Page:U.S. Department of the Interior Annual Report 1876.djvu/20

XVI his office, this number is being constantly augmented instead of diminished.

During the year, 852 applications for bounty-land were received; 124 warrants were issued, aggregating 16,769 acres of land, which was 44,800 less than the number of acres issued for the preceding year; 351 applications were rejected, 98 of which were without title, and the remainder, 253, were denied on account of warrants having been previously issued for the same service.

The number of cases investigated by special agents of the office was 2,633, and the amount of money thereby saved to the Government was $136,981.54, or over three times the cost of investigation. Twenty-seven persons have been prosecuted for violations of the pension laws; 17 were convicted, 12 of whom are awaiting sentence; 6 were acquitted, and in 4 cases a nolle prosequi was entered. Forty cases are still in the hands of various United States attorneys, undisposed of and awaiting action.

It is estimated that the sum of $28,533,000 will be necessary for the pension-service during the ensuing fiscal year.

In my last annual report I referred to the unsuitableness of the Seaton building for the use of the Pension Office, and to its insecurity as a place of deposit for the valuable records and files of the office. My immediate predecessor had embodied like views in his annual reports, and on several occasions the attention of Congress had been called to the necessity of making some provision for the better protection of the valuable papers belonging to the Pension Office and for the personal safety of those engaged in the public service.

Congress, at its last session, recognized the necessity of affording the security asked for, and authorized the Secretary of the Interior to procure a fire proof building of suitable accommodations, provided the same could be rented for a sum not exceeding the amount appropriated for the rent of the buildings occupied by the Pension Office and Bureau of Education, to wit, $14,000. It was further provided in the same act, August 15, 1876, that "the lease of the present buildings shall be continued if the said buildings shall be made fire-proof by the owners thereof, to the satisfaction of the said Secretary, within six months from the passage of this act, without disturbing the use of the said building."

Immediately after the passage of this act I requested the Commissioner of Pensions to have a thorough survey made of the buildings, to determine whether the conditions on which the lease was to be continued were possible, and to report the result to the Department. The Commissioner called in the services of a competent architect, and a thorough examination was made. The result of this examination, as embodied in a report made to me, was, that the buildings could be made fire-proof only by a complete rebuilding of the interior of the structures in question, including partition-walls, stairways, &c., and that this could not be done without disturbing the use of the buildings, and probably compelling their entire vacation.