Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1870-12-08

ITespOilucuCe CdTus. sell suStalulh
postal system may speedily be looke
for, and at no distant day further re
duction of the rate of postage be attain
ed. recommend the authorization b.
Congress to the Postmaster General an,
Attorney General to issue all commits
sions to officials appointed througl
their respective Departments. AT pre-
sent, these commissions, where appoint
ments are made, are issued by the Stat
Department. The law in all the de
partments,of the government, excep
those of the Post office and Justice
authorizes each to issue its'own com
missions, always favoring practical re
/ forms.
respectfully call your attention t.
one abuse of long standing, which
would like TO, see remedied by thi:
| Congress. 1t is a reform in the c;vi
service of the country. l would have
it go beyond the mere fixing Of tht
term of office of clerks and employe:
who do not require the advice and con
sent of the Senate to make their ap'
pointments complete. l would have il
govern, not the tenure, but the manner
of making all appointments. There i;
no duty which so much embarrasses the
Executive and heads of departments as
that of appointments nor is there any
such arduous and thankless labor i'm
posed on Senators and Representatives
as that of finding places for constitu-
ents. The present system does not
secure the best men, and often not even
fit men for public place. The elevation
and publication of the civil service OF
the Government will be hailed with ap-
proval by the whole people of the Uni
ted States.
Reform in the management of Indian
affairs has received the special attention
of the administration from its inangara-
iion tothe present day. The experiment
of makingit missionary work was
tried with few agencies given to the
denomination of Friends, and has been
found to work most advantageously.-
All agencies and uperlntendencies not
so disposed of were given to officers of
the army. Tee act of Congress reduc-
ing the army renders army officers ineli-
gibIe for civil positions. Indian agencies
being civil officers, / determined to
give all the agencies to such religious
denominations as heretofore establish
ed missions among the Indians, and
perhaps to some other denominations
who would undertake the work on the
same terms, 4. e. as a missionary work.
The societies selected are allowed to
name their agents, subject to the ap
proval of the Executive, and are expect
ed to watch over and aid them as mis-
sionaries and christians, and civiliZe the
Indian and train him in the arts of peace.
The Government watches over the Offi-
cial acts of these agents and requires of
them as strict an accountability as ifI
they were appointed in any other man
ner. | entertain the confident. hope
that the policy now pursued will in a
few years bring all the Indians upon
where they will live in
houses. have school houses and churches
and will be pushing peaceful and self
vOcations, and where they
may be visited by the law-abiding
" hite man with the same impunity that
he now visits the civilized white settle
ments. | call your special attentin to
The report of the Commissioner of In
lian Affairs for full information on this
subject.
During the last fiscal year S,095, ,413
lcres Of public land were disposed Of
Of this quantity 3,69S,910 acres were
AIKEN under the homestead law, and
}. .159, ,595 acres sold for cash. The re-
nainder was located with military war
ants, college or Indian scrip, or applied
n satisfaction of grants to railways, or
,ther public rses. The entries under
he homestead law during the past year
covered 961 ,545 acres more than those
Turing the preceding year. Surveys
ave been vigorously prosecuted to the
ull extent of the means applicable to
he purpose. The quantity of land in
he market will amply supply the pre-
ent demand The claim of the settler
nder the homestead or pre-emption
Avs is not. however. limited to lands
ubjcct to sale at private entry. Any
surveyed public land
lay, to a limited amount, be acquired
nder the. former laws if the party en-
tiled to enter under them will comply |
nth the requirements they present in {
egard to the residence and cultivation.
he actual settlers preference right of
urchase is even broader, and extends
D lands which were unsurveyed at the
me of his settlement. His right was
,rmerly confined within much narrow t
Slimits, and at one period OF our his d
,ry was conferred only by special :
atutes.. They were enacted from time
!, time to legalizc what was then re-
lrded as an unauthorized intrusion l
pom the national domain. The opinion a
lat the public lands should be regarded C
liefiy as a source Of revenue is no t
niger maintained. The rapid settle a
ent and successful cultivation of them :,
now Justly considered of more. i'm II
,rtance to our well being than the fund Il
hich the sale of them would produce.
ne remarkable growth and prosperity b
our new States and territories attest a
e wisdom of the legislation which in q,
tes the tiller of the soil to secure a :"
rmanent home on terms within the ie
ach of all the pioneers VINO will incur p
e dangers and privations of a frontier ir
fe, and thus aid in laying the founda- al
IN of new commonwealths, render O,
,nal service to his country, and is enti- y,
ID to its special favor and protection. y,
lese laws secure that object and large d
promote the general welfare. They o'
ould, therefore, be cherished asa per- I'll
.nent feature of our land SYSTEM sy
,od faith requires us to give full effect fo
the existing grants. The time honor "
and beneficent policy of setting "
art certain sections of public lands d
: educational purposes in the new dl
,tes should be continued. When m
Iple provision shall have been made th
: these objects, submit as question cs
,rthv of serious consideration, whether g, :,
, residue of our national domain =
,uld not be wholly disposed of under :"
, provisions of the homestead and o'
s-emption laws. In addition to the WI
amp overfowed lands granted TO the W,
ties, in which there are situated the
ds taken under the agricultural col w