officers at this point. The collector and assessor of the State reside at Portland and have their offices there. I have another letter here from the Postmaster General, in which he states that "it is a matter of very great importance that means should be taken at an early day to furnish a post office adequate to the requirements of the city of Portland and the country to be supplied from it." I also left the papers at the office of the Secretary of the Interior; but Judge Otto, the Assistant Secretary, was obliged to come to the House on some important business, and he stated to the chairman of the Committee on Appropriations that he considered it not only important but absolutely necessary that a court-room should be built at this place.

Mr. WILLIAMS. I hope that this amendment will be adopted. I have made frequent representations to the Departments of the necessity of such a building at Portland, in Oregon, and it has been generally understood that at some convenient time they would recommend an appropriation of this kind; but now the necessity has become so obvious that there seems to be no question anywhere with any Department that the construction of this building is necessary and proper. I will simply add that we have no public buildings in the State of Oregon, not one building of any kind or description that has ever been erected at the expense of the Government. In the city of Portland, where the United States district court is held, the business for that court is rapidly accumulating. The accommodations for the court at this time are exceedingly limited, and it is absolutely necessary for the United States, if possible, to hire another court-room at considerable additional expense, or to construct a building for the purpose of accommodating the court. When you consider the expense that the United States incurs in hiring a post office, hiring a court-room, and hiring the other pub lic buildings that the United States are compelled to hire there, it will be seen that as a matter of economy it will be to the advantage of the Government to construct this building, for the expenses now paid amount to more than the interest on the money that the Government would so expend. I hope therefore that this amendment will be adopted, as I am satisfied it meets the approval of all the Departments.

Mr. MORRILL, of Maine. I suggest a verbal amendment simply in the form of the amendment. It is to insert the word "public" before the word "building;" and also to strike out the words "to be used;" so that it will be "a public building for a custom-house, United States court-room, and post office."

Mr. CORBETT. I accept that modification. Mr. MORRILL, of Maine. I do not see that there is any reasonable objection to this proposition upon the evidence.

The amendment, as modified, was agreed to. Mr. STEWART. On page 18, at the end of line four hundred and eleven, I move to insert the words "under the direction of the Commissioner of the General Land Office," to make that clause correspond with the others.

Mr. POMEROY. The effect of that is to require that the surveying of the eastern boundary of Nevada shall be prosecuted under the direction of the Commissioner of the General Land Office. I think that is very proper. The amendment was agreed to.

'Mr. STEWART. On page 13, after line two hundred and ninety-three, I move to insert the following:

a young man of great ability; and the Secretary is desirous of continuing this appropriation for the next year. He sets forth abundant reasons for the appropriation. If any one desires it, his letter can be read.

The amendment was agreed to.

Mr. MORTON. I gave notice some three or four days ago of an amendment that I should offer in line four hundred and three on page 17. That clause makes an appropriation of $15,000 for the surveys in Montana Territory. I move to amend it by making it $25,000. I am advised that $25,000 at least will be required. The surveys there have just begun, and they are very much needed.

Mr. COLE. I will ask what the estimates are?

Mr. MORTON. I do not know.

Mr. COLE. I desire to know whether this is up to the estimates or not.

Mr. MORTON. My information is derived from the surveyor general of the Territory.

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The amendment of the Senator from Indiana will be reported.

The Chief Clerk read the amendment, which was on page 17, line four hundred and three, to strike out "fifteen" and insert "twentyfive;" so that the clause will read :

For surveying the public lands in Montana Territory, at rates not exceeding fifteen dollars per lineal mile for standard lines, twelve dollars for township, and ten dollars for section lines, $25,000.

Mr. MORRILL, of Maine. I believe that amendment is in harmony with the estimates from the Land Office.

The amendment was agreed to.

Mr. COLE. I have a little amendment to offer, to insert at the end of the bill the following:

To enable the Secretary of the Interior to institute experiments for the planting and growth of forest trees on the treeless plains of the West, the result of which experiments shall be reported to Congress, $8,000.

I asked leave to offer this amendment in the Senate from the Committee on Appropriations, of which I am a member. I believe it to be a most worthy object, much desired by humanitarians and philanthropic men of our country. A good many have turned their attention to this subject already. Those who have been upon the plains certainly know well the neces sity of this proposition. In the settled portions of our own country there has not been much necessity for anything of this sort, but great attention is given to it in the older countries; and in this new country, where population is now going, there is certainly very great necessity that some attention should be given to it. This is a small appropriation asked for the purpose of carrying on some experiments and testing the possibility of growing trees there. I provide in the amendment that it shall be under the Secretary of the Interior; but whether he shall make use of the funds, or the Land Office department, or the Agricultural Department, or some other Department, I know not, nor do I care, so that the experiments are carried out. It is not local in any sense; it is national in its object. I have asked for no amendment so far as California is concerned, nor has any been asked for California; but I believe this would be a wise measure, and I ask the Senate to look upon it in a favorable light.

