gress, he makes a plat of any land surveyed under the authority of the United States, and gives information respecting the public lands and concerning the business of his office, as directed. All returns relative to the public lands are made to the commissioner of the General Land Office, and he has power to audit and settle all public accounts relative to the public lands; and upon the settlement of any such account he certifies the balance, and transmits the account, with the vouchers and certificate, to the first comptroller of the Treasury for his examination and decision thereon. In all cases in which land has been given by the United States for military services, warrants are granted to the parties entitled to such land by the Secretary of the Interior; and these warrants are recorded in the General Land Office in books kept for the purpose, and are located as is or may be provided by law; and patents are afterwards issued accordingly. All patents issuing from the General Land Office are issued in the name of the United States, and signed by the President, and countersigned by the Recorder of the General Land Office; and are recorded in the office in books kept for the purpose. It is the duty of the recorder, in pursuance of instructions from the Commissioner, to certify and affix the seal of the office to all patents for public lands, and to attend to the correct engrossing, recording, and transmission of the patents; to prepare alphabetical indexes of the names of patentees and of persons entitled to patents, and to prepare such copies and exemplifications of matters on file or recorded in the General Land Office, as the Commissioner may from time to time direct. Whenever the office of recorder becomes vacant, or in case of his sickness or absence, the duties of his office are performed ad interim by the principal

clerk on private land claims. Whenever any person claiming to be interested in, or entitled to, land under any grant or patent from the United States applies to the Department of the Interior for copies of papers filed and remaining therein, in anywise affecting the title to such land, it is the duty of the Secretary to cause such copies to be made out and authenticated under his hand and the seal of the General Land Office for the person so applying, upon payment at the rate of fifteen cents per hundred words, and two dollars for copies of township plats or diagrams, with an additional sum of one dollar for the Commissioner's certificate of verification with the General Land Office seal, the amount so received being, under the direction of the Commissioner, paid into the Treasury.

THE COMMISSION OF INDIAN AFFAIRS.

The Commissioner of Indian Affairs is appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, and, under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior and agreeably to such regulations as the President may prescribe, has the management of all Indian affairs and of all matters arising out of Indian relations. All accounts and vouchers for claims and disbursements connected with Indian affairs are transmitted to the Commissioner for administrative examination, and by him passed to the proper accounting officer of the department of the Treasury for settlement. The President may prescribe such regulations as he thinks fit for carrying into effect the various provisions of any Act relating to Indian affairs, and for the settlement of the accounts of Indian affairs. The Secretary of the Interior prepares and causes to be published such regulations as he deems proper, prescribing the manner of presenting claims

arising under laws or treaty stipulalations for compensation for depredations committed by the Indians, and the degree and character of the evidence necessary to support such claims; he carefully investigates all such claims as are presented, subject to the regulations prepared by him; and no payment on account of any such claims is made without a specific appropriation therefor by Congress. The Secretary adopts such rules as may be necessary to prohibit the sale of arms or ammunition within any district or country occupied by uncivilised or hostile Indians, and enforces the same. The Commissioner annually reports separately to Congress a tabular statement showing distinctly the separate objects of expenditure under his supervision, and how much disbursed for each object; describing the articles, and the quantity of each, and giving the name of each person to whom any part was paid, and how much was paid to him, and for what objects, so far as they relate to the disbursement of the funds appropriated for the incidental, contingent, or miscellaneous expenses of the Indian service during the fiscal year next preceding each report. And he embodies in his annual report the reports of all agents or commissioners issuing food, clothing, or supplies of any kind to Indians, stating the number of Indians present and actually receiving the same.

THE COMMISSIONER OF PENSIONS.

The Commissioner of Pensions is appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, and performs, under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior, such duties in the execution of the various pension and bounty - land laws as may be prescribed by the President. He is authorised, with the approval of the Secretary of the

Interior, to appoint a person to sign the name of the Commissioner to certificates or warrants for bounty lands; and certificates or warrants so signed are as valid as if signed by the Commissioner. He is authorised to detail from time to time any of the clerks in his office to investigate any suspected attempts to defraud the United States, in or affecting the administration of any law relative to pensions, and to aid in prosecuting any person implicated, with such additional compensation as is customary in cases of special service. Any person so detailed has the power to administer oaths in the course of any such investigation.

