for patent, and 4,320 acres of the public lands have been located there. with. There have been issued, under the act of June 20, 1874, duplicate of lost or destroyed scrip to the number of 21 certificates, calling for 3,360 acres. Certified copies of records. Section 461, United States Revised Statutes, prescribes the terms. and conditions, upon a compliance with which exemplifications of the records, plats, and papers on file can be procured. Under this act 217 certified copies have been made and transmitted to parties in interest, the stated fees for which have been received. Special warrants. Seven warrants for 40 acres each, issued under act of April 11, 1860"Porterfield warrants "-have been carried into patent. Of this class of warrants 60 for 40 acres each, still remain outstanding and unsatisfied. Virginia military district, Ohio. Patents for 1,000 acres of land therein have been issued, and there are now on file 67 applications, calling for 9,351 acres, the greater part of which have been suspended for want of the necessary proofs of the present proprietorship thereto, or on account of caveats filed against the satisfaction thereof, some by adverse claimants, but mainly on the part of the "Ohio Agricultural and Mechanical College." This institution alleges that the pending surveys were made in excess of the amount of land called for by warrants in virtue of which the same purports to have been granted and are, therefore, void; and that the lands embraced therein are the property of the said college within the true intent and meaning of the resolution of Congress of February 18, 1871, entitled "An act to cede to the State of Ohio the unsold lands in the Virginia military district in said State," to all the rights and benefits of which the college in question succeeded under due legislation had by the said State. The interests involved were fully and specifically set forth in my last report, and the representation justly made that the subject matter required further legislative action; in the absence of which I respectfully renew the recommendations made therein, as providing a fair and just settlement of the questions in dispute relative to the unpatented surveys in the said military district. Statement of the total number of acres located with military bounty land warrants issued under the acts of 1847, 1850, 1852, and 1855, in the several land States and Territories, for the year ending June 30, 1877. K.-SWAMP AND OVERFLOWED LANDS. Synopsis of the work of the division during the year ending September 30, 1877: Number of pages of patent record filled. 97 Number of tracts in regard to which evidence has been examined in contests between individuals and the swamp land claimants, (all of which were found "not swamp" and claim rejected). 92 Number of pages of evidence examined in such cases.... 270 Number of tracts in regard to which evidence has been examined in contests between railroads and the swamp land claimants.. 37 Number of such tracts found to be "not swamp " and claim rejected. 26 Number of pages of testimony examined in such cases.. Number of tracts examined by field notes of survey to determine their character... 11 104 15,068 Number of such tracts found to be "not swamp Number of tracts on which claims for indemnity have been adjusted. Number of certified copies of records prepared for individuals. 43 803 2,750 28 Under the acts of Congress granting swamp and overflowed lands to the States in which they are situated, 67,683,045.76 acres have been claimed by the States, and the claim reported to this office. Of the lands thus claimed, 8,290,977.35 acres have been approved under the act of March 2, 1849, such approval having the force and effect of a patent; and 39,218,126.41 acres have been approved and patented under the act of September 28, 1850. (Revised Statutes, section 2480.) In addition to the lands in place approved and patented as above stated, 414,203.15 acres have been patented pursuant to the provisions. of the act of March 2, 1855, (Revised Statutes, section 2482,) as indemnity for swamp lands entered with warrants and scrip, making an aggregate of 47,923,306.91 acres approved and patented as swamp and indemnity lands. During the past fiscal year there were formally approved as swamp and overflowed lands 320,935.05 acres, and during the same period 414,418.36 acres patented as swamp land. L.-DRAUGHTING DIVISION. Work performed in this division during the past fiscal year: 1. Annual map of the United States. 2. Eight special maps of States where the lines of public surveys have been completed, viz: Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Mississippi, Missouri, and Ohio. 3. Volumes of field notes arranged and properly indexed, 57. 4. Railroad maps constructed with lateral limits of land granted to different railroad companies; also copies of same, and tracings of railroad maps showing line of road, 73. Also, three volumes of railroad maps of Kansas, Michigan, and Iowa. 5. Exemplifications of plats, copies of town sites, tracings of private land and mineral patents, and copies of same in record book; also other records prepared for applicants for the same under act of Congress approved July 2, 1864, 1,604. In addition to this, surveys of islands and lakes have been tested, areas calculated, and diagrams of same made; also other miscellaneous calculations and protractions. M.-ACCOUNTANT'S DIVISION. During the past fiscal year there were received and registered 5,464 letters, and during the same period there were 2,493 letters written, the latter covering 2,550 pages of letter post paper. There were examined, adjusted, and reported to the First Comptroller of the Treasury, for final settlement: Repayment accounts for lands erroneously sold... Receivers' accounts.... Receivers' accounts, acting as disbursing agents. Five per centum accounts.. Timber agents' accounts State swamp indemnity accounts. 258 448 560 5 50 12 Making a total of 1,333 accounts, covering 1,758 pages folio post, and 307 pages cap paper. The record of the reports on said accounts, together with other writ ten matter, embraced 3,700 pages folio. Tabular statement No. 2 of the annual report for fiscal year ending June 30, 1876, was prepared during this fiscal year, and represents a great amount of labor. N.