The daily Minnesota pioneer. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1854-1855, 1854-12-13

seventy 1lVe thousand lOtiT HuliulCu anu LII y
six dollars, redeemable at different periods
within fourteen years.
There are also remnants OF other gov
crnment stocks, most of which are alread,
dino and on which the interest has ceased
but which have not yet been presented TO
naylncnt. amounting to two hundred ant
thirtv-threc thousand, one hundred and sev
cnty-nne dollars This statement exhibit
the fact that the annual income of the gov
eminent greatly exceeds the amount of it:
public debt, which latter remains unpaid
only because the time of payment has moi
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 ether tact,
not less striking, that the annual revenue
from all sourcess exceeds, by many millions
of dollars. the amount needed for a pru-
dent and economical administration of the
Government.
The estimates presented to Congress from the dif-
ferent Executive Departments, at the last session,
amounted to thirty hi million four hundred and SIN
thousand five hundred and eighty-onc dollars; and the
,nnropriations made to the sum OF hy-eiSht million
one Iund,ed and sixteen thousand nine hundred and
6fty-eight dollars. OF this excess OF appropriation
over estimates, however, more than twenty millions
was applicable to extraordinary objects, having no
reference to the usual annual expenditures. Among
those o,iects was embraced ten millions to meet the
third article of the treaty between the United States
and Mexico; that, in fact, tor Objects OF ordinary
expenditure, the appropriations were limited TO con-
sdcrablv less than forty millions oil dollars. 'herc
fore renew my recommendation Tor reduction oi the
duties on imports. The report OF the Secretary OF
a apriPS q
rera,,o of the system Tor several successive
sears. and as the general principle OF reduction OF
duties with 4 view TO revenue and not 10 protectio"'
may nov Ike regarded AS the settled policy OF the coun-
try, trust that little difficulty will he encountered IN
settling the details Of a measure to that effect.
In connection with this subject, | re-
commend a change in the laws which
recent experience has shown to be es-
sential to the protection of the govern
meut. There is no express provision
of law, requiring the records and pa
per; of public character, OF the seve'
ial officers of government, to be left 10
their Offices for the use of their success
ors, nor any provision declaring 1t ieio-
nv on their part to make false entries
in the hooks. or return false accounts.
In the absence of such express provls-
ion by law, the outgoing officers, iii
MANY instances, have claimed and ex-
ercised the right to take into their own
possession, important books and papers,
on the ground that these were their prl-
vate property; and have placed them
bevond the reach of the government.
Conduct of this character, brought in
several instances to the notice OF the
present Secretary of the Treasury, nat
urally awakened his suspicion, and re-
suited in the disclosure that at four
ports, namely, Oswego, Toledo, San
dusky and Milwaukee, the treasury had
by false entries, been detrauded, within
the four years next preceding March,
1853. of the sum of one hundred and
ninety-eicht 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
perpetrated, render the necessity OF new
legal cnactments, in the respects above
referred to, quite obvious. For other
material notifications of the revenue
laws which seem to me desirable, L re-
fer you to the report of the Secretary Of
the Treasury. The report, and the
tables which accompany it, furnish am
ple proofs of the solid foundation on
which the financial security Of the
country rests, and of the salutary infiu-
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 pain
full character, for the recommendation here
tofore 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, and large
parties of emigrants to our Pacific posses
siOns have been maSSacred with lmpunlty.
The recurrence of such scenes can only be
prevented by teaching these wild tribes the
mower of, and their responsibility to the
United States. From the garrsons of our
frontier posts, it is only possible to detach
troops in small bodies; and though they
have on all occasions displayed gallantry,
and stern devotion to duty, which on
larger field would have commanded unlver-
sal admiration, they have usually suffered
severely in these conflicts with superior
numbers, and have sometimes been entirely
sacrificed. All the dispOSable force OF the
army is already employed on this service,
and it is known to be wholly inadequate to
the protection which should be afforded.
The public mind Of the country has
been recently shocked by savage afro
cities committed upon defenceless emf
grants and border settlements, and