The Mena weekly star., 1896-12-09

non-lndiaa residents in their territory A commission ore inizcd ant e1powe-td uaGer several receut iaws k now nesotia.lug sith these Indians fer the rcHae n.ahGcnt os thslr coHrts ana the diFsi0a of Iae,r cslaaou lands ! in sevCraltv
 The reception Of tAeis 6rst p-oCsrs of nezo. tation Was nos enccagayiag, As. tlroaeh pa- | tence and such conduct oa tlcIr part aS aem- onstratea that their intentions wcea friendly and in the interest of ;he best prosreea of sus- eess has become moro promising. The efforts should be to save the Ia ia1s from tho cuase- quenccs Of their own mistakes and improvi- dence and Go secure o ihs esai Indiaa his rights as against intruders and pgosessed
 friends ho profit by his retagrsssion.
 As sincere friend of the Ia ian I ata ex- 1 eeedingly anxious that these reforms should l be accomplished with the cnaSeat 1nd aid ol l toe tribes and that no necessity may @ fre- scnted for radical or Grassia ievlslBtlnn. | hope, therefore, that tho eosaaa! ,io now con ductine negotiations will soon be able ta report ] that progress has been made toward friendly adjustment Of existing dihisuN;es
 It appears that Q ve y vaiusb ole deposit oi gilsonitl or asphaltum has Usea found on tho reservation in Utnh occupied by the Unsonl-
 pahgre Uto Indians Every consideration of cure for the public interest and every sensible business reason dictate such minagemeat O. disposal of this important source of public l revenue as will except it from the general
 rules and incideats attending the ordinary dt-
 position Of cubic lands, and SC ure 70 the gov- ernment fair sh.re at least of iss adVantages | In place of its transfer for nominal sum to ] interested individuals.
 I Iindorse the recommendation made by thc l present secretary of the Interior. as wall as bs 1 predecessor that q permanent commission 1 consisting of three members one of whom I shall Dc an army officer. be created to perform 1 the duties now dey0lviug upon the commis- ! sioner and assistant commissioner Of Indian affairs The management of the burcaa in- | sIlr.
 advantages of an uninterrupted policy are SO | apparent that l hopo the change suggested
 will meet the approval of the congress
 i The Pennlon Roll
 i Tho cimiuu.ion of our enormous rension
 roll and the decrease Of pension expenditures i which havo been often foretoia stili fail in
 material real zati0n The number of pension CTS on the rolls Ut the close of tho fiscal year ended June 3i ls9s. WIS a71,6;S. This, is the l largest number ever reported. The amonnt
 paid exclusively for pensions during the year 1 vas SiSS,2ii,7Gi.9, slight decrease from that of the pfeseding year, while the total expend- 1 lures on account of pensions, including the
 cost Of laaintainence Of the department
 and expenses attending pension distribution
 amounted tD alfs,206.a 59 or within a very small fraction of one-third of the entire ex- I pense of supporting the government during the
 same year. The number of new pension certih- cates issued was. 906i0 Of these i0 374 repre- sent original allowances Of claims and l587S i -~- frf~'~ 1 increases of existing pensions. The number of persons receiving pensions from the United States. but residing in foreign countries at the close of the last fiscal year was 3,7si and the
 amount paid to them during the year was
 Se. The sum appropriated for the pay | ment of pensions for the current fiscal year, l ending June go, iS97. is si400 O.0)1 and for the
 succeeding year it is estimated that the same
 amount will be necessary.
 The commissioner Of pensions reports that
 ha nGf Hcnu fplf
 wore found against violators Of the pension
 laws Upon these indictments 155 convictions resulted Tn my opinion. based upon such
 statements as these and much other informa- | ton and observations. the abuses which have l been allowed to creep into our pension system have done incalculable harm in demoralizing our people and undermining good citizenship have endeavored within my sphere of official duty to protect our pension roll and make 1t what 1t should be. roll of honor containing the names of those disabled in their country's ! service and worthy Of their country's arectior and remembrance
 The Pacific Railroads.
 The secretary cnlls attention to the public interests involved in an adjustment of the ob- lgations of the Pacific railroads to the govern inent deem 1t to be an important duty to es- pecially present this subject to the consider ation of the congress. On January H. 1897 with the amount already rnatured more than | Sl30m.0l9 of the principal of tho subsidiary bond issued by the United States in aid of tho construction of the Union Pacific railway in- cluding it's Kansas line, and more than s6000- 900 of like bonds, issued in aid of the Central Pacific railroad, including those issued to the Western Pacific Railway Co, will have falien due and been paid must on that day be raid by the government With out any reference to the application Of the sinking funds now in the treasury this will create such default on the part of the companies to the goYefnment as WiIi rivs it the right to once institute proce edings to foreclose it's mortgage lien. In addition t6
 thi indebtedness which will be due January I. l.a7. there will mature betweea that dafe
 and January 1. is99 the remaining principal of
 suca subsidy bonds which must also be met by
 the government. These amount to more than
 g. .o01,O0) On account Of the Union Pacific
 lines and exceeds i2i0l0.00o on account of tho
 Central Pacific lines.
 The Agricultural Dep4rtment.
 The department of agriculture Is so inti- mately related to he welfare of our people and
 the prosperity of our nation that 1t should con stantly receive the care and encouragement Of
 the government The secretary reports that
 the value of our exports of farm products dur
 ing the last fiscal year amounted to S70.0O0.000. an increase of sl7,0O0000 over those of the year immediately preceding This statement is not the less welcome be cause of the fact that notwithstanding such in- crease. the proportion of exported agricultural products to our total exports of all description fell of during the year. The benefits Of an iH- crease in agricultural products being assured, the crease in it's proportion to total en- ports .s more gratifying when we consider that it is coming to the fact that such total expor& for the year increased more than coo
 The large and increasing exporta.ion of oW agricultural products suggests the great uss- Tn 0f hQ Qrpa nj fzat