-MINERAL LANDS. During the fiscal year ending June 30, 1877, 14,103 acres of land were entered under the provisions of the mining laws, and 13,243.92 acres were patented, involving a large amount of clerical labor in the examination of each claim and the preparation of the patent, owing to the numerous conflicts which exist. Seventy-one more patents were issued during the past fiscal year than the year preceding, varying in area, the smallest being of an acre. 57 DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, GENERAL LAND OFFICE, Washington, D. C., April 10, 1877. GENTLEMEN: Your attention is invited to the act of Congress approved January 12, 1877, entitled "AN ACT providing for the sale of saline lands. "Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That whenever it shall be made appear to the register and the receiver of any land office of the United States that any lands within their district are saline in character, it shall be the duty of said register and said receiver, under the regulation of the General Land Office, to take testimony in reference to such lands to ascertain their true character, and to report the same to the General Land Office; and if, upon such testimony, the Commissioner of the General Land Office shall find that such lands are saline and incapable of being purchased under any of the laws of the United States relative to the public domain, then, and in such case, such lands shall be offered for sale by public auction at the local land office of the district in which the same shall be situated, under such regulations as shall be prescribed by the Commissioner of the General Land Office, and sold to the highest bidder for cash, at a price not less than one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre; and in case said lands fail to sell when so offered, then the same shall be subject to private sale, at such land office, for cash, at a price not less than one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre, in the same manner as other lands of the United States are sold: Provided, That the foregoing enactments shall not apply to any State or Territory which has not had a grant of salines by act of Congress, nor to any State which may have had such a grant, until either the grant has been fully satisfied, or the right of selection thereunder has expired by efflux of time. But nothing in this act shall authorize the sale or conveyance of any title other than such as the United States has, and the patents issued shall be in the form of a release and quitclaim of all title of the United States in such lands. "SEC. 2. That all executive proclamations relating to the sales of public lands shall be published in only one newspaper, the same to be printed and published in the State or Territory where the lands are situated, and to be designated by the Secretary of the Interior." This act provides a mode of proceeding by which public lands indicated by the field notes of survey, or otherwise, to be saline in character may be rendered subject to disposal. Should prima facie evidence that certain tracts are saline in character be filed with the register and receiver of the proper land district, they will designate a time for a hearing at their office, and give notice to all parties in interest in order that they may have ample opportunity to be present with their witnesses. At the hearing the witnesses will be thoroughly examined with regard to the true character of the land, and whether the same contains any known mines of gold, silver, cinnabar, lead, tin, copper, or other valuable mineral deposit, or any deposit of coal. The witnesses will also be examined in regard to the extent of the saline deposits upon the given tracts, and whether the same are claimed by any persons; if so, the names of the claimants and the extent of their improvements must be shown. The testimony should also show the agricultural capacities of the land, what kind of crops, if any, have been raised thereon, and the value thereof. The testimony should be as full and complete as possible, and in addition to the leading points indicated above, everything of importance bearing upon the question of the character of the land should be elicited at the hearing. The register and receiver will transmit the testimony to this office with their joint opinion thereon. When the case comes before this office such a decision will be rendered in regard to the character of the land as the law and the facts may warrant. Should the given tracts be adjudged agricultural, they will be subject to disposal as such. Should the tracts be adjudged saline lands, the register and receiver will be instructed to offer the same for sale, after public notice at the local land office of the district in which the same shall be situated, and to sell said tract or tracts to the highest bidder for cash, at a price of not less than one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre. In case said lands fail to sell when so offered, the same will be subject to private sale at such land office, for cash, at a price of not less than one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre, in the same manner as other public lands are sold. The provisions of this act do not apply to any lands within the Territories, nor to the lands within the State of Colorado until the grant to said State of salines has been fully satisfied or the right of selection has expired by efflux of time. J. A. WILLIAMSON, TO REGISTERS AND RECEIVERS. United States mining laws and regulations thereunder. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, GENERAL LAND OFFICE, February 1, 1877. GENTLEMEN: Your attention is invited to the Revised Statutes of the United States, and the amendments thereto in regard to mining laws and mining resources. TITLE XXXII, CHAPTER 6. Commissioner. SECTION 2318. In all cases lands valuable for minerals shall be reserved from sale, except as otherwise expressly directed by law. Mineral lands reserved. 4 July, 1866, c. 166, s. 5. v. 14, p. 86. SEC. 2319. All valuable mineral deposits in lands belonging to the Mineral lands United States, both surveyed and unsurveyed, are hereby declared to be open to purchase by citizens. free and open to exploration and purchase, and the lands in which they 10 May 1872, c. are found to occupation and purchase, by citizens of the United States 152, s. 1, v. 17, p. and those who have declared their intention to become such, under regu- 91. lations prescribed by law, and according to the local customs or rules of U. S. vs Gear, 3 miners in the several mining districts, so far as the same are applicable How., 120. and not inconsistent with the laws of the United States. 