Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1880-12-06

lieves that the rate of interest Is matt,
for Congress to arrange, and Secretar
Sherman has made suggestions upon th
subject Of the rate of interest. There Is n
recommendation to Congress for the with
drawal of the legal-tender character q
greenbacks, nor is there any recommenda
tion for the stoppage Of coinage of the nj
yer dollar. The only recommendation
upon this subject also comes from Secre
tary Sherman, and relates to the recoin
age of the silver dollar 50 that it will con
tain enough silver to make it equal j,
value to the present market value Of the
gold dollar. The cost Of recoinage wouli
be covered by the profits of the govern
ment already made in the coinage Of silver
bullion. These are the only financial re.
concentrations in the message, and a.
they were all supplied by Secretary Sher.
man they in reality embody all that Is de-
sirable in Secretary Sherman's report for,
aside from the financial chapter, his re-
port is nothing more than q review of the
reports of his subordinates, all of which
have been published. ..
Under the head of the war departmel.t.
"AAASAA SVAAAS0 AOAt, uO Ouly m6kG6 one
strong recommendation and that. is a most
earnest approval of Gen. Wright's late re-
port upon the necessity of STRENGTHENING
our coast defenses. At the present time
all of the great commercial ports of the
United States are absolutely in defense
less condition, and in the event of for
eisn trouble incalculable damage could be
done to our commercial interests before
the first step of q ready defense could be
made. He calls upon Congress to take
this subject into consideration, and to pro-
vide for system of liberal appropriation
to remedy this great weakness.
The navy department gets only short
chapter, and this for the reason that Sec-
retary Thompson asked for little to be in
serted in the message. He speaks in very
eulogistic terms Of Secretary Thompson's
management, and approves of the secre-
tary's plan for the encouragement of our
merchant marine, already alluded to under
the head Of state department.. The same
suggestion by the postmaster. general is
also approved: He does not approve all Of
MIR. Maynard's suggestions. He recom-
menfls only the adoption of the postal saw
ings bank scheme, but says nothing about |
the postal telegraph.
Under the head of the department Of
justice MIR. Hayes speaks of the attorney
generals recommendation that sufficient |
sum be appointed by Congress for the pay
ment Of deputy He also recon- |
mends that Congress pass some bill au-
thOrizing the establishment of an interme-
diary court, between the United States
circuit court and the supreme court, for
the purpose Of relieving the extraordinary
pressure of business under which the lat
ter is struggling. The most pronounced
feature Of Attorney General Devens's re-
port Hayes does not even discuss, and
does not mention it in the message. At
Devens, in an elaborate man
ner, urges. on Congress the propriety of
national supervision of the ballot in all
national elections, and recommends that
Congress take the position that in national
election state lines are not to be considered,
md that national authority be directed to
protect the ballot-box from fraud and in
timidation in all sections of the country.
While agreeing with the ideas of Gen.
Dcvens on this subject, Hayes did not
,hink it best to incorporate this recOmmen-
lation in his message.
The interior department is given quite q
ong chapter. The message reviews Secre-
ary Schurz's policy toward the Indians
" ICA approval CuluAS JllAt
,lan for educating the Indian so that he
AN take care of himself the only true So
utiOn of the Indian question. He calls
,pon Congress to give aid, in the way of
appropriations, to the announcement of
he plan, which looks to the establishment
If the Indian upon land of his own, the
breaking up of all tribal relations, and the
gradual withdrawal of financial support
lpon the part Of the government.
Following this review of the department
reports, MIR. Hayes has an especially good
word to say for the work of the commits
'ioner Of agriculture, and speaks of the
success Of Mr.. LeDuc in his experiments
Or the growth Of tea in this country and
Inc manufacture of sugar from corn stalks.
The message next alludes to tho report
If the commissioner of education. The
;hief point Of this paragraph of the mes
;age is the recommendation that the re-.
nainder Of the public lands of the country
)e set aside for the education of the illit-
rate OF all sections. This would result
II giving most of it to the South. where
'he greatest illiteracy prevails. Tho cdu-
,ation of this class, both white and black,
would have 4 tendency to place the two
sections upon q closer intellectual level,
md consequently in closer bond Of
lniOn.
Then follows the closing chapter of Mr..
Hayes's last annual message. This relates
.ntircly to the affairs of the District of
Columbia. The improvement of tho PO-
omac river flats is recommended as a ne
'essity to the health and beauty of the
rational capital. He calls upon Congress
% approriate in one sum money enough to
10 the entire work i'll one year and he cs-
imatcs that 90, ,OOO, 900 will be ample to do
his work. He calls upon Congress to
'lso make the necessary appropriations to
continue the work ON the Washington
monument. He then dwells upon the ne
'essity and advantage of taking up the
wo railroad depots of the city and remov-
ng them from tho government reserva-
ions that they now occupy, and then con-
them into a union depot out
ide Of all proximity to the reservations
II public parks.