The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1881-12-08
PRESIDENTS MESSAGE.
Continued from Page 2.)

| oiAbAiuCu II Oll rage -
of the navy. and particularly to repor
| as 10 the chal aCter and number of YES
sells necessary to replace it upon a TOO
| ~ coumtnsuIa ate with the nece,sltlti
OF the Government. | Cannot TO,
slIohSly uIAe upon ytu my conviction
LhaI every cons. Iteration Of natIunt
safety, economy and honor, impera
lively demands thorough rehabllita
tion Ot our navy. With a full appreci
aiIOn OF the fact that compli-
ance with the sugge- ions of the
head Oh that department and of thp
AdvisatOrN b ard must involve a large
expenditure ut the public Ii oney s.
earl silly recommend such apprUprla-
10 : Will accomplish an eI d which
ecr1S TO be 50 desirable. Nothing can
De lnOre Inconsistent with tue public
economy than Withholding the means
necessary TO accomplish the objects in
trusted by the constitution to The Ma
lional Legislature. One of these oh
JecCs, and one of which is of paramount
In pOrtance, Is declared by the funda-
mental law to be the provision for the
common deiense. Surely nothing is
more essential to the defense OF the
United States and of all our people han
Ihe efficiency of our navy.
we nave for many years main aimed
with foreign governments tue relations
OF honorable peace, and that such Tela-
tloi may be permar ent is desired by
every patriotic citizen OF the Republic.
but II we read the teachings OF history
wei shall not forget that in the life OF
every nation emergencies may arise
Whtn a resort to arms Can alone save il
from dishOnor. NOdanger from abroad
now threatens tins people, nor have We
any cause To distruSt the friendly pro.
IrSSlnliS S or O'her governments. But for
avoiding as well as for reT ling dangers
tuaJ may threat ell us IN tie IuLure, we
must br prepared to enforce any policy
"a h ch we lhnk wise to adOpt. W..
must be ready to del, nd our haTbOrs
,gdnsL aggression; 10 protect, by the
dls' rlbutlOn OF cur shipS vi war ,VeI
tie highways of {, mmercp, the varied
interests OF our foreign trade and the
persons and property of our citizens
abroad; TO maintain every where the
honor OF our flag and the distinguished
position which we may rIghttully claim
among the nations of the world.
THE POsTOFFICE DEPARTMENT.
l he report of the Postmaster Gener-
eral is a gratifying exhibit of the
growth aud efficiency of the postal ser
vice. The receipts from the postage
and other ordinary sources during the
past fiscal year were $50, ,4S0 S16.jS. The
receipts from the money order business
were 1926, 5Sl.39, making a total OF
$367S5, ,397.97. The expenditure for
the fiscal year was $39, ,25l, ,736.4O. The
deficit supplied out OF the Ct neral treas
ury was So, 4Sl, ,l29.35, or go per cent of
the amount. The receipts were $3, 469,-
9lS SO III excess of those of the previous
year and $4,575. .397.97 in excess of The
estimate made two years ago before the
present period of business prosperity
had fairly begun.
The whole number of letters mailed in
this country in the last fiscal year ex-
ceeded 1,0OO,OOO,OO0. The registry sys-
TEN is reported to be in excellent cOndi-
tion, having been remOdeled during the
past forty years with good results. The
amount of registration fees collected
during the last fiscal year was $712, ,SS2,-
20, an increase over the fiscal year end
ing June 80, 1880, of $342, ,443.40.
The entire number of letters and
packages registered during the year was
S,33S, ,9l9, of which only 2,O6l were de-
strOyed or lost in transit. The opera
tiOns of the money order system are
multiplying yearly.
Under the impulse of immigration, of
the rapid developments of the newer
States and Territories, and the cOnse-
quent demand for additional means of
ntercOmmunicatiOn and exchange, dur
ing the past year 33S additional money
order offices have been established,
making total of 5,499 in operation at
the date of this report, During the
year the domestic money orders aggre-
gated i'll value $l05,O97, 1895. A mOdi-
hcatlOn of the system is suggested re-
ducing the fees for money orders not
exceeding five dollars from ten cents to
five cents, and making the maximum
limit 800 in place of $50. Legislation
for the disposition of unclaimed money
orders in the possession of the POstOffice
Department is recommended, in view of
the fact that their total value now ex-
ceeds one million dollars.
The attention of Congress is again in
vited to the subject of establishing a
system of savings repositories in con-
nectiOn with the POstOffice Department.
The statistics of mail transportation
show that during the past year railroad
routes have been increased in length
6,249 miles and in cost $1,114,3S2, while
steamboat routes have been decreased in
length 1882 and in cost $134,654. The
sO-called star routes have been decreased
in length 1874 miles and in cost $463,-
144. Nearly all of the more expensive
routes have been superseded by railroad
SNA 'iNN. iIO NOoO VI biIO oNoi wv
must therefore rapidly decrease in the
Western States and Territories. The
Postmaster General, however, calls at
tentiOn to the constantly increasing
cost of the railway mail service as q
serious difficulty in the way of making
the department self-sustaining.
Our postal service compared with thai
of foreign countries, has kept pace with
the growth of the domestic service
Within the past year several countries
and colonies have declared their adj
hesiOn to the postal Union. 1t now in
cludeS all those which have an organ
lied postal service except Bolivia, Costa
Rica, New Zealand and the British Colo
nies in Australia.
THE STAR ROUTE INVESTIGATIONS.
1t has been already stated, great re
ductiOns have recently been made in the
expense of the Star Route service. The
Investigations of the Department of JUS
tice and the POstOffice Department have
resulted in the presentation of indict
ments against persons formerly con
nected with that service, accusing then
of Offenses against the United States
have enjOined upon the officials who
are charged with the conduct of the
cases on the part of the Government
and upon the eminent counsel who, be,
fore my accession to the Presidency
were called to their assistance, the