Mr. YATES. I move to amend the amendment by inserting "Commissioner of Agricul ture," instead of "Secretary of the Interior."

Mr. COLE. I left it with the Secretary of the Interior; but I am not particular about that. I am willing that that amendment shall be made. The PRESIDENT pro tempore. That modification will be made.

Mr. MORRILL, of Maine. I hardly think that the Senate ought to adopt this amendment without knowing what it is.

Mr. COLE. I am sure anybody can know very well what it is from the reading of it. There is nothing abstruse in it. It is plain and simple.

Mr. MORRILL, of Maine. I heard the

statement of my honorable friend, but still I am a little in doubt what it means. I will read it for the information of the Senate. I think the Senator will agree with me that it is novel. Mr. COLE. Certainly it is; it is new. Mr. MORRILL, of Maine. It reads: To enable the Secretary of the InteriorI believe that is now charged to "the Commissioner of Agriculture"

to institute experiments for the planting and growth of forest trees on the treeless plains of the West, &c.

I do not know what experiments the honorable Senator refers to. I suppose he means the planting of trees, but how far the honorable Senator thinks it is proper for the General Government to enter upon the undertaking of covering the treeless plains and trackless deserts of the West with forest trees, I do not know. I do not know how much information the honorable Senator has on that subject, as to the practicability of it, but I submit that the under taking is a novel one, and if it is entered upon I do not see the end of it. I am sure this is one of these experiments, if they are to be regarded as experiments, which belong rather to the local communities than to the Government of the United States.

If it is to be entered upon I agree with the honorable Senator from Illinois that it should be under the care of the Commissioner of Agriculture; but I am sure the Senate will agree with me that it would be enlarging the sphere of his duties very much indeed to charge him with the duty of clothing the western plains with forest trees. If that is entered upon as a policy I hardly know where it will end. The resources of the Government of the United States might be very largely taxed, I can conceive, if it should become the settled policy annually to make appropriations out of the Treasury of the United States to be expended under the direction of the Commissioner of Agriculture. Not even a Newton would be able to accomplish that task on a great scale to cover these treeless plains with forest trees at anything like a reasonable expenditure from the public Treasury.

If it is to end in an experiment only to test the practicability of doing it, and then it is to be turned over to somebody else, I can understand that it might be worth while to do this. Sometimes we have had experiments, I believe, to test the capacity of steamships. We had several propositions before the Committee on Commerce this year to test the capacity of certain new improvements supposed to have some adaptation to steam-engines and to the propelling power of ships upon the seas. There is no end to the experiments which the Government might enter upon if it had the curiosity to do so.

But I submit to my honorable friend whether, as a practical question, this is not so new and so novel and carrying the thing so far out of the ordinary track of the duties of the Commissioner of Agriculture that if once entered upon it will involve the expenditures of the General Government to an amount which the Senator will be very reluctant, I know, from his habits and notions of economy and that strict propriety to which he holds the administration of all the Departments of the Government, to agree to? I submit to him whether he is not opening a door here which would be rather too broad a one for us to enter upon simply as an experiment?

Mr. COLE. Mr. PresidentMr. MORRILL, of Maine. Will the Senator allow me to inquire what committee this comes from?

Mr. COLE. I mentioned it in the Committee on Appropriations, and said there that I would offer it in the Senate.

Mr. MORRILL, of Maine. The Senator does not mean to say that it comes here with the recommendation of that committee?

Mr. COLE. I have stated that I had the permission and consent of the Committee on Appropriations to offer it in the Senate. I mentioned in the committee that I would offer it in the Senate, and there was no dissent.

Mr. MORRILL, of Maine. I think the honorable Senator mentioned the subject in committee, that this was a proposition that he took an interest in, but I did not understand the honorable Senator to invoke the judgment of the committee on the subject of whether it could be offered here as coming from that committee. The proposition_offered by the Senator from Kansas [Mr. POMEROY] a few moments ago about the geological surveys was presented by the Senator from Wisconsin [Mr. HOWE] in a similar way, informally, to the Committee on Appropriations, and he was told that it would require, before it could be presented here for consideration, the recommendation of a distinct committee outside of the Committee on Appropriations. I dislike exceedingly to interrupt the progress of the matter in this way.

