Warren sheaf., 1896-12-10

ance we must largely rely in time Of
Sea Coast Defenses.
| During the past year rapid progress has
been made toward the completion of the
scheme adopted for the erection and arma-
while equal progress has been made in bro.
yiding the. material for submarine defense
IN connection with these works 1t is pecul-
great advance that has been ar made % in this his
important undertaking since the date of
my annual message to the Fifty-third con-
sion, In December. 1888. AT that time 1 in in
dormed tbe congress Of the approaching
s,inch high power steel guns m ; and Is i2inch @ II
IN This total then seemed insignificant when
source, of satisfaction to every citizen
I1 When ne reflected that it represented the
American design and American manufac-
| ture, and demonstrated our ability to sun
lY,ad Ply from ,o our own resources guns of unex-
however, there were practically no car
riages upon which to mount those guns,
for mortars. Nor were all these empiace-
ments IN condition to receive their arna-
ment Only one high-power gun was at
entire coast: Since that time the number
creased to q i2-ineh; S ten-inch; 81 I eight hit
rapid-fire guns and so l2-iAch rifled NOR
tars. In addition there are in process of
nch x Of one Yz lSpeh 80
guns and 66 Pinch rifled mortars; in all
AIS guns and mortars. -
During the same year Immediately pre-
cedlng the message referred to the first
modern gun carnage had been completed
fin.l ana II more S Were in process Of construc-
pearing type. These, however, were not
such as to secure necessary cover for the
artillery gunners against the intense fire
Of mooern machine rapid-tire and high
power guns. The inventive genius Of
ordnance 9dna e; an ana civilian experts has beer
in the solution OF this dit1icult problem.
Since 1888 the nnmber vi gun carriages con.
total OF ,29, OF which ~ are on the disap-
I pearlng principle, and the number OF NOR
TAR carriages 10 l52. while the vs. emplace-
ments winch were provided for prior to
mat time have been increased to zso built
anu building. This improved situation IS
largely cue 10 the recen. generous response
'lne war department. linus we Shall soon
have complete ABOUT one-hfth OF the conn
prenenslve system, the first step in which
was noteu in my message to the congress
| OF December 4, 1898.
The Postal Service. -1.'
The post ONCE department Is in good
condltion, and the exhibit made OF its op-
erations during the fiscal year endeQ june
81, 1885,, ii allowance is made tor imper-
| tectlons in the laws applicable to 1t, is Very
yesr Mspe Ths tota eae
pcnditures were $sO.6z6.296S4. exclusive Of
81, ,55Y, ,SYS:N, which was earned by the Pa
citic railroad TOR transportation and cred
tied on their dent to the government. There
was an increase OF receipts over the pre-
vious year OF $5,5l6, ,OsO.2l,> or IL per cent.
i24.o2, or AZ per cent. The: deficit iva was
sl,67ss5el9, less than that of the preceding
year.
Abuse of Second Glass Rates.
The deficit for the last year, although
much less than that of the last and pre-
ceding years, emphasizes the necessity for
legislation to correct the growing abuse
ficiency is mainly attributable. The trans
mission at the rate of one cent pound
SsFa
some, particular ''house" or institution,
sample copies and the like ought certainly
to be discontinued.
Expenditures.
The remainder Of our postal revenue,
amounting to something more than $5,000,-
000, was derived from box rents. registry
fees, money-order business and other siml
lar items. The entire expenditures of the
ton credited to the Pacific railroads, was
the cost Of receiving. carrying and deliv-
ering the above mail matter. It thus ap
pears that though the secol4d-class mat
the total that was carried, the revenue
derived from it was less than one-thirtieth
ane eseh
class, sK mills: lof the second class s.. .s!S,-
s pound %Se Of third class, 1si cents From eseh
pound of fourth class, 1876 cents The
growth of weight Of second-class matter
has been from 2ss 100000 pounds in 1894 to
34s 600 900 in 1896, and it is quite evident this
increasing drawback is far outstripping any
possible growth of postal revenues.
| Abuses Must BE Corrected.
Our mail service should Of course be
such as to meet the wants and even the
conveniences of our people, at direct
e3eade Re dds Of 80 post oce
naent being a nloneymaking concern; but
in the face of a constantly recurring de-
fact that we supply the best mail service
in the world, it seems to me it is quite time
to correct the abuses that swell enor-
the public policy Of carrying weekly news
| papers free in the county of publication.
and even the policy of carrying at less
than one-tenth of their cost other bona
! fide newspapers and periodicals, there can
be no excuse for subjecting the service to
the further immense and increasing loss
involved in carrying at the nominal rate
of one cent a pound the serial libraries,
sometimes including trashy, and even
Mhe unaer te LOOSE
a loose statute, has been gradually given
second-class rates.. thus absorbing all
profitable returns derived from first-class
matter, which pays three or four times
more than its cost. and producing large
annual loss to be paid by general taxation.
If such second-class matter paid merely
tho cost of it's handling our deficit would
disappear and a surplus result which
might be used to give the people still better
mail facilities or cheaper rates of letter
postage. l recommend that legislation be
at once enacted to correct these abuses and
Introduce better business ideas in the reg
ulation of our postal rates.
| The Navy.
The work Of the navy department and It's
| report of the secretary. The construction
of vessels for our new navy has been ener-