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Mr. FOOT. My construction of the provisions of the bill would be this: That such States as have no public lands subject to private entry at the time, can locate their lands elsewhere in other States or Territories where there are public lands subject to private entry at the time. I have, however, no objection to the Senator from California drawing up an amendment to suit the condition of his own State in that respect, for I presume that is the only State in that condition.

Mr. GWIN. If I can get that amendment, I shall be satisfied.

Mr. DAVISON. Before the Senator from California draws up his amendment, will he be kind enough to explain why there are no public lands in California which can be taken by that State under the provisions of this bill. Is it because they are not surveyed?

Mr. GWIN. Yes, sir.

Mr. DAWSON. It is not to be presumed that the Government will allow the public lands to remain in California without being surveyed.

Mr. GWIN. If the Senator will permit me, I will explain the matter in a moment. There are hundreds of thousands of acres of land there which have been located upon by the settlers; and such has been the necessity to provide for those settlers, that we have passed a law through Congress giving them a right to go on the lands before they are surveyed, because the officers cannot survey them fast enough to meet the demands of the settlers. They are surveying that portion which is inhabited, and it is all taken up before the surveys are completed. Every foot of it is now located, and will be for years to come. In a State with such an immense area of public domain, the surveys can progress only at a certain ratio, and they must first survey that portion which is set according to the progress of the population; and hence I do not believe that in twenty years to come, there will be an acre of land there subject to sale at private entry. I only wish to meet the necessities of my own State.

Mr. DAWSON. Certainly there can be no difficulty; for in a State so large as California, every lot surveyed by the Government will not be immediately taken by the settler.

Mr. GWIN. Yes, sir, immediately.

Mr. DAWSON. Then that will be the most astonishing thing in the history of the disposition of our public lands. Our past experience in that respect does not justify any such belief. Now, I would say to the State of California, let the surveys be made in a district of country where this great demand is not existing, and California can get the whole of her lands very easily surveyed. I would rather pass a section of this bill declaring the amount the State of California shall locate, than to give her (a new State, with such an immense quantity of public land, out of which the Government has not yet realized anything) the right of going into another State to select these lands.

Mr. GWIN. I do not want to go into another State. I wish to get the right to have these lands located within our own State.

Mr. DAVISON. Very well.

Mr. HUNTER. I believe the hour for the special order has come, and therefore I move to postpone the further consideration of this bill until to-morrow.

Mr. FOOT. I hope we may have a moment longer to dispose of this question.

Mr. HUNTER. I hope the further consideration of the bill will be postponed until to-morrow. I do not believe a vote can be had upon it today. The time has come for the special order, on which the Senator from Pennsylvania has the floor.

The motion to postpone was not agreed to.

Mr. FOOT. I would suggest to the Senator from California to move his amendment in this form:

Provided, That California may locate her distributive share of the lands hereby granted within the limits of that State, on any of the public lands, either surveyed or unsurveyed."

Mr. GWIN. That will suit my purpose.

Mr. STUART. There is no provision in this bill to take care of the interest of preemptioners and actual settlers. The very provision which is now under consideration applies to land which is subject to entry at one dollar and a quarter an acre. If the Senator from California expects to secure my vote for such an amendment, he must take care of actual settlers on the public lands.

Mr. GW IN. We have already passed a law that this session giving every settler on unsurveyed land in California the right to the possession of his tract.

Mr. STUART. Precisely. And the effect of this bill will be to give to the State the land, and the jurisdiction over it.

Mr. GWIN. No, sir. It only gives the State the unappropriated public lands. If there are settlers on the lands, they are appropriated, and the State cannot take them.

Mr. STUART. It would be better to add the words "and unoccupied."

Mr. GWIN. I am willing to say, "the unappropriated and unoccupied public lands."

Mr. MASON. The effect of the amendment of the Senator from California, I take it for granted, will be to enable his State to appropriate the richest of the gold lands within her limits.

Mr. GWIN. I am willing to exclude them altogether. They are not to be surveyed. There is an order already not to survey the gold region at all. I am willing, therefore, to insert "other than mineral lands."