Bisbee daily review., 1909-11-30
BAL[|NGER SUBMITS ANNUAL
 REPORT II PRESIDENT TAFT
pEvo1ss LARGE PORTION CONDITIONS OF PUBLIC
 LANDS IN ARIZONA OTHER PARTS OF THE WEST.
Bond Issue Recommended

Bond Issue Recommended
 In view of the importance of speedy completion of existing prof ects and their proper extension, and of the necessity in 1912 of an adjust ment between the states by which the major portion of the funds aris- ing from the sale of public lands with in each state and territory shall have ben expended as far as practicable within such state or territory. and in view of the importance of making a beneficial use of waters already ap-l propriated or capable of appropria- tion to which rights may be lost for non-use, I believe an urgent appeal should be made to congress to author ize the issuance of certificates of in debtedness, or of bonds against the reclamation fund, to an aggregate of not exceeding sSO,O00 900, or so much thereof as may be needed These cer- tificates or bonds should be sold by the treasurer of the United States from time to time as may be required | by the secretary of the interior and. the proceeds placed to the credit of the fund. They should be redeemcblc on call within a period of not. exceed ing ten years after issuance. The pro 1 ceeds should be devoted to the con p!ction of feasible existing projects and the construction of any feasible extensions thereof, and so much there. of as may be needed should be devot- ed to the construction of new projects in the states and territories in which the expenditures have not met the requirements of section of the act of June F, 1902. This is a reaffirm- ance of my recommendation to you from the field August ?, 1909.
 ] Pensions
 Since the foundation of the govern ment, there has been disbursed for pensions to soldiers, sailors and ma rines, their widows and dependents, the sum of s3,913,0s2, ,51373, of which amount s96,445,4442S was disbursed prior to June 30, 1865. Since that date, pension disbursements have increased from s15,45O,549 in 1866, to $751; 73,703.77, in 1909, the latter amount being the largest sum ever disbursed for pensions in any one year. This increase in disbursement was princi- pally due to the number of pensioners placed upon the rolls under the act of February G. 1907, granting pensions of SIP, SIS ard s20 per month to the survivors of the war with Mexico and the civil war on reaching the ages oi 62, 70 and 75 years respectively.
 The last surviving soldier Of the Revolutionary war died April 5, 1869, and the last surviving widow of that war died November Il, 1906. The last pensioned soldier of the war of 1872 died May 13, 1905, but the pes sion rolls still contain the names C 395 widows of soldiers of that war.
 Since 1861 there have been granted by special acts of congress 26,377 pen sions and increases of pensions, of which 16,4O7 were on the rolls at the close of the fiscal year, with an annu- al value of s4,S46, 125, a little more than one-half of which amount is in excess of what could have been grant d under the general laws. The nun Der of special acts granting pensions md increases, passed during the sec )nd session of the sixieth congress
 vas 3,021. The increase in the an. ausl expenditures resulting from those special acts was s45A,722.
 The number of pensioners on the roll at the beginning of the year was l 951,6S7, to which wasNadded during the year a total of 46,088; .51, ,581 names were dropped from the roll during the year, because of death and other reasons, leaving the total mum Der, Ss6.194 at the close of the fiscal year, net decrease of 5,493.