Morning journal and courier., 1880-12-07

nearly in accordance with the actual ratio of value between the two metals.
 In financial legislation every measure in l the direction of greater fidelity in the dis charge of pecuniary obligations has been found by experience to diminish the rates of interest which debtors are required to pay and to increase the facility with which money can be obtained for every legitimate purpose Our own recent financial history shows how surely money becomes abundant whenever confidence in the exact performance of moneyed obligations is established.
 MILITARY MATTERS.
 The Secretary of War reports that the ex- penditures of the War department for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1880, were $39, 924, 773.03. The appropriations for this de- pertinent for the current fiscal year amount to $41 ,993, ,630.4O.
 vites attention to the fact that it's strength is limited by statute (section 1,115, Revised Statutes) to not more than 30,000 enlisted men, but that provisos contained in appro- priation bills have limited expenditures to the enlistment of but 25 1000. It is believed the full legal strength is the least possible force at which the resent organization can be maintained, having in view efficiency, dis cipline and economy. While the enlistment of this force would add somewhat to the ap propriation for pay of the army, the saving made in other respects would be more than
 
 ! the efficiency of the army would be largely increased.
 The rapid extension of the railroad system | west of the Mississippi river, and the great l tide of settlers which has flowed in upon new l territory, impose on the military an entire l change of policy. The maintenance of small posts along wagon and stage routes of travel I is no longer necessary. Permanent quarters at points selected, of more substantial char l acter than those heretofore constructed, will I be required. Under existing laws perma-- | nent buildings cannot be erected without the l sanction of Congress, and when sales of mill | tary sites and buildings have been authorized, ] the moneys received have reverted to the | Treasury, and could only become available through new appropriation. It IS recom- | mended that provision be made, by general statute, for the sale of such abandoned mill l tary posts and buildings as are found to be ! unnecessary, and for the application of the I proceeds to the construction of other posts. | While many of the present posts are of but l slight value for military purposes, owing to l the changed condition of the country, their occupation is continued at great expense and l inconvenience, because they afford the only | available shelter for troops
 The absence of large number of the off, cers of the line, in active duty, from their regiments is serious detriment to the main l tenance of the service. The constant de- l mand for small detachments, each of which | ! ficer, and the various details of officers for
 necessary service away from their commands, occasions scarcity in the number required for company duties. With view to lessen l ing this drain to some extent, 1t IS recom- mended that the law authorizing the detail of officers from the active list as professors of tactics and military science at certain col leges and universities be so amended as to provide that all such details be made from the retired list of the army.
 l Attention is asked to the necessity of pro- | viding by legislation for organizing, arming and disciplining the GctiUe militia of the country, and liberal appropriations are rec commended in this behalf The reports of the ! adiutant general of the army and the chief of
 ordnance touching this subject fully set forth ! it's importance.
 The report of the officer in charge of edu-
 cation in the army shows that there are seventy-eight schools now in operation in the
 army, with an aggregate attendance of 2,3O5 l enlisted men and children. The Secretary recommends the enlistment of one hundred
 and fifty schoolmasters with the rank and pay
 of commissary- -sergeants. An appropriation
 is needed to supply the judge advocates of the army with suitable libraries, and the Sec
 retary recommends that the corps of judge
 advocates be placed upon the same footing, as to promotion, with other staff corps of the
 army. Under existing laws, the Bureau of 1 Military Justice consists of one officer, the judge-advocate general, and the corps of judge advocates, of eight officers of equal
 rank (maiors), with a provision that the 1 limit of the corps shall remain at four, when
 reduced by casualty or resignation to that
 number. The consolidation of the Bureau of
 Military Justice and the corps of judge advo-
 cates upon the same basis with the other
 staff corps of the army, would remove an
 unjust discrimination against deserving off
 cers, and subserve the best interests of the service.
 Especial attention is asked to the report of the chief engineers upon the condition of
 our national defences. From personal in-
 spection of many of the Notifications re-
 ferred to- the Secretary is able to emphasize
 the recommendations made, and to state that
 their incomplete and defenseless condition is discreditable to the country. While other
 nations have been increasing their means for | carrying on an offensive warfare and attack
 ing maritime cities, we have been dormant in
 preparation for defence nothing of import
 ance has been done towards strengthening and finishing our casemated works since our
 late civil war, during which the great guns of
 modern warfare and the heavy armor of mod
 ern Notifications and ships came into use among the nations, and our earthworks left,
 by sudden failure of appropriations some years since, in all stages of incompletion, are l now being rapidly destroyed by the elements. IMPROVEMENT OF WATERWAYS.
 The two great rivers of the North Ameri- can continent, the Mississippi and the Colum- bia, have their navigable waters wholly with 1 in the limits of the United States, and are of 1 vast importance to our internal and foreign l commerce. The permanency of the lmpor- 1 tant work on the South Pass of the Missis- 1 sippi river seems now to be assured. There l has been no failure whatever in the malnte- | nance of the maximum channel during the 1 six months ended August last. This ex- l pertinent has opened broad, deep highway 1 to the ocean, and is an improvement, upon l the permanent success of which congratula- l tions may be exchanged among people abroad 1 and at home, and especially among the com I munities of the Mississippi valley, whose commercial exchanges float in an unobstruct- l ed channel safely to and from the sea. l A comprehensive improvement of the Mis- l sissippi and it's tributaries is matter of tran 1 scendent importance. These great water l ways comprise a system of inland transpor- | tation spread like network over large por- 1 tion of the United States, and navigable to 1 the extent of many thousands of miles. l Producers and consumers alike have com l mon interest in such unequalled facilities for 1 cheap transportation. Geographically, com 1 mercially and politically, they are the strong l est tie between the various sections of the country These channels of communication 1 and interchange are the property of the Ma tion. Its jurisdiction is paramount over 1 their waters, and the plainest principles of public interest require their intelligent and ! CaroIu1 Sup6rV1SlOn, W1Gu u VleW bO pro- I tection, improvement and the enhancement of their usefulness.
 The channel of the Columbia river, for a distance of about one hundred miles from its mouth, is obstructed by succession of bars, which occasion serious delays in navigation, and heavy expense for lighterage and towage. A depth of at least twenty feet st low tide should be secured and maintained, to meet the requirements of the extensive and grow ing inland and ocean commerce 1t subserves. The most urgent need, however, for this great waterway is permanent improvement of the channel at the mouth of the river. From Columbia river to San Francisco, 8 distance of over six hundred miles, there is no harbor on our Pacific coast which can be approached during stormy weather. An ap- propriation of $50, 900 made by the Forty-ffth Congress for the commencement of breakwater and harbor of refuge, to be located at some point between the Straits of Fuca and San Francisco, at which the neces- sities of commerce, local and general, will be best accommodated. The amount appropri- ated is thought to be quite inadequate for the purpose intended The cost of the work,