The Fremont weekly journal. [volume] (Fremont, Sandusky County, Ohio) 1867-1877, 1874-12-18
and that for the current fiscal year the

and that for the current fiscal year th
astim ied receipts over expenditH wi
not much exceed s., ,000, coo. fP~F5
- THK SINKING FUND. -
4 In view of the large national debt e1
isting, andfhe obligation to add one pc
cent. annum to the sinking fund, sun
amounting now to over S34, ,000, 900 pc
annum, I submit whether the reYenue
should not be increased or expenditure
diminished to reach this amount of sur
plus. Not to provide for the sinking
fund is partial failure to comply witt
contracts and obligations of the Govern
ment.-, At the last session of Congress
very considerable reduction was mads
In rates of taxation and In thsnunaber d
articles subjected to taxation Theques
ton may well be asked whether or moi
insome instances, unwisely. I'm connec
ton with this subject too, 1 venture the
opinion that the means Of collecting the
revenue especially from imports have
been so embarrassed by legislation as to
make it questionable whether or not
large amounts are not lost by failure tc
collect. Il To the great loss of the Treasu.
", and to the prejudice Of the interests
OF honest importers and tax payers.
BRIsTow's RECOMMENDATIONS
The Secretary of the Treasury, in his re.
port, favors Legislation looking to specie
payments, thus supporting views pre-
Yieusly expressed In this message. He
also recommends economy In appropria-
tions; calls attention to the loss of reEe-
nue. from repeating the tax on tea and
coffee without benefit to the consumed
recommends an increase of ten cents q
gallon on whisky, and further that nc
modification be made in the Banking
and Currency bill passed at the last ses-
sion of Congress, unless the aodifcaiOn
should become necessary by reason OF
returning to specie payment In these
recommendations, I cordially join.
5nHlSId THE TARHFf-T hrs Ti
I would suggest to Congress the pro
priety of re-adjusting the tariff so as to
increase the revenue and at the same
time decrease the number of articles up
on which dues are levied. Those artic-
les which enter into our manufactures
and are not produced at home, it seems
to me should be entered free. In those
, articles of manufacture which we pre-
duce a constituent part of, but do not
produce the whole, that part which we
do not produce should be entered free
also. viii instance fine wool dyes, &c
CThese articles must be imported to form
a part of the manufacture of the higher
grades of wOolen goods;) chemicals used
as dyes, compounded In medicines and
used In various ways, In manufactures
that comprises this class. Theintroduc-
ton free of dues of such woods as we do
not produce, should stimulate the man
facture of goods requiring these with
those that We do produce and therefore
would bea benefit 10 home proddction.
There are many articles entering into
home mahufacturesy which we do not
produce ourselves, the tariff upon which
INCREASES the cost Of producing ehe man
ufactufed articlai AIli corrections -
this regard are In the direction of bring
ing labor and capital in harmony with
each other and supplying one of the ele-
ments Of pOsperity so much needed.
THE WAR DEPARTMENT
The report of the Secretary of War,
herewith attached, and forming part Of
the Message, gives all the information
concerning the operations, wants and
necessities of the array, and contains
many suggestions and Recommendations,
which L recommend to your special at
tention. There is'no class of Govern
nent employees that are harder worked
than those; none who perform their
tasks more cheerfully and efficiently,
and under circumstances of greater pri-
vations and hardships than the soldiers
LEGISLATION is required to render more
efficient this branch Of the public serv-
ice. All the recommendations Of the
Secretary Of War I regard as judicious,
and specially commend to your attention
the following: Consolidation Of the
Government arsenals; the restoration Of
mileage to officers travelling under ord
ers; the exemption of money received
from the sale of subsistence stores. from
being covered into the Treasury; the use
of appropriations for the purchase Of
subsistence stores, without waiting for
the beginning of the fiscal year, for
which the appropriation is made; for ad-
ditional appropriations for the collee-
tiOn of torpedo materials; for increased
appropriations for the manufacture Of
arms; Tor raHeVing the various States
from indebtedness.fO aims charged to
them during the rebellion; for dropping
officers from the rolls of theiarny with
out trial for the offence of drawing pay
more than once for the same period;
for the discouragement of the plan to
pay soldiers by checks; and for the es-
tablishment ofa pFofessoFship of Rhet-
oric and English Litefature at West
Point The reasons for the recommen-
dations are obvious, and are set forth
sufficiently in the report attached z.
q / also recommend that the status of
the staff corps of the army be fixed,
where this has not already been done,
so that promotions may be made and
vacancies filed as they occur in each
grade, when reduced below the num-
ber fixed. BY the necessities of such
Legislation, the number of vacancies In
the Pay Department is below the number
adequate to the performances of the du-
ties required of them by law.
TIE NAVY DEPARTMENT.
The efficiency of the Navy has been
largely increased during the past year.
Under the impulse of the foreign COM
pEcations which threatened us at the
commencement of the last session of
Congress, most of our wooden ships
were put IN condition for immediate