The Bureau of Medicine and Surgery.—There are eight naval hospitals and one laboratory under the charge of this bureau, which also furnishes all medical supplies for the department. The Bureau of Provisions and Clothing.—The name of this bureau indicates its duties. Bureau of Steam Engineering.-All that pertains to the steam machinery by which vessels are impelled comes under the charge of this bureau. Bureau of Construction and Repair. This bureau has charge of all that relates to planning, building, and repairing vessels, both wood and iron, as distinct from the engines and machinery by which they are impelled. The Naval Academy.-This institution, which sustains to the Navy the same relation which the Military Academy at West Point does to the Army, seems not to have been established by an act of Congress, but to have been commenced by the Navy Department without formal legislation. The first action of Congress regarding it is found in the act making appropriations for the naval service, August 10th, 1846.' This provides that of the money appropriated for "pay of the navy" and "contingent expenses enumerated," an amount not exceeding $28,200 may be expended under the direction of the Secretary of the Navy for repairs, improvements, and instruction at Fort Severn, Annapolis, Maryland. In March, 1847, a like sum was appropriated for the same purposes, "and for the purchase of land for the use of the naval school at that place, not exceeding twelve acres." The students, who are called cadet-midshipmen, must be, when appointed, not under fourteen years of age nor over eighteen. There may be one from each congressional district, and one from each Territory, with ten at large. The latter are appointed by the President, the others are nominated to the Secretary of the Navy by the Representatives and Delegates in Congress. From 1862 to 1867 two were authorized from every congressional district. 1 Hon. George Bancroft was then Secretary of the Navy. The course of study has been four years, but it is now changed to six, commencing with the class entering in 1873. They become midshipmen on graduating, and are promoted to ensigns as vacancies occur, promotion being according to class rank. A course of study has been provided for cadet-engineers, to be appointed, to the number of fifty, by the Secretary of the Navy. The course embraces four years of study at the Academy, and two years of service in naval sea-steamers. Their pay is that of midshipmen. The yearly pay of the Officers of the Navy is as follows: 1 The large use of steam-vessels in the navy rendered this course necessary for the training of engineers. Most of those who are below the grade of Commanders have their pay increased after five years of service by from $200 to $400 a year; with some this increase is but once, but with others the pay is increased at the end of each five years up to twenty. The pay of officers retired after forty years' service, or on attaining the age of sixty-two years, or from incapacity resulting from long and faithful service, from wounds or injuries received in the line of duty, or from sickness or exposure therein, is seventy-five per centum of the sea-pay of their grade when retired; in all other cases the pay of retired officers is one half the sea-pay. The pay of "seamen" in the navy is twenty dollars a month; of "ordinary seamen," sixteen dollars; of "landsmen," fourteen dollars; of "boys," from eight to ten dollars. Until September, 1862, a spirit ration was allowed in the navy; at that time it was abolished, and five cents a day was allowed in place of it. This allowance was abolished June 30th, 1870. THE DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR. This department was established by act of Congress, March 3d, 1849. The act is entitled "An Act to establish the Home Department." A department was proposed under that name in 1789. The duties of the department relate to various offices which have been transferred to it from other departments. It is less homogeneous, therefore, than the others. At its establishment the Patent Office and the Census Office were transferred to it from the Department of State; the Land Office, the charge of Mines, and the accounts of officers of the Courts, from the Department of the Treasury; the charge of Indian affairs from the Department of War; the charge of Pensions from the Departments of War and the Navy; and the care of Public Buildings from the President. Subsequently it was charged with the duty of receiving and distributing public documents, and with duties relating to Territories, which had been performed by the State Department. The Department of Education, which was at first independent, has been made an office in this department. The salary has been the same as the other Secretaries have received, being now $8,000. An Assistant Secretary was authorized in 1862. For a list of Secretaries, see Appendix. The Patent Office.-This bureau is under the superintendence of a Commissioner, who is assisted by an Assistant Commissioner. There is a large corps of Examiners, Assistant Examiners, Clerks, Copyists, and Laborers employed in the Patent Office. Besides the charge of this large force, the Commissioner has a large amount of judicial work to perform—in hearing and deciding cases relating to patents. The Commissioner receives $4,500, and the Assistant Commissioner $3,000 a year. The Pension Office.-Provision was early made for the payment of pensions, but the office of Commissioner of Pensions was not created till March, 1835. This officer was to execute, under the direction of the Secretaries of War and the Navy, such duties in relation to the various pension laws as might be prescribed by the President. The office was created for two years, but extended from time to time. In 1849 it was transferred to the Department of the Interior and made permanent. The Land-Office.-The public lands of the United States which are for sale are under the care of an officer styled the Commissioner of the General Land-Office. This office was created in 1812, and it was made the duty of the Commissioner to attend to various matters touching the public lands which had before that been transacted in the several departments of State, of the Treasury, and of War. The Land-Office was placed in the Department of the Treasury till, on the creation of that of the Interior, in 1849, it was transferred to that department. The first survey of public lands was made in 1786, under the land ordinance of 1785. The lands surveyed were in southeastern Ohio, and are known as the "Seven Ranges." The survey was made under the direction of Thomas Hutchins, Geographer of the United States. The principal officers under the Commissioner are: Surveyors-General, Registers of Land-Offices, There are now seventeen Surveyors-General,—one in each land district.' Under their direction all the land is accurately surveyed and described, and thus prepared for sale. The United States system of surveys provides for the division of the lands into ranges, townships, sections, and fractions of sections. The ranges are bounded by meridian lines, six miles apart, and are numbered east and west from a principal meridian. These are divided into townships of six miles square, numbered north and south from a given parallel. Townships are divided into thirty-six sections of one mile square, or six hundred and forty acres. The sections are divided into quarters, which are again subdivided into eighths and sixteenths. The sections in a township are numbered, beginning at No. 1 in the north-east section, and proceeding west and east alternately, as indicated in the annexed diagram. The description of land is thus made exact to tracts of forty acres; as, the N. W. 4 of the N. E. 14 of Section 19, Town 27 North, Range 18 West. By the ordinance of 1785, establishing the system of surveys by ranges and townships, the sections of a township were numbered from south to north, the south-east section being No. 1, and the north-west one No. 36. 1 In 1796 the office of Surveyor-Genera! was created, Rufus Putnam being the first incumbent. There was but one Surveyor-General for a considerable period. |