The daily Minnesota pioneer. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1854-1855, 1854-12-14

inc a balance of outstanding public deb
of ONLY sorty-four million nine hundred ant
seventy five thousand four hundred and lift,
six dollars rcdecmable at different periods
within fourteen years.
Tbore are also remnants OF other gov
crnmcut stocks, most of which are alrcad.!
,luc and on which the interest has ceased
Int which have not yet been presented fol
p,ymcnt, amounting to two hundred ant
tb;rty-thrcc thousand, one hundred and sew
enty-pinc dollars This statement exhibits
the fact that the annual income Of the gov
crnment greatly exceeds the amount OF it:
public debt, which latter remains unpaid
oa.y because the time Of payment has no,
vet matured and it cannot be discharged
at once, except at the option OF public
creditors, who prefer to retain the securities
OF the United States and the other tact,
not less striking, that the annual revenue
from all Sources exceeds, by many millions
Of dollars. the amount needed for pru-
,1o,t and economical administration of the
Government -, -.
Thc estimates presented to Congress from the dit
E ,cut Executive Departments, at the last session.
,n,ed TO thirty eight million four hundred and SIX
thousand five hundred and eghty-one dollars; ana the
concentrations made to the sum Of iy'eioht million
@ h,,,drcd and sixteen thousand nine hundred and
e.. .;cht doll,rs Of this excess OF appropriation
100, estimates however, more than twenty millions
,v,s .ppl;ca,!e To extraordinary objects, having no
reference to the usual annual expenditures. among
those objects was embraced ten millions 10 "'ee. the
,.i y.Io IF ,h. treaty. between the United States
nJ Ncx;co: SO that, in fact, for objects OF ordinary
expenditure, the appropriations were in'teh to con-
.iarav less than forty millions oil dollars there
t rc,c,v nv recommendation for IA reduction oil the
duties on imports. The report Of the secretary oil
the Treasury presents series o, 'apes' SHOWING nc
e,,;on Of the revenue system Tor several successive
vars and as the general principle OF reduction OF
,Iu.ies with a view to revenue ana mol 10 pfocc"""'
- now bc regarded rs the settled policy OF the coun-
try trust that little difficulty VIII Ike encountered III
settling the details of a measure to that elect
In connection with this subject, l re-
commend change in the laws which
recent experience has shown to be es-
sential to the protection OF the govern
mcut, There is no express provision
Of law. requiring the records and pa
pers of a public character, OF the seve
raj officers of government, to be lett 10
their offices for the use Of their success
ors. nor any provision declaring 1t felo-
nv on their part to make false entries
in the hooks. or return false accounts.
In the absence of such express Provis-
ion by law, the outgoing officers, III
many Instances, have claimed and ex-
ercised the right to take into their own
posscssion, important books and papers,
On the ground that these were their pri-
vatc property; and have placed them
beyond the reach of the government.
Conduct of this character, brought in
several instances to the notice OF the
present Secretary of the Treasury, nat
uraIly awakened his suspicion, and re-
suited in the disclosure that at four
ports, namely, Oswego, Toledo, San
,,usky and Milwaukee, the treasury had
bv false entries, been defrauded, within
the four wears next preceding March,
1853, of the sum of one hundred and
ninety-cicht thousand dollars.
The great difficulty with which the
detection of these frauds has been at
tended, in consequence OF the abstrac-
ton of books and papers by the retiring
officers. and the facility with which SIM
liar frauds in the public service may be
pcrpctrated, render the necessity OF ne"
ieual enactments, in the respects above
referred to, quite obvious. For other
material notifications Of the revenue
laws which seem to me desirable, re-
fer you to the report Of the Secretary o.
the Treasury. The report, and the
tables which accompany it, furnish am
pie proofs of the solid foundation on
which the financial security of the
country rests. and Of the salutary lnfiu-
ence of the Independent Treasury sys-
TEN upon commerce and all monetary
operations.
The experience of last year furnishes adj
ditional reasons, | regret to say, OF a pam
full character, for the recommendation here
toforc made to provide for increasing
the military force employed in the territory
inhabited by the Indians. The settlers on
the frontier have suffered much from the
incursions CT predatory bands, ana large
parties of cmigrants to our Pacific posses
SONS have been massacred with impualtyy
T.,c recurrence OF such scenes can only bt
prevented by teaching these wild tribes the
bower of, and their responsibility to the
United States From the garrisons of oul
frontier posts, it is only possible to detach
troops in small bodies; and though they
have on all occasions displayed gallantry
and a stern devotion to duty, which on q
larger field would have commanded unlvcr
sal admiration, they have usually suffered
severely in these conflicts with superior
numbers, and have sometimes been entircl.
sacrificed. All the disposable force OF tn
army is already employed on this service
and it is known to be wholly inadequate L
the protection which should bc Afforded.