US Presidency
1876

That Congress sanction the scheme of an annuity fund for the benefit of the families of deceased officers, and that it also provide for the permanent organization of the Signal Service, both of which were recommended in my last annual message. Third. That the manufacturing operations of the Ordnance Department be concentrated at three arsenals and an armory, and that the remaining arsenals be sold and the proceeds applied to this object by the Ordnance Department. The appropriations for river and harbor improvements for the current year were $ 5,015,000. With my approval, the Secretary of War directed that of this amount $ 2,000,000 should be expended, and no new works should be begun and none prosecuted which were not of national importance. Subsequently this amount was increased to $ 2,237,600, and the works are now progressing on this basis. The improvement of the South Pass of the Mississippi River, under James B. Eads and his associates, is progressing favorably.