The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1891-12-16

anlnt0rnat1Onal conference. Tner6 Is, however,
1 am sure, growing sentiment in Europe IN
favor of larger use of silver, and know OF no
more effectual way Of promoting this sentiment
gold in the European reserves will be the most
persuasive argument for the use Of silver.
THE TREASURY SURPLUS.
The presence of q large cash surplus in the
treasur- has for many years been the subject of
much unfavorable criticism and has furnished
the tariff upon purely revenue basis II was
agreed by all that the withdrawal from c1rcul6-
barassment to the business of the country and
made necessary the Intervention of the
department at frequent intervals to re-
sGrs sGrpus on March iss Was s
1909. Che policy Of applying this surplus to
ties of the United States was thought to be
preferable to that of depositing it without In
deemed since the date last mentioned of inter
estbeaf4ng securities $3.50 079 $50, resulting in
reduction of the annual interest charge of S11.-
6S4 475 The money which mad teen deposited
in banks without interest has been gradually
Withdrawn and used in theredemption of bonds.
ton, and of the refunding OF the Al per cent.
bonds has been large increase of the money
cuation was 81. 4O4 2O5 695, or S2303 per capita;
while on December /, 1891, 1t had increased TO
the secretary of the treasury to holders Of the
414 per cent bonds to extend the time of redemp-
terest of per cent, was accepted by the
holders of about one half the amount, and the
unextended Donds are pelng redeemed on pre-
sentation.
THE WAR DEPARTMENT.
The report of the secretary Of war exhibits
the results of an Intelligent, progressive and
business-like administration of department..
which has been too much regarded as one OF
mere routine. Some especially good work has
been accomplished. The efforts OF the secre-
tary to reduce the percentage of desertions by
showing the causes that produced 1t have been
so successful as to enable him to report for the
last wear a lower percentage of desertions than
has been before reached in the history OF the
army.
for harbor defense and the manufacture OF NOR
tars and guns of high power to equip them
have made good progress during the year.
The preliminary work of tests and plans which
so long delayed start, is now out Of the way.
Some guns have been completed, and with an
enlarged shop and more complete equipmentat
Watervliet the army will soon be abreast of the
navy in gun construction Whatever unavoida-
BILE causes of delay may arise there should be
none from delayed or insufficient appropria
tions. We shall be greatly embarrassed in the
until adequate shore de1enes are provided for
our harbors.
tary that the three battalion organization be
adopted for the infantry: The adoption of a
in range, precision and rapidity of fire to the
best now in use viii, hope, not be longer de-
layed- The project of enltsting Indians and or
ganizng them into seperate companies upon
the same basis other soldiers was made the
and Received G it NV approvsi Several companies
have been completely organized and seven
more are in process 4r Ha ore rne ee re
realized the highest anticipat1ons.
UNLAWFUL CHINESE IMMIGRATION.
The enforcement by the treasury department
the United States has been effective as to such
seek to land from vessels entering our ports.
sells entering the port of British Columbia,
whence passage into the United States at OBJ
easy. considerable number of Chinese
laborers have. during the past year. en,
and and Mexico. The ofacsrs Of the treas
ury department and of the department
of justice have used every means at their com.
mand to intercept this immigration; but tha
| impossibility of perfectly guarding our extend
| ed frontier is apparent The dominion govern
| ment collects head tax Of $50 from every Chi
naman entering Canada and thus derives con-
siderable revenue from those who only use its
| ports to reach a position of advantage to eVade
1 our exclusion laws. There seems to be salts
factory evidence that the business OF passing
| Cinnamon through Canada to the United states
| is organized and quite active. The department
| of Justice has construed the laws to require the
return of any Cinnamon found to be
| the country from which he came notwithstand
ing the fact that he came by way of Canada
brought before them overruled this view of the
law and decided that such persons must be re-
! law of all effectiveness, even If the DEGREES
could be executed for the man returned can
the next day recroSs our border. But the only
appropriation made is for sending them back
to China and the Canadian officials refuse to
| allOW UQom TO r6-eQG6r Ca0dud HlbuOuL buS pay
ment of the $50 head tax I recommend such
| legislation as will remedy these defects In the
law.
