The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1866-12-08

abroad. The vessels unemployed are
undergoing repairs, or are laid up un-
til their services may be required. Most
Of the irou-cad fleet is at eaguc Island
in tic vicinity of Philadelphia, place
which, until decisive action should be
taken by Congress, was selected by the
Secretary of the Navy as the most elig-
ible location for that class of vessels. 1t
isimportant is that sultablcpublicstati
should he 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 accept
ing League Island for naval purposes,
which passed the House of Representa-
tivc5 at its last session, should receive
final action at an early period, in order
that there may be Il suitable public
station for this class of vessels, hJ well
as a navy-yard of area sufficient for the
wants of the service, on the Delaware
River. The Naval Pension fund amounts
TO Sll,750,000, having been increased
$3.50, 600 during the year. The expen-
ditures Cf the Department for the fiscal
year ending thirtieth June last were
sl3,224 526, and the estimates for the
coming year amount to $23, SOS, 1876. At
tcntion is invited to the condition of
our seamen, and The importance OF legis.
lative measures for their relief and i'm
prOvcmcnt. The suggestions in behalf
of this deserving class of our fcllow-citi-
zens arc earnestly recommended to the
favorable attention of Congress.
PoST-oFFICE.
The report of the Postmaster General
presents Il most satisfactory condition
of the postal service, and submits recon-
mendations which deserve the consider
alton of Congress. The revenues of
the Department for the year ending
juno thirticth, 1865, were Sli,3SG, 1856,
and the expenditures 1852, ,079, show
ing an excess of the latter of $9G5, ,093.
In anticipation of the deficiency, how
ever, a special appropriation was made
by Congress in the act approved July
twenty-oighth, 1866. Including the
neutrality-suspicious. ofS700, 900 for free
mail matter, rs Legitimate portion of
the revenues yet remaining unexpend-
ed, the actual deficiency for the past
year is only $265, ,O93-a sum within
$51 Ill of the amount estimated in the
annual report of 1864. The decrease of
revenue, compared with the previous
year, was one and one fifth per cent.
aud thn inn of nvnnn1itt,ral nv
ing principally to the enlargement Oi
the mail service in the South, was
twelve per cent. On the thirticth of
of June last there were in operation six
thousand nine hundred and thirty mail
routes, with an aggregate length Of one
hundred and eighty thousand nine
hundred and twenty-one miles, and ag.
gregatc annual Transportation seventy
one million eight hundred and thirty
seven thousand nine hundred and four.
including all expenditures, Of IS, 40, ISL
The length of railroad routes is thirty.
two thousand and ninety-twO miles, and
the annual transportation thirty million
six hundred and nine thousand fOui
hundred and siXty-seven miles. The
length Of steamboat routes is fourteen
, thousand three hundred and forty-siX
miles, and the annual transportation
three million four hundred and clever
thousand nine hundred and siXty-twC
miles. The mail service is rapidly in
creasing throughout the whole country
and its steady extension in the Southern
States indicates their constantly i'm
proving condition. The growing inn
: portance of the foreign service also
: merits attention. The Post Office De
partment of Great Britain and our own
have agreed upon a preliminary basi;
for Il new postal convention, which it i,
believed will prove eminently beneficial
to the commercial interests of the Unit
ed States, inasluuch rs it Contemplatcs {
reduction Of the international letter pos
tage to one half the existing rates; q re-
) duction 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 King
dom; the establishment Of uniform anc
reasonable charges for the sea and terri
torial transit of correspondence in clos
ed mails; and an allowance to eacl
Post-Oilice Department of the right t
use all mail communications establish
cd under the authority of the other TO
the dispatch of correspondence, eithe
in open or closed mails, on tho SAINT
terms as those applicable to the inhabit
ants OF the ecountry providing the means
of transmission.
PUBLIC LANDS-INDIAN Affairs,
The report of the Secretary Of the In
terror exhibits the condition of thos
branches of the public service whicl
are committed to his supervision. Dur
, ing the last fiscal year 4,G29,3l2 acres o
public land were disposed of, 1921
acres of which were entered under tn
homestead act. The policy originall.
adopted relative to the public lands ha
undergone essential modification. I'm
mediate revenue, and not their rapi
: settlement, was the cardinal feature o
our land system. Long experience AM
earn st discussion have resulted in III
conviction that the early development
: of our agricultural resources, ana IN
@ diffusion of an energetic population owe
i our vast territory, are objects OF IA
}, greater importance to the n0tlona