Mr. COLE. Of course it does not come from the Committee on Appropriations. If it did, it would be in the body of the bill. It comes from myself, under the circumstances I have stated.

I am not at all surprised that the Senator from Maine, who is so much accustomed to the pine forests of that region, does not see the necessity of these experiments, or something of this sort; but those who have been on the treeless plains of the West have often observed this great want in that region.

I cannot state how these experiments are to be carried out. I presume, however, that the Commissioner of Agriculture will expend some portion of this sum, perhaps all of it, in gathering and distributing the seeds of forest trees, which are not gathered unless for some premium, to the people who are settling on the plains. That disposition of the fund would be entirely satisfactory to me, and, I believe, equally satisfactory to Congress.

The chairman of the Committee on Appropriations seems to apprehend that this may open the door for wide and unlimited expense. He asks where it is to end. So far as I am concerned, it will end with the experiments that are made by this appropriation. It is for the purpose of experiments, and nothing else; and this sum is sufficient, I doubt not, to test the practicability of growing trees on those barren plains. There it will end. No further appropriation will ever be asked for, in my judgment. I have no belief that I shall, at any time, ever ask for any other appropriation for this end. It will end, therefore, I take it, with this appropriation, if it is made; and if it is not made I presume it will not end without a further application from some other quarter.

I will state that I do not know who is to expend this money, or who is to use it. I know of no person, indeed, who has any desire to be the guardian or custodian of it, or to expend it. It is to be expended under the direction of some public officer. That the object is a good one I have no question. That it will result in great public good and advantage to the whole nation I do not at all doubt.

Mr. POMEROY. I do not see how the Senator will get his amendment on this bill, but I can see very well how it would be very desirable to have this experiment made.

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Chair does not understand whether exception is taken to this amendment being in order or not. The Chair does not except to amendments unless an objection is urged by some Senator.

Mr. POMEROY. The Chair will understand when anybody objects. It has not been objected to.

Mr. FESSENDEN. Objection was made by the chairman of the Committee on Appropriations, by the inquiry as to what committee recommended it. No committee recommends it, and there is an end of it.

Mr. POMEROY. I will only add that if this means raising trees on what are known as the sandy plains, that really would be an experiment, although I do not know how it could be prosecuted very well. If it means simply an experiment to raise trees on the prairies,

where grass will grow, that has been tried over and over again with success. There is not the least doubt about it. The only trouble is to meet the expense. The fact that trees will grow where grass and other vegetation grow has been established over and over again. It is not an experiment to grow trees on the prairies; but it may require some experiments to grow them on what is known as the desert, those sandy plains where the sand drifts. Í confess I do not know any way to grow trees there; but I suppose there may be some way found out after a while.

Mr. WILLIAMS. I should like to ask the Senator if it would not be necessary to put some man there to take care of these trees while they are growing?

Mr. POMEROY. I apprehend the trouble will be not to take care of them, but to get them to grow first.

Mr. COLE. I doubt not there will be many men ready to take care of them if they are furnished with the seeds.

Mr. POMEROY. If they are paid for it they will take care of them.

Mr. COLE. The people there will feel a great interest in taking care of them themselves.

Mr. POMEROY. I do not see how we can enter on this experiment, not that I do not think it desirable. I would not like to cast a shadow over such an enterprise; but I do not apprehend that we can make any appropriation for it now.

Mr. MORRILL, of Maine. I dislike very much to interfere with my friend from California; but his proposition does not seem to be in order at present.

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Unless it comes from a committee it is not in order on an appropriation bill.

Mr. WILLEY. I offer the following amendment, to come in on page 13, after line three hundred and five:

For expenses of receiving and arranging and taking care of copyright books, charts, and other copyright matter, $1,800, to be paid out of the Patent Office fund.

This seems to have been inadvertently omitted in the bill, and the attention of the Committee on Patents was called to it by a letter from the Secretary from the Interior. I gave the honorable chairman of the Committee on Appropriations notice of this matter several days ago, and I make this motion at the instance of the Committee on Patents. If it is required, I have here the letter of the Secretary of the Interior, which can be read.

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The reading of the letter not being called for, the question is on the amendment.

