The Bedford gazette. [volume] (Bedford, Pa.) 1805-current, 1866-12-14

! teefS, the disposition OF unSerViceable
| or perishable stores, and the retrench
ment of expenditures. Sufficient war
material to meet any emergency has
been retained, and, from the disband-
dVolunteers standing ready to respond
/ to the national call, large armies can be
rapidly organized, equipped and con-
centrated.
Fortifications on the coast and from
tier have received, or are being prepa-
I red for more powerful armaments
/ lake surveys and harbor and river inn
/ prOVements are in course Of energetic
! prosecution. Preparations have been
made for the payment Of the addition
! al bOuntieS authorized during the re-
/ cent session Of Congress, under such
/ regulations as will protect the Govern
ment from fraud, and secure to the
! hOnOrahly discharged soldier the we'll
earned reward of his faithfulness and
gallantry. More than six thousand
/ manned soldiers have received artifi-
| cial limbs or other surgical apparatus
/ and forty-one national cemeteries, con-
/ tanning the remains of lQ4, ,526 Union
! soldiers, have already been established.
/ The total estimate of military appro-
| prldu0nS Is SO, ,2U0, ,669.
/ Secretary UelieS on the Nary.
1t is stated in the report Of the Sec
retary of the Navy that the Naval force
at this time consists of two hundred
and seventy-eight vessels, armed with
two thousand three hundred and fifty
one guns. OF these, one hundred and
fifteen vessels, carrying one thousand
and tWenty-nine guns, are in commits
sion, distributed chiefly among seven
squadrOnS. The number of men in the
/ service is thirteen thousand six humid
red. Great activity and vigilance have
| been displayed by all the squadrons,
and their movements have been judi
ciOusly and efficiently arranged in such
manner as would best promote Amer
lean commerce, and protect the rights
and interests of Ourcountrymen abroad.
The vessels unemployed are undergo
ing repairs, or are laid up until their
services may be required.
The Le0gue Island IRON Clad NdCy
Yard.
MOstOf the irOn-clad feetisat League
Island, in the vicinity of Philadelphia,
q place which, until decisive action was
taken by Congress, was selected by the
Secretary Of the Navy as the most eli
gible location for that class Of vessels.
1t is important that a suitable public
station should be providedfor 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 purposes, which passed the House
of Representatives at its last session,
should receive final action at an early
period, in order that there may be a
suitable public station for this class Of
vessels, as well as a navy yard of area
sufficient for the wants Of the service,
on the Delaware river. The Naval
Pension fund amounts to Sl1, 100000,
having been increased 81, ,750,0 GOO during
the year. The expenditures Of the De-
partment for the fiscal year ending Both
June last, were S43, ,324, ,526., and the es-
Inmates for the coming year amount to
$23, ,5Gs, ,436. Attention is invited to the
condition of our seamen, and the inn
portance of legislative measures for
their relief and improvement. The
suggestions in behalf of this deserving
class of our fellow citizens are earnest
" recommended to the favorable at
tenti0n of Congress.
Postmaster General Rd3lddkPS Report.
The report of the Postmaster Gener-
al presents a most satisfactory cOndi-
ton Of the postal service, and submits
recommendations which deserve the
consideration Of Congress. The reVe-
nues Of the Department for the year
ending June 80, 1866, were Sl1, 1856, ,9s6,
and the expenditures $15. 3d., ,079, show
ing an excess Of the latter of 1865, ,093.
In anticipation of this deficiency, how
ever, a special appropriation was made
by Congress in the act approved July
2S. 1866. Including the standing APP
prOpriation of 500, 600 for free mail
matter, as a legitimate portion Of the
revenues vet remaining uneXpended,
the actual deficiency for the past year
is only S265, ,093-a sum within sol, al
of the amount estimated in the annual
report Of 1864. The decrease of reVe-
nue. compared with the previous year
was one and One-tifth per cent, and the
increase of expenditures, owing prin-
cipally to the enlargement Of the mail
service in the South was twelve per
cent.
On the 3Oth of June last there were
in operation six thousand ninehundfed
and thirty mail routes, with an aggre-
cate length of one hundred and eighty
Thousand nine hundred and tWenty-One
miles, an aggregate annual transporta-
ton of scventy-Gne millions eight hun
dred and thirty-seVen thousand nine
hundred and fourteen miles, and an
aggregate annual cost, including all eX-
penditures, Of $S,410,lS4. The length
of railroad routes is thirty-tWO thou
sand and ninety-tWo miles, and the an
nual TRANSPORTATION thirty millions six
hundred and nine thousand four hun
dredandsiXty-sev miles. Thelength
of steamboat routes is fourteen thou
sand three hundred and forty-siX miles,
and the annual transportation three
million four hundred and eleven thou
sand nine hundred and siXty-tWo miles.
The mail service is rapidly increasing
throughout the country, and It's steady
extension in the Southern States indi-
Gates their constantly improving cOndi-
ton. The growing importance Of the
foreign service also merits attention.
The Post Office Department of Great
Britain and our own agreed upon a
preliminary basis foraneW Postal Con-
vention, which tits believed, will prove
eminently beneficial to the commercial
interests0 Of the United States, inasmuch
as it contemplates reduction Of the
international letter postage to one-half
the existing rates a reduction Of post
age with all other countries toand from
which correspondence is transmitted
in the British mail, or in closed mails,
through the United Kingdom; the es-
tablishment of uniform and reasonable