REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF GENERAL LAND OFFICE, ACCOMPANYING THE ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR, FOR THE YEAR 1860 WASHINGTON: IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES, Resolved, That there be printed six thousand copies of the Report of the Commissioner of Public Lands; five thousand for the use of the Senate, and one thousand for the use of the General Land Office. Attest: ASBURY DICKINS, Secretary. REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF THE GENERAL LAND OFFICE. Extract from the Report of the Secretary of the Interior. One of the most important and widely-spread branches of the department is that of the public lands. For detailed information in reference to the same, I have the honor to refer to the accompanying annual report of the Commissioner of the General Land Office. I invite your attention to its contents with confidence; and, in view of the amount of work done, the difficulty and magnitude of the questions decided, and the number of our people who obtain through it the titles to their estates, I feel assured that you will be gratified to observe the marked fidelity and efficiency with which the duties of this brueau have been discharged. During the fiscal year ending June 30, 1860, and the quarter ending the 30th of September last, 16,385,361 acres of public lands have been proclaimed for sale. During the same period, 9,649,471 acres have been surveyed and prepared for market, and 12,060,053.72 acres have been disposed of in the following manner: 3,977,619.80 acres have been sold for cash, yielding $2,021,425 97; 3,379,040 acres have been absorbed by the location of bounty land warrants; 2,037,770.92 acres approved to States under the swamp grants; and 2,665,623 acres under the railroad grants. The number of military bounty land warrants outstanding on the 30th of September last was 74,468, and they will require 8,196,580 acres of the public domain to satisfy them. In former reports I have expressed my decided approval of our existing public land system, and my objections to any radical change in it. Forty years ago, the minimum price of the public lands was fixed at $1 25 per acre, and at this rate the principal portion of the lands in thirteen large and populous States on the eastern slope of the continent have been settled, purchased, and improved; and two States on the Pacific coast have now risen into importance and are rapidly |