Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-03-11

thoroughly rcvivinea and the old founds-
tious have been built upon 10 an en-
trsordinary extent, while many extensions
have been made. Some OF the CID thing.
have been dropped, most notably ths
lottery, old forms % bookkeeping. much
red tape. promotions upon influence
and by favoritism. and Of the many now
things that have come into the poet Office ave-
tenn the most notable are the contracting for
and in part establishing eleven lines of Ameri-
can mail steamship lines On the Transatlantic
line the British tiSg has been taken down aud
the American flag hauled mp. ON three lines Of
transatlantic steamers post Offices have been
Established; improved postal cards have been
Issued, including douhl. cards OF message and
reply. for both domestic and foreign Use. Two
new series OF postage stamps have been issued,
one OF asmAller sire thaRever before. and one OF
larger size. in commcmoration OF the four
hundrsdth anniversary Of the discovery OF
Amerlca.giving on the sixteen stamps pictorial
history OF the events Of the time of Columbus.
THE nURaL rRrE DELIVERY.
Zone Of the notable things Of the administrs-
ZION 10 the introduction Of rural free delivery.
whereby small villages and the adjacent coua-
try have had the mail delivered at their door,.
precisely the same ss IN the large cities IL has
been demonstrated that II Is feasible and noe
costly 10 Include the small villages IN the frss
cenyery system. Letter boxes have been
adopted and are now being put up In many OF
The large ciiies, whereby bouseholders receive
the man from the carriers aud deposit their
NAL Tor collection without going out at doors.
The expenditures aud revenues Of the depArt-
uent have been nearly equal, = surplus Ia poe-
sibie neat wear. The railway mail clerks have
been examined yearly for efficiency and GOLD
medals have been distributed Tor efficiency
without cost TO the Department Nearly
u. coo 600 Travelled mile. have been added 60 tns
mail service, bringing the total mileage Of
domestic transportation up TO $50 900 90 o
} year. Trains have been quadrupled and Qnick-
! ened aud the Pacific slope service almost
entirely reconstructed"
The Navy Department.
what has been accomplished by the Navy
Department in the last four wears Was pretty
well eosered in the animal report OF Secretary
Tracy, said Assistant Secretary Solely. "sincs
that repor, was issued. in December, howover,
two vessels have been launched-the Indians
and the kaiahdin-the practice ship Bancroft
has been put IN commission ard the naval regu-
/ iatlons have been published. The revision and
! publication OF the naval regulations has not
been done since ls.6. 1t Isa work OF vast I'm
portanee 70 the Navy Department
| Fourteen new vessels have been put In COM
mission ring tho last four years Their az
! gregate tonnage l. 10000 tons. In addition 20
these three new steel tugs have been con-
structed and put In service. TWeu;y-tour ve--
sells are In process OF construction which viii be
completed during Secretary IIerberts adm MS
! tration. The aggregate tonungeof these twenty
four vessels is li0. 100 tons and they range from
! torpedo boat No 2 Of 10 tors displace-
! ment 20 the new Iowa. whose tonnage
| Is 1850 tons Twenty-Five vessels have
been launched during the four years.
! thirteen OF them last year OF all the
ne~ ships whose construction was begun du-lng
\ the Harrison administration ou,y thrge remain
| on the stocks. The Fifty-second Congress au-
| thorized two now vessels. the Iowa and Brook
iyn the contracts for which have recently beea
| awarded
| ALL dUNs MADE IN THIS COUNTRY.
"A fact which has a national interest Is that,
with the exception of five Of the earliest. all OF
/ the guns for the vessels put into commission
under Secretary Tracy we're manufactured in
this country. For the three modern vessels in
commission four years ago the forgings for
the guu- had been purchased abroad As
| they could not be made IN this country. There
are two large plants now furnishing srmor
tnhterial to the Navy Department. and
have developed armor of new CON-
position and process superior TO ANYTHING
| that could be had abroad -Four wears ago We
had no rapid-fre guns. We have dcyeloIet
! those guns Of 4. 3 and 6-inch calber and proved
! them perfect By experiment -Four wears ago
4 no tofpelocs were ma be On this country. Nos
! tho Whitehead torpedo Is being made here. We
I had no Grmor-plcrclnG shells fop- wears ago.
( Americans are nov making these shells better
| han those which are made abroad. We have
] AANu liiunlsN 70 NC l-tl N Il
/ fired from high-powe- guns, with service
powder, giving service velocities. Ani finally
the department has developed a smoke,ess
powder more efficient and durable than Aay
that II known elsewhere.
| Secretary Herbert has 90 thorough az IT,
| derstanding Of the needs Of the navy from rs
I long service as chairman Of the House COM
mIttee on naval Affairs that he VIII take hoi1 q
| the department with immediate conprehon-
| sion OF Its needs.
The Treasury Department.
at would take too long a time 70 review
wha; has been done in each Of the bureaus Of
this great DEPARTMENT" said Secretary Poster
when called on him this afternoon. But the
chief interest in the Treasury Department CEN
tiers in the collection OF the revenues and the
expenditures OF the pablic funds. The policy
! of this administration has differed from that %
! The administration that preceded it chiefly
in the matter OF bond purchases. Ii has
/ been the policy OF this administration,
both nnder' my predecessor In the Treasury
/ Department and under me. to reduce the inter
est-bearins pubic deb. rather than keep money
/ in the national banks. There were S62 600 300
! in the national banks Iiucluding dlsburslng
| officers funds al ono time in lSss. Now there
are but sll.oOo0O0 on general account AMI
/ 81. 600 coo of dlsbursing officers funds. The
| iuterest-bearing war debt in 1865 s2.36l.-
! 00J.00o. Today IL is only s5sj 001. 600. In
August, 1865. the total debt less cash in tho
Treasury was SAFES coo 900. Al the end II shs
last fiscal year it was about sS40. 000. 900.
WHY THE CASH HAS Run Low.
"Some criticism has been made Of this de-
partment because under this administrator
the per cent set aside for the sinking fund
under the law has not been kept up. In the
/ time since that law passed the amount -st
aside for the sinking fund has been $990. 0co,-
0C0 in excess OF the requirements Of the Law.
| The reason that the cash has run so low in the
| treasury and that the question OF new issue Of
bonds to make good the gold reserve has
been raised is that We have paid
/ out e35 900 600 for the new navy in
excess of the amount paid out b. the last si-
ministration. $4,000. 600 for rivers aud hsr-
bOrs. s.. SOC. 600 for public buidings. si5.6oo.-
900 for the refund Of the direct tax, O.. 900 COO
for the cession Of Indian lands, $40 goo 900 for
pensions and g. 200 900 for bounty on sugnr,
with loss of SEQ 900. 900 OF revenue. In the
same time We have reduced tho Interest charge
OF the public debt from ss7 000. 900 10 about
| t2S. 900 600
1.-The financial problem which viii confront the
new Secretary OF the Treasury IL which hss
been much discussed OF late that il Is perfectly
I familiar 10 every one. l need not explain IT.
1t il the chief problem which will require his
attention q; the beginning OF his administrs-
ton Of the affairs OF the Treasury Department"
The State