THE PATENT OFFICE.

In the Department of the Interior is an office known as the Patent Office where all records, books, models, drawings, specifications, and other papers and things pertaining to patents, are safely kept and preserved. There are a Commissioner of Patents, one assistant commissioner, and three examiners - in - chief appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. All other officers, clerks, and employees authorised by law for the office are appointed by the Secretary of the Interior upon the nomination of the Commissioner of Patents. The Commissioner of Patents and the chief clerk, before entering upon their duties, severally give bond with sureties to the Treasurer of the United States, the former in the sum of $10,000, and the latter in the sum of $5000, conditioned for the faithful discharge of their respective duties, and that they shall render to the proper officers of the Treasury a true account of all money received by virtue of their offices. All officers and employees of the Patent Office are incapable, during

the period for which they hold their appointments, to acquire or take, directly or indirectly, by inheritance or bequest, any right or interest in any patent issued by the office. Under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior, the Commissioner of Patents superintends or performs all duties respecting the granting and issuing of patents directed by law; and he has charge of all books, records, papers, models, machines, and other things belonging to the Patent Office. The examiners-inchief are persons of competent legal knowledge and scientific ability, whose duty it is on the written petition of the appellant to revise and determine upon the validity of the adverse decisions of examiners upon applications for patents, and for reissues of patents, and in interference cases; and when required by the Commissioner, they hear and report upon claims for extensions, and perform such other like duties as he may assign them. The Commissioner of Patents, subject to the approval of the Secretary of the Interior, may from time to time establish regulations not inconsistent with law for the conduct of proceedings in the Patent Office; and he causes to be classified and arranged in suitable cases, in the rooms and galleries provided for that purpose, the models, specimens of composition, fabrics, manufactures, works of art, and designs which are or may be deposited in the Patent Office; and the rooms and galleries are kept open during suitable hours for public inspection. The Commissioner may restore to the respective applicants such of the models belonging to rejected applications as he does not think necessary to be preserved, or he may sell or otherwise dispose of them after the application has been finally rejected for one year, paying the proceeds into the Treasury as other

patent moneys are directed to be paid.

There is purchased for the use of the Patent Office a library of such scientific works and periodicals, both foreign and American, as may aid the officers in the discharge of their duties, not exceeding the amount annually appropriated for that purpose.

For gross misconduct, the Commissioner may refuse to recognise any person as a patent agent, either generally or in any particular case; but the reasons for such refusal shall be duly recorded and be subject to the approval of the Secretary of the Interior. The Commissioner may require all papers filed in the Patent Office, if not correctly, legibly, and clearly written, to be printed at the cost of the party filing them; and he may print or cause to be printed copies of the claims of current issues, and copies of such laws, decisions, regulations, and circulars as may be necessary for the information of the public. He is authorised to have printed from time to time for gratuitous distribution, not to exceed over 150 copies of the complete specifications and drawings of each patent, with suitable indexes, one copy to be placed for free public inspection in each capital of every state and territory, one for the like purpose in the clerk's office of the district court of each judicial district of the United States, except when such offices are located in state or territorial capitals, and one in the Library of Congress, which copies are to be certified under the hand of the Commissioner and seal of the Patent Office, and are not to be taken from the depositories for any other purpose than to be used for evidence. The Commissioner is authorised to have printed such additional numbers of copies of specifications and drawings, certified as aforesaid, at a price not to exceed

for sale, as may be warranted by the actual demand for the same; and to furnish a complete set of such specifications and drawings to any public library, which pays for binding the same into volumes to correspond with those in the Patent Office, and for the transportation of the same, and which also provides for proper custody for the same, with convenient access for the public thereto, under such regulations as the Commissioner deems reasonable. The lithographing and engraving required for these purposes are awarded to the lowest and best bidders for the interests of the Government, due regard being paid to the execution of the work, after due advertising by the congressional printer under the direction of the joint-committee on printing; but the joint-committee may empower the public printer to make immediate contracts for engraving, whenever in their opinion the exigencies of the public service do not justify waiting for advertisement and award; or if in the judgment of the joint-committee the work can be performed under the direction of the Commissioner of Patents more advantageously than in the manner above described, it is so done under such limitations and conditions as the joint-committee from time to time prescribe. The price paid for uncertified printed copies of specifications and drawings of patents is determined by the Commissioner within the limits of 10 cents as the minimum, and 50 cents as the maximum price.

