The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1882-12-08

| of the character recommended by the late
| Navy Advisory Board. and subject to the
| final approval of new Advisory Board TO
| be organized as provided by the act. j call
| your attention to the Recommendation Of
| the Secretary and the board, that authority
| be given to construct two more cruisers of
| smaller dimensions and one fleet dispatch
vessel, and that appropriations be made
| for high power rifled cannon for the torpe-
| do service and for other harbOr defenSes.
| Pending the consideration by Congress of
| the policy to be hereafter adopted in con-
Quoting the eight large Navy Yards. and
| their expensive establishments, the Secre-
| tary advocated the reduction of expendi-
| lures therefor to the lowest possible
| amounts, and for the purpose of affOrding
the officers and seamen of the navy. oppor-
tunities Of exercise and discipline In their
direction, the Secretary advises that the
| lighthouse service and coast, survey be
| transferred, as now organized, from the
Treasury to the Navy Department, and he
| also suggests, for the reasons which he as
| signs, that similar transfer may wlSelyDe
| made of the cruising revenue vessels.
COMMERCIAL MARINE.
The secretary forcibly depicts the ulti-
mate connection and inter-lependence of
| the navy and the commercial marine, and
| invites attention to the continued deca-
! dence of the latter, and the corresponding
tfdHSIGT Oh our HTOWlil1 ID
| eign bottoms. This subject is one of the
utmost importance to the national welfare.
| Methods of reyiying Anne rican Shipbuild-
| ing, and of restoring the United States flag
in the ocean carrying trade should receive
| the immediate attention of Congress. We
| have mechanical skill and abundant mate
rial for the manufacture of modern iron
| steamships in fair competition with our
| commercial rivals. Our disadvantage in
building ships Is the greater cost of labor
hi rI,nv. A,axy
greater interest on capital. While the
| ocean highways are already mOnOpOlized
| by our formidable competitors, these obsta-
| Giles should in some way be overcome, ana
| for our rapid communication with foreign
| lands, we should not continue tn depend
| wholly upon vessels built in the yards of
| other countries and sailing under foreign
| flags. With no United States steamers on
| the principal ocean lines or to any foreign
ports, our facilities for extending our com
merce are greatly restricted, while the ma
| lions which build and sail the ships and
| carry the mails and passengers obtain
| thereby conspicuous advantages for i'll
creasing their trade.
THE POST OFFICE DEPARTMENT.
The report of the Postmaster General
| gives evidence of the satisfactory condition
| OF that department, and contains many val
liable data and accompanying suggestions
which cannO: fail to be of interest. The
information which it affords that the re-
ceipts for the fiscal year have exceeded the
expenditures, must be very gratifying to
Congress and to the people of the country.
As matters which may fairly claim particu-
lar attention, l refer you to his obserya-
tons i'll reference to the advisability of
changing the present basis for fixing saia-
rieS and allowances; of extending the
money order. system; of charging the
functions of the postal establishment. so as
to have under its control the telegraph sys-
TEN of the country, though from this last
and most important Recommendation must
withhold my concurrence.
LETTER POSTAGE.
At the last session of Congress. several
bills were introduced into the House of
Representatives for the reduction of letter
postage to the rate of 2 cents per half
ounce. have given much study and re-
Election to this subject, and am thoroughly
FOR the best interests of the public. Ii has
been the policy of the government from its
foundation to defray, as far as possible, the
| expense of carrying the mails, by a direct
| tax in the form of postage, and it has never
| been claimed, however, that this service
| ought to be productive of net revenue.
As has been stated already, the report of
the Postmaster General shows that there is
now q very considerable surplus in his de-
partment, and that hencefOrth the receipts
are likely to Increase at much greater "a
ito than the necessary expenditures. I'm
less some change is made in the existing
laws, the profits in the postal service will,
in a very few years, swell the revenues of
the Government many millions of dollars.
The time seems suspicious. therefore for
some reduction in the rates of postage. A
review of the legislation which has been
had upon this subject during the last thirty
years, disclOSeS that domestic letters con-
stitute the only class of mail matter which
has never been favored by substantial re-
auctions OF rates. | am convinced that
the burden of maintaining the service falls
ttx-n l,af ,l,c hot
than any other it is entitled to present it.
self. That such relief may be extended
to other public interests, will be diScOv-
cred upon reviewing the results of former
reductions. Immediately prior to the act
OF 1s45, the postage upon letter composed
OF a single sheet was as follows: LII con-
veyed so miles or less, 6 cents; between 80
and Somiles, 10 cents: between so and $50
miles, l2l9 cents; between $50 and 400
miles, 1871 cents: over 400 miles, - cents.
gle letter conveyed for any distance under
80 miles was fixed at 5 cents, and for any
greater distance at 10 cents. By the act of
1851 1t was provided that single letter.
prepaid, should be carried any distance not
exceeding 900 miles for Sets. and any great
er distance for cents. Ii will be noticed
that both of these reductions were of
radical character and relatively quite as inn
pOrtant as that which is now proposed. In
each case there enSued a temporary loss of
revenue, but sudden and large influx of
business followed which substantially re-
paired that loss within three years. Unless
the experience OF past legislation in this
country and elsewhere goes for naught it
may be safely predicted that the stimulus
of fifty per cent. reduction in tax for car
rage would Mt once increase the number of
letters consigned to the mails. The advan-
tage of secrecy would lead to very gener-
al substitution of sealed packets for postal
cards and open circulars, and In divers
other ways the volume of first class matter
would be enormously augmented. Such ina
crease amounted in England in the first
year after the adoption of penny postage,
to more than l25 per cent. As the result of
cannot be here set out, have become con-
vlnced that the deficiency for the first year
after the proposed reduction would not eX-
coed per cent. of the expenditures, or S3,-
0Oo,0O, while the deficiency, after the re-
ductiOn of lS45, was more than 14p per cent.
and after that of 1871, was - per cent.
Another interesting comparison is afforded
by statistics furnished me by the Post Of
flee Department. The act of 1915 was
passed in the face of the fact that there eX-
listed a deficiency of more than $50. 900.
That of 1851 was encouraged by the slight
surplus of Sl32, Goa. The excess of revenue
in the next fiscal year is likely to be S3,5J0,-
900.
IfCongress should approve these sug-
gestions, it may be deemed desirable to
supply to some extent the deficiency which
must for time result by increasing the
charge for carrying merchandise, which is
without such an increase l am confident
that the receipts under the diminished
rates would equal the expenditures after
the lapse of three or four years.
The report OF the
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
brings anew to your notice the neces-
sity of enlarging the present system of
Federal Jurisprudence, so as to effectu-
ally answer the requirements of the
.ever-increasing litigation with which
it is called upon to deal.
The Attorney General renews the
suggestions of his predecessor that, in
ion than the existing laws afford should
be made in certain judicial districts for
fixing the fees of witnesses and jurors.
In my message of December last l
referred to pending criminal proceed
ings growing out of alleged frauds.
What is known as the
STAR ROUTE
service of the Post Office Department
and advised you had enjoined upon
the Attorney General and associate
counsel to whom the interests of the
Government were intrusted, the duty
of prosecuting with the utmost vigor
Of the law all persons who might be
found chargable with these offenses.
A trial of one of these cases has since
occurred. 1t occupied for many weeks
the attention of the Supreme Court of
this District and was conducted with
great zeal and ability. 1t resulted in a
disagreement of the jury but the cause
has been again placed upon the calen-
dar and will shortly be retired. If any
guilty persons shall finally escape pun
ishment for their offenses it will not be
for lack of diligent and earnest efforts