paratus, machinery, and materials used in said process of impregnation, and that the party of the first part, whenever this contract is either annulled or completed according to the terms of this contract, may purchase, and, if so requested, said parties of the second part shall sell such building or buildings, at the then value thereof, which value shall be determined by the appraisal by the major part of a board of appraisal, who shall be sworn to make a just and true appraisal, consisting of three suitable and disinterested persons, one of whom shall be selected by the party of the first part, one by the party of the second part, and the third by the two thus chosen : Provided, however, if the commandant at said yard shall report that a suitable building can be had in said yard for the purposes aforesaid that may be used therefor without detriment to the public service, then said building may be used by said party of the second part, instead of erecting buildings for that purpose as hereinbefore provided. In witness whereof, the parties of the first part have hereunto interchangeably set the hand of their representative and duly authorized agent, and affixed the seal of the Department of the Navy, and the party of the second part have hereunto interchangeably set the hands of their representatives and duly authorized agent, and affixed the seal of said corporation, the day and year first above written. For the American Wood Pr. Comp'y: [SEAL.] In presence of I. H. RANF, J. S. M. HILL. GEO. M. ROBESON, [L. S.] In consideration of the increased price of chemicals used by the within-named company since the date of the within contract, the said company will be allowed an increased compensation of one cent per foot for 40,000 additional feet of timber to be hereafter impregnated by them, the said increase not to affect in any way the price to be thereafter agreed upon, but to apply only to the said 40,000 feet. In all other respects the conditions of this contract shall be binding on both parties. R. W. THOMPSON, H. Ex. 143-2 A resolution of the House of Representatives relative to lands granted by the government to certain railroads. MARCH 29, 1882.-Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary and ordered to be printed. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, Washington, March 28, 1882. SIR: In answer to House resolution of the 9th ultimo, calling on me for information concerning land-grant railroads, I have the honor to transmit herewith report on the subject, under date of yesterday, by the Commissioner of the General Land Office, to whom the resolution was referred. This report gives the material information called for, so far as it can be obtained from the records of this department, as I am advised by the Commissioner of the General Land Office. Very respectfully, The SPEAKER S. J. KIRKWOOD, Secretary. of the House of Representatives. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt on the 11th ultimo, by reference from the department on the 10th, for report, of a resolu tion of the House of Representatives, passed the 9th ultimo, as follows: Resolved, That the Secretary of the Interior be requested to inform the House, at his earliest convenience, the names of all the railroad companies to which the government has granted lands to aid in the construction of their railroads, and the names of all States and railroad companies where grants of public lands have been made by the government to said States for the benefit of said railroad companies in the construction of their railroads, which have not completed their said roads within the time provided by law; the amount of land embraced in each grant, and the amount disposed of by each of said railroad companies and States, and the dates of all acts of Congress relating to each of said grants, and the number of miles of each of said railroads completed under and pursuant to the acts making each grant, as well as the number of miles of each remaining uncompleted at the date at which said acts required the completion of the same; and he is also requested to give the name of each of said railroad companies and States which are required by law to reimburse the government for moneys expended by it in the surveying, selecting, or conveying said lands comprised within each of their said grants, and what amount; and also what amount, if any, is now due from each of said companies and States by way of reimbursement for the cost of said surveying, selecting, and conveying said lands, stating the amount in full by debit and credit on said indebtedness. The States and corporations to which grants have been made, for the benefit of roads which have not been constructed, in whole or in part, within the time required by the granting acts, and which I understand to fall within the terms of the inquiry, are specified in the accompanying tabular statement marked A. Said statement also shows the several acts making grants and increasing same, together with the acts granting an extension of time for the completion of several of the roads; the date when each road should have been completed; the date when (if at all) each road was completed; the length in miles of each road as defi nitely located or proposed; the number of miles completed within the period required by the granting act; the number of miles completed after such period; the number of miles uncompleted at the time when the road should have been completed, and the number of miles now uncompleted. Said statement also shows the number of sections "in place” granted for each mile of road; and grants "to the amount of" a certain