, and in the actual procurement of land warrants, are numerous; but, owing to the short statutory limit of two years, the frauds are not discovered, and many guilty persons escape. I would, therefore, recommend an extension of the limit now made by the law for the prosecution of offenses of this kind.

One grievance, however, to which they are subjected, and of which they justly complain, deserves the consideration of Congress. While the Constitution, laws, and treaties of the United States are in force over this territory, there is no local tribunal empowered to take cognizance of the causes which arise under them-which, therefore, are sent for trial to the United States district courts in the State of Arkansas. This Seeing that a large amount of money had not only causes great expense and inconvenience already been drawn from the Treasury under the to the suitors, but, in criminal cases especially, practice of the office, and doubting whether the interferes with the impartial administration of court had gone beyond the mere question of dis-60,704,904 acres of land. justice. A Choctaw or Chickasaw, accused of tribution involved in the cause before it, and dean offense against the laws of the United States, cided as to the law on which that practice was is hurried away from his friends, to be tried at founded, I availed myself of the first case that a remote point, in a community which has no arose to elicit the views of the Attorney General, sympathy with him. Unable to compel the atboth as to the effect of the decision of the court tendance of his witnesses, and deprived of the and the legality of the previous ruling of the ofaid and comfort extended to the white man sim- fice. He thoroughly investigated the whole subilarly situated, he defends himself under great ject, and gave a most lucid and convincing opindisadvantages. There is a manifest injustice in ion on the law of the case; in which he came to this which should be remedied at once; and I the conclusion that soldiers or widows, who might would suggest the establishment by Congress of have been entitled to pensions in their lifetime, a district court of the United States for this ter- but died without establishing their right or reritory, to hold at least one term annually for each ceiving the same, left no estate in their claims of the four tribes of Cherokees, Creeks, Choc- which could be inherited either by grandchildren taws, and Chickasaws. Among these tribes or children; that arrears of pension, which alone, there are educated, well-read lawyers; and the by the statute, were inheritable, only existed in holding of a court in their country would create, cases where a pension had once been received, in the minds of the people, respect for the laws, and, at the death of the pensioner, a portion was and give dignity to the administration of justice. left unpaid; and that the Supreme Court, in the The Indians of the Territories of Washington decision referred to, had not passed upon that and Oregon are still restive and belligerent. This question. In this opinion I concurred; and, as disposition on their part evidently springs from there was no law for the payment of pensions in disbelief in the strength and ability of this Gov- such cases, and as no money could be drawn ernment to punish them for trespasses committed from the Treasury without a previous appropriupon our settlements. It is the duty of the Gov-ation, any payment ordered by me would have ernment to disabuse their minds. This can best been against law, and would have amounted to a

The Commissioner of Pensions has called my attention, also, to the fact, that the forging of land warrants is rendered penal by no existing law. The extent to which this evil practice exists is not known, but the importance of some legislative action upon the subject is obvious, and I would respectfully recommend that Congress provide some law which may serve as a protection to the Government.

The report of the Commissioner of Public Buildings furnishes a detailed and satisfactory statement of the application of the appropriations placed under his more immediate direction.

The west wing of the Patent Office building is nearly completed throughout, and presents an elegant and tasteful appearance. The north front of the building is in the process of erection. Satisfactory contracts have been entered into for

The report of the inspectors of the penitentiary, with the accompanying reports of the warden, clerk, physician, matron, and chaplain, are herewith submitted. They furnish a detailed The reservations owned by the United States account of the administration of the affairs of the within the city of Washington require to be im- penitentiary for the past year. The views exproved by the General Government. Much at- pressed by the inspectors of the present working tention has been bestowed upon these during the of the penitentiary, and their recommendations last few years, and several of them have been for its future improvement, are approved and substantially inclosed and tastefully embellished.commended to your favorable consideration. But while much has been accomplished, more remains to be done; and liberal appropriations might, with propriety, be made for the continuation of these improvements whenever the condition of the Treasury will admit of it.

By a joint resolution of the last Congress, the duty was devolved upon this Department of distributing a portion of the journals and congressional documents to the public libraries, &c., previously distributed by the Department of State. As the resolution prescribed no rule by which the distribution should be made, it is proposed to send to each State copies in proportion to its Federal representation, and the distribution will be made on that basis, unless Congress shall otherwise direct. It is respectfully suggested that a law be passed for the future government of the Department in reference to this subject.

To this Department belongs the supervision of the accounts of marshals, district attorneys, and clerks of the circuit and district courts of the United States, and no other branch of the public service is encompassed with greater difficulties in its administration. In some respects advantageous changes might be made, and additional legislation is recommended.

By the act of February 28, 1799, fees for services rendered by district attorneys in the performance of their duties were specifically prescribed, and in certain districts named an annual salary was provided, " as a full compensation for all extra services." All district attorneys, except the one in southern New York, now draw a salary, the greater part of them at the rate of, and none less than, two hundred dollars per annum. But the repeated applications for compensation for extra services by these officers is becoming a