Since March 4, 1889, about 23,000,000 acres have been separated from Indian reservations and added to the public domain for the use of those who desired to secure free homes under our beneficent laws.  It is difficult to estimate the increase of wealth which will result from the conversion of these waste lands into farms, but it is more difficult to estimate the betterment which will result to the families that have found renewed hope and courage in the ownership of a home and the assurance of a comfortable subsistence under free and healthful conditions.  It is also gratifying to be able to feel, as we may, that this work has proceeded upon lines of justice toward the Indian, and that he may now, if he will, secure to himself the good influences of a settled habitation, the fruits of industry, and the security of citizenship.

Early in this Administration a special effort was begun to bring up the work of the General Land Office.  By faithful work the arrearages have been rapidly reduced.  At the end of the last fiscal year only 84,172 final agricultural entries remained undisposed of, and the Commissioner reports that with the present force the work can be fully brought up by the end of the next fiscal year.

Your attention is called to the difficulty presented by the Secretary of the Interior as to the administration of the law of March 3, 1891, establishing a Court of Private Land Claims.  The small holdings intended to be protected by the law are estimated to be more than 15,000 in number.  The claimants are a most deserving class and their titles are supported by the strongest equities.  The difficulty grows out of the fact that the lands have largely been surveyed according to our methods, while the holdings, many of which have been in the same family for generations, are laid out in narrow strips a few rods wide upon a stream and running back to the hills for pasturage and timber.  Provision should be made for numbering these tracts as lots and for patenting them by such numbers and without reference to section lines.

The administration of the Pension Bureau has been characterized during the year by great diligence.  The total number of pensioners upon the roll on the 30th day of June, 1891, was 676,160.  There were allowed during the fiscal year ending at that time 250,565 cases.  Of this number 102,387 were allowed under the law of June 27, 1890.  The issuing of certificates has been proceeding at the rate of about 30,000 per month, about 75 per cent of these being cases under the new law.  The Commissioner expresses the opinion that he will be able to carefully adjudicate and allow 350,000 claims during the present fiscal year.  The appropriation for the payment of pensions for the fiscal year 1890-91 was $127,685,793.89 and the amount expended $118,530,649.25, leaving an unexpended surplus of $9,155,144.64.