in a short time, and the country entered on a career of remarkable prosperity. Its public business kept pace with the general expansion, and new departments were from time to time created, to improve the efficiency of the public service. 2. In 1849 Congress passed a law creating the Department of the Interior, and a Secretary of the Interior, having a seat in the Cabinet, appointed in the same manner, and possessing the same rank, as the other members of the Cabinet, was installed in office. 3. The bureau of the Commissioner of Patents was transferred from the Department of State, and the General Land Office from that of the Treasury. The supervisory power beofore exercised by the Secretary of the Treasury over the accounts of the marshals, clerks, and other officers of all the courts of the United States, was placed in the hands of the new Secretary. The office of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, heretofore attached to the War Department, was also transferred to this; and the powers and duties of the Secretary of War, in relation to Indian affairs, were devolved on the Secretary of the Interior. 4. The Secretaries of War and of the Navy were by the same act relieved of their duties in regard to the Commissioner of Pensions, and those duties were thereafter to be performed by the Secretary of the new department. The Census Bureau, heretofore attached to the State Department, and the duties of the Secretary of State in relation thereto, were also transferred to this department. To the Secretary was also given the supervisory power over the lead and other mines belonging to the United States, heretofore executed by the Secretary of the Treasury. The powers of the President over the Commissioners of Public Buildings were also transferred to him. 5. He was also charged with the control over the Board of Inspectors and Warden of the Penitentiary of the District of Columbia. The Secretary of the Interior has the same power in appoint ing and removing clerks and other subordinates in his department, that the Secretaries of the other departments had over these several bureaus before they were transferred to this department. This office has a seal, which must be affixed to the commissions of all its subordinate officers. The President and Senate appoint the Assistant Secretaries. From the foregoing it is easy to understand what branches of the public service are conducted in this office, and what are the duties of its Secretary. 6. The following is a list of all who have filled the office of Secretary of the Interior since the establishment of the department: Thomas H. Ewing, Ohio, March 7, 1849. T. M. T. McKennan, Pa., 1850. Alexander H. H. Stuart, Va., Sept. 12, 1850. John P. Usher, Ind., Jan. 7, 1863. CHAPTER XXXII. PUBLIC LANDS. 1. ALL the land in the United States, to which individuals or corporations have not acquired a legal title, is held by the general government. This includes the land, or the part of it not under special reservation, belonging to the Indians. As the settlements push on into the territory roamed over by the thinly scattered Indian tribes, an equitable arrangement is made with them, by which certain Reservations, large enough for their purposes are set aside for their occupation; and an indemnity, commonly in the form of an annuity, is made them for the lands to which they renounce their right. As they are gradually melting away, their lands will soon become all, or nearly all, the property of the government. 2. The lands free for settlement are sold under certain regulations; and given to certain classes-to soldiers, to actual settlers for Homesteads, to corporations to aid in promoting the public welfare—as Railroads and Colleges-and to support education in various ways; and the remainder held until required for use in the expansion of the country. Nearly 200,000,000 acres have been given to assist in building railroads through unsettled parts of the country. A large part of this, however, has been only conditionally given, and not yet appropriated by the corporations. Many millions more have been given to the States as a fund in aid of public schools and collegiate institutions and one thirty-sixth part is reserved, in every new township surveyed, for the benefit of public schools in that township. The rest is sold, at very low rates, to any who will buy. 3. To manage this property a bureau was established by act of Congress, in 1812, called The General Land Office. It was under the oversight of the Secretary of the Treasury until 1849, when the Department of the Interior was established, to which it was then transferred. Its head is called COMMISSIONER OF THE GENERAL LAND OFFICE. 4. He is appointed by the President and Senate, must take the usual official oath before entering on his duties, and must give the usual official bond. He keeps the seal of his office, and fixes an impression of it upon all papers emanating from the Land Office. He, with his clerks and assistants, forms the bureau, keeps all the records and papers pertaining to the public lands, and performs all duties relating thereto. He receives reports from surveyors and from the district land officers, gives them their instructions, and reports to the President and to Congress when required to do so. He issues all patents for lands granted by the United States, and sends and receives by mail all papers and documents relating to his official business, at public expense. Every patent for land is issued in the name of the United States, is signed by the President and by the Commissioner of the Land Office, and is then recorded in books kept for that purpose. SURVEYORS GENERAL AND DEPUTY SURVEYORS. 5. When it is deemed necessary and expedient to bring the lands in any particular State or section of the country into market, a surveyor general is appointed for that State or section, and also a sufficient number of deputy or assistant surveyors to perform the work; which is done under the direction of the surveyor general, who is himself directed by law as to the manner of procedure. He is appointed for four years, taking the usual oath, and gives bonds for the faithful performance of his duties. MODE OF SURVEYING THE PUBLIC LANDS. 6. The law directs how the lands shall be surveyed and mapped. Where it is practicable, they are laid out into square miles, each of which contains 640 acres, and is called a section. These sections are then sub-divided into halves, quarters, and eighths of sections; that is, into lots of 320, 160, and 80 acres. The boundary lines are all run north and south, and east and west. Thirty-six of these sections, which make a plat of six miles square, are put into a township. These townships are designated by numbers, but when inhabited are named by the inhabitants as their fancy dictates. SALE OF THE PUBLIC LANDS. 7. After the lands have been surveyed and properly mapped into townships and sections, they are brought into market and offered for sale in such quantities as are wanted by the purchaser; from 40 acres, one-sixteenth of a section, up to a whole section; or as many sections as the buyer pleases to take. DISTRICT LAND OFFICES. 8. District land offices for the sale of lands are established for this purpose at as many places in the State or Territory where the lands are situated, as is deemed necessary for the convenience of purchasers. Here are kept maps of all the lands lying in the district, and buyers may make their selections both of quantity and location as suits them. Here they will find A REGISTER OF THE LAND OFFICE AND A RECEIVER OF PUBLIC MONEY FOR LANDS. 9. The first named officer will register the application made for land in a book kept for that purpose, and the second will receive the money paid for it. These officers are appointed by the President and Senate, and report their proceedings to the General Land Office at Washington. The receiver transmits all moneys received by him to the United States Treasury once in a month or once in three months, as directed. SCHOOL LANDS. 10. As before stated, the public lands are surveyed into |