Page:U.S. Department of the Interior Annual Report 1896.djvu/11

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"3" I'DBT 01“ THE BECBETAB! OF THE INTERIOR. ‘V Hiscelkneons: Library, Department of the Interior. ... . . ... .. .... .r $500. 00 Repairs Interior Department and Pension buildings. 5, 000. 00 Payment for Supreme Court reports. 608. 00 Government Hospital for Insane. . . . 260, 740. 00 Columbian Institute for the Dent on on. 53, 500. 00 Maintenance Howard University .. . 34, 500. 00 Miscellaneous items and reliefs. 661. 21 Publishing Biennial Registerv .. . . . 4, 000. 00

Expenses special lend inspector, Department of the Interior. .. . 2, 000. 00

Postage to Postal Union countries ................... .. 3, 000.00 Rent of buildings, Department of the Interion 40, 500. 00 Yellowstone National Pork building ................. ... 386. 75 Stationery, Deparhnent of the Interior, bureaus and ofl‘ices. . . . . 52, 500. 00 Contingent expenses, Department of the Interior, bureaus an ofl'ices .. . . 73, 000. 00 Total for the entire Department ........................... .. 157, 179,66& 37

The estimates for the present fiscal year amount to about $1,000,000 less than the amounts appropriated last year. The following table gives the total appropriations for defraying the entire expenses of the Government (exclusive of the principal of the public debt.) for the four fiscal years from July 1, 1857, to June 30, 1861, as taken from the books of the Register of the Treasury:

Fiscal year—

1357—53"... . ........ _. $5,996,806.72 1858-59... .. 65, 401, 457. 28 62,086,22609 1860—61... . . 89, 855, 082.70

293,339,572.79

From this it appears that the cost of maintaining the Department of the Interior, including the payment of pensions, for the last fiscal year is more than two and a half times as great as the entire expenses of the Government for the fiscal year 1859—60, and $6,000,000 in excess of the total cost of defmying the expenses of the Government for the two fiscal years from July 1, 1859, to June 30, 1861, although the expenses of the latter year were largely in excess of previous years, in conse quence, no doubt, of preparations for war.

GENERAL LAND OFFICE. Tim PUBLIC now.

The public domain is under the charge of the General Land Office, and has been since the creation of that Bureau in 1812. It remained under the supervision of the Secretary of the Treasury until the organi- zation of the Department of the Interior, Match 3, 1849, when it was transferred to this Department.