The Coconino weekly sun., 1894-12-06


 | lation this item of expenditure is ssubjoct to [ constant increase. The estimated cost of rural free delivery generally is so very large that It ! ought not to be considered in the present con dition of affairs. During the year s3O addi- i tional domestic money order offices were es-
 tablished The total number of these omccs at the close of the year was l9,2c4 There were | II30l0i1 money orders issued during the year, | being an increase over the preceding year or ! O94, ,3O5. The value of these ordes amounted to sI3s 703 579 70, an increase of Sli ,2l72b.Sl | There were also issued during tho year postal | notes amounting to Sl2,6 ,0J4.95. During the | year 2lS international money order of1ices were added to those already established, making total of 2G2J such offices in operation June 3O, ! 1891. The number of international money or
 ders issued during the year was Ol7.S2s, de- crease in number of l35,l76, and their value
 was SI3, ,1g9, i5j.31, decrease in amount or Sz'- i Sf9,3S2.9,. The number or orders paid was 33i,- IS0, an increase over the preceding year or oD'- i 263, and their value was B,563,iy an ln- crease of Sll.2sj, ,lS,05. From tho foregoing statements it appears that tho total issue or
 money orders and postal notes for tho year amounted to sl65, ,23o, l293i The number of let | ters and packages mailed during the year for | special delivery was 3,i3j,970 The special de- l livery stamps used upon these letters ana
 packages amounted to S3i3,67 The messen- gers fees paid for their delivery amounted to ! q | government of Ss24s7 8. The report shows
 most gratifying results in the way of economies | in the cost and amount of supplies used in the service, amounting in all to Sl6,6i00H.i2. | The report also contains valuable contri- | button to the history of the universal postal | union, an arrangement which amounts prac- | tically to the establishment or one postal syS- | tenn for the entire civilized world.
 ] There are now connected with the post ofnce | establishment 32.561 employees who are in the
 classified service. This includes many who
 have been classified upon the suggestion of | the postmaster-generaL He states that an-
 other years experience at the head Of the de- | partment serves only to strengthen the con-
 viction us to the excellent working of the civil
 service law in this branch of the public sery- | ice
 Our Navy.
 l Attention is called to the report of the sec- | tary of the navy, which shows very gratifying ' progress in the construction of ships for our navy. All the vessels now building including
 the three torpedo boats authorized at the last
 session of congress, and excepting the first
 class battleship Iowa, win probably be com
 pleted during the coming fiscal year. The es- | inmates for the increase of the navy for the | year ending June 30 lS96 are large but they | include practically the entire sum necessary to
 complete and equip all the new ships now In
 commissions so that. unless new ships are au-
 thorized, the appropriation for the naval scry- l ice for the fiscal year ending June 30. is97, | should fall below the estimates for the coming | year by at least sl2, ,o0j0)O.
 1 The secretary presents with much earnest | ness plea for the authorization of three sd- | ditional battleships and twelve torpedo boats. ! If we are to have navy for warlikc operations | offensive and defensive, we certainly ought to
 increase both the number of battlcships and | torpedo boats.
 | faol iry,p iyad dut n call attention | to the recommendation of the secretary in re- | gard 10 the personnel Of the line of the navy. | The stagnation of promotion in this the vital
 branch of the service is so great us to seriously
 impair it's efficiency I consider 1t Of the ut
 most importance that the young and middle
 aged officers should before the eve of retire. | ment be permitted to reach a grade entitling
 them to active and important duty. The | system adoptel few years ago regu- | latng the employment Of labor at the | navy yards is rigidly upheld and has fully | demonstrated its usefulness and expediency. | It is within the domain of civil service reform | in as much as workmen arc employed through | a board Of labor selected at each navy yard, | and are given work without reference to poli- | ties and in order of their application, prefer
 enses, however being given to army and navy veterans and those having former navy yard l experience.
 | The Interior Department.
 The report of the secretary Of the interior l exhibits the situation of the numerous and in- | teresting branches of the public service con- | nected with his department. Irecommcnd this | report and the valuable recommendations Of | the secretary to careful attention of congress. | The public land disposed of during the
 year amounted to 1O4'0,lOlU acres, | including 2ss7.6OJ of Indian lands.
 It is estimated that the public domain still re- | maining amounts to little more than GO),0JJ,- | O9O acres, excluding. however, about 36O,0)0OO) acres in Alaska as well as military reservations ] and railroad and other selections Of lands un- | adiudicated.
 The total cash receipts from sale of lands
 amounted to S2,6 SjID, including '9l 9S! 03 re-
 ceiyed for Indian lands Thirty-five thousand | patents were issued for agricultural lands and | 3lOO patents were issued to Indians on allot- mentS of their holdings in severalty. the land | so allotted being inalienable by the Indian all | lottces for period of twenty-five years after patent There were certified and patented on
 account of railroad and wagon road grants dur
 ing the year, S6j556.4 acres Of land, an1 at tho
 close of the year 29, 900 O0) acres were embraced | in the list Of selections made by railroad and
 wagon road companies and awaited settlement. | The selections of swamp lands and that taken
 as indemnity therefor since the passage of the | act providing for the same in lsi9 amount to
 nearly or quite 800 900 acres of which 5s OOo 0O) l nave been LO SlaLcS' dpbub toosVJJ dNIpS
 were patented during last year. Nearly s20 ,0o0 acres of school and educational grants were
 approved during the year and at its close l,-
 25O, ,36?, ,sl acres remained unadiusted.
 | An exceedingly important recommendation | of the secretary relates to the manner in which
 contests and lltigated cases growing out Of ef-
 forts to obtain government land are de- | termined I concur in the opinion that the | commissioner of the general land office should ] be relieved of this duty of deciding litigated land cases: that non-partisan court should be
 created to pass on such cases and that deciS-
 ions of this court should be final, at least so far
 as the decisions of the department are final
 The registers and receivers who originally hear and decide these disputes should be in- vested with authority to compel witnesses to attend and testify before them Though the condition of the Indians shows a steady and
 healthy progress, their situation is not satiS- factory at all points. Some of them to whom
 allotments of lands have been made are found
 to be unable or disciplined to follow agricultu-
 ral pursuits, or to otherwise beneicially man
 age their land.
 am convinced that the proper solution of
 the Indian problem and the success of every
 step taken in that direction depends, to very large extent upon the intelligence and honesty
 of the reservation agents and the interest they
 have in their work. An unfit agent will make | lao Tp1 oY,h fC