, 1876-12-16


now under consideration. and that spirit pro-
gressing. am advised. though, by the
president of the commission that IL will be
impraciicable to comply with the clause Of
the act requiring the report TO be presented
through me 10 Congress ON the tirsI day Of
this session, as there has no; yet been tine
FOR that maiare d-liberation which the i'm
portsnce of the subject demands. Therefore
ask he time of making he repor' he tx
tended TO the 29Jh day of January, 1871. In
accordance with the resolution OF August 10.
1876. the amy regulations prepared under
act of March !, 1919. have not b-rn promnl-
gated. but are held until after the report OF
the above mentioned commission sh.ll have
been received and acted upon By the act
of August 10, 1876. the cavalry force Of the
army Was increased by $500 men, with n
proviso that th,y should be discharged on
the expiration of hos'ilities. On this sc-
ihoriry the cavalry regiments have BEN
streug hened. and a portion Of them are now
IN the field pursuiny the remnants of the Ia
dians with whom they have been engaged
during the summer. The estimates of the
war department are made upon the basis of
he numbar of men authorized by law. and
their equipments shown ty years Of *
perirnce, aud also with the purpose, on the
part OF the bureau Ofhsrr-, 70 provide for sll
contingencies that may arise during the
tine for Which the estimates are made, ex-
elusive of the sugInevr : estimates, presented
IN accordance with the acts OF Congress call
ing for surveys and estimates Tor improve
mcnts AT various localities. The estimates
now presented are about SIX millions IN e1-
cess Of the appropriations for the years 1874.
1915 aud 1876 This Increase IL asked III
order TO proylde for the Increased cavalry
forne, should their services be necessary 10
prosecute economical work upon important
public buildings. TO provide Tor armament Of
Qualifications and manufac'nre Of small arm,
and 10 repleni-h the working srock in the
supply department. The app, ,pvIarious for
these last named have for the past ten years
been 10 distributed that the accumulatIOns
in store will be entir-ly exhausted during
the present gear, and it will be Necessary 10
at once begin 10 replenish them.
| invite your special attention to the tol-
lowing recommendations of the secretary of
war:
First-That the claims under the act of
July 4, 1864, for supplies taken by the army
during the war. b. reis-ued from the "ftire OF
the uuArreTmasrers and cOmmiSsary generals.
and transferred to The claims commissioners,
These claims are Of precisely simiiar nature
10 those now before the Suurhrrn claims SOM
mission, aud the war department bureaus
have not The clerical force Tor ih-iI examI-
nation nor the p7opr machinery for invesri-
eating the loyalty of the claimants
Second - That Congress sanction the
scheme Of an hnnniry fund tor the beurdt "t
the families of deceased offi;r and that II
also progi ie for the permanent organlza'l1n of
the regular service, ODth OF which were rec
in my last ANIMAL message.
Third That The manufacturing operations
of the ordnance, be concentrated a, an arIno-
nv, and that the remaining armorirs BE- sold
aud the proceeds applied to this object by
the ordnance drpartm-nt.
I:IyER AND HARBoR IMPROVEMENTS
The appropriation for river and harb"r
improvements for the present year was tl"e
million dollars. TIh NY approval, The s-e-
r.tary If gar directed that Uf this amount
81 900. 600 -hould be expanded, and no works
should be begun, and none prosecuted which
were nut of national importaDce Snb-e-
oneniiy this amount WAS increased 10 -
237 Go, and works are now progressing ON
this basis. The improvement OF the S1u'h
Pass of the Mississippi river und-r James t.
Z Ids and his associates is progressing iaFor-
ably. At the present time there Is chau-
mel of 90 3 10 f-et in depth between IN" Jet
,irs at the mouth of the pass Neither chan
mel however, has The width required before
pa aTments can BE- mad by The Uni'rd States
A commission of engineer "th 'ers Ia nov ex
nminiug these works, and rhrir repUrt Will
be presented as soon as received.
THE NAVY.
The report of the secretary of the navy
shows that branch Of the service TO be III
condition as effective "a it Is possible TO Keep
il with the means appropriated TO the depart
mert. Il Is, of course. impossible TO rlval the
costly aud progressive establishments OF
great European powers, with the old material
of cur navy TO which no increase has been
author d since the wGr, except the eigh
small cruis-rs built to supply the place OF
Others which had gone 20 decay; yet the
most has been done that was possible with
,hf means az command. and 10y substantially
rebuilding me Of our old ships with dur
able material, and completing, repairing ard
r.firting our monitor fleet, the navy has
been gradually 80 brought up. that thoTgh,
i. i, does not maintain It's relative position
with the progressive navIes # the world. II II
j. pow IN CONDITION more powerful and effect
i've than 1t has eger ben in time OF peAcr
The complete repairs Of cur five heavy iron
clads are only delsy-d on aocoun, OF the IN
adeGuacy of the appropriations made las
v-ar fpr working rhe bureaus of ths d-part-
ment which were actually less IN amount
than tho,, made b-fore the war, nnrwi'h-
standing ,he greatly rnhanc-d priee OF laeor
and material, and the increase IN cost OF
naval s-rvics growing ont OF the nnivrrs'i
usr.. and great exp-b-e OF steam machinery
necessary for these repairs II shon!d D. p'o
vided for a, once 50 thy may be compirird
v,,,hont further uunec-s-try delay and eE
n-psa: when this y doue ali the rengrh that
there i in The navy will be devel'p 'ped ami
rssinI 20 its full capacity. and all "iil o.
powerful for the purPse ot d-irns-, ana ai-o
for offensive action, should n-c-ssIiy r tina
s,isa within a reasonable distance iron OHr
shor4s- and the fact tia, our navy l. no.
r, r. m dern aud powerful than II l. h.
been m.de cs,,s4 of complaint against IN
secretary OF he navy BY p-rsons ~ho AZ The
same time eriticise and Complain oi his en
desvors 10 bring the navy 'ba' We have, u
irs hist and rno-f efficient cond,rion- Bus 'h-
good sense of country will understand that Il
i really TO his practical action that we have
al this time any effective naval i0rce at CON-
mAnd.
PosroFFIcs DEPARTMENT.
The report Of the postmaster gru7ral shows
the excess of exPrEdIrures, excluding *
,endi,ur.s on aecouut Of the previous var
avsr r.osip,s for the f-csl y-ar ending JHnr
aO-b 1875. TO be 81. l5l, ,955 Go. Es'ims'ei
e,n-nditnr-s for the fi-cai year ending J"aT
3Ii,b 1875. are S35, 20, 432 43. E-'irns,ra
revenue for the same perloi, s5o'ot9 ioo'
having an estimated exce-- o: s1p1ndi nfs-
q b. appropriated as dshsirnoy Of 20 O'o.
267 q. The postmaster general, Ike III
ur.i-cessor, ia eosyiu7sd that change 10
The basis o. a5iastiDg the salaries OF post
nN.sE r ffIr