In previous messages I have called the at
! tention of congress to the necessity OF so ex
tending the Jurisdiction of the United States
| courts so as to make triable therein any felony
committed while in the act of violating a Law
| of the United States. These courts can not
have that independence and effectiveness which
the constitution contemplates long as the
| killing of high court officers, jurors, ana VIII
nesses in the discharge OF their duties or 6y
| of heir ptS al is only COQQlZabl0
| in the state courts. The work done oy tne
attorney general and the officers Of his depart
ment, even under the present inadequate leg1s
lation, has produced some notable results In
the interest of law and order.
THE POSTAL SERVICE.
In the report of the postmaster general some
very gratifying results are exhibited and many
betterments of the service suggested. A pc
rusal of the report gives abundant evidence thai
the supervision and direction of the postal sys,
tenn have been characterized by an Intelligent
and conscientious desire to improve the service.
The revenues of the department show an IN
crease of over So 600 oOO while the estimate foH
the year 1898 shows surplus OF receipts oven
expenditures.
Eight thousand miles Of new postal service
have been established on railroads; the car dis
trfbution to sub stations in the great cities
has been increased about 1s per cent. while the
percentage of errors in distribution has been
reduced over one-hah. An appropriation was
manU some me- eSperiments in free delivery in
the smaller cities and towns. The results OF
these experiments have been so satisfactory
I concur in the recommendation, that the free
delivery system be at once extended to towns
OF 5000 population. His discussion of the In
adequate facilities extended under our present
system to rural communities and his sugges-
tions with view to give these communities
fuller participation in the benefits OF the post
al service are worthy of your careful consider
alton
Over 1900 neighborhoods are under the pres
ent system, receiving mail at post of1ces where
money orders and postal notes are not issued
The extension of this system to those oommn.
mites is especially desirable, as the patrons OF
such ofaoes not possessed of the other facfl-
tiles offered in more populous communities for
, the Transmission of small sums of money. I
have, in message to the preceding congress
expressed my views as to modified use of the
THE NAVY.
The report of the secretary OF the navy shows
a gratifying increase of new naval vessels In
! commission. The Newark CAlcorda Benn1ng'
ton and Miantonomoh, have been added during
the year, with an aggregate Of something more
than IL 600 tons. Twenty four war ships OF all
: Glasses are now under construction In the navy
yards and private shops, but while the work
upon them is going forward satisfactorily, the
J completion of the more important vessels will
: yet require about years time. Some OF the
vessels now under construction it is believed.
will be triumphs of naval engineering.
We have now at Washington gun shop or
, ganized and conducted by naval of11cers that
: in its system, economy and product is unex-
! celled. Experiments with armor plate have
= been conducted during the year With most I'M
7 of higher resisting power than any in use has
, been found and that the tests have demon
: StrateQ that cheaper metnooS OF hanu1acJure
than those heretofore thought necessary can
i be used.
THE INDIANS.
. The report of the secretary of the interior
shows that very gratifying progress has been
! made in all of the bureaus which make up thai
4 | department. The work in the bureau of Indian
affairs was perhaps never so large as now BY
! reason CT the numerous negotiations which
! have been proceeding with the tribes
I for reduction of the reservations with
4 the incident labor of making allotments
and was never more carefully conducted
j The good work of reducing the larger Indiar
5 reservations by allotments In severalty to the
Indians and the cession of the remaining lands
to the United States for disposition under the
i homestead law, has been prosecuted during the
a ! year with energy and success. In September
0 last, it was enabled to open to settlement II
= Oklahoma $4,000 acres of land, all OF which
a ! was taken up by settlers in single day
The negotiation for the release by the Chero
S | KEGS of their claim to the Cherokee Strip has
a made no substantial progress, but 1t IS still
: hoped that the cession of this large and valu
able tract may be secured. The price which the
o commission was authorized to offer-sI.25 pc
It acre-is, in my Judgment fair and adequate
@ one and should have been accepted by the In
8 dians Since March 4, 1882 about 100000
| hav baen Indian