Bradford reporter. [volume] (Towanda, Pa.) 1844-1884, 1866-12-13

| Chesapeake could be better dispensed witt
than the one at Pensacola or at Norfolk
and he therefore recommends that the TIVE
named should be placed in an efficient con
| dltlon, particularly as the peace and unity
which constitute the North and South one
| country and one people, have been re-es
tabllshed, The Secretary recommends the
| establishment of a bureau which shall have
in charge all subjects relating to men of
wars-men and the shipped seamen of the
merchant service urges the Senate tC
speedily pass the bill accepting League
Island for naval purposes, so that the neces.
sary appropriations may be made for deep
enlng the channel, preparing docks and
making other arrangements for the care
and protection OF the iron-clads now there,
and earnestly advocates the establishment
OF navy yard on the Delaware which
should have ten times the water front and
twenty times the area Of the one in Phila-
delphia.
REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR.
The exhibit of the operations of the De-
partment of the Interior during the past
year made by Secretary BROWNING, gives a
committed to its charge. From it we learn
that during the fiscal year ending June 80,
1866, 1929 ,3l2.S7 acres of public land We're
disposed of, the number of homestead en-
tries exceeding that of any previous year
by more than sixty per cent. The entire
amount of the public domain is ,465, ,469,-
500 acres, of which 474, l60, 55l acres have
been surveyed and the coal land of the
United States is estimated at two hundred
thousand square miles The invalid pen
sions Of wars prior to the rebellion are said
to be only about three thousand, and the
widows and children who receive pension
by reason of the services and death of
those who served i'll such wars one thou
sand two hundred and twenty-seven Of
nel0 army pensioners added to the rolls
during the year ending June Both last,
there were 1921, requiring for their pay
ment $4,000, 523 81 per annum and on the
same day there were in all l24.509
army pensioners, at an annual aggregate
of 81 ,4l3, l22 26, and 2,2l3 naval pension
ers, requiring for their annual payment
S26l ,352O 90. The navy pension fund &C
cruing from the sale OF prizes amounts to
81 |, 12O 600, the interest On " mich is more
than double the amount necessary to pay
the navy pensions. In alluding to the In
dian troubles, the Secretary states that
collisions have been less frequent than is
generally believed, and that peace has been
the rule, and not the exception, between
the Mississippi river, and the Rocky noun
tains. In the Patent Office, large amount
OF business has been attended to, over four
teen thousand applications having been re-
ceived, and nearly nine thousand patents
issued. The receipts during the year end
ing September 80 being $460, 0,4l68O, or
more than the expenditures
Mention is made in the report of the pro
gress of the Union Pacific and other rail
roads in process of building in the far
West ; a statement showing the sums ad-
vanced to the United States marshals dur
ing the year, amounting in the aggregate
to $9S9,55O.20, is given; and numerous
other interests confded to the supervision
Of the Department of the Interior, are refer
red to as their Importance may require.