The republic. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1849-1853, 1852-12-11

nue. from customs to a select committee OF seven
members, was discussed. Without disposing
of the subject, the committee rose, and the
House adjourned until Monday.
Report OF the Secretary OF tho Interior.
The SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR estimates
that the aggregate expense of his Department
for the next fiscal year will be 81 ,92l ,025 be-
inga reduction of STA, 1902 as compared with
the amount required for the current fiscal year.
Some Of the estimates for the land and Indian
service are, however, incomplete. An item of
$500, 900 for the extension of the Capitol is in
troduced; making the estimate for public build
iugs to exceed that of the present year by a
considerable amount.
Attention is invited to the recommendations
Of the Commissioner of the General Land
Office, of whose report an abstract has already
been published. compliment is paid to the
diligence and activity which mark that branch
of the service. o..
The pensioners now on the rolls Of the Pen
zion Bureau are-exclusive of navy pension
ers-ls,s68, being 743 less than the number
reported in 1851. The expenditure on ac-
count of pensions since the last report has been
81 500, 900, and the Secretary remarks that it
is not likely to be diminished unless many ex-
listing abuses are corrected by legislation. He
proposes to confine the benefits of the pension
laws to those who rendered the service, and to
the widows and minor children of such soldiers
as are dead. Stringent laws are also needed
to prevent the preparation of frauds, which are
now being continually perpetrated. Perjury
and forgery are resorted to for the purpose, in
many instances by confederated bodies of men,
who too often escape exposure and punishment
in consequence of the defects of the law. ~
The number of persons pensioned under the
act of March, 1918, was 2O,485. of whom
| ,046 now remain on the rolls; under the act
of May, 1918. only ,l6S were pensioned, 1913
of whom are still on the rolls; under the act Of
June, 1882, not less than 1906 have been
pensioned, 1923 of whom are yet on the rolls,
though only ,495 received payment in the first
and second quarters of the current year. There
are $3.50 widows of revolutionary soldiers on
the rolls, Of whom 4,209 only have received
payment during the year. The Mexican war
pensions show falling off of 627 during the
year, numbering now altogether l,l23.
The navy pension rolls embrace 726 inva-
lids, who receive annually $45, O49; 5l4 widows,
receiving $l0l 400, and AZ orphans. receiving
$6,l3S.
The Virginia half-pay communication claims
allowed during the year amount to $l5,964.
During the year, ending on the 25th Octo-
Der, the bounty land warrants issued for revolu-
tionary service and service in the war of 1912
cover $3.50 acres. Under the act Of 18th
February, l847, known as the Mexican bounty
land law, 83.088 land warrants had been is
sued up to 3lst October, and 1884 for money
and scrip; leaving 7.402 suspended claims.
The cases registered under the bounty land
laws of September, 1850, amount to about
zoe, 900, of which l4O,0 5s have been admitted;
the warrants issued in their behalf covering
$685., 1870 acres. Under the act of March
last, ,655 cases have been registered, and ,34l
admitted. The new applications now amount
to about 100 per day. .o.
The Secretary refers approvingly to sug-
gestions offered by the Commissioner Of Pen
sions in regard to proposed changes in the laws
relating to pensions. Particular attention is
called to the propriety Of re-enacting provi-
sion requiring biennial medical examinations of
all invalid pensioners.
On the subject of Indian affairs, the Secre-
tary reiterates the opinions expressed in his
last report as to the policy which should regu-
late our intercourse with the various tribes.
He argues that it is more just, more humane,
and even more economical, to subdue them by
kindness and to encourage them to pursuits of
industry, than to restrain them by military
force. The efforts of the Department in deal
ing with the tribes resident in California and
Oregon have been in measure frustrated by
the rejection by the Senate of the treaties ne
gotiated with them. Nothing further can be
done until the Senate decide whether the In
dians shall be removed from California and
Oregon, and where places of refuge shall be
provided for them. A hope is cherished that
the Seminole tribe will fulfil their promise to
remove peaceably from Florida in the ensuing
spring.
1t is announced that the publication of the
Census report may now be commenced, as the
greater part of the labor Of compiling and
classifying the returns has been completed. To
finish the preparation Of the entire work, an
additional appropriation Of $50, 900 will be ne
cessary. Reasons are offered for including in
the report the geographical and historical fea-
lures to which objections have been taken in
some quarters. 1t is shown that great misap-
prehensions prevail in reference to the cost of
the publication. The publication Of the sixth
census by BLAIR s. RIvEs cost l7S,SO3
while Messrs. LIrPINoorr s. Co. propose to
publish 10000 copies of the statistics of the
seventh census for SAG, 500, or less than one
third of the amount paid on the last occasion.
In connection with his remarks on the Patent
Office, the Secretary dwells upon the interest