number of sections per mile; also the number of acres certified, approved, or patented to each State or corporation. Unless otherwise indicated, the number of acres given in the column headed "approximate estimate of the number of acres so granted," is the result obtained by multiplying the number of acres granted per mile (allowing 640 acres to each section) by the number of miles of located road. No deductions whatever, unless expressed, are made for lands that may be situated in limits common to two or more roads. Neither does the statement show the cases where it would be impossible to find sufficient land within the limits of a grant to satisfy it, as such fact could not be clearly demonstrated except by adjusting such grant tract by tract, which it is not possible to do for reasons hereinafter stated. The resolution asks the amount of land embraced in each grant. Such amount cannot be stated specifically. At the beginning it was held that the grants to States to aid in the construction of roads were present grants, and it was believed by the department that the duty of "disposal" was properly in the States charged with executing the trusts. Accordingly, in all the earlier grants, immediately upon the location of the roads and determination of the limits of the grants, this office and the department certified, in whole, to the States, the lands to which companies would ultimately have been entitled, had the roads been completed as required; and, in some cases, even in excess of that amount. This certification was on the theory that the grants were of absolute quantity, restricted only by certain lateral limits; that is, that the States were entitled to "indemnity" for lands lost, for any reason, in the granted limits, to the extent of such loss, provided only that the quantity of the grants could be found, available, within the limits to which they were restricted. The Supreme Court of the United States (October term, 1875), in the case of the Leavenworth, Lawrence and Galveston Railroad Company rs. The United States (2 Otto, 733), decided, in effect, that grants would be entitled to indemnity only for lands in granted limits lost to them between the date of the granting acts and the definite location of the roads. Following this rule, it would, of course, be necessary in determining the actual quantity of any grant to examine tract by tract the lands in the granted limits, and ascertain what lands were lost prior to the date of the grant, and from that date up to the definite location of the road, thus ascertaining the amount to be made up from the indemnity limits to adjust the grant. This rule was modified by your predecessor October 16, 1880, following the opinion of the Attorney-General, dated June 5, 1880, in the case of the Western Railroad of Minnesota, wherein it was held and decided that properly construed such grants would be entitled to indemnity for lands lost in the granted limits, either before or after the granting act and up to the definite location of the roads, excepting only reserved lands. It was also held and decided that such grants were not of absolute quantity, like the Pacific railroad grants, but were grants in place, to the amount of whatever might be the actual area of the granted sections for so many sections in width, whether such sections were full or fractional and contained more or less land (see pages 158 to 163, inclusive, annual report of this office, for 1881). This modified rule would still require the detailed examination of grants above suggested, and it would not have been practicable to have accomplished the same up to the present time as to more than a few grants. Some grants were under examination under the rule, when, in connection with the grant to Minnesota, for the Saint Paul, Minneapolis and Manitoba Railroad (formerly the Saint Paul and Pacific, Saint Vincent extension), the whole question as to what losses would entitle the State to indemnity was presented to and taken under consideration by you. I have not been informed of your decision in the matter, and am therefore not in a position to determine the exact number of acres granted were it practicable to do so in time for this report. For this reason and after consultation with you, I have, in the accompanying table, unless otherwise indicated, estimated the quantity granted as if the grant were full and the company entitled to that quantity. As a matter of fact many of the grants could not receive so much for the reason that there is not available within the prescribed limits enough land to satisfy them. Where grants are made "to the amount of" a certain number of sections per mile, such amount is stated in the column headed "Estimated quantity of land (in acres) embraced in the limits of the grant," and is produced, unless otherwise stated, by multiplying the number of acres granted per mile by the number of miles of road located. The resolution asks the amount of land disposed of by each company and State. This office has no information whatever on the subject. The disposition of the lands by States and companies, after their certification or patenting by the United States, is not a matter of record in the department. The grants to States and corporations which are included in the tabular statement herewith are more particularly described, and the status of each road, to aid in the construction of which the grants were made, more clearly shown in the following detailed statement : GULF AND SHIP ISLAND. Under the act of August 11, 1856, a grant of six sections of land per mile was made to the State of Mississippi for a road from "Bran |