Mr. MORRILL, of Maine. I want to have a little information on this subject. I think it is estimated for, and I think it has been appropriated for heretofore; but it was not appropriated for by the House of Representatives, and not being found in the bill the attention of the committee was called to the subject, and we did not have any information which authorized us to infer that it was necessary to appropriate $1,800 for the specific purpose of taking care of those copyrights. The Committee on Appropriations had no information on that subject, and so referred it to the committee of which the honorable Senator from West Virginia is chairman, that he might present to the Senate some facts to enable it to judge why, in a Department employing so many clerks as are employed there, it should be necessary to appropriate a sum for the specific purpose of taking care of these particular writings.

Mr. WILLEY. About all that the Committee on Patents know about it is contained in the letter which I send to the desk from the Secretary of the Interior.

Mr. MORRILL, of Maine. Let it be read. The Chief Clerk read the following letter: DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, WASHINGTON, D. C., June 24, 1868. SIR: My attention has been called to House bill No. 818, entitled "An act making appropriations for sundry civil expenses of the Government for the

year ending June 30, 1869, and for other purposes,' and to the omission therefrom of the item for copyright service in charge of the Patent Office, $1,800, which has been the annual appropriation for that object for years past.

I have the honor to recommend that said omission may be supplied, and to submit herewith for the consideration of your honorable committee a draft of a section for that purpose.

I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, O. H. BROWNING, Secretary. Hon. L. M. MORRILL, Chairman of Committee on Appropriations, United States Senate.

Mr. MORRILL, of Maine. We had that letter before the Committee on Appropriations; but it will be seen that it does not give much information on the subject. We are still left in the dark about the service.

Mr. WILLEY. If the Senator will allow me, I will give him what information I have on the subject.

Mr. MORRILL, of Maine. Certainly.

Mr. WILLEY. That letter refers to the fact that this is the usual appropriation made every year for this purpose. I have only taken occasion to go back two years. I find in 1867 this provision:

'For expenses of receiving, arranging, and taking care of copyright books, charts, and other copyright matter, $1,800, to be paid out of the Patent Office fund."

I find exactly the same appropriation in 1866: "For expenses of receiving, arranging, and taking care of copyright books, charts, and other copyright matter, $1,800, to be paid out of the Patent Office fund."

So that it appears that it has been considered necessary heretofore to make this appropriation for this purpose. On referring to the law it will be seen that as the law formerly stood it was required every year that a certain return should be made originally to the office of the Secretary of State. The old law read as follows:

And it shall be the duty of the clerk of each district court, at least once in every year, to transmit a certified list of all such records of copyright, including the titles so recorded, and the dates of record, and also all the several copies of books or other works deposited in his office according to this act, to the Secretary of State, to be preserved in his office."

It will be seen there were a great many books of this kind required to be transmitted annually to the Secretary of State. That law was subsequently modified in the act of 1859, as follows:

"That all books, maps, charts, and other publications of every nature whatever, heretofore deposited in the Department of State, according to the laws regulating copyrights, together with all the records of the Department of State in regard to the same, shall be removed to, and be under the control of, the Department of the Interior, which is hereby charged with all the duties connected with the same, and with all matters pertaining to copyright, in the same manner and to the same extent that the Department of State is now charged with the same: and hereafter all such publications of every nature whatever shall, under present laws and regulations, be left with and kept by him."

It seems that it is necessary to have some person to take charge of these copyrights and these books.

Mr. JOHNSON. I think this appropriation ought to be made. I deem it to be quite necessary for the purpose for which it was originally made. The laws require that books, in order to secure a copyright, and other inventions shall be sent to the Patent Office, and there be arranged. It is important to them that they should be preserved, and be preserved in such a way that access can readily be had to them. It is important, also, to the public, that the public may know whether the parties claiming the benefit of a patent for a discovery is entitled to it or not. One of the evidences of title is the fact that the matter has been properly recorded in the office. The expense attending the keeping of these matters is to be paid out of the Patent Office fund, and that is received from the inventors; it does not come out of the public Treasury. The Patent Office more than supports itself; and as this is for the benefit of the patentees themselves, it would seem to be but just even to them, and right as a matter of policy, that there should be some compensation provided for the preservation of all these matters upon which their own titles to their inventions depend.

Mr. HARLAN. I desire to inquire whether this amount is the salary of the clerk who has charge of these books and records.

Mr. WILLEY. This is not an appropriation, let it be understood; it is to authorize this sum to be paid out of the Patent Office fund. Of course it requires the care and attention of some person, some clerk, to take charge of this copyright matter.

Mr. HARLAN. Is this the clerk's salary provided for in this way 2

Mr. WILLEY. I do not know.

Mr. HARLAN. I suppose it to be; and if so, there is hardly a doubt that it ought to be passed.

