tion, secure national riches, prosperity and happiness, thereby realizing the true end and aim of a democratic government, based upon the virtue, intelligence and freedom of its people. THE PUBLIC LAND DEPARTMENT. The Constitution of the United States delegates to Congress the power of disposing of the public domain. The General Land Office is the executive bureau, under the supervision of the Secretary of the Interior, to carry into effect the laws of Congress relating to the public. lands, and direct the various details of the public land system. The chief officer of the General Land Office is denominated the Commissioner, to whom all communications intended for this bureau should be addressed. SURVEYING DISTRICTS. The states and territories in which there are unsurveyed public lands are divided by Congress into surveying districts. Some of these districts comprise one or more states or territories, but no more than one district is made out of a single state or territory. A SurveyorGeneral is appointed by the President of the United States, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, for each surveying district, whose duties are to direct the surveying operations in his district, under the instructions of the General Land Office. The following table shows the surveying districts as at present constituted, and the location of each SurveyorGeneral's office, together with the name and salary of each of said officers. NOTE.-The public surveys have been completed in the following states, excepting some small islands and fragmentary strips of land along the margins of rivers, bayous, etc., to wit: Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Iowa, Wisconsin, Missouri, Mississippi, Arkansas, and Alabama. Nearly all the public land is also surveyed in Louisiana and Florida. Each Surveyor-General is allowed a chief clerk, draughtsman, and such number of clerks as are necessary to carry on the business of his office, all of whom receive their appointments from said Surveyor-General. If the fact were generally understood that the letting of all contracts for surveying the public lands and all positions in said offices are under the immediate and sole control of the Surveyors-General, fewer communications soliciting employment in the public surveying service would be addressed to the General Land Office, and some perplexity and disappointment would be saved to such applicants. RATES PAID FOR PUBLIC SURVEYING. All surveying contracts are made at specified rates per lineal mile of line "actually run and marked in the field,” offsets and random lines not included, the rate varying according to the kind of line to be run and the locality in which the survey is to be made. The following are the surveying rates authorized by law for the respective states and territories: The prices in the foregoing table are the maximum rates allowed by law, but the full prices are not always paid. In some localities surveying can be done at less than these rates, and still afford a fair compensation to the surveyor for his labor. In the more remote districts, where the cost of provisions and labor is greater, the full rates are allowed, and in some instances higher rates than those named are paid where the appropriation is based upon estimates at greater prices. When the field work is completed, the field notes are returned to the office of the Surveyor-General, where they are examined and tested, and plats* and transcripts are prepared and transmitted to the General Land Office, * The plats are uniformly constructed on a scale of 40 chains to an inch. approved by the Surveyor-General in his official capacity, together with the surveying account of the deputy; and no surveys are paid for until such piats and transcripts are examined at the General Land Office and found correct. The plats and transcripts are prepared without cost to the deputy surveyors. Ohio .... Wisconsin Iowa........ 25,576,960 25,576,960 Maine..... 21,637,760 21,637,760|| New Hampshire 36,128,640 36,128,640|| Vermont...... 35,462,400 35,462,400 Massachusetts.. 34,511,360 34,511,360 Rhode Island.... 35,630,898 35,228,800 Connecticut.. Minnesota..... 53,459,840 22,045,867 New York.. Missouri..... 41,824,000 41,824,000|| New Jersey. Arkansas..... 33,406,720 33,406,720|| Pennsylvania.... Louisiana... Mississippi.... 30,179,840 30,179,840 Delaware.... 26,461,440 23,461,440|| Maryland.. 32,462,080 32,462,080|| Virginia.... 37,931,520 26,631,520 North Carolina.. Alabama....... 22,400,000 5,939,200 6,535,680 4,992,000 835,840 3,040,000 30,080,000 5,324,800 29,440,000 1,356,800 7,119,360 39,265,280 32,450,560 * Russian America, acquired by purchase in 1867, is estimated to contain 369,529,600 acres. The following is a comparative statement of the land measures of the United States and the French measures formerly used in the late Province of Louisiana. These proportions were adopted by the Surveyor-General's Office of St. Louis, Missouri, and are considered in all surveys as the true proportions between said measures. A league square contains 7056 arpents or 6002 50 acres. contains 725 arpents and 32.64 perches, or 640 acres. 12 arpents=35 chains lineal. A mile square |