Kind of cases. Cases receivep, acted upon during the year, and pending June 30, 1891-Continued. A waiting final action. Location and status of cases acted upon during the year and pending June 30, 1891. 1891. No inclosures of any magnitude, except one in the Territory of Utah of 26,340 acres, have been reported during the year, and the practice of ualawfully inclosing the public lands has, except in a few isolated instances, been practically discontinued. TIMBER TRESPASS. Forty-six timber agents have been employed during the year for an aggregate length of service of 39 months and 10 days, equivalent to the employment of 33 agents for the entire year and 1 agent for 2 months and 10 days. Four hundred and eighty eight cases have been reported by special agents during the year, involving public timber and the products therefrom, to the value of $2,347,473.11 recoverable to the government. The amount accepted under propositions of settlement is $53,863.03; the amount paid in during the year on propositions of settlement accepted during previous years is $439.07; and the amount recovered through legal proceedings so far of record (the United States attorneys' reports for various districts not having been received up to the date of preparing this report) is $62,402.47; making a total amount recovered during the year on account of depredations upon the public timber of $116,704.57, being $16,704.57 in excess of the appropriation for this branch of the public service. In addition to the above result of work accomplished by the special timber agents, they have during the year investigated and reported upon a large number of fraudulent land entries. On the 1st of July, 1891, as far as reported, there were shown to be pending in the United States courts 203 civil suits for the recovery of a total amount of $4,451,305.07 for the value of timber reported to have been unlawfully cut from public lands, and 361 criminal prosecutions for the act of cutting or removing timber in violation of law. Assignment of special agents for the protection of public timber, number of cases investirecoverable, and amounts accepted in compromise, a Includes all new cases investigated and reported upon by special agents and all cases reinvestigated or acted upon by them. b The criminal prosecutions in both Alabama and Missouri were mainly instituted upon information filed by private parties. gated or acted upon, amount and value of timber involved therein, suits instituted, amounts during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1891. e The amount of fines imposed and judgments recovered are taken from the several United States attorneys' reports to this office. No reports for the last half of the fiscal year have been received from the United States attorneys for middle Alabama, eastern Arkansas, northern California, southern California, Colorado, western Louisiana, southern Mississippi, Montana, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Washington, western Wisconsin and Wyoming. d Represents the number of suits specifically recommended by this office and the amount sued for. e Thirty-eight thousand two hundred and fifteen dollars and seventy cents of this amount was for compromises under section 3469, United States Revised Statutes. Reports have not as yet been received of all sums paid to receivers of public moneys. f Includes all reports and communications of every description on hand July 1, 1891, upon which no action whatever had been taken. INT 91-VOL I-21 |