The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1865-12-06


/ solitnde for future purchasers.
The lamentable events of the last four
years. and the sacrifices made by the
Gallant men of onr army and navy .thaye
sw elled the records of the Pension Bu-
reau TO an unprecedented EXTENT on
the 3Oth day of June last, the total num-
Der of pensioners was 1886, requiring
for their annual pay, exclusive of expen-
SEES. the sum of S9,023, 445. The number
of applications that have been allowed
since that date will require large in
crease of this amount for the next fiscal
year. The means for the payment of the
stipends due, unner existing laws, to our
disabled soldiers and sailors, and to the
families of such as have persisted in the
service of the country, will no doubt be
cheerfully and promptly granted. A
grateful people will not hesitate to sane
lion any measures having for their OBJ
| iect the relief of soldiers mutilated and
families made fatherless in the efforts
Ito preserve our national existence,
The report of the Postmaster General
presents an encouraging EXHIBIT OF the
operations of the Postoffice Department.
during the year The revenue OF the
past wear from the loyal States alone ex-
ceeded the maximum annual receipts
| from all the States previous to the re-
belliop. in the sum of Sc ,036, 09l; and the
annual average increase of revenue du-
ring the past four years, compared with
the revenues of the four years immedl-
ately preceding the rebellion, was $685.
S45 The revenues of the last fiscal year
amounted to Sl4 $50, 156, and the expend-
itures to S13,694, 72S; leaving surplus OF
REGENTS over expenditures of 1851 ,43O.-
Progress having been made in restoring
the postal service in the southern States.
The views presented BY the Postmaster
General against the policy OF granting
subsidies to ocean mail steamship lines
upon established routes, and i'll favor OF
continuing the present system, which
limits the compensation for ocean ser
vice to the postage earnings, are rec
commended to the careful consideration
of Congress.
Itappears from the report of the Sec
retary of the Navy, that while, at the
commencement of the present year, there
were in commission $50 vessels Of al
descriptions, armed with 5000 guns and
manned by 81 900 men, the number OF
vessels at present in commission is III
with $50 guns and 2,l2U men. BY thu
prompt reduction OF the naval forces the
EXPENSES of the Government have been
LARGELY diminished, and number OF YES
sells, purchased for naval purposes iron
the merchant marine, have been return
ed to the peaceful pursuits OF commerce
Since the suppression of active hostlll
ties our freign sqnadrons have Deel
re-established, and consist of vessels
much more efficient than those employ
ed on similar service previous to the lie
bellion. The suggestion for the enlarge
ment of the navy yards, and especially
the establishment of one in fresh wateI
for iron-elad vessels, is deserving OF con
sheraton, as is also the recommendation
for different location and more ample
grounds for the Naval Academy
In the report of the Secretary of War
a general summary is given OF the mill
tary campaigns of 1864 and 1868, end
ING in the suppression Of armed rcsls
lance to the national authority III the III
surgent States. The operations OF The
general administrative Bureaus of The
War Department during the past yeal
are detailed, and an estimate made of the
appropriations that will be required fol
military purposes in the fiscal year com
mencing the Both day of June, 1860
The national military force on the LIST o
Nav, 1865, numbered l,000,5l6 men. L
is proposed to reduce the military es
Establishment to peace footing, compre
hending fifty thousand troops of all arms
organized so as to admit of an enlarge
ment by filling up the ranks to eighty
two thousand six hundred, if the cir
eumstances of the county should require
an augmentation of the army. The vol
unteer force has already been reduced b!
the discharge from service of over elgh
hundred thousand troops, and the DE
partment is proceeding rapidly in tn,
work of further reduction. The war es
Inmates are reduced from S5l6,24O, l3l t.
33,sl4416, which amount, in the opin
ion of the Department, is adequate for
peace establishment. The measures o
retrenchment in each Bureau and brancl
of the service exhibit diligent economy
worthy of commentator. Reference il
also made in the report to the necessity
of providing for uniform militia system
and to the prOpriety Of making suitabl,
provision for wounded and disabled Off
GERS and soldiers.
The revenue system of the country is &
subject Of vital interest to its honor anC
prosperity, and should command the car
nest consideration of Congress. The
Secretary Of the Treasury will lay before
you full and detailed report of the re
ceipts and disbursements of the last fis-
cal year OF the first quarter of the pres
ent fiscal year. of the probable receipts
and expenditures for the other throe
quarters, and the estimates for the yeal
following the 30th of June, 1866 might
content myself with n reference to that
report, in which you will find all the in
formation required for you're deliberations
and decision. But the paramount im
portance of the subject so presses itsel1
on my own mind, that cannot but lay
before you my views of the measures
which are required for the good charac
ter, and might say for the existence OF
this people The life of the republic
lies certainly in the energy, virtue and
intelligence of its citizens but it is
equally true that good revenue system
is the life of an organized government
meet you at time when the nation
has voluntarily burdened itself with a
debt unparalleled in. our annals. Vast as
is its amount, il fades away to nothing
when il is compared with the countless
blessings that will be conferred upon ouI