Evening star., 1898-12-05

ONCE, with full power to settle the indebt-
eaneSs to the government growing out of
the issue of bonds in aid of the construction
of the Central Pacific anu Western Pacific
bond-aided raili Dads subject to the APP
prova1 of the President
NO report has yet been made to me by
the commission thus created. Whatever
action is had looking to a settlement of the
indebtedness in accordance with the act re-
| ferred to will be duly submitted to the Con-
gress
New Building for Department of
Justice.
deem it my duty 10 call to the attention
of Congress the condition of the present
building occupied by the Department of
Justice The business of that department
has increased very greatly since it was es-
| tablished IN its present quarters The
building now occupied by It IS neither large
enough nor of suitable arrangement for the
proper accommodation of the business of
the department The supervising architect
has prono:. ced 1t unsafe and unsuited for
the use to which it is put The Attorney
General lI. his report states that the library
Of the department IS upon the fourth floor,
and that all the space allotted to it is SO
| crowded with books as to dangerously over
load the structure. The first floor is occu-
pied by the Cours of Claims The building
is of an old and hiapidated appearance, un-
suited tc the dignity which should attach
to this Important department.
! a proper regard for the safety comfort
and convenience of the officers and en-
ployes would Justify the expenditure of a
liberal sum of money in the erection of
new building of commodious proportions
and handsome appearance upon the very
| adyantageou site already secured for that
| purpose, including the ground occupied by
| the present structure ana adjoining vacant
lot, comprising in all frontage OF POI feet
on Pennsy vania avenue and depth of 1876
feet.
In this connection ] may likewise refer 10
| the Inadequate accommodations provided
for the Supreme Court in the Capitol, anl
suggest the wisdom of making provision fnr
the erection of separate building for the
court and its officers and library upon avail
able ground near the Capitol.
THE POSTAL SERVICE.
| The postal service of the country al
vances with extraordinary growth. Within
twenty years both the revenues and the eV
pcndtures of the Post Office Department
have multiplied threefoid. IN the last tel
years they have nearly doubled. Our pos
tai business grows much more rapidly than
our population It involves an eXpen-
81 tIre of $100,000,000 a year numbers rs
600 post-offices and enrolls 2h0,D0 EN-
pIoyes. This remarkable extension OF
service which is an accurate index of tue
public conditions presents gratifying ev.-
denCe of the advancement of education. of
the increase of communication and bus
mess activity, and of the improvement OF
mail facilities leading to their constantly
aUgmenting Use
The war with Spain laid new and keep
| ,1 1.Bp tJoa I,s ffiaa
The mastering of the military ard naval
forces of the United States required srecid!
mail arrangements for every camp and
every campaign. The communication be
| tween home and camp was naturally eager
and expectant. In some of the larger places
OF rendezvous as many as fifty Thousand
letters a das required handling. This ne
cessity was met by the prompt detail ana
dispatch of experienced men from The es-
tab!ished force and by directing all the in
strumentalities of the railway matt ani
post-oftice service. so far as necessary. 20
this new need. Congress passed an act EN-
pcTering the Postmas ter General to eStab-
lish Offices branches at every military
camp or station, and under this authority
the postal machinery was speedily put into
| effective operation.
Under the same authority, when our
forces moved upon Cuba Porto Rico and
the Philippines they were attended and fol
lowed by the postal service. Though the
a It of Congress authorized the appointment
| OF postmasterS where necessary, 1t was
early determined that the public interests
would best lbe subserved. not by new desis-
nations, but by the detail of experienced
men familiar with every branch of the
service, and this policy was steadily fol
lowed. When the territory which was the
theater of conflict came into our possession,
it became necessary to re-establish mail ia
cilities for the resident population as wei
Is to provide them for our forces of occt-
patton. and the former Requirement was
met through the extension and application
OF the latter obligation. [ gave the ~eQui-
site authority and the same general prin-
cple was applied to this to other
branches of civil administration under mil
itary occupation. The details are more paI
! ticuiarly given in the report OF the Post
master-Gepsral, and while the work is only
just begun, it is pleasing to be able to say
that the service in the territory which has
come under our control is already mate.
rally improved.
INCREASE OF THE NAVY.
The following recommendations of the
Secretary of the Navy relative to the in
crease of the Navy have my earnest ap-
| proval:
| /. Three seagoing sheathed and coppered
! battle ships of about 13,oUo tons trial dis
placement, carrying the heaviest armor and
most powerful ordnance for vessels of their
class, and to have the highest practicable
speed and great radius of action Esti-
mated cost, exclusive of arnor and arma-
ment, 50, 600, 600 each.
| z Ihtee sheathcd and coppered armored
cruisers of about LOGO tons trial dispIace-
ment, carrying the heaviest armor and
most powerful ordnance for vessels of their
class, and 10 have the highest practicable
| speed and great radius Of action. Esti-
mated cost, exclusive Of armor and arma-
ment, $4 ,oo0 600 each.
3. Three sheathed and coppered protected
cruisers of about 5000 tons trial displace.
ment; to have the highest practicable
| speed and great radius of action and TO
carry the most powerful ordnance suitable
| for vessels of their class. Estimated cost
| exclusive of arn.or and armament s. t5o.-
900 each
4. Six sEeathed and coppered cruisers of