St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1881-12-17

doubtless tighten the labors of Congress
whenever this subject shall be brought to its
consideration.
THE ARMY.
The accompanying report of the Secretary
of War will make known the operations OF
that department for the public. He suggests
measures for promoting the efficiency Of the
army without adding to the number of its
officers and recommends legislation neces-
sary to increase the number of enlisted men
to 10000, the maximum allowed by law. This
he deems necessary to maintain quietnesS on
our ever shifting frontier; to preserve peace
and suppress disorder and marauding in new
settlements to protect settlers and their
property against Indians, and Indians against
the encroachments of intruders, and to ena-
Bile peaceable immigrants to establish homes
in the most remote parts of our country.
The army is now necessarily scattered over
such u vast extent OF territory that whenever
an outbreak occurs reinforcements must
be hurried from many quarters over great
distances, and always at heavy cost tor the
transportation Of men. horses, wagons and
supplies. l concur in the recommendation of
the Secretary for increasing the army to the
strength of 10000 enlisted men. 1t appears by
the Secretary's report that in the absence or
disturbances on the frontier the troops have
been actually employed in the collection of
Indians hitherto hostile and locating them on
their proper reservations; that Sitting Bun
and his adherents are now prisoners at Fort
Randall; that the Utes have been moved to
their new reservation in Utah; that owing to
the recent outbreak of the Apaches it was
to the garrison rom IN
New Mexico and that some ApacheS are now
held as prisoners for trial, while some have
escaped and the majority of the tribes are
now on their reservations. There is need OF
legislation to prevent intrusion upon the
lands set aside for the Indians. a large mill.
tary force, at great expense is now required
and the Indian Territory. The only punish
ment that can be inflicted is the forcible re-
moval of the intruders and the imposition OF
a pecuniary fine, which in most cases it is i'm
possible to collect. There should be penalty
of imprisonment in such cases o..
The separate. organization of the, Sig
nal Service is urged by the Secre-
tary of War, and a full statement
of the advantages of such permanent
organization is presented in the report OF the
Chief Signal Officer. A detailed report Of the
useful work performed by the Signal Corps
and the Weather Bureau is also given in that
report. l ask attention to the statemento of the
Secretary of War regarding acquisitions fire.
quently made by the Indian Bureau upon the
subsistence department of the army for the
casual support of bands and tribes of Indians.
Such appropriations are exhausted, and the
War Department should not be left, by rea-
son of inadequate provision for the Indian
Bureau. to contribute for the maintenance OF
The report of the Chief of Engineers gives
detailed account of operations for the i'm
provement of rivers and harbors l recon-
mend to your attention the suggestions con-
tanned in the report in regard to the condition
of our Notifications, especially our coast de-
lenses, and recommend an increase of the
the efficiency of our torpedo system would be
improved. also call your attention to the
remarks upon the Improvement of the South
free bridge over the Potomac River at
Georgetown, the Importance of completing at
an early day the north wing OF the depart
of the Secretary of War. which appear in his
report The actual expenditures of this de-
partment for the fiscal year ending June 30,
1881, were 1922 go 139. The appropriations for
the year 1882 were s., 4ss 1862 ,542 the estimates
for 1883 are $4,454, l2I 69l.
THE NAVY.
The report of the Secretary of the Navy cN-
hibits the condition of that branch of service
and presents valuable suggestions torits i'm
provement l call your especial attention also
to the appended report OF the Advisory Board
which he convened to devise suitable meas
ures for increasing the efficiency OF the navy,
and particularly to report as to the character
and number of vessels necessary to place it
upon footing commensurate with the ne
cessities of the Government. can not too
strongly urge on you my conviction that eve-
~ consideration of national safety, economy
and honor imperatively demands thorough
rehabilitation of ournavy. With full appre-
suggestions of the head of that Depart
ment and of the Advisory Board must
involve a large expenditure of the public
moneys, l earnestly recommend such appro-
priations will accomplish the end which
seems to be so desirable. Nothing can be
more inconsistent with true public~economy
Cutn WlLuuCluiuS Tic lueduS HctcSSdly w uC~
complish the objects intrusted by the Consti..
tuition to the National Legislature. One of
these objects. and one which is of paramount
be-
fense." Surely nothing is more essential
to the defense of the United States and of
all %s s saae o as aey yeap g,
maintained with foreign governments naana
and that such relations may
citizen of the Republic But if we heed the
teachings of history we shall not forget, in
the life of every nation, emergencies may
arise when a resort to arms can alone save US
from dishonor. No danger from abroad now
threatens this people, nor have we any reason
to distrust the friendly professions of other
repelling dangers that may threaten us in
the future, we must be prepared to enforce
any policy when we think wise to adopt.
We must be ready to defend our har-
bors against aggression, to protect by
the distribution of our ships of war over the
highways of commerce various interests OF
our foreign trade. and the persons and prop
erty of our citizens abroad to maintain every
where the honor of our flag and the distln-
guished position which we may rightfully
claim among the nations of the world.
'ti POST OFFICE DEPARTMENT.
The report of the Pc stmaster eneral is q
of the postal service. The receipts from post
age and other ordinary sources during the
past fiscal yearwere S36, 4s9 sl6;5 s The receipts
from the money order business were
S295, $3.50, making total of Ss6, 1885,
S39s97 The expenditure for the fiscal year
was s69, s5l 7s6.46. The deficit supplied out of
the general Treasury was S., 4s .l2s.35 or 63 per
cent of the amount. The receipts. were s. 49,,
9ls63 i'll excess of those of the previous year.
and ST. 515, 397.97 in excess of the estimate made
two years ago, before the present perioS of
whole number of letters mailed in this coun
try in the last fiscal year exceeded one thou
sand millions. The registry system is regard
remodeled during the past four years with
good results The amount of registration fees
collected during the last fiscal year was ST.
June so, 1871, of S34 544, $40 The entire number
of letters and packages registered during the
year was 1919, OF which only 2O6l were de-
strOYed or lost in transit Inc operat10ns
dor