The tri-weekly standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1866-1868, 1866-12-06

strength OF the nation has been unlnpalred
by the clischargeeof yolnpseers, the DISPOSE
ton of ui1seryieeable orperishable stores, and
the retrehchniept Of expenditure. Sufficient
war material to meet any emergency has
been retained, and from the, disbanded vol
unteers standing ready to respond to the ma
tional call, large armies can be rapidly or
ganized, equipped, and concentrated. For
tifications on the coasts and frontier have re-
fceived, or are being prepared for more pow
crful ornaments lake surveys and harbor
and river improvements are in course of en-
ergetic prosecution. Preparations have been
made for.the payment of the additional
bOunties authorized during the recent ses-
sion of Congress- under such. regulations as
will protect the Government from fraud, and
secure to the abiy-discharged soldier
the we'll earned reward of his faithfulness
and gallantry. More than six thousand
MANNED soldiers have received artificial limbs
or other surgical apparatus and forty-one
national cemeteries, containing the remains of
1O4, $40 Union soldiers, have already been
established. The total estimate of military
appropriations is $25, 2O5, $685.
1t is stated in the report of the Secretary
of the Navy that the naval force at this time
consists of two hundred and seventy-eight
vessels, armed with two thousand three hun
bred and ffty-one guns. Ofthese, one hun
dred and fifteen vessels, carrying one thous-
and and twenty nine guns, are in commits
sion, distributed. chiefly among seven squad
rons. The number OF men in the service is
thirteen thousand six hundred. Great &C
tivity and vigilance have been displayed by
all the squadrons and their movements have
been iudiciously and efficiently arranged in
such manner as would best promote Ameri-
can commerce. and protect the rights and in
terests of our countrymen abroad. The YES
sells unemployed are undergoing repairs, or
are laid up until their services may be re-
qnired Most ofthe iron-clad fleet is at League
| Island, in the vicinity of Philadelphia; place
which. until decisive action should be taken
Congress, WAS selected by the Secretary of
the Navy as the most eligible location for
that class of vessels. 1t is important that II
| suitable public station should be provided
! for the iron clad fleet 1t is intended that
these vessels shall be in proper condition for
any emergency, and it is desirable that the
! bill accepting League Island for naval pur-
poses, the House of Representatives at its
last session, should receive final action at
early period, in order that there may be a
suitable public station for this class of vessels
| as well Il navy-yard of area sufficient for
| the wants of the service, on the Delaware
river. The Naval Pension fund amounts to
ST go, 900, having been increased 81. $780,
900 durin" the year The expenditures of
the Department for the fiscal year ending
Both June last were $f3, 1924 $40, and the es-
Inmates for the coming amouns to $23.5GS,-
436. Attention is invited to the CON
| dition Of our seamen, and the Importance of
| Legislative measures for their relief and i'm
provement. The suggestions in behalf of
this deserving class of our fellow citizens
earnestly recommended to the favorable at
tentiOn of Congress.
! The report of the Postmaster General pre-
sentS Il most satisfactory condition of the
postal service and submits recommendations
which deserve the consideration of Congress.
The revenues OF the Department for the year
! u, - .DSDe nGl
the expenditures SO ,352,O79, showing an ex-
cess of the latter of $965, O93. In anticipa-
tion of this deficiency, however. special APP
preparation was made by Congress in the act
approved July %, 1866. Including the stand
in" appropriation of 100000 for free mail
matter, legitimate portion of the reve-
nues yet remaining uneXpended, the actual
deficiency tor the past year is only $265,O93
IA sum within $5i, 141 of the amount esti-
mated in the annual report of1S64. The de-
crease of revenue compared with the previ-
Gus year wa3 one and one-ifth per cent. and
the increase of expenditures. owing princi-
pally to the enlargement of the mail service
in the South. was twelve per cent. On the
Both of June last there were in operation six
thousand nine hundred and thirty mail
routes, with an aggregate length of one hun
dred and eighty Thousand nine hundred and
twenty one miles, an aggregate annual trans
pOrtatlon OF Seventy-one million eight hun
dred and thirty seven thousand nine hundred
and fourteen miles, and an aggregate annual
cost, including all expenditures, of $S,41O,-
1874. The length of railroad routes is thirty
two thousand and ninety-two miles, and the
annual transportation thirty million six hun
dred and nine thousand four hundred and
siXty-seven miles The length of steamboat
routes is fourteen thousand three hundred
and torty-six miles. and the annual transport
tation three million four hundred and eleven
thousand nine hundred and sixty-two miles,
The mail service is rapidly increasing
throughout the wllDle country. and its steady
extension in the Southern States indicates
their constantly improving condition. The
growing importance of the foreign service
also merits attention. The Post Office De-
partment Of Great Britain and our own have
agreed unon preliminary basis for new
Postal Convention, which it is believed will
prove eminently beneficial to the commercial
interests of the United States, inasmuch as it
contempates Il reduction of the international
letter postage to One-half the existing rates;
Il reduction of postage with all other coun-
tries to and from which correspondence is
transmitted in the British mail, or in closed
mails through the United Kingdom the es-
tabishment Of uniform and reasonable char
yes for the sea and territorial transit of cor
responClence in closed mails; and an allow
ance to each Post Office Department of the
right to use all mail communications estab-
lished under the authority of the other for
the dispatch of correspondence, either in
open or closed mails, on the same terms as
those applicable to the Inhabitants of the
country providing the means oftransmission.
The report of the Secretary of the Interi-
exhibits the condition of those branches
of the public service which are committed to
his supervision. During the last fiscal year,
four million six hundred and twenty nine
thousand three hundred and twelve acres of
public land were disposed of, one million
eight hundred and ninety two thousand five
hundred and sixteen acres of which were en-
tered under the homestead act The policy
originally adopted relative to the public
lands has undergone essential notifications.
Immediate revenue, and not their rapid set
Element, was the cardinal feature of our land
system. Long experience and earnest dis
cussion have resulted in the conviction that
the early development of our agricultural re-
sources and the diffusion of an energetic