The Russellville Democrat., 1876-12-14
THE RUssELLvILLE DEMOCRAT, THURsDAY. 1876.

'bansfts Of the families of tic de- ceased officers, and that it also provide for the permanent organi xation of the ordnance depart ment be concentrated ut three arscnals and an armory, and that the remaining arsenals be sold and the proceeds applied to this object ny the ordnance depart ment.
 The appropriation for river and harbor Improvements for the cur rent year were $5,0l5.O00. With my approval, tac secretary of war directed thatofthis amount $2, 900, 900 should be expended, and no psv works should ::be begun and .aone prosecuted which are not Of national importance. Subsequent ly this amount was increased to $223,7OO. Works are now pro gressing on this basis. The i'm provernent Of the south pass ofthe Mississippi river, under J. B. Eads and his associates, is pro- gressing favorably. At the pres cut time there is 8 channel of 20 feet 3-10 inches depth between tue jetties at the mouth of the pass and Is l-2 feet at the head of the pass. Neither channel however, has the width required, before payment shall be made by tue United States. A commiss- sion of engineers and officers are now examining these works, and their reports will be presented as soon as received.
 The report of the secretary Of the navy shows that he believes tue service to be in condition as effective as it is possible to keep it with the means the appropria- .tions give the department. It Is of course not possible to rival the costly and progressive establish ments of the great European pow CTS. With the old material of our navy, tn which no increase has been authorized since the war, ,excep, el.ht small cruisers, built to supply the place of others which had gone to decay, the ut most has been donc that was pos sible with. the means we com mand, aud by substantially re building our olil ships with du rabie material and completely re- pairing and retitling our monitars the fleet of the navy has been so brought np that though it does not maintain it's Ielatlve position among the progressive nayies ot the world, it is now ina condition more powerful and effective than it has ever been in time of peace. The complete repairs of our five heavy iron clads are only delayed on account of the inatequacy of the appropriations made last year fo2 the working bureaus of the department, which were atta- ally less in amount than those made before the war, notwithstan- ding the greatly inhanced value of labor and materials, and the increase in the cost of the vaval service growing out ofthe univer- sal use and great expenseofsteam machinery. The money necessa- ry for these repairs should be pro- vided at once that they may be completed without further unnec- essary delay and expense. When this Is done all the strength that there is in the navy will be de- veloped and useful to it's fullest capacity, and all will be powerful for the purpose of defence, and also for the offensive action should the necessity for that arise within a reasonable distance from our shore; and the fact that our navy is not more modern and powerful than it is has been made a cause of complaint against the secretary of the navy by persoas who at the same time criticise and complain of his endeavors to bring the navy here to it's best and most efficient condition. But the good sense of the country will understand that it is really to his practical action that we have at this time any effective naval force at command.
 PosToFFICE DEPARTMENT.
 The report of the postmaster general shows an excess of expen ditures, excluding the expendi' tures on account of previous years, over the receipts for the fiscal year ending June 30. 1876 to be 4l5,l9S,S66 The tstima ted expenditures for the fisca year ending June 30, 1878, are, 3.672,343, .43. The estimated revenues for tlle same period is $3, 3,O64, ,6l6, ,500, leaving an estima
 ted excess of expenditures to bt appropriated, as a deficiency, o $607, ,S26,643. The postmaste
 general like his predecessors, il convinced that change in th'
 basis of adjusting the salaries Q
 postmastets of the fourth class i
 necessary for the good of the ser
 vice, as well as for the intcrsts O l the unyernment and nruenfly re