Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1876-12-12

oo sold and the proceeds appueu 10 inc
object by the Ordinance Department.
RIVER AND HARBoR IMPROVEMENT.
The appropriations for river and har-
Dor improvements for the current year
were 50 ,Ol5 900. With my approval the
Secretary of War directed that OF this
amount $4,000. coo should be expended
and no new work should be begun and
none prosecuted which was not OF ma
tional Importance Subsequently this
amount was increased 81 ,237 500 and
the works are now progressing on this
/ basis. The Improvement Ol the south
pass oi the Mississippi river, under
| the charge OF James Il. Fades and his
associates, is progressing lavorably; "
: The present there is channel OF % $40
feet in depth between the jetlies at The
mouth Of the pass and eighteen and one
half feet at the head ot the pass. Neither
channel, however. has the width required
before payments can be made by the
United States. An army commission oi
engineers officers is now examining the
sea works and their reports will be pre-
sented as soon as received.
THE NAVY.
The report OF the Secretary OF the
Navy shoMs that branch Of the service TO
be in a condition as effective as it is pos
sible TO keep it with the means and
authority given the department. II IS OF
course not possible 10 rival the costly and
progres i've establishments OF great
European powers with the old material
of our navy, 10 which no increase mas
been authorized since the war. except
the eight small cruisers built TO supply
the places OF those which had gone to
decay, vet the most has been done that
was possible with the means az command,
and by substantially rebuilding some OF
our old ships with durable material and
completely repairing and relitting our
monitor fleet our navy has been gradually
brought up, so that though 1t does not
maintain ils relative position among the
progressive navies OF the world, il Is
now in Il condition more powerful and
effective than il ever has been IN time OF
peace. The complete repairs OF our five
heavy iron clads are only delayed on
account OF the inadeqnacy of the appro-
priations made last year for the working
bureau of the department, which were
actually less il amount than those made
before the war, Notwithstanding the
greatly enhanced price OF labor and ma
terals and the increase 10 the cost OF ma
val service growing out OF the universal
use and great expense OF steam m9chln-
cry. The money necessary Tor these re-
pairs should be provided at once that they
may be completed without further un
necessary delay and expense. When
this is done, all the strength that there Is
in our navy will be developed and useful
to is full capacity. and il will be power
iul for purposes OF defence and also for
offensive action, should the necessity Tor
that arise within reasonable distance from
our shores. The fact that our navy is
not more modern and powerful than II IS
has been cause OF complaint against
the Secretary OF the Navy by persons
who, al the same time criticSe and CON-
plain of bis eHdeavOrs TO bring the navy
that we have TO its best and most eil-
cieul condition. but the good sense Of the
country will understand that il is really
Cue 10 his practical action that we have
at this time any elective naval force at
command.
THE POST OFFICE.
The report OF the Postmaster General
shows the excess Of expenditures eXclud-
ing expenditures on account OF previous
years receipts Tor The fiscal year ending
June 80, 1876, TO he II. III. .9S6 &c; estl
mated expenditures for The fiscal Year
ending June 80. 1873. are -, 162, ,343.-
243; estimated revenue for the same
period is SO, Go lG5 90. leaving an esti-
mated excess OF expenditure TO be appro-
priated as deficiency OF sOO1 $40. 'f3.
The Postmaster General, like his predc'
cessor, is convinced that change in the
basis OF adjusting the salaries OF the
postmasters OF the fourth class IS neces'
sary Tor the good OF the service as well
as for the interests OF the government
and urgently recommends that the COM
pensation OF the class OF postmasters
above mentioned be based upon the busi
ness of their respective offices as ascer-
tained from the sworn returns 10 the
Auditor, OF the stamps cancelled.
a few postmasters in the Southern
States have expressed great apprehen-
sion Of their personal safety on account
OF their connection with the postal SER
vice, and have specially requested that
their reports of apprehended danger
should not be made public lest it should
result in the loss OF lives; but no positive
testimony Of interference has been sub.
mitted. except in the case of mail mes
senger at Spartenburg in South Carolina,
who reported that he had been violently
driven away while in charge Of the mails
on account of lis political affiliations.
An assistant superintendent OF The rail-
way mail service investigated this case
and reported that the messenger had dis
appeared from his post. leaving his work
to be performed by substitute. The
Postmaster General thinks this case is
sufficiently suggestive 10 justify him in
recommending that q more severe pun
ishment should be provided for the Of
fence OF assaulting any person IN charge
of the mails or of retarding or otherwise
obstructing them BY threats OF personal
Injury.
A very gratifying result is presented
in the fact that the deficiency Of this de.
partment during the last fiscal year was
reduced to 81 6Sl, ,79O.ls as against So
l69. 9SS SS of the preceding year. The
difference can be traced to the large in
crease in The ordinary receipts (Which
greatly exceeded the estimates therefor,)
and O slight decrease in its expenditures.
The ordinary receipts OF the Post Office
Department for the past seven fiscal years
have increased at an avarage OF over
eight per cent, per annum, while the in
crease of expenditures for the same peri
cd has been about five per cent. per an
mum. and the decrease of deficiency in
the revenue has been at the rate of nearly