Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1869-12-17

thglOuHs heuucuOn Oh INC currency being
inevitable, he suggests that tho Secretary
of tho Treasury be authorized TO reduce tho
circulation of tho United Slatos notes by
nm amount not exceeding s2,OOO0OO in any
one month
Tho Secretary recommends n now loan of
$1,000, 100000, leaving about sG7O,0O0,0O of
bonds for payment previous TO the year
1881. Tho loan should be In three classes,
varying in terms of payment from fifteen
TO thirty years, subject to certain specified
conditions and exempt from taxation. The
continuance of the present revenue system
is strongly recommended, as is also the re-
dcmption of the three per cent. certificates.
The evils incident to our banking system
are discussed, and their remedies pointed
out.
The report of the Secretary of War shows
that the expenditures of the War Depart
ment for the year ending the 30th of june
1869, were ssO,6il,Oi2 OF which s23, 49,, $40
was disbursed in the payment Of debts con-
tractcd during the war, and is not charge
able to current army expense. His esti-
mate Of s3i, 53i ,O31 for the expenses of the
army for the next fiscal year is as low, it is
believed, as can be relied on.
Mr.. Delano's report of the operations Of
the Internal Revenue Bureau shows that
while the expense of collection has been
reduced nearly 100000 since last year,
the amount collected has been increased by
S2G, $50, l70-thc result entirely of vigilance
and the faithful execution of the laws. For
the fiscal year 1869 the receipts of internal
revenue amounted to S1GO, 030 3i4, and for
1870 they are estimated at S175, 0OO,0 Tho
most remarkable improvement is shown
in the revenue from spirits. For the fiscal
year 1865 II was S9,709, $40 for The fiscal
year 1869 it was no less than S62, O92, Ala /;
from which it appears that under the old
law the Government did not collect one
tenth of the revenue due from this source.
The gain in tobacco has been about $780,
600, nearly twice as many cigars having
been returned as last year, though the rate
remains the same. The increase in the roc
turn of incomes is not moreth SO, 600, 600;
but in spite of the difficulty in honest col
lection of the tax, Mr.. Delanoi is disposed to
recommend its continuance.
Secretary Of War, Belknap reports graf
flying reduction of fourteen and a half mil
lions in the Quartermasters department,
below those of the preceding year; says
the Freedmen's Bureau has had about 25O,
900 blacks under instruction of some kind
during the year, and that freed people paid
for tuition and the construction of build
ing during that time about 100000, while
the total expenses ofthe Bureau from June
l, 1866 to the LIST of September last, have
been SIS, 524, SIG; estimates the cost of the
military academy during the coming year
at S332, 26i says that there have been cX-
pended nearly three millions ofdollars up
on the ~ national cemeteries and 3l3 local
post or private cemeteries, in which 322,-
COZ interments have been made, of which
17l,9iG have been identified. Other facts
from this report are that the ration now
costs about % cents; and the army con-
sumes $4,000 worth of tobacco monthly,
which is supplied at cost prices.
Gen. Sheridan, commander of the militia
ry division of the Missouri, in which most
Of the Indians of the country abide, and
where have been the principal troubles of
late, gives an account Of his operations dur
ing the year, and declares that the condi-
ton Of Indian affairs is very much better
than year before. He thinks the system
of reservations adopted by the Government
the only one that will put an end to Indian
murders and depredations, but he appre-
hends that the Sioux will have to receive
severe punishment before they will go
peaceably upon a reservation. Like the
.1ram COLI hot lao .
speaks out boldly, and gives his estimate
of the former method of treating the saw
ages, and of the Indian character: "Indi-
ans have run riot along the lines of our
Western settlements and the emigrant and
commercial lines of travel for many years.
numbering and plundering without any
adequate punishment, and the Government
has heretofore sought to give protection to
some of its best interests by making pres
ents to those savages or, in other words,
while it found it necessary to enact the
most stringent laws for the government of
civilized whites, it was attempted to gov
ern wild, brutal and savage people with
out any laws at all, or the inhiction of any
punishment for the most henious crimes.
u
man commits murder or robs, we hang
him, or send him to the penitentiary. If
an Indian does the same, we have been in
the habit of giving him more blankets.
The Indian is a lazy, idle vagabond; he
never labors, and has no profession except
that of arms, to which he is raised from
child; scalp is constantly dangled before
his eyes, and the highest honor he can as
pire TO is to possess one taken by himself
The Government has always been very
liberal to Indians, especially whenever
they have settled on reservations; the lands
allotted to them have been of the very best
character, making them by far the richest
in the country.
The Secretary of the Interior urges the
assemblagc Of the Indians upon larger res
ervation, where their numbers will be more
and where the most civilized
Of them will influence the others in striv- |
ing to progress in the arts of peace. He |
recommends an appropriation to
enable tribes in the Indian Territory prop |
er to form general organization, with |
most of the elements of a territorial gov |
eminent. He believes them well prepared
to dispense with the tutelage of agents, if |
they could have delegate in the House of |
Representatives to speak for them. The |
tribes north Of the Platte river are vet un- |
prepared for similar organization, but
the time is not far distant when two or
three principal Indian territories may prop
erly embrace all the tribes east of the
Rocky Mountains. The Secretary approves
oi the labors of the peace commission and
the policy now pursued by Indian agents.
Written for the Vermont PAunir.
rO.uE.NrS SUFFR.EGE.