Mr. MORRILL, of Maine. trouble; it does not appear.

That is the

Mr. WILLEY. This is not an appropriation, be it remembered. These books and charts and copyrights must be taken care of by some person; and to enable that to be done the person employed must be paid for. The object of passing this is to avoid making a draft upon the Treasury to do it; that the party who performs it shall be paid out of the Patent Office fund. That is the object of the appropriation.

Mr. MORRILL, of Maine. The difficulty which the committee had still remains. The Senator from Iowa raises the point precisely of embarrassment in the case. It does not purport to be an appropriation for a clerk, and the Senator from West Virginia does not understand that it is to pay the salary of a clerk. If it were so, of course it would say so; but the language of the appropriation itself nega tives the idea that it is for a clerk. It is for "expenses." Expenses for what? Not for a clerk; but "expenses of receiving, arranging, and taking care of copyright books, charts, and other copyright matter. What are those expenses? They are not the payment of a clerk. What are the expenses incident to receiving books and other copyright matter? The Government provides a building for them, the Patent Office. Of course there is no expense for rent. The Government provides for that out of the general appropriation. The Government employs all the clerks and pays all the clerks that I know of, that are necessary for this or for any other work. The language of the appropriation itself negatives the idea that it can be for any clerical service.

The difficulty in this case is there is not the slightest specification or the slightest information about it; and my honorable friend from Iowa, who has had charge of that Department, to the satisfaction ofthe country, I am very glad to say, does not himself know. He seems to think it is for a clerk; but it is not for a clerk. It is so much money, $1,800, drawn from the Patent Office fund for a class of expense which it is not possible for me to conceive really can exist there. It may be all right; I am not saying it is not; but the Committee on Appropriations on the part of the House having left it out, and there being nothing but the former appropriation on the subject, and no information whatever about it, the Committee on Appropriations turned it over to the Committee on Patents in the hope that that committee would find some item of expenditure which might be charged to the Patent Office fund.

books of this character, and charts, and copyright matter. There is no doubt about that; but I submit that the clerical force which has charge of it is paid for by the general appropriation bill; the clerks are appropriated for in the general bill; and there is an utter absence here of any item of expense of that Department which justifies, as I submit, the appropriation of one dollar.

Mr. WILLEY. Mr. President, I took it for granted when the Secretary of the Interior thought it necessary to address a letter to one of the committees of the Senate in regard to this matter, calling the attention of the committee to the fact that the usual appropriation in this behalf had been omitted, that that fact alone was sufficient to justify us in the belief that the appropriation was required, was proper to be made. There are a variety of duties to be performed with these records, maps, charts, and books, a copy of all of which that are copyrighted is to be sent to this Department.

Mr. MORRILL, of Maine. Will the Senator allow me to inquire whether he has information that this money is to be expended for the pay of any clerk there?

Mr. WILLEY. I have no direct information how it is to be expended, or in what manner it is to be expended. I suppose that

I have laid the facts, as he submitted them to me, before the Senate, and the Senate can vote the amendment in or not; it is all alike

to me.

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The question is on the amendment offered by the Seaator from West Virginia.

The question being put, there were on a division-ayes 16, noes 6; no quorum voting.

Mr. RAMSEY. If the Chair will divide the Senate again I think it will disclose the presence of a quorum.

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. If Senators will vote, the question can be disposed of.

The question being again put, the amendment was agreed to; there being, on a division -ayes 20, noes 9.

Mr. WILLEY. I offer the following amendment, to come in at the end of the bill as an additional section:

And be it further enacted, That the Commissioner of Patents be authorized to rent such rooms as may be necessary for the speedy and convenient transac tion of the business of the office, and to pay for the same out of the patent fund.

I will send to the desk a letter from the Secretary of the Interior, and also a letter from the acting Commissioner of Patents, to be read. I will send the printed copy of the same letters that were sent to the House of Representa

originals here.

"And it shall be the duty of the clerk of each district court, at least once in every year, to transmit a certified list of all such records of copyright, including the titles so recorded and the dates of record, and also all the several copies of books or other works deposited in his office according to this act to the Secretary of State, to be preserved in his office."

Now they are required to be sent to the Secretary of the Interior. Now, sir, does it require anybody to inform the Senator from Maine that it will need some person to do this? Why, sir, how many books are copyrighted within a year? How many maps; how many charts; how many of these lists are sent from the district courts that are to be filed, that are to be labeled, that are to be used afterward as matter of evidence, as matter of history? They must necessarily be put in order; they must be filed; they must, be preserved. There must be an index to them. It is made the duty of the Secretary of the Interior to do this. Any person must see that it will require at least one clerk, if no more, to discharge these duties.

