Washington telegraph., 1850-12-25

and good conduct. While We acknowledge th'
obligations of the country to maintain and homo
those who to the exclusion OF other PursueS' nave
devoted themselves 10 Us arduous service, th'
obligation should not be permitted 10 interfere
with the efficiency of the service ITSELF
lam eratfed at being able to state that the
estimates for Nav Al expenditures far the ensuing
wear are less by more than one million than those
of the present. excepting the appropriations Which
may BECOME necessary for the construction OF the
docks pnop the coast of the Pacific, propositions
for which are now being considered, and on which
special report may be expected carry III your
present session.
There IS an evident iustness in the suggestions
of the same report, that the appropriations ior the
Naval service proper should be separated rom
those for fixed and permanent obJ'cts such' as
building docks, navy yards, and the nx'"Ies a'-
tached and the extraordinary objects under the
care of the Department, which, however impor-
tant are not essentially naval. revision OF the
code fsr the government of the navy, seems 10 re-
ouire the immediate consideration oil congress
Its system of crimes and punshments had uhaef-
gone no change fer half a century, until the iast
session. though its defects have been often and
ably pointed out; and the abolition of the Parac-
ular species of corporcal punahment which then
took place. without providing any substitute, has
left the service in state of Effectiveness which
calls for prompt correction l, therefore, recomr
mend, that the whole subject be revised without
DELAY, and such system established Tor the en-
forcement Of discipline as shall be at once hu-
lnane aud etfectudl.
The accompanying report OF the Post Master
General presents satisfactory view Of the opera
tions and condition of that Department. a
At the close of the last fiscal year, the length
of the inland mail routes in the United States not
embracing the service in Oregon and California;
was lfS .672 miles, the annual transportation
thereof, 46, SAL ,423 miles, and the annual cost OF
such transportation So: 724 426 So. The increase
of the annual transportation over that oil the pre-
eedng wear was ,997 1854 miles, and the increase
Of cost was S342, 40 So The number Of Post
Offices on the first day of July last, was l0,447,
BEING an increase of l,670 during the preceding
year.
The gross revenues of the Department for the
fiscal year ending June Doth, 1850, rmounted to
$5,552.2 So, including the annual appropriation
of the S20,00U for the franked matter of the De-
partmenss, and excluding the foreign Postages
collected for, and payable to, the British Govern
ment The expenditures for the same period were
S5,2I29S3 S3, leaving balance of reveEue over
expenditures of S3400l8 05. ] am happy to
find, that the fiscal condition of the Department is
such as to Justify the Post Master General in re-
commenting reduction of our inland postage to
three cents the single letter, when prepaid or hve
cents when not prepaid. He also recommends
that the prepaid rates shall be reduced whenever
shall exceed the expenditure by more than five per
cent. for two consecutive years; that the postage
upon the California, and those letters sent by our
ocean steamers, shall be much reduced and that
the rates Of postage on newspapers, pamphlets,
periodicals and other printed matter, shall be mod-
hed, and some reduction thereon made.
1t csanot be doubted, that the proposed reduc-
tion will for the present, diminish the revenues of
the Department l, is believed that the deficiency,
after the already accumulated surplus shall De ex
hausted, may be almost fully met, by aboshihg
the privilege of sending free matter through the
mails, or by paying out o. the Treasury TO the
Post Office, equivalent to the postage Of
which it is deprived by these privileges. The last
is supposed to be the preferable mode and will, if
not entirely, so nearly supply that deficiency, as
to make any further appropriation unnecessary.
1t may be found inconsderable as to form no
oh tacle t. the reduction.
entertain no doubt of the authority of Congress
to make appropriations for leading objects in that
class of public works, called by the general name
of Internal Improvements. This authority sup
pose to be derived chiefly from the power of regu-
lating commerce with foreign nations, and among
the States, and the power of laying and collecting
imports. When commerce is to be carried on anc
imposs collected, there must be ports and harbors,
as well as wharves and custom-houses. Ii ships
laden with valuable cargues approach the shore,
or sail along the coast, and light houses are neces
sary suitable points for the protection OF life and
property, other facilities and securities for COM
merce and navigation not less important, and
those clauses Of the Constitution, therefore, to
which l have referred, have received, from the
origin of the government, liberal and beneficial
construction. Not only have light houses, buoys,
and beaeons been established, and floating lights
been maintained, but harbors have been cleared
and improved piers constructed, and even break
waters for the safety of shipping, and sea-wall to
protect harbors from being filled ur and rendered
useless. by the action of the ocean, have been
erected at very great expense. This construction
of the Constitution appears the more warrantable
from the consideration, that, these works of such
evident Importance and utility, are not to be ac-
complished by Congress, they cannot be accom-
pshed at all. BY the adoption of the Constitution,
the several States voluntarily parted with the
power of collecting duties on imports within their
own ports, and it is not to be expected that they
should raise money by internal taxation, direct or
indirect, for the benefit Of that commerce-the
revenues from which do not, either i'll whole or in
part, 90 into their own treasury; nor do perceive
any difference between the power of Congress to
make appropriations for objects Of this kind on the
ocean, and the power to make appropriations for
similar objects on Lakes and Rivers, whenever
they are large enough to bear on their waters an
extensive traffic. The magnificent Mississippi
and its tributaries, and the vast Lakes of the North
and Northwest, appear to me to fall within the
exercise of the power. justly and as clearly as
the ocean and the Gulf of Mexico. 1t is a mistake
to regard expenditures judicously made for these
objects as expenditures for local purposes.
The position or site of the work is necessarily
local, but its utility is general A ship canal
around the Falls of st. Mary, of less than asmile
in LENGTH though local in its construction, yet is
national in its purposes and benefits, as it would
remove the only obstruction TO the navigation Of
more than thousand miles, and affecting several
States as we'll as our commercial relations with
Canada. So, too, the breakwater at the mouth
of the Delaware, is erected, Lot for the exclusive
benefit Of the States bordering on the bay river
of that name, bui of the whole coastwise naviga-
tion of the United States, and, to a considerable
extent, also of foreign commerce. If a ship be
Al, Of