National Republican., 1876-12-06
Secretary OF War.

After referring to his short term Of ONCE, which
barely familiarized him with his ofncal duties,
the Secretary said: shall confne myself to q
summary Of the reports Of the General Of the
army and the chiefs Of the various bureaus, re-
ferring to the full reports for details.
1t is unnecessary to speak here Of the size or
organization of the army, for the "whole subject
Of reform and reorganization Of the army" has
been referred to q commission, consisting of two
members from each House Of Congress, the Sec
retary Of War and two officers Of the army. It
is hoped that the convictions Of Q commission,
containing such distinguished officers as Gems
Sherman and Meigs, and Senators and Repre-
sentatives Of eIperlsnee, both In military and
legislative affairs will receive from Congress the
consideration to which they are entitled, and
that q comprehensive organic act may be framed
for the army which shall relieve It in the future
from much of the special legislation which In 50
many cases 10 very detrimental to lts discipline
and efficiency. .--
Tho estimate Of the chief Of engineers for works
Of defense, river and harbor improvements, build
IsEs ings and grounds, Wa;hingtog a9Seduct sur
for fiscal year 1s7775 for all purposes than those
Just named aggregate s37, $50 656.l0. being an ex-
cess Of s1s 2o9II over last years appropriation,
which is necessarily required in order to economi-
cally prosecute the work on public buildings, &c
It will be seen. on comparing the present esti-
that an increase Of ssSpo cCa' In round numbsrs @ @
is asked for that one third Of this is neeessItaed
by the increase Of the number of men; and the
now requiring large expenditures, by the arma-
ment Of fortihcations and manufacture Of small
arms and lastly, but very largely, by the fact that
have been managed with the view Of absorbing
all the stores left over from the war and other
accumulations: By the end of the hscal year It
will no longer be possible to do this; the working
stock on hand will be entirely exhausted, and It
will be necessary at once TO begin 70 repenish it.
Inc eniels od Duresas a a. consider their duty 70
meet all demand4that may be made upon them.
If these demands are less than anticipated, the
Estimates are approved and comSenSsd s 70 tss
favorable consideration Of Congress.
THE REPORT OF THE GENERAL OF THE ARMY
shows that our small force Of effective troops has
been very actively employed during the past year;
as at any time during the civil war Their en-,
ployment has been mainly directed to tuoobjects:
First, to compel the wild Sioux Indians 70 ac-
second, 70 preserve order at the South. $50
Of the latter II is only necessary to state that
grave and weltfounded apprehensions existed IN
try that disturbance might arise In the Southern
states during the excitement Of the late election,
and that it was the Imperative duty Of the Gov,
ernment to be prepared to quell any such dis
turbance at the very moment OF its outbreak.
Peace has been preserved by various precautions,
the officers engaged upon this most delicate ser
vice have been performed with great prudence
and discretion and to the satisfaction Of all right
minded men.
DEsERTIoy.
The Inspector General recommends that Con-
gress pass q law making desertion . felony,
cogniZable by the ordinary courts Of the country
invested with Jurisdiction over criminal cases; Il
Of the law to assist in bringing such offenders to
justice. ~ -.
Ne
ment has been caused during the current year BY
the failure Of the appropriation for surveys by the
engineer officers stationed At headquarters Of the
various military divisions and departments.
These officers collect geographical and other in
formation in their own "Reminiscences and those
aas and nsps
Of the highest utility, not only to commanding
generals, but to the public at large.
ure Of the ans s
charge Of draug ughtsmen and other persons EN-
Ployed. Unless further sppropria tion is made a
form Of notes and sketches now ready to be in
corporated into reports and maps, must remain
in MI rs present useless form. sis urgently hoped
able attention from Congress.
IEBEI ARCHIVES.
Good progress has been made upon the examin-
alton Of the rebel archives and and the pu hlica-
ton of the official records Of the war Of the rebel
summarized as q multiplication (by printing! Of
the copies Of documents on fle in order that they
may be readily examined and be safe from loss BY
fire. No report or document Of any kind, which
by any possibility be useful for historical re-
search, is omitted. They are arranged In chrono-
logical order, printed and compared with the
orgirS with great care, and then bouffd In VOL
umes ~ suitable size. They are arranged into
various classes, and up to date have progressed
as follows:
1t is believed that during the present session of
Congress the department will be in position to
submit, in compact and complete form, so far as
the data in its possession wfll admit, the war
records Of the States for 1850 and 1851
and perhaps also portion or all Of those Of the
Federal Government for the same period. 1t is
known that voluminous Confederate records are
dividuals, to obtain which repeated efforts have
been made. They are Of very great Importance,
and attention is invited to the necessity Of legis-
lation that will enable the Government to obtain
possession Of the originals or Of duly authenticated
copies.
CENTENNIAL EXHIBITION.
In the Centennial E1hibItien, in Philadelphia,
the War Department took part as exhibitor
in connection with the other Executive Depart
ments IN the Government building. The ord
nance, engineer, signal, quartermaster and medi-
cal bureaus were all represented BY models,
ing to their special duties and labors, and there
was in addition large display Of war material Of
all kinds. The exhibit was we'll arranged and
rejects great credit upon the ofhecrs In charge,
who have been unremittilg in their labors to
make the contribution of this Government one
that should be worthy Of its dignity and import
ance among nations,