Delaware gazette. [volume] (Delaware, Ohio) 1855-1886, 1866-12-07

prosecution. RFeDaF3u0nS nave 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
hOnOrably discharged soldier the we'll
earned reward of his faithfulness and
gallantry- More than six thousand
MANNED soldiers have received artific-
ial limbs or other surgical apparatus !;
and forty one national cemeteries, con
tanning the remains of 104 ,526 Union
soldiers, have already been established.
The total estimate of military aDpro-
priations is S25, ,205, ,669
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 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
hundred. Great activity and vigilance
have been displayed by all the squad
rOns, aud their movements have been
judiciOusly and efficiently arranged in
such manner as would best promote
American commerce, and protect the
rights and interests of our countrymen
abroad The vessels unemployed are
undergoing repairs, or are laid up un-
til their services may be required
Most Of the iron-clad feet is at League
Island, IN the vicinity of Philadelphia,
a place which, until decisive action
should be taken by Congress, was Sc
lected by the Secretary Of the Navy as
the most eligible location for that class
Of vessels. tits important that a suit
able public station should be provided
for the iron-clad feet, It 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 pass
ed 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
1850, 900, having been increased s.
750, 600 during the year. The expend-
itures of the Department for the fiscal
year ending Both June last we're $43,
324 ,526, and the estimates for the CON-
ing year amount to so, ,568, ,436. At
tention is invited to the condition OF
our seamen, and the importance of leg
islative measures for their relief and
improvement. The suggestions In be-
half Of this deserving class of our fell
lOw-citizens are earnestly recommend
ed to the favorable attention of Con-
gress.
The report of the Postmaster Gen
eral presents a most satisfactory con-
dition of the postal service, and sub
mits recommendations which deserve
the consideration of Congress. The
revenues of the Department for the
year ending june 30, 1866, were SI4,
3S6, ,986, and the expenditures $15, 1852,
079, showing an ey oess of the latter of
1866, ,093. In anticipation of this de-
fciency, however, a special appropria-
ton was made by Congress In the act
approved July %, 1866. Including
the standing appropriation of 100000
for free mail matter, as a legitimate
portion of the revenues yet remaining
unexpended, the actual deficiency for
the past year is only S265, ,093-a sum
within $5I, ,141 of the amount estima-
ted in the annual report of 1864 The
decrease Ofrevenue compared with the
previous year was one and one fifth
per cent, and the increase Of expend-
ltures, owing principally to the en-
laTgement of the mail service in the
South, was twelve per cent. On the
Both Of June last there were In opera
tion six thousand nine hundred and
thirty mail routes, with an aggregate
length Of one hundred and eighty
thousand nine hundred and twenty
one miles, an aggregate annual trans
pOrtatiOn of seventy-One million eight
hundred and tbirty-seYen thousand
nine hundred and fourteen miles, and
an aggregate annual cost, including all
expenditures, Of S8,410,184. The
length of railroad routes is thirty two
thousand and ninety two miles, and
the annual transportation thirty mil
lion six hundred and nine thousand
four hundred and sixty-seven miles
The length of steamboat routes is
fourteen thousand three hundred and
forty-six miles, and the annual trans
portation three million four hundred
and eleven thousand nine hundred and
sixty-tWo miles. The mail service is
rapidly increasing throughout the
whole country, and its steady extension
in the Southern States indicates their
constantly improving condition. The
growing Importance of the foreign ser
vice also merits attention. The Post
Office Department Of Great Britain
and our own have agreed upon a pre-
llminary basis for a new Postal Con-
ventiOn, which It is believed will prove
eminently beneficial to the commercial
interests of the United States, mas
much as it coutemplates a reduction Of
the international letter postage to one
half the existing rates reduction of
postage with all other countries to and
from which correspondence is trans
mitted in the British mail, or in closed
mails through the United Kingdom :;
the establishment Of uniform and rea-
sOuable charges for the sea and terri
tOrial transit of correspondence in
closed mails and an allowance to each
Post Office Department of the right to
use all mail communications establish
ed under the authority of the other
for the dispatch of correspondence Ell
ther in open or closed mails, on the
same terms as those applicable to the
of the country providing
the means of transmission.
The report of the Secretary of the
Interior exhibits the condition ofthose
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 pub
lie land we're disposed of, one million
eight hundred and ninety-two thou
sand five hundred and sixteen acres
Of which we're entered under the
homestead act The policy originally
relative to the public lands
has undergone essential notifications.
Immediate revenue, and not their rap
ID settlement, was the cardinal feature
of our land system. Long experience
and earnest discussion have resulted
ia the conviction that the early devel-
1pment of our agricultural resources,
lud the diffusion of an energetic pOpu-
alton over our vast territory, are OBJ
ects of far greater Importance to the
rational growth and prosperity than