152, s. 2, v. 17, p. SEC. 2320. Mining claims upon veins or lodes of quartz or other rock Length of minin place bearing gold, silver, cinnabar, lead, tin, copper, or other val- ing claims upon uable deposits, heretofore located, shall be governed as to length along veins or lodes. the vein or lode by the customs, regulations, and laws in force at the 10 May, 1872, c. date of their location. A mining claim located after the tenth day of 91. May, eighteen hundred and seventy-two, whether located by one or more persons, may equal, but shall not exceed, one thousand five hundred feet in length along the vein or lode; but no location of a mining claim shall be made until the discovery of the vein or lode within the limits of the claim located. No claim shall extend more than three hundred feet on each side of the middle of the vein at the surface, nor shall any claim Proof of citizenship. be limited by any mining regulation to less than twenty-five feet on each side of the middle of the vein at the surface, except where adverse rights existing on the tenth day of May, eighteen hundred and seventytwo, render such limitation necessary. The end lines of each claim shall be parallel to each other. SEC. 2321. Proof of citizenship, under this chapter, may consist, in the case of an individual, of his own affidavit thereof; in the case of an 10 May, 1872, c. association of persons unincorporated, of the affidavit of their author152, s. 7, v. 17, P. ized agent, made on his own knowledge, or upon information and belief; and in the case of a corporation organized under the laws of the United States, or of any State or Territory thereof, bythe filing of a certified copy of their charter or certificate of incorporation. 94. 91. Locators' rights SEC. 2322. The locators of all mining locations heretofore made or of possession and which shall hereafter be made, on any mineral vein, lode, or ledge, enjoyment. situated on the public domain, their heirs and assigns, where no adverse 10 May, 1872, c. claim exists on the tenth day of May, eighteen hundred and seventy152, s. 3, v. 17, p. two, so long as they comply with the laws of the United States, and with State, territorial, and local regulations not in conflict with the laws of the United States governing their possessory title, shall have the exclusive right of possession and enjoyment of all the surface included within the lines of their locations, and of all veins, lodes, and ledges throughout their entire depth, the top or apex of which lies inside of such surface lines extended downward vertically, although such veins, lodes, or ledges may so far depart from a perpendicular in their course downward as to extend outside the vertical side lines of such surface locations. But their right of possession to such outside parts of such veins or ledges shall be confined to such portions thereof as lie between vertical planes drawn downward as above described, through the end lines of their locations, so continued in their own direction that such planes will intersect such exterior parts of such veins or ledges. And nothing in this section shall authorize the locator or possessor of a vein or lode which extends in its downward course beyond the vertical lines of his claim to enter upon the surface of a claim owned or possessed by another. Owners of tunnels, rights of. c. 10 May, 1872, 152, s. 4, v. 17, p. 92. SEC. 2323. Where a tunnel is run for the development of a vein or lode, or for the discovery of mines, the owners of such tunnel shall have the right of possession of all veins or lodes within three thousand feet from the face of such tunnel on the line thereof, not previously known to exist, discovered in such tunnel, to the same extent as if discovered from the surface; and locations on the line of such tunnel of veins or lodes not appearing on the surface, made by other parties after the commencement of the tunnel, and while the same is being prosecuted with reasonable diligence, shall be invalid; but failure to prosecute the work on the tunnel for six months shall be considered as an abandonment of the right to all undiscovered veins on the line of such tunnel. Regulations SEC. 2324. The miners of each mining district may make regulations made by miners. not in conflict with the laws of the United States, or with the laws of 10 May, 1872, c. the State or Territory in which the district is situated, governing the 152, s. 5, v. 17, p. location, mauner of recording, amount of work necessary to hold pos 92. session of a mining claim, subject to the following requirements: The location must be distinctly marked on the ground so that its boundaries can be readily traced. All records of mining claims hereafter made shall contain the name or names of the locators, the date of the location, and such a description of the claim or claims located by reference to some natural object or permanent monument as will identify the claim. On each claim located after the tenth day of May, eighteen hundred and seventy-two, and until a patent has been issued therefor, not less than one hundred dollars' worth of labor shall be performed or improvements made during each year. On all claims located prior to the tenth day of May, eighteen hundred and seventy-two, ten dollars' worth of labor shall be performed or improvements made by the tenth day of June, eighteen hundred and seventy-four, and each year thereafter, for each one hundred feet in length along the vein until a patent has been issued therefor; but where such claims are held in common, such expenditure may be made upon any one claim; and upon a failure to comply with these conditions, the claim or mine upon which such failure occurred shall be open to relocation in the same manner as if no location of the same had ever been made, provided that the original locators, their heirs, assigns, or legal representatives, have not resumed work upon the claim after failure and before such location. Upon the failure of any one of |