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Show THE GENERAL LAND OFFICE. Some Points from tb- Annual lieport of CoiuwUsiouer Gruff Washington-, Oct. II. The annual ; report of Commissioner-General of the Land Olliee (.roll, shows the number of agricultural patents issued diiriug tho fiscal year ended June 30, v..is 117,'i-tT, embracing t8.T31.5iO acres, as against 70,111 issued in 18SS. with an oggre- gate area of 11,520.5.50. Of mineral nud j mill site patents, 1407 were issued, I showing an increase in tho year of -t!M. Of coal patents, 224 wero issued, an increase in-crease of G9 patents, representing 15.370 acres. Stato school selections aggregate 531V 771) acres. Selections for the previous year aggregated only i:ti.850 acres. The acreage of swamp lands paleuted to the several slates during the year was 10,010,!ta.j. There were patented or certiliod under tho law for the benefit bene-fit of railroad companies during the year 3(i:,t(2 acres. This is a decrease for the year of 61.1S3 acres. Total cash sales during the fiscal year, 3,302, tUti acres. Original homes loads, timber culture, cul-ture, state sections of school and swamp, railroad sections and others of a miscellaneous character, tl,302,2s3 acres. Tlio Indian lands disposed of aggregate aggre-gate 133,30,) acres, making a grand total of 13,71)8,K17 acres. Tho total cash receipts re-ceipts of the ollice from various sources during the. fiscal vear was 4-7. 70,,"1T. Of this amount! !,:H!),1?4 wero received from cash sales. On June 80, 1S89, there was 27(1,751 final entries of all kinds pending, and at tlio close f the fiscal year. 1800, there were 208.2011 pending, showing a decrease as compared with tho previous year of 08,07 entries. Railroad selections selec-tions amounting to 20,4411,1)55 acres were pending at the close of the year, an increase in-crease over the previous year of 1)32,70 J acres. There were also Oregon wagon road selections pending to the amount of 304,1)42 acres. Ex parte mineral Interests are in nr-rears nr-rears about two and a half years. Contest Con-test cases, quasi contests and ex parte coal entries are up to date. The mileage of land grant railroads actually constructed up to the close of the last fiscal year was 18,072 miles. Surveys have been accepted after examination ex-amination in a field of 4,402,81)1 acres, including Arizona, 507,748 acres; California, Cali-fornia, 102,031; Colorado. 473.457; Da-kota.'H2!)'IHI2; Da-kota.'H2!)'IHI2; Montana, 720.161; Nevada 408,857; Now Mexico. 2:17.437; Utah, 570.525; Washington, 180,122; Florida, 2,519; Idaho, 22,148; Minnesota, 141,855; Nebraska. 23,030; Oregon, 84,100. Upon the subject of forests on tho public domain, the commissioner finds that the most valuable timber on tho publio lands is being rapidly i xhausted, and the laws relating to the subject utterly ut-terly inadequato to properly protect either public forests from unlawful ap-priation ap-priation or the interests of settlers. Over $83,000 were received last year from timber depredations. Provision should be mode for the legitimate procuring pro-curing of timber from tho publio land by mill men and lumber msmitaoturors for salo to the extent necessary to supply sup-ply the community in the locality iu which they operate with lumber and timbor products needed in tho settlement settle-ment thereof. But the exportation of public timber should be prohibited, and also the removal of timber from any reserved land anil from the mountainous mountain-ous regions and other wooded lands nt or near the vicinity of the head waters or sources of streams which, for climatic, cli-matic, economio or publio reasons, should be held permanently as forest reservations, exception being mado in favor of settlers or miners for their personal per-sonal necessities. |