Dayton daily empire. [volume] (Dayton [Ohio]) 1850-1865, 1863-12-22
fFroun the Syracuse CN " cOurisrl
The. Reports of MT. LtmcOln's
secretaries.

secretaries.
They who read the Message Of Mr.. Lincoln
only 10 find Il barren Of all information Is 10
matters Of pnblic interest, at least expected TO
be compensated for ts deficiencies on peru
sal Of the reports of bis Secretaries But the
reader OF these, we venture to say, has found
himself scarcely less disappointed than the
readers OF the message. For in general they
seem 10 be written with e view to exhibit rath-
er how much artfui men can conceal, than
I how much Of public affairs they can clearly
expose to the public view.
| The Secretary Of State gives, of course, views
of our foreign relations, which are all "couleeir
dc Rose and the accompanying documents
are SO voluminous that not one in a thousand
would consent to wade through then, to pick
out of the mountains of chat, scattered grains
Of substantial information.
From the Secretary of the Treasuryit might
have been reasonably expected that w should
receive q clear, concise statement Of the &C.
tual cost Of the wal, and OF the probableamount
Of unadinsted claims held against no Gov
ernment by the subjects Of foreign powers and
by our own citizens, OF debt to soldprs, sail
ors and others in the employ of the Govern
ment, OF the prospective amount OF ttb claims
for pensions and Of all other MATES which
enter into fall exhibit Of the real Indebted
ness of the country But instead of all this,
Mr.. Chase deems it his duty to befog ho peo-
pie with an exhibit only ofthat portion of the
liabilities OF the Federal Government fhieh is
represented by its outstanding bondsad other
paper and the rest of his report he deotes to
a vindcation of his own former estimtes and
glorifcation Of ghis own crude theors, and
| of his own achievements, which seem him,
/. L. fnr n q mn
vellous as the vertable exploits of Sinad the
sailor, or the equally veritable exploitsf Gul.
r liver And yet Mr. Chase is forceho ac-
knowledge that in one estimate alone-that
r of the income from internal taxeu,-hterred
to the amount Of fiftysix million dollars And
o while he admits that he has gone, in hi issue
Y of certificates Of Indebtedness, to the creme
limit TO which they can be useful,--tk his
!. issue of circulating notes or greenbackis so
# large than they can be made larger onlyt the
D cost of rapid and speedy depreci alton, yet
urges the multiplication of Federal Enks,
o based upon United States Stocks, with pwer
to issue United States notes to the utt de-
basement of this very paper money thu ex'
panded and expanding in its volumsand
g. amount ..
Ia The Secretary Of War might have to- us
"a what had become Of the million aud hf of
"a men who had been confded to Mr.. Lindn's
,e care to prosecute a war in which nobodwas
10 10 be hurt He might have told us how any
q or how few of them yet remained in theeci-
to mated, aye, worse than decimeted, ram Of
" the army. He might have told us how any
le had deserted. He might have told ustow
r. many had been honorably discharged forlis
o. ability, with manned members and bron-
A down constitutions Me might have to us
" how many bad received bloody disetge
"a without his poor Intervention, at the hanl of
ar the great man reaper DEATH He might We
al told us how lew, alas still remained But
or we look in vain for any information Of is
er kind. We get only dry, dead, heanss
be reiteraton of facts already too we'll kn,n,
ne mingled with theories already thrice rehd
so and falsi6ed by the inexorable logicof
OF events
SIX Secretary Weles gives us indeed, in .
oh Navy Department, a formidable list Of il.
u, clad and other vessels of war--somewhere
tween five and six hundred: but alas he /
les no record of brilliant exploits and dazzR
W. achievements corresponding with the VI
nf. ness of expectation aroused by the magnitg
e,o of this his "invincible armada" A grea
army of men than ever before made our br
annals illustrious, mans this mighty armame
,ry but alasl the inspiration and conduct Z
10 gnidng mind which alone could control tn
to magnificent achievements and mighty
, terprses, has been lacking in this adminisl
I'M ton, and excepting Vicksburgh and z
on Hudson, where the navy played subordin
ion part we have no record worthy of the anci
on lame of our navy and its heroes
I'm, The Post Master General, because the 9
'ws respondence with the army has swollen
vo- revenues of his department so as to now mi
all. il almost pay its own expenses, insanely
Ally Iieves, that therefore when Peace returns {
Ter, the army is at home, his Department \
ted still sustain itself jig. r.
alb The Secretary Of the Interior gives US SC
ain information as to minor matters, which,
great interest at other times, are yet, in tt
BILE days of great events, dwarfed by the nigh
cen issues involved in this gigantic war.
ted At our leisure, we propose to give a N
lore detailed abstract and more precise exam
d a ton of the more important of these repc
cen There is nothing, however, in any of these
last ports TO awaken hope except in the vision
ago and not line worthy Of the inspiration OF
statesman nor indicative of the glowing
thusiasm of the patriot.