I did not say that this was not an appropriation, but I did say it was not an ordinary appropriation; it was not a draft to be made upon the Treasury which is raised by taxes; but it is to come out of the Patent Office fund. That, in fact, is the point of this whole amendment. It seeks to relieve the general Treasury from the burden of this duty and wishes to pay the expense of doing it out of the Patent Office fund.

I cannot imagine that the Secretary of the Interior would have taken the pains to send a letter here to the committee, asking them to incorporate in the bill the ordinary appropriation, which, it seems; has been appropriated in the appropriation acts for many years past, without any question or objection-I cannot

Now, I state to the Senator from West Virginia that there does seem to be here an entire absence of all information whatever which authorizes an appropriation for the expenses of receiving, arranging, and taking care of copyright books. I dare say that they have

to be made, to be placed under his control, unless it was for an honest and fair and necessary purpose. Therefore I did not think it necessary to go and inquire whether these duties were discharged by a clerk or by the Secretary of the Interior himself, or by whom they were discharged. Most unquestionably they must be discharged by some subordinate employé in the Department. Whether he is a clerk, or what you may call him, I do not know.

It is a matter of entire indifference to me whether this amendment is inserted or not. At the request of the Secretary of the Interior

The Chief Clerk read the following letters: DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, WASHINGTON, D. C., April 17, 1868. SIR: The acting Commissioner of Patents, in a letter dated the 15th instant, has brought to my notice the present state of the business pending before his oflice, and the absolute necessity which exists for increased accommodation for the examining and elerical force under his control.

Applications for patents have been and are rapidly increasing; the number received during a given time at the present being quadruple the number received during a like period a few years ago, necessitating increased clerical force and corresponding room.

The business of the Patent Office cannot be properly and successfully transacted without increased accommodations in room, and that cannot be had without renting a building contiguous, if possible, to the Department for the use of the Pension Bureau.

I inclose herewith a copy of the acting Commissioner's letter, from which it is obvious that without increased facilities it will be impossible for his office to meet the just expectations of a class of people whose claims are entitled to exemption from the tedious delays to which such an increasing accumulation of business will inevitably and unavoidably subject them.

I earnestly commend the subject to the favorable consideration of Congress, and respectfully request that authority be given to rent a suitable building for the purposes above indicated, and that adequate appropriation may be made therefor.

I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

0. H. BROWNING, Secretary. Hon. SCHUYLER COLFAX, Speaker House of Representatives, Washington, D. C.

PATENT OFFICE,

WASHINGTON, D. C., April 15, 1868.

SIR: Allow me to earnestly invite your attention to the great necessity which now exists for more rooms for the use of this office, and to invoke your assistance in the premises.

It is a fact that while the business of the office has increased gradually since 1861, until it is now nearly fourfold as great as it was then, the number of rooms has been scarcely increased at all. We have now twenty principal examiners, as many first assistant examiners, and a like number of second assistant examiners; and cach principal examiner, with his two assistants, with the addition of one and sometimes two clerks, occupies but one room. In this one room the principal examiner conducts his examination of applications for patents, while both his assistants are engaged upon other applications under his supervision.

The models, drawings, and papers of these applications have to be exposed to view in the same room, while the agents, attorneys, and parties are admitted to make their inquiries, explanations, and arguments. Of course, while an argument is being made by a party or attorney before the principal examiner, both his assistants engaged in other work are more or less disturbed by it. They may be in fact engaged in hearing other arguments at the same time. Confusion and loss of time and efficiency must be the consequence.

Still another flagrant evil is the result of the crowded condition of these rooms, which is, that attorneys and parties do see and hear things which do not concern them, and which therefore they ought not to see or hear, and some of them do and will take a dishonorable advantage of the knowledge thus obtained. Thus innocent parties may be injured and scandal entailed upon the office.

From this showing it would follow that at least two rooms ought to be allowed each principal exam

iner, his assistants and clerks, their models, drawings, and papers.

But two of our examiners at this time have each a room of only half the ordinary size.

The business of this office is constantly and rapidly increasing, and there is a pressing necessity now that the number of examiners should be increased to at least twenty-five of each grade. This increase has been so enormous that examiners are gradually falling in arrears with their work in spite of the most determined efforts to keep it up. This state of things is greatly injurious to inventors and embarrassing to the office.

