St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1884-12-13

| iiy armed gunboats, one light cruising gun
| boat, one dispatch vessel armed with Hotch
kiss cannon, one armoreo ram ana 6nree for
| which are calculated to meet the existing
wants of the service, are now well advanced
and the construction of the vessels can be
| undertaken as soon as you shall grant the
necessary authority.
| THE JEANETTE VICTIMS.
| The act of Congress approved August z,
1882 authorized the removal to the United
States Of the bQd1es OF hieute 3 mt Com la
panions of the Jeanette expedition. This
| removal has been successfully accom-
lThe remains were taken from their grave
( in the Lena Delta in March, 1888, and were re-
| tanned at Yakutsk until the following winter,
| of their immediate transportation. They ar
| rived at New York February co. 1884, where
| they were received with situable honors.
THE GREEDY RELIEF EXPEDITION.
! In pursuance of the joint resolution of
Congress, approved February 10, ioSf, naFa ~
| Tieutenaut A, w. Greedy, United States Army,
| and of the party who had been engaged un-
| at LADY Franklin Bay. The fleet consisted OF
! the steam sealer Thetis, purchased IN Eng.
] land: the Bear, purchased at St. Johns, New
| foundland and the Alert, which was gener-
| onsIy provided by the British Government.
! Preparations for the expedition were
| promptly made by the Secretary of the Navy,
| with the active CO. operation Oh II6 SScEoGaTH
Of War Commander George w. Coffin was
| nIaced in command of the Alert, and Lieu
! tenant w. II. Emery in command OF the Bear.
The Thetis was intrusted to Gomm man ae
| signed the superintendent OF the entire
expedition. Immediately, upon its ar
rival at Upernayik the meet a,, 9egan PINE tne
| and in spite of every Obstable, reached LII
| fiction Island on June ed, a fortnight earlier
than any vessel had before ATTAINED cl 1h at
| Cane Sabine, where Lieutenant Greeiy ana
| the other survisors of his party were dlscoV-
cred. After taking on board the lying a ,ai
for st. Johns, where they arrived on july
| 18th. They were appropriately received at
Portsmouth, n. H., on August LIST, and at New
York on August 8th One of the bodies was
| landed at the former place, The others were
| nut on shore at Governors island, and,
with the exception o. one Meh was fn IN
| warded thence to the destination indicated
| by friends. The organization and conduct
| OF this relief expedition reflects great credit
| upon all who contributed to its success.
A STRONG NAVY NEEDED.
In this. the last of the stated messages that
| I shall have the honor to transmit to the Con-
| gress of the United States. can not too
| strongly urge on its attention the duty OF re-
! storing our navy as rapidly,as possible to the
! high state of efficiency which formerly char
| acterzel it. AS the long peace that has
| luIled us into sense OF fancled security
| NAV at any time be disturbed, it is plain that
| the policy of strengthening this arm of the
| service is dictated by considerations of use,
economy, of a just regard for our future tran
/ guilty and of true appreciation OF the Dig
nifty and honor of the Republic.
THE POSTAL SERVICE.
The report of the Postmaster General acs
| uuaints you with the present condition
| and the needs of the postal service. 1t dis.
/ closes the gratifying fact that the loss OF
revenue from reduction in rate OF letter
| postage as recommended in my message De-
| cember, 1882, and affected by the act of
| March 3, 1888, has been much less than was
| generally anticipated. My recommendation
! OF this reduction was based upon the belief
| that the actual falling off in receipts from
| letter postage for the year Immediately sue
! ceeding the change of rate would be S., 00O,-
| 900. It has proved to be only $2,215,0OO. This
| is trustworthy indicator that the revenue
will soon be restored to its former volume
| by the natural increase of sealed CORE
| Spondence.
ONE CENT POSTAGE.
| Icontidently repeat therefore, the recon-
| mendation of my last annual message that
| single rate postage upon drop letters be re-
| duced to one cent wherever payment of two
| cents is now required by law. Double rate is
! only expected at offices where the carrier
/ system is in operation, and it appears that at
| those offices where the carrier system is in
| operation that the increase in the tax upon
| local letters defrays the cost not only OF its
! own collection and delivery, but of the col"
| lection and delivery of all other mail matter.
This is an inequality that ought no longer to
exist.
UNITY OF WEIGHT.
| I approve the recommendation OF the Post
! master General that the unit of weights in
the rating of first-class matter should be one
| ounce instead of one half ounce as 1t now 1s.
In view of the statistics furnished by the de-
| partment it may well be doubted whether the
| change would result in any loss of revenue.
| That it would greatly promote the convent
ence of the public is beyond dispute. the
| free delivery system has been lately applied
ffAIfS oft al nd q
| in which it is now in operation Is 49, Ex-
| perience shows that its adoption under
proper conditions is equally an accommoda-
| zion to the public and an advantage to the
| postal service. 1t is more than self sustain
| ing and for the reasons urged by the POST
master General may be properly extended.
| ATTORNEY GENERAL's REPORT.
| The Attorney General renews the recon-
mendation contained in his report of last
| year, touching the fees of witnesses ana
| Jurors. He favors radical changes in the fee
/ bill, the adoption of system by when at
| torneys and marshals of the United States
| should be compensated solely by salaries,
| and the erection by the Government OF a
| PenItentiary for the confinement OF Offenders
against its laws.
l. THE INTERIOR DEPARTMENT.
OF the various Governmental concerns in
| charge of the Interior Department the re-
! ports of its Secretary presents an interesting
| summary. Among the topics deserving par
1 ticuIar attention, refer you to his obseTVa-
| tfOnS respecting our Indian affairs, the pre-
| emption and timber culture acts, the failure
of railroad companies to take title to lands
! granted by the Government and the opera
/ tiOns of the Pension Office, the Patent once,
the Census Bureau and the Bureau of Educa-
I ton.
THE INDIANS.
Allusion has been made already to the cir.
| cumstances that both as between different
! Indian tribes and as between Indians ana
| the whites, the past year has been one OF un-
| broken peace. In this circumstance the
| President is glad to find Justification for the
| policy of the Government in dealing with the
Indian question and confirmation of the
views which were fully expressed in my 1lrst
Recommendation to the Forty seventh Con