The Butler weekly times. (Butler, Mo.) 1881-1918, 1899-12-07

| waiie stationed throughout the nitSu States
are 9lJ OF .ers and 1917 men and in Hawaii, l.
officers and 3 enlisted men.
| The operations OF the army fully present
ed in the report Of the secretary OF war can
not withhold from oftcers and men the highest
conmendation for their soldierly coudu I IL
| trying situations. their willing sacrifices for
their country and the interest and ability with
which they performed unusual and di14cult du-
| ties il our island possessions
In the organization Of the volunteer regiments
| authorized by the of March =. 1898 II
found that provision had been male for
! chaplains This omission doubtless from
inadvertenee. / recommended the early au-
| thorization for the appointment on one chap
| lain for each OF said regiments These regt-
ments are in the Philippines and it is important
! that immediate action be taken
| Postal Affairs In the Colonies
In restoring peaceful conditions, orderly rule.
and civic progress IN Cuba. Porto Rico. ard. -
| far practicable. in the Philippines. the re-
habilil alton OF postal service has been irl-
! portant part OF the work 1t became necessary
| 10 provide mail facilities both for our forces OF
| occupation and for the native population To
meet this requi, has involved suo-
| stsntiai reconstruction The existing systems
were 80 fragmentarF. defect ana i.la1trs uate
| that and compr hens We orgaIiEat On aad
| TO be created American trained o.fic!al~ hive
| been assigned to the directing and execa.iye
| possessions, while natives nave oeea cl ttr
| employed in making up the BODY Of the to.ce-
/ In working out this plan the merit rae has
I been rigorou-ly ana faithfully applied
| Dornestic Postal Service
The domestic postal service continues 10 -row
| with extraordinary rapidly. The eSpen litures
| and the revenues will each exceed SO ,"eC.BJ
/ during the current year Fortunately since he
revival OF prosperous times the revenues cave
| grown much faster than The expenditure. AMI
there Is every iadcatt that sh r. Ut rlcd viii
witness CELEBRATION OF the annual den IL. In
! this connection the report Of the postmaster
general embed IS a >t=temeut Of some evils
! which have rrown up outside OF the contern 1la-
| ton OF iaw in the treatment of some classes Of
| mail matt r which wrongly eXerc -se> thc p-iy--
| lege OF pound rate. and shows that II this mat
! ter had been properly classified and mad paid
the rate which 1t should have paid. stead % i
postal deficit the last fiscal year Of 1851 ma
| there would have been on one basis a surp u Of
Si7.65. go, and another OF g. g Sd. The
form thus suggested. in the opinion Of the
postmaster general. would not only put the
postal service 1T once on a ~elf-Su~talntnE
basis, but would permit great and vL!u-
able improvements, and 1 commend the suJ-
ject to the c 1nsideratiOn OF con rrss-
The Question of Teusi''n~.
On the 30th of June, 1899. the pension roll q
the United States numbered . I.aI9. TneS@ in
cla,Ie the pensioners of the army and navy il
all The number adj led 70 the rolls
durin the year was 1921 The numb dropped
by reason Of death remarriage, minors by le al
limitations failure TO claim within three years
and other causes 4S is6. and the number Of
claims disallowed was l17sI7. Durfn2 the year
50, 81 pension certificates were issued. OF which
37,U77 were for new or original pensions The
amount disbursed for army and navy tensions
during the year sl3s3 3. - g.. which was
si.65I .45 .6I less than the OF the appropra-
lions.
The Grand Army of the Republi, at it's re-
cent national encampment held at Phil lie!phil
has brought to my attention and t. that OF con-
gress the wisdom and justice OF a modification
OF the third section OF the act OF June y. 1871.
which provides pensions for the widows of
officers and enlisted men who served 81 days or
fhsa ftafur
honorabiy discharged. provided that su h
widows are without other means OF support
than their daily LABOR and were remarl led u
the soldier. sailor or marine on account of
whose service they claim pension prior To the
date OF the act.
The present holding of the department is that |
II the widow 5 income aside from her lilly labor |
docs not exceed in amount what her pension |
would be. TO wit SO per annun, she would be
deemed to be without other means OF support
than her daily labor and would be entitled to a
pension under this act while II the widows in |
come, independent OF the amount received By |
her as the result of her daily labor exceeds s95 |
she won not be pension bic under the act |
am advised by the commissioner OF pensions |
that the amount of the income allowed before |
title to pension would be barred. has varied |
dely under different administrations of the |
pension office. well during different periods
of the same admin tration, and has been the |
cause OF just complaint and criticism. With the |
approval OF the secretary OF the interior. the |
commissioner of pensions recommends that. in |
order TO make the prac ice at all times uniform |
nd to do justice To the dependent widow the |
amount OF income a lowed indeDendent of the |
pr ceeds of her daily labor should be not less
than 80 per annurn. ami he urges that congress |
shall SO amend the dc: 10 permit the pension |
Office to grant pensionab.e status to widows |
under the text OF the third section of the act OF
June y, 1880 whose income asi lie from the pro-
ceeds OF daily labor is not in OF s.5D per
annum. / believe this to be a simple act Of JUS
tice and l heartily recommend it,
Favor- n Larger Navy.
heartily concur in the recommendations for |
the increase of the navy, as So ggested by the |
secretary
Protecting the Forests.
Protection OF the national forests, inaugu- |
rated by the department of the interior in 1897 |
has been caused during the past year and much /
has been accomplished in the way of preventing |
forest fires and the protection OF the timber
There are nov lar re tracts covered by forests |
W. h will eventually be reserved and set apart |
Tor forest uses Until that can be done con-
should increase the appropriations for the |
work of protecting the forests
Market. for Farm Products.
Markets are being sought and opened up for /
surplus farm and factory products in Europe /
and in Asia The outlook for the edu cation of Il
pertinent stations. with opportunities given TO
specialize in the department of agriculture is
very promising The people of Hawaii. Porto 1
Rico and the Philippine islands have been
helped by the establishm mt of experiment sta
tions to a more scientific knowledge Of the pro-
duction of coffee, India rubber and other trop-
ical products. for With there il . demand in /
the United States
There is wide -pread interest in the improve |
ment of public Highways at the present /
time and the department Of agriculture is CO.
operating with the people in each locality in /
making the best possible roads from the local |
material and In experim .nting with steel /
tracks
rhs Au-AbsorbinG Philippine Oasstton-
On the 10th Of December. 1898 the treaty OF
peace between the United States and Spain Il
was signed II provided among other things
that Spain should cede TO the United States the Il
archipe ago known the Philippine islands,
that the United States should pay TO Spain the |
sum OF u 90 90. and that the civil rights and
of inn IL