White Cloud Kansas chief. [volume] (White Cloud, Kan.) 1857-1872, 1870-12-15

srse4 TINE ARMY. ssr-s'
Uader tbs &C, Of Congress Of the Is b
1Ay of asiy, 1870, the army hiss ersdn.l

q
y been reduced. 40 that on The 6'si ol
J seasry. 1871. the pumber of commits
stoned officers and men vii: NOT exceed
the number contemplated by law.
The War department tu lding is an
old structure, no, ireprooi, aud vp,irrley
insdeq1ais In dimensions 10 our presen,
wsn's. II .ny thoas snds Of dollars s,e
now paid annually for the rent o. privalr
baildssgs Z. accommodate the vsti1ns
bureaus efshs department. lrecor mend
"a appropriation for new vs. Depart
rneDi bu'ldiDg suited to the present snd
growing wants Of the nstion.
Thereport ofihe Secretary o. War show
O very sstisis tory reduction in the ex,
penses of the army for the last fiscal year.
For details you are referred 10 his ac-
compspying report.
THE NAVY
Th, expen .ca Of tn, IVY for the whole
OF the last year. from ID ,cemb-r. 1869.
the date Of the report. are less Than si9.
600 900. or sboat 100000 les, than
they were the previous year. Tae ex-
p.rsss Of the Navy department in this
6scai year. sinc. Jolly la. shos for
fbe 6vs months decrease OF over two
million four hundred thousand from those
of the corresponding monti last year.
The estimates for the current year were
S2S 265 go; those for next year. S26.
S33, ,l70, with S95 100 slJitioni Tor
temporary and permanent improvements.
These estim a,es are made closely for The
m,intensnce of the navsl establishment. as
il nov is, wi,aou. mach 10 b: nature Of
perm ,n,nt improvement The sppro
pristions made for the ,st and en- rent
years were evidently so intended by Con-
gress, and are sufficient only TO keep the
navy on it's present footin. in the repair
ing and rcfiu'ng of our old ships. This
POLICY must of coarse gradu.lly but snre-
" destroy the navy. and it is in itself
far from economical; for each year that
it is pursnsd the necessity for more re-
pairs on ships and navy yards becomes
more Imperative and more costly, and
our curr'nt expenses are actually incrss-
sed for the mere repairs Of ships. many o'
which must soon be unseawortby and
nseless. / hope. during the present sss.
sion Of Congress. to be able to submi. to
il plan by which naval vessels can b:
built and repairs made With great sa'
wing upon the present cost l. can bard
ly be wise statesman bip to . govern
nent which represents a country with
over FIVE thousand miles OF coast line on
both oceans. exclusive Of Alaska corts;u.
ing four millions Of foreign people. with
relations OF every nature with almost
every foreign country. to resort with
such inadsq1ate means to forcinng any
foreign policy. either Of protection o,
redress, separated by the ocean from the
nations Of the western continent. Oar
navy is our only means of direct protec-
tion to our citizens abroad, or for the en-
forcement Of sny foreign policy.
rosTcFF1cE DEPARTMENT.
The accompanying report of the Post
master General shows 9 most satisfactory
working of that department. With the
adoption Of the recomenlat ~ contained
therein. particularly ,huse relating to q
reform in the ranking privilege and the
adoption Of correspondence cards, a
telf sustaining postal system may be
speedly look for, and at no distant day
a further reduction OF the rate of postage
he attained. / recommend to Congress
TO authoriz, the Postm ss,er General and
Attorney General to issue oil commits
fions to olfi .ials appointed through their
respective depart rimeuts. A, present these
commissions, where appointments s'e
made. are issued by the State department.
The law in all departments of govern
ment except those of postoffice and OF
Justice authorizes esch to issue its own
commissions.
GILL SERVICE REFORM
Always favoring practical reform, l
respectfully call your attention to one
abuse Of long etsnding which l would
like to see remedied by this Congress.
1t is q reform in this civil service Of the
country. l would advise it go beyond
the mere fixing Of the tsunre OF office OF
clerks and employees. who do not require
the advice aud consent Of the Senate to
make their appointments complete. !
would have j, govern not the tenure. but
the manner Of making sll appointments.
There is no duty which so embsrrasses
the Executive and Heads of Departments
as that Of appointments; nor is there any
such arduous and ihsnkless labor imposed
on Senat rs and Representatives as that
of fnaing places for constituents. The
present system does not secure the best
men. and often no, even 6t men for pub
lie places. The elevation and purifica-
iion Of the civil service OF the Govern
ment will be hailed with approval by the
whole people o. the Un I'd States.
INDIAN AFFAIRS.
Reform in tue management OF Indian
.tlairs has received the special attention
Of the Administration from its inaugura-
tion to the present day. The experiment
OF making it missionary work was
tried with few egencies given to the
acmouiostiou Of Friends, and has been
found to work most advsp.sgeously. Ali
agencies sud superinteudencies not SO
disposed of were given to officers OF the
army. The act of Congress reducing the
srmy renders army officers ineligible for
evil positions. Indian sgen's bri,g
civil officers, l determined to give all the
agencies to such religious denominations
ns had heretofore established missions
ries among the Indians. and perhaps to
some other denominations who would
undertake the work on the same terms,
!. e., as . missionary work. The socie-
ties selected are allowed to nsme their
own agents. subject to the approval OF
the Execntive. and are expected to watch
IL Aha.a - -,