The Commissioner of Patents lays before Congress in the month of January, annually, a report giving a detailed statement of all moneys received for patents, for copies of records or drawings, or from any other source whatever; a detailed statement of all expenditures for con

a list of all patents which were granted during the preceding year, designating under proper heads the subjects of such patents; an alphabetical list of all the patentees, with their places of residence; a list of all patents which have been extended during the year; and such other information of the condition of the Patent Office as may be useful to Congress or the public.

The collection of the Exploring Expedition, now in the Patent Office, is under the care and management of the Commissioner of Patents. All disbursements for the Patent Office are made by the disbursing clerk of the Interior Department.

SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC

DOCUMENTS.

The Secretary of the Interior is charged with receiving, arranging, and safe-keeping for distribution, and of distributing to the persons entitled by law to receive the same, all printed journals of the two Houses of Congress, and all other books and documents of every nature whatsoever, directed by law to be printed or purchased for the use of the Government, except such as are directed to be printed or purchased for the particular use of Congress, or of either House thereof, or for the particular use of the executive or of any of the departments, and any person whose duty it is by law to deliver any of the same delivers them at the rooms assigned by the Secretary of the Interior therefor. The Secretary is required to furnish to the head of the Department of Justice, from time to time as they are published, a sufficient number of the United States Statutes, and the reports of the Supreme Court of the United States, to be by him distributed to such officers of the United States courts as

The

are by law entitled to receive them. A register of all publications received at the Department of the Interior for safe-keeping and distribution is kept under the direction of the Secretary, showing the quantity and kind at any time received by him; and he causes to be entered in this register, at the proper time, the time when, the place where, and the person to whom any of such publications have been distributed or delivered. publications received by the Secretary for distribution are delivered, not only on the written requisition of the heads of departments, Secretary of the Senate, Clerk of the House of Representatives, Librarian of Congress, and other officers and persons who are by law authorised to receive the same, except where by law the Secretary of the Interior is required, without such requisition, to cause the same to be sent and delivered; and in either of such cases, it is the Secretary's duty to cause the same to be sent and delivered, the expense thereof, except when otherwise directed, to be charged on the contingent fund of the department. The copies of journals, books, and public documents, which are authorised to be distributed to incorporated bodies, institutions, and associations within the states and territories, are distributed to such bodies as are designated to the Secretary of the Interior by each of the senators from the several states respectively, and by the representatives in Congress from each congressional district, and by the delegate from each territory. The distribution is made in such manner that the quantity distributed to each congressional district and territory is equal; except whenever the number of copies of any publication is insufficient to supply therewith one institution upon the designation of each senator and representative, the copies at the disposal of the Secretary

may be distributed to such incorporated colleges, public libraries, athenæums, literary and scientific institutions, boards of trade, or public associations, as he may select. The selection of an institution to receive the documents ordered to be published or procured at the first session of any Congress controls the documents of the entire Congress, unless another designation be made before any distribution has taken place under the selection first made. Where the same work is printed by order both of the Senate and House of Representatives, the duplicates may be sent to different institutions if so desired by the member whose right it is to direct the distribution. And the public documents to be distributed by the Secretary are sent to the institutions already designated, unless he is satisfied that any such institution is no longer a suitable depository of the same. Congressional journals and public documents authorised to be distributed to institutions on the designation of members of Congress are sent to such libraries and institutions only as signify a willingness to pay the cost of their transportation. So many copies of the public journals of the Senate and of the House of Representatives are transmitted by the Secretary of the Interior to the executives of the several states and territories as are sufficient to furnish one copy to each executive, one copy to each branch of every state and territorial legislature, one copy to each university and college in each state, and one copy to the historical society incorporated in each state. Fifty copies of the documents ordered by Congress to be printed are used for the purpose of exchange in foreign countries; the residue of the copies are deposited in the United States Library, subject to the future disposition of Congress. Only such of the books published by the