The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1864-12-15

A
inland waters. cordially concur III the r
commendation Of the Secretary as 10 the pr,
priety Of creating the new rank of Vice AZ
nirai Id our naval service. 'ff gs sase
Your attention is invited to The report I
the Postmaster General for detailed accour
0f the operation $ and financial condition I
the Post Office Department. The post,
revenues for the year ending June so, 1885,
Amounted to ela4ss;s5s. 70, and the eszPer
+dfhrds Ito 8 $is,e44, ,fse 20. The EXCESS 1
fexpeadisures overrecsipts beng $2Os, $50
AZ. The views presented by the Postmas
tter General on the subject Of special grant
/ bv the government in aid Of the establish
ment Of new lines Of Ocean Mail Steamships
and tie policy here recommended for the de
velopment of decreased oconmerc:al inter
fooufss1~ith sdjsrenv and neighboring coun
ftH9s should receivethe careful cdnsidsratio,
FofU6HgFeAs. ,rosai2:ia tpo snirft ,'sss
|'rfifs55 iiSts Worthy interest stis; DE stss
||dy expansion 81 population and ppfogresss' Z Z
improvement over the, new and Gnoccdpie,
portions Of our country cannot be checked
much less impeded Or destroyed BY our grea
civil War, which at frst glance, would seen
to have absorbed almost the entire energies
OF the nation. Ths organization and adinis
sion Of the State Of Nevada has been con com
'pleted in conformity with law, and thus ou
excellent system is firmly established in th,
mountains which once seemed barren ant
uninhabitable world between the Atlanti,
States and those which have grown UP Of
the coast Of the Pacific ocean. The terrific
ries sof she Unitedr States, are geherailv ' in ,
condition of prosperity and, rapid growth =
Idaho and Montana, by reason of their grea,
distance and the interruption of CO nnunica
tion with them by Indian hostilities, have
been only partially organized, but it is un
derstood that these difficulties are about tc
disappear, which will permit their govern
ments, like those OF others, to go into speedy
and full operation. 4-t }st4
As intimately connected with and pro.
motive of the material growth of this ma
ton, ask the attention of Congress to The
valuable information; and important re
commendationssre relating tothe public laa ds
Indian affairs, the Pacific, railroad, anc
mineral discoveries. contained in the re.
port of tine Secretary Of the Interior, which
is herewith transmitted, and which repor,
also embraces the subject of pa tents
pensions and other to pics of pu blc inter
est pertaining toshis department.. The
quantity Of public lands disposed of dur.
ing the Ave quarters ending on the soth
of September last was 1921 ,s42 acre 8, o.
which 1883, ,6l4 acres were entered ande
the homestead law.n The .retnainde rwas
located with Military land warrants, ,ssgri
cultural scrip, certified to States forrail
roads, and sold for cash. The cash re
ceipts from the sale and location fees were
s., ,619, ,446.e The income from sales dur.
ing the fiscal year ending June 30th, 1864
was $67s, ,o0T,2l against $13e, ,O77,95 re-
ceipts during the preceding year. The
aggregate Of acres surveyed during the
year has been equal to the quantity dis,
posed Of, and there is open to settlement,
shout l 1900, 600 acres of surveyed land
The great enterprise Of connecting the at.
lantic with the Pacific by .railrord and tele-
graph lines has been entered upon with q
vigor that gives assurance Of success. Not.
withstanding the embarrassments arising
from the prevailing high prices Of materials
and labor, the route Of the main line of the
road has been definitely located for !1OC
miles westward from the initial point a,
Omaha City, Nebraska, and q preliminary
location of the Pacific Railroad of Californis
has been made from Sacramento eastward
to the great bend of Mucker river in Neva.
oa.a aEts ~ ~ -c7a Egf POO si7itl g.ii
Numerous discoveries of gold; silver and
cinibar mines have been added to the m any
heretofore known, and thelcountry occupied
by the Sierra Nevada and Rocky Mountains
and the subordinate ranges, now TEEN with
entesprising labor, which isrichly renumer-
ative. 1t is believed that the products Of
the mines Of precious metals in that region
has, during the, year. reached, if hot ex
eeeded $l0o, 600 900 in value. a,a; s1.as e e
II was recommended IN my last annual mes.
sage that'our Indian system bs remodeled
Congress, at itslastu session acting on the
Recommendation, did provide for reorsan-
izing thesystem in Cahfornia, and It Is be
lieved that under the present organisation
the management of the Indians there viii
be attended with reasonable, success. -
Much etrennains to be dole to provide 10,
the proper government Of the indians il
other parts ofths conatry, to render Il Sc
cure for the advancing settler. and TO pro.
vide rthe welfares Sof tire, Indian The
Secretary reiterates his rscomm endations
and totbem the attentionl Of Congress is
invited. q, tHs .siaa'triogqs sT'9ssr Ii;v
The Fbsral provisions to the invalid sol.
diers and sailors Of the Republic, and to the
widows, orphans, and dependent mothers oI
those who have fSllenin battle or died ol
disease contracted or for wounds received in
the service Of their county have been dill
gently administered. There have been admit
ted to the pension rolls during the year end
ing the 30th day Of June last. the names Of
1870 invalid soldiers, and Of Ell disabled
seamen, making the present number Of army
invalid pensions %, ,767, and Of navy inval