To give you an idea of this increase I will state that the reports for January, February, and March, 1868, show that the number of applications received during these months averages over two thousand per month. The number in March alone was two thousand three hundred and fifty-two. If we had a few more rooms now I could, by detailing first assistants to act as principal examiners, arrest the increase of arrears until such time as Congress would pass an act to increase the number of examiners.

Other branches of the service in this office are suffering likewise for the want of space. From ten to fifteen more rooms are needed for them. A single room has been occupied for months by ten clerks.

A large fire-proof building has been erected just across G street from the Patent Office building for the especial object, as I am informed, of letting it to this Department or some of its bureaus.

I am informed that some one or other of the bureaus in this department might be removed wholly or in part to such a building as that above mentioned without injury to the public service, and that all that is wanting to effect an arrangement is the money wherewithal to pay the rent.

Now, if this be the state of the case, I hope you will urge upon Congress the expediency of making an appropriation to pay the rent. Very respectfully, A. M. STOUT, Acting Commissioner. Hon. O. H. BROWNING, Secretary Department Interior. Mr. WILLEY. These papers were referred to the Committee on Patents, and a sub-committee was appointed to confer personally with the Secretary of the Interior and also to make personal examination of the convenience of the Patent Office and to see whether the representations made by the acting Commissioner there were as stated. Accordingly the Senator from Connnecticut [Mr. FERRY] and myself made a personal visit to that establishment, had a conference with the acting Commissioner, and visited several of the rooms. We found in some rooms as many as eight and ten clerks in a room of ordinary size, all working together. We found that it was necessary for two sets of examiners to be going on at the same time in the same room as stated by the acting Commissioner. On conferring with the Secretary of the Interior he said that the business of the Patent Office could not be conveniently carried on without more room; that there were too many clerks for health and comfort and convenience and the expeditious performance of duty in many of the rooms; and that the secrecy that ought to be preserved on the part of the examiners could not be maintained; and it was his decided opinion that authority should be granted to some one to rent additional rooms. An effort was made to see if in some of the other bureaus rooms could not be procured, and we found that it could not be. We supposed that perhaps when the Agricultural Bureau was removed that would make sufficient room; but we found on examination that such would not be the fact. The Secretary of the Interior said it would not be; the acting Commissioner said it would not be; and to show you what efforts were being made among the different bureaus to see if accommodations could be procured, I will send to the deak a letter from the Commissioner of the General Land Office and ask that it be read. The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The letter will be read if there be no objection. The Chief Clerk read as follows:

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, GENERAL LAND OFFICE, April 18, 1868. SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge your reference of communications from Hon. A. M. Stout, acting Commissioner of Patents, in which he makes application for rooms, No. 56, 58, and 60, in this office. for the exclusive use of the draughtmen's division of the Patent Office.

In reply I have to state that those rooms have been for several years past, and are now used and occupied by this office for the division of public lands; and ten clerks engaged in important correspondence, posting returns from district land offices, &c., have their desks, books, files, and papers therein, amounting to more than sixteen hundred volumes of tractbooks and abstracts, and twenty thousand homestead cases with accompanying papers.

Book and file cases surround the walls of the rooms occupying every available space, and the records therein are hourly consulted and referred to by the twenty-nine gentlemen composing the division of public lands.

There are no other rooms in this office in which the records and papers mentioned can be placed, and no other place to which the desks of the clerks engaged therein can be transferred.

This office has need of additional room. In the year 1861 the Patent Office took possession of three rooms, and subsequently the Pension Office has taken two rooms which belonged to this office, making it necessary to remove our clerks, files, and cases to inconvenient and inappropriate quarters, notwithstanding the several acts of Congress relating to the homestead, agricultural college, mining, and other landed interests made it necessary that we should greatly increase the capacity of our file-room, as well as to add to our clerical force.

I have, therefore, the honor to report that it will be impossible to comply in this respect with the request of the honorable acting Commissioner of Patents.

With great respect, your obedient servant,

JOS. S. WILSON, Commissioner. Hon. O. H. BROWNING, Secretary of the Interior.

Mr. WILLEY. I learn that there are thirty or forty clerks now in the Pension Office who are working outside the building and cannot be provided with room in it.

Mr. MORRILL, of Maine. I will suggest an amendment. I see that there is no limitation whatever on the power of the Commissioner as to the number of rooms to be hired, or the amount to be paid. The Senator obviously has examined into this matter with his committee, so that he understands the necessities of the Department; and I suggest that the hiring should be by the Commissioner, with the approval of the Committees on Patents of the Senate and the House of Representatives.

