REPORT.

LAND OFFICE, DEC. 31, 1848.

To the Governor and Executive Council of the State of Maine: I have the honor herewith to submit this the annual report of this department, which with the accompanying schedules, exhibits the transactions of the Land Office for the year 1848.

Of the lands belonging to this State in severalty, there have been sold and conveyed, thirty-nine thousand five hundred eighty-nine and 95-100 acres, for the sum of fourteen thousand four hundred and eleven dollars and twenty-four cents. See schedule marked A.

Fourteen hundred eighty-six and 97-160 acres of land which had become forfeited to the State for the non-performance of the conditions of previous sales, have been sold for the sum of six hundred forty-five dollars and thirty-seven cents. See schedule B.

The agents of Maine and Massachusetts have sold out of the lands owned by said States in common, one hundred and twenty thousand two hundred and ninety acres, for the sum of one hundred twenty-six thousand seven hundred ninety dollars and sixty-eight cents, one moiety whereof, viz: the sum of sixty-three thousand three hundred ninety-five dollars and thirty-four cents, is receivable by this State.

In obedience to the several resolves granting to the Trustees of the Patten Academy, the Houlton Academy and the East Corinth Academy, upon certain conditions, and satisfactory proof having been adduced to the governor and council in the case of the East Corinth Academy, and to the undersigned by the other two insti

tutions, that the conditions of said resolves had been performed, I selected and conveyed to the trustees of said institutions one half township each, viz:-to the Patten Academy, the east half of township number seven, range four, W. E. L. S.; to the Houlton Academy, the west half of township number fifteen, range four, W. E. L. S.; and to the East Corinth Academy, the east half of township number fifteen, range six, W. E. L. S.; said tracts all lying in the county of Aroostook, and containing thirty-three thousand and sixty acres.

Mr. Coffin, the agent of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and myself, in May last, engaged General Isaac S. Small and Noah Barker, Esq., to take charge of, and make the surveys contemplated in my last annual report, of unsurveyed undivided lands lying west of the seventh range line, and north of the tier of townships numbered eight. Pursuant to instructions, about the last of May they proceeded to the execution of the work, and continued in the field until the first of October, during which time they surveyed by measuring the exterior lines thereof, townships numbered nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen and fifteen, in the eighth, ninth and tenth ranges; number fourteen and fifteen, in the eleventh and twelfth ranges, and numbers nine, ten, eleven, twelve and thirteen, in the fourteenth and fifteenth ranges, besides finishing the measuring of some lines around townships numbered fourteen and fifteen in the fourteenth and fifteenth ranges, left incomplete by those who made the survey of A. D. 1845, owing to want of time.

The area surveyed by General Small and Mr. Barker the past season, comprises thirty-five townships, and contains eight hundred nineteen thousand five hundred acres, besides those townships which were partially surveyed. The great experience of General Small and his colleague, Mr. Barker, in surveying in the wilderness, enabled them to accomplish a great amount of work, and the expense of this survey has been comparatively less than any heretofore made.

A portion of the above townships have been explored by Mr. Jesse Gilman, with a view to ascertaining the quantity of timber

and character of the soil, to enable the Land Agents to fix a price thereon; and we intend at a very early day to cause the residue of said townships to be examined for a like purpose. There remains probably about twenty-five townships west of the fifteenth and sixteenth range lines, which is all the territory belonging to the two States which has not been surveyed, which as well as the territory surveyed the past season lies on the St. John river and its tributaries.

The undersigned feels that he would be guilty of a want of frankness if he did not state that in his opinion the value of the land consists entirely in its timber, and that generations to come will not furnish a demand for it for any other purpose; it is hardly necessary to add that the timber on these lands must seek its market by an avenue leading through a foreign State, which combined with other causes renders it far less valuable than if it were located on any of our own rivers.

It may not be deemed inappropriate in this report to glance at the condition and prospect of our settling lands. That there is in the valley of the Aroostook a large quantity of land, the soil of which is admirably adapted to the purposes of agriculture, all the testimony concurs in showing, and it has for a long time been a cherished object with the legislatures of the State, however constituted, to foster and encourage the sale and settlement of these lands and in no case have they been looked to as a source of revenue to the treasury.

For this end large sums of money have been expended in opening roads into the country, and in 1838, the law in relation to the sale of the land was changed among other things, in the terms and kind of payment; but one fourth part of the consideration was required to be paid in money, and for this a note was taken payable in four years and the residue of the purchase money was to be paid in labor upon roads in the townships in which the land sold was situated. In addition to this, settling duties were required which of course inured entirely to the benefit of the purchaser. Conditional deeds were in all cases given, to be void upon the non-fulfillment of

the conditions. At the same time encouragement was given to the enterprising to erect mills by donating twenty lots to persons who should erect saw and grist mills and settle on the lots.

Sanguine expectations were excited that these measures would be sufficient to induce the tide of immigration to the northeast part of the State, and for a time such appeared to be the result; and it was confidently and generally believed that the then almost unbroken wilderness was ere long to be converted into fruitful fields and to become dotted with prosperous and populous towns.

From the year 1838 to 1842, under the impulse given by these several enactments, about sixty thousand acres of settling land, equal to three townships, were conveyed, subject to the conditions of the settling law; but although very extensive sales were made during this time, the conditions failed to be complied with. Notes given for the purchase were not paid, nor were the settling duties performed. In 1842, the Land Agent was directed by law, to advertise all such tracts, and a year's redemption was granted fron the time of advertising; this was complied with, and of the sixty thousand acres first sold, less than seventeen thousand have been settled for. The law donating the mill lots was repealed at the same time and the cash payment was required to be made in advance; and in lieu of a deed the purchaser received a certificate entitling him to a deed upon the performance of settling duties and the payment of the road labor. By this arrangement the State does not receive in cash much beyond the cost of surveying the townships into lots; the labor done upon the highways is but the labor the settlers would have to perform for themselves if they did not agree with the State to do it.

Notwithstanding these terms, liberal as they certainly are, the call for settling lands has diminished yearly from 1842 to the present time—and in the past year there has issued from this office but two certificates, each for a lot of one hundred and sixty acres. The truth is, that the situation of these lands so far to the north, their distance from market towns, the injury of the wheat crop by the