The Wilmingtonian., 1886-12-11
The CabineI REPORTS.

BefoIe we read President Cieveand's mes
age certain of the Secretaries have sent il.
the reports Of their departments. This Ell.
,bes the public to form some idea of til,
BUSINESS management of national affairs.
The Commissioner of Indian affairs sertle
the mooted question of the number OF abro
gines within United States boundary line,
by repoi ting 260 00O Indians, What ter.
nbly slim residue of the peoples that ono,
rnamed freely from the Atlantic to the Pa.
cific, that Cnce owned a continentl Thre,
centuries has almost blotted them ont of ex-
stence. 1t reminds one OF Darwin's illus
tration when demonstrating how one speei,s
hardly known before will suddenly make it,
appearance, as 10 the case OF the brown, o,
Norwegian rat, which at quite recent pc, :
iod was not generally known. supplant il.
| predecessor the black rat, persistently at
ack it, as if its sole reason of e1istenc,
were the annihilation from the earth's SUI
ace Of its relative, uutil now a species OF
rodent which was formerly common In al
arts of the world is supplant,d by the fei-
ser and vigorous new species, " hiIe its blacL
cousin is almost extinct. The extinction OF
he Indian is upon similar lines. With d
Indian the buffalo also departs. So trne /,
this that olders have been sent out by gov
rrnment for the capture of specimens fu,
museums in order that genuine examples
nay be on hand at the Smithsonian ano
rther public institutions before the time al.
ives that the buffalo becom,s entirely ex-
linct.
The idea suggests itself, why no deport a
nerd of these fine ANNALS, the nGblest wiiG
Orutes of our continent, to the Yellow Stun,
Park and there keep them protected from
Indians and white hunters, in order thai
ruture generations may have The opportunity
If seeing the remarkable species that one,
roamed freely In my riads over the prairies OF
this continent At Chillingham Park in th,
north of England there s herd of whit,
cattle, Of the Indigenous breed of England.
rhey have been kept there for ceuturn g.
These animals wera never dumesuicated ant
are perfectly wild. They are handsome AMI
nals, alert aud agile, pure white with th,
exception of black noEzles and black tips t,
the horns. 1t is difficult and dangerous t.,
attempt to view them as they are much more
wary and savage than the buffalo.
In addition to the 26O, 900 aborigines til,
Commissioner for Indian affairs estimates
ca, 500 civilized native Indians. The peopl.
of the United Stairs can congratulate them
selves on this point. All the Indians ar
latiUD, there are some tn, usands at /, asst at
i "blaId d to be snatohrd from the buruiug." "
lu regard to the Uuiun Pacific Rail- DAD,
that un uly ward of he nation, its debts are
sl5s 459,292, and assets s253. 745, ,2G9. This
road owes the government $40 co., ,0l0 1,
owns over IL, $50, 900 acres of the test farm
ing aud wheat lands in the country.
IL costs about s700 600 t. run the Patent
Office whose income is but 1900 OO0
For the current year ending June 1887 the
War department expenses loot up over
S45 900, 900 The Lieutenant Gene al reports
h army of the United ates at %, ,O49. of
GERS and nsn. That is small ior nation
with population larger than Germany
France, or Austria, which each has a stand
ing army of at least 500, 600! Though this
may contrast we'll for the United States, tn,
real q lestiou would be in the direction O
what rs tho relative per capita cost per en-
rolled man, a. against that of foreign clun.
tries AT the close Of tie fiscal year W,
owned IA, 556 army Uules and horses Sh icl
would seem rather plentiful supply of mul,
service for our 25 900 soldiers. But thsl
oar hard worked regiments have an enor
} mously extensive territory To cover. Lin
, regiments must often b noun ed en- eduaIier
or as horse maTinet." Uuder General NJ e
in the recent Indian camp "a the foot regi
ments did months of s,rv 90 in the field a
cavalry regiments, just as the British sold
iers in the late Sou dan campaign rod
, camel baek