I want to say a word further. I am a little surprised-I have no doubt of the accuracy of the information, and it is only because I was not aware of it that I am Surprised-at the condition in which the public work seems to be in the office of the Interior Department. I suppose the building was originally designed for the Patent Office; I understand it was. The Interior Department has the possession of it now, and the Patent Office proper is very much crowded, I have no doubt. I understand that a large number of the clerks of that office are now actually in buildings entirely independent of the Patent Office proper; but I had supposed that when the new building was erected for the accommodation of the Commissioner of Agriculture there would be abundant accommodations for the Interior Office proper and the Patent Office.

Now, on this amendment we have this general proposition to consider: how long it will be found to be for the interests of the Government to hire rooms independent of the Government buildings, and at such rates and under such circumstances and charges as may be imposed upon us; or how soon we shall be obliged to encounter the general proposition of making a building for the Interior Department proper. I desire that this amendment shall be made that for the time being whatever is done in the way of renting rooms shall be subject to the approbation of the joint Committee on Patents. I hope there will be no objection to that.

Mr. POMEROY. Why not say "the approval of the Committee of the Senate?" Why say "joint committee?"

Mr. MORRILL, of Maine. I suppose it should be the joint committee.

Mr. POMEROY. I have had my attention called to the fact that more rooms are needed, and I know myself that there are more clerks in a room than can conveniently attend to their business; Lut whether that will continue so always I do not know. The business has very much increased the last few years. They are doing a great deal more now than they were during the war; but if the Indian department should move out of the Patent Office building; if the Indian department should be put into the hands of the Freedmen's Bureau, there would then be vacant rooms. If the Freedmen's Bureau of the War Department should have charge of Indian matters, as I contem

plate that perhaps they may, that would do away with the necessity of occupying the rooms that the Indian department now occupies, and they might be used for the accommodation of the clerks of the Patent Office. The Committee on Indian Affairs, however, withhold that measure, and I do not know what disposition may be made of it. If the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, now organized in the War Department, will take charge of the Indian department there might be room enough for all the officers of the Patent Office in the present building. I do not object to this amendment; but I do not see the necessity of joining two committees to say how much rent shall be paid. I should suppose that one committee in connection with the Commissioner of Patents might decide that; but if the Senator thinks it needs two committees to decide that question, I shall make no objection.

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Maine proposes to amend the amendment so as to read:

That the Commissioner of Patents be authorized to rent, under the direction of the Committees on Patents of the Senate and House of Representatives. such rooms as may be necessary for the speedy and convenient transaction of the business of the office, and to pay for the same out of the patent fund.

The amendment to the amendment was adopted.

The amendment, as amended, was agreed to.

Mr. HARLAN. I believe I have the consent of the chairman of the Committee on Appropriations to offer the following amendment to aid in the erection of school-houses in the District, outside of the cities of Washington and Georgetown; it is to come in after line four hundred and eighty-nine:

For the purchase of suitable sites for the erection of additional school-houses and for the maintenance of schools in the county of Washington, outside of the limits of the cities of Washington and Georgetown, $10,000, the same to be expended under the direction of the levy court of the county of Washington, subject to the approval of the Secretary of the Interior.

Mr. MORRILL, of Maine. I would like to ask the Senator whether the Committee on the District of Columbia have considered that question, and what is the necessity of this appropriation?

Mr. HARLAN. It has been considered by the Committee on the District of Columbia and unanimously approved.

Mr. MORRILL, of Maine. The Senator will recollect probably that within the last five years a similar sum has been appropriated to this object.

Mr. HARLAN. I will state to the Senate the necessity for this. It grows out of the destruction of property outside of the limits of the city during the progress of the war. While property inside of the cities was preserved by the presence of the Army it is known to all of us that they overran the plantations outside; fences were destroyed; orchards were destroyed; buildings were torn down. Although the levy court now levy the ultimate tax which they can levy under the law, it does not enable them to erect enough school-houses to accommodate the children.

Mr. EDMUNDS. Why not change the law and make them levy more?

Mr. HARLAN. We intend to do that; but they now need a little help in order to bring them up. The valuation of property has greatly decreased, and the number of poor people living in that part of the District has been greatly augmented. Very many laborers and people engaged in humble employments have settled outside of the corporate limits of Georgetown and Washington in order to find homes at a cheap rent, who are unable to pay any tax. I do not think any Senator, if he were familiar with the condition of the District, would object to furnishing this slight aid. I believe it is the only bounty we have asked for the District for this session.

The amendment was agreed to.

Mr. HARLAN. I offer this as an additional section:

And be it further enacted, That the city of George