The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1880-12-10

lied, the moneys received have reverted to
the Treasury. and could only become avail
commended that provision be made, by q
| general statute. for the sale of such aban-
doned military posts and buildings as are
ton of the proceeds to the construction of
other posts While many of the present posts
are of but slight value for military purposes,
| try, their occupation Is continued at great
expense and Inconvenience, because they af-
| ford the only available shelter for troops.
the line in active duty, from their regiments,
| is q serious detriment to the maintenance of
| the service. The constant demand for small
manded by commissioned oficer, and the
various details of officers for necessary service
away from their command, occasions q
scarcity in the number required for company
some extent, it Is recommended that the law
authorizing the detail of officers from the &C.
| tive list as professors of tactics and military
science at certain colleges and universities, be
SO amended as to provide that all such details
be made from the retired list of the Army.
Attention Is asked to the necessity of pro-
| and disciphning the active militia of the
country, and liberal appropriations are re-
commended in this behalf. The reports of
Chief OF Ordnance touching this subject fully
set forth its importance.
The report of the officer in charge of educa.
ZION III INC ARMY SHOWS THAT There are SeVcu-
ty-eight schools now i'm operation in the
Army, with an aggregate attendance of 2,305
enlisted men and children. The Secretary re-
commends the enlistment of one hundred and
fifty schoomasters, 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 Secre-
| tary recommends that the corps of Judge
Advocates be placed upon the same footing,
as to promotion, with the other staff corps OF
the Army. Under existing laws the Bureau of
of
Judge Advocate General, and the corps of
Judge Advocates, of eight officers of equal
rank (Majors), with provision that the limit
of the corps shall remain at four, when re-
duced by casualty or resignation to that
number. The consolidation of the Bureau of
Military Justice and the corps of Judge -AdvO-
Gates, upon the same basis with the other staff
corps of the Army, would remove an unjust
discrimination against deserving officers, and
subserve the best interests of the service.
Especial attention is asked to the report of
the Chief of Engineers upon the condition of
our national defenSes. From q personal in
spection of many of the fOrtitcatiOns referred
concentrations made, and to state that their
incomplete and defenseless condition is dis
creditable to the country. While other ma
| tons have been increasing their means for
carrying on offensive warfare and attacking
maritime cities, We have been dormant in
preparation for defense; nothing of impor-
lance has been done toward Strengthening
and finishing our casenated 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
by sudden failure of appropriations some
years since, in all stages of incOmpletiOn, are
now being rapidly destroyed by the elements.
IMPROVEMENT OF NAvIGABLE WATERS.
The two great rivers of the North American
Continent. the Mississippi and the Columbia,
have their navigable waters wholly within the
Importance to our internal and foreign com
merce. The permanency of the important
work on the South Pass of the Mississippi
River seems now to be assured There has
been no failure whatever in the maintenance
of the maximum channel during the six
months ended August 9, last. This expert.
ment has opened a broad deep highway to
the ocean, and is an Improvement, upon the
permanent success of which congratulations
may be exchanged among people abroad and
at home, and especially among the com.
munities of the Mississippi Valley, whose
commercial exchanges float in an unObstruct
ed channel safely to and from the sea-
A comprehensive improvement of the Mis-
sfssippi and its tributaries is q matter of tran
scendent importance. These great water
ways comprise system of inland transpor-
tation spread like network over q large pOr.
ton of the United States, and navigable to
the extent of many thousands of miles. Pro.
ducers and consumers alike have common
interest in such unequaled facilities for cheap
transportation; Geographically, commercial.
between the various sections of the country.
These channels of communication and inter-
change are the property of the Nation. Its
jurisdiction is paramount over their waters,
and the plainest principles OF public interest
require their careful and intelligent supervi-
sion, with view to their protection, improve.
ment, and the enhancement of their useful.
ness.
The channel of the Columbia River, for a
distance of about one hundred miles from its
mouth, is INSTRUCTED by q succession of bars
which occasion serious delays in navigation,
and heavy expense for lighterage and tOwage.
A depth Of at least twenty feet at low tide
v,I,<~ ~
the requirements of the extensive and
growing inland and ocean commerce it sub
serves. The most urgent need, however, for
me s Of the CHANNEL at tne mouth 81 the
river.
From Columbia River to San Fran.
mss s'an there Of is n Sser harSor
! on our Pacific coast which can be
approached during stormy weather. An ap-
preparation of $4,000 was made by the Forty
fifth Congress for the commencement of
break water and harbOr of refuge, to be lOcat-
ed ut some point between the straits of Fuca
and San Francisco, at which the necessities
| accommodated. The amount appropriated is
thought to he quite inadequate for the pur-
pose intended. The cost of the work, when
of natural advantages for a site at any point
| on the coast between the designated limits,
and it has not been thought to be advisable to
| undertake the work without larger apprO
priatiOn. I commend the matter to the at.
| tention of Congress.
The completion of the new building for the
War Department is urgently needed, and the
| estimates for continuing its construction are
| especially recommended.
The collections of books, specimens, and
records constituting the Army Medical Muse
| um and Library are of national importance.
The library now contains about fifty -one
thousand five hundred Isl ,500) volumes and
nifty seven thousand (57 ,0O0) pamphlets relat-
ing to medicine, surgery, and allied topics.
The contents of the Army Medical Museum
| consist of twenty two thousand (22, O00) spec
| linens. and are unique in the completeness
with which both military surgery and the
diseases of armies are illustrated. Their de-
structiOn would be an ir1eparable loss, not
| only to the United States, but to the world.
There are fled in the record and pension di
vision, over sixteen Thousand (16.000) bound