e
latter under the equal protection of the laws of the country. This
measure, together with a vigorous prosecution of our educational
efforts, will work the most important and effective advance toward the
solution of the Indian problem, in preparing for the gradual merging
of our Indian population in the great body of American citizenship.

A large increase is reported in the disposal of public lands for
settlement during the past year, which marks the prosperous growth of
our agricultural industry and a vigorous movement of population toward
our unoccupied lands. As this movement proceeds, the codification
of our land laws, as well as proper legislation to regulate the
disposition of public lands, become of more pressing necessity, and I
therefore invite the consideration of Congress to the report and the
accompanying draft of a bill made by the Public Lands Commission,
which were communicated by me to Congress at the last session. Early
action upon this important subject is highly desirable.

The attention of Congress is again asked to the wasteful depredations
committed on our public timber lands and the rapid and indiscriminate
destruction of our forests. The urgent necessity for legislation to
this end is now generally recognized. In view of the lawless character
of the depredations committed and the disastrous consequences which
will inevitably follow their continuance, legislation has again and
again been recommended to arrest the evil and to preserve for the
people of our Western States and Territories the timber needed for
domestic and other essential uses.

The report of the Director of the Geological Survey is a document
of unusual interest. The consolidation of the various geological and
geographical surveys and exploring enterprises, each of which has
heretofore operated upon an independent plan, without concert, can
not fail to be of great benefit to all those industries of the country
which depend upon the development of our mineral resources. The labors
of the scientific men, of recognized merit, who compose the corps
of the Geological Survey, during the first season of their field
operations and inquiries, appear to have been very comprehensive,
and will soon be communicated to Congress in a number of volumes.
The Director of the Survey recommends that the investigations carried
on by his bureau, which so far have been confined to the so-called
public-land States and Territories, be extended over the