The San Francisco call., 1898-12-06

concluded. By decree of the court in that case an upset price for the property was fixed at a sum which would yield to the Government only S2.5OO,OoO upon It's lien. The sale at the instance or the GOV ernment was postponed first to December 15, 1897 and later, upon the application or the United States, was postponed 10 fep- ruary 1G. 1898.
 ests of the Government required that an effort should be made to oDtaln a larger sum l directed the Secretary or the IreaS- ury, under the act passed MaTch :, looi, to pay out of the treasury to the persons entitled to receive the same the amounts due upon all prior mortgages upon the middle and eastern divisions of said rail road. out of any money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated.
 Whereupon the Attorney General pre- pared a petition to be presented to the court offering to redeem said prior liens in such manner as the court might direct and praying that thereupon the United States might be held to be subrogated to that receiver might be appointed to take possession of the mortgaged premises and maintain and operate the same until the court or Congress otherwise directed. Thereupon the reorganization committee agreed that if said petition were with drawn and the sale allowed to proceed on February 16 they would bid sum at the sale which would realize to the Govern ment the entire principal Of its debt, St, ,3OS.OOO.
 Believing that no better price could be obtained and appreciating the d1fflcultles under which the Government would labor if it should become the purchaser of the road at a sale in the absence of any au- thority by Congress to take charge of and operate the road, 1 directed that upon the guaranty of a minimum bid which should give the Government the principal of its debt, the sale should proceed. By this transaction the Government secured an .1, S,fS r16 ah a sum which the court had fixed as the upset price and which the reorganization committee had declared was the maxi mum which they would pay for the prop erty.
 It is gratifying to know that the result of this proceeding against the Union Pa ciflc system and the Kansas Pacific line is that the Government has received on account of its subsidy claim the sum of $64 1923 70, an increase of $lS,997 ,163 70 over the sum which the reorganization committee originally agreed to bid for the joint property, the Government receiving its whole claim principal and interest on the Union Pacific and the principal of it's debt on the Kansas Pacific Railroad.
 Steps had been taken to foreclose the Governments lien upon the Central Paci-
 fife Railroad Company,
 Debt of the but before action was
 commenced Congress
 Central passed an act, approved
 poo;s July [, 1898, creating
 o@inG' commission consisting
 or the secretary or the Treasury, the Attorney General and the Secretary of the Interior, and their suc ceSsors in office, wAh full power to settle the indebtedness to the Government grow construction of the Central Pacific and Western Pacific bond-aided railroads, subject to the approval of the President. No report has yet been made to me by the committee thus created. Whatever action IS had looking to settlement of the in- debtedness in accordance with the bill re- ferred to will be duly submitted to Con- gress.
 I deem it my duty to call to the atten ton of Congress the condition of the pres ent building occupied by the Department of Justice. The business of that depart ment has increased greatly since it was established in it's present quarters. The building now occupied by it is neither large enough nor of suitable arrangement for the proper accommodation of the busi- ness Of the department The supervising architect has pronounced it unsafe and unsuited for the use to which it is put. The Attorney General in his report states that the library of the department is on the fourth floor and that all the space all !otted to 1t is so crowded with books as The first floor is occupied by the Court of Claims. The building is of an old and dllapioated appearance, unSuited to the dignity which should attach to this inn portant department.
 A proper regard for the safety comfort ana convenience of the officers and em- 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 advantageous site already secured for that purpose. including the ground occu- pied by the present structure and vacant ground adjoining to that comprising in all frontage of POI feet on Pennsylvania avenue and depth of l36 feet. In this conclusion 1t may be wise to refer to the Inadequate accommodations provided for the Supreme Court in the Capitol, and suggest the wisdom of making provision for the erection of a separate building for the court and its offices and library upon available ground near the Capitol
 The postal service of the country ad- NanceS With extraordinary growth. With
 in twenty years both the
 Growth of revenues and expendi-
 D, lures of the Postoffice
 Fostal Department have multi
 Servica piled threefold. In the
 last ten years they have
 nearly doubled. Our poStal business grows much more rapidly than our population. It now involves an expenditure of $100 900 900 a year, numbers 130 0O0 postoffices and enrolls 200.O0 em- ployes Ihls remarkable extension of public conditions, presents gratifying evil dence Of the advancement of education. or me increase of communication ana business activity and of the tmprovement of mail facilities, leading to their con stantly augmenting use
 The war with Spain laid new and excep- dlonal labors in the Postoffice D. uartment. The mastering of the military and naval forces of the United States required spe- cial mail arrangements for every camp and every campaign. The communication between home and camp was naturafIy eager and expectant. In some of the larger places of rendezvous as many as oO,0o0 letter day required handling. This necessity was met by the prompt detail of experienced men from the established force and by directing all the instrl- mentaiities of the railway mail and postoffice service so tar as necessary to this new need. Congress passed an act empowering Ile Postmaster Gener- al to establish an office or branch 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 Rlco and