Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1870-12-09

lnat uate, S04l l,I8SOV--leaving an uncX- |
pended balance of $414, 1903 40 available for
The remainder Of the present fiscal year.
Fees received during said year amounted |
10 $136, ,304.29 in excess Of the expendl- |
lures, The appropriation asked for the |
next fiscal year Is $575,670. The number |
of patents during the past year Is less than |
that issued during the preceding year.
This fact Is no proof that the enterprise
of the country has diminished, or of a de-
ficiency in the application of their imita-
tive genius and scientific attainments to
industrial pursuits and arts. The result is
due to the increased labor which has been
bestowed by the office upon applications,
whereby frivolous and worthless contriv-
ances have been rejected. / recommended
last year the abolition of the right to APP
peal from the decision of the Commits
sioner to one of the Judges OF the Supreme
Court of the District. This appeal from
an executive to a judicial officer, is a
strange anomaly unknown in the practice
of any other bureau, has worked only evil
and that continually. II can now only be
taken in er pdrte cases to the court. Even
this limited change in the existing law
has been attended with the best practical
results"
The Secretary of State speaks at length
of the beneficial effects of the visit of Red
Cloud and Spotted Tail to Washington.
He says AT the time of their visit very
little hope was entertained that war could
be avoided; but simple, clear, and per
fectly frank statement of the attitude of
your administration was made to them both
by yourself and the officers of this depart
ment. No attempt was made to hide from
them the gravity of the situation or abso-
lutte necessity of their accepting the. new
condition of things. They were made to
understand the hopelessness of continued
conflict with the United States, through
whose country they had passed from the
Upper Missouri to the capital,
and urged to trust implicitly and peacefully
to the good will of the government and
people of the United States, and to accept
the necessity of looking, in the future, to
agriculture rather than to hunting for sub
sistence. The visit made favorable, and,
| sincerely trust, an enduring impression on
their minds Impending war, with all its un-
numbered horrors, its waste of blood and
treasure, has been arrested. The influence
of the leading Sioux Chieftains continues
to be ON the side of peace, and this exam
pie has been followed by all the principal
warlike tribes, which last year were threat
ening our frontier settlements. To perpet-
{,
much, however, remains to be done. The
reservation assigned by the Peace Commits
sion of 1868 has not been absolutely Sc
cured and am aware of no reason why
the right of the Indiaas to it should not be
respected and confirmed by positive act.
| Until this is done they cannot be perma-
nently located or induced to give up their
wandering habits and adopt a new mode
of life. Our delay in taking action on this
important question has already excited the
distrust of our good faith, and, If longer
continued, will, fear, render their disaf-
fection complete. / earnestly recommend
that the attention of Congress be called to
the subject.
"The consent of the Osages to remove
from Kansas to the Indian Territory, hap
j.pily, ends difficulty which once forcboded
serious trouble The wrongs inflicted on
these Indians, by encroachments on their
reserves, were of the most atrocious char
acter."
The speedy completion of the Cherokee
treaty now before Congress, is recommend
| ed. The survey of the lands of the Choc
taws and Chicaksaws is in progress. The
| Secretary recommends that, before the
Land Office is established, the allotments
made to certain supposed spectators by
statute and treaty, of which the Choctaws
complain, be investigated and reconciled.
| The statistics of business in the Pension
Bureau during the past year, were made
public some time ago. Secretary Cox, in
treating of this branch of this department
says: "The committee has devoted special
attention and energetic eff,rts, first, to a
| thorough examination of the evidence pre-.
| sented in support of pension claims, thus
causing the rejection of such as are fcti-
| tious and unfounded; second, to q search.
| ing inquiry in regard to the present list OF
! invalided pensioners, with a view to more
| just and Uniform graduation of the existing
rates; and, third, to the ascertainment and
| cancellation of fraudulent claims hereto
! fore allowed. The actual amount saved by
| the disallowance of unjust claims cannot
be accurately estimated, but from other re-
! forms have mentioned a reduction of 81
100000 has been made in the amount re
quired to pay pensions allowed prior tC
the current year The amount of invalid
| pensions stopped under the last hien.
NAL examinations was $44,5S4 of those
reduced, $S3,7S4; of those stopped dur
ing the year by order of the bureau, $21,
1888 of those so reduced, $5,316; and Oi
other pensions so stopped, $40, ,920; aggre
eating annually $167,062. During the
same year the sum of $50, 103 Al was fraud
ulently drawn by women who had remar
ried, nearly the whole of which has beer
recovered. The sum of 6,122. Sc was re
ported as retained by attorneys in excess o.
legal fees, large proportion of which ha!
been restored to the pensioners. Forty at
torneys were arrested for violations of thu
statutes, of whom eighteen were convicted
eleven acquitted, three escaped, and tn,
cases of eight were pending at the close o
the year Sixty five pensioners were ARRESTED
for fraud- Of -uIn,rl tyra,,ty, t--e -->~-e con
victed, nine acquitted, four escaped, AM
the cases of thirty were pending at tn
close of the year..
"1n view of the actual and attempte,
frauds upon colored pensioners and appli
cants for pension, in the States of Alabama
Mississippi and Tennessee, a special com
mission was appointed to make thorough
investigation. They examined, and reporte,
upon $50 cases, and their labor disclose,
an enormous amount of systematic extor
tion and fraud upon pensioners and tn
government
If the balance of the existing appro
prlation in the Pension Office remainin
uneXpended the 1st of July next be with
held from the Treasury, and applied to tina
service, the amount required for the mex
year will be $10000,000 less than the an
preparation for the present fiscal year.
"The Bureau of Education has receive,
applications for information from all tn
sections of the country and from abroad
A large part of the facts and statistics nee
essary to answer these inquiries satisfaC
torilY have never been collected. Congres
has not authorized the printing of any o
the several reports emanating from the bu
reau, and the Commissioner was, until las
August, compelled to answer by CORES
pondence inquiries made of him. Thre
thousand copies of the circular of infor
nation was, by my direction, then printed
They have been distributed, but the dc
mand has not been supplied. The Com
missioner has prepared a condensed state
ment exhibiting the present condition O
education in the several States, and con
tanning statistics which, in collectiv
form, have never been published. 1t is oh
vious that the bureau, as at present cunsti
tuted, has no jurisdiction to the vital inte
rests with which to some extent it i
charged. The Secretary refers to the opin
ions expressed on this subject in his las
|