714 



PUBLIC DOCUMENTS. 



The report of the Secretary of the Interior ex- 

 plains the condition of the public lands, the transac- 

 tions of the Patent Office and the Pension Bureau, the 

 management of our Indian affairs, the progress made 

 in the construction of the Pacific Railroad, and fur- 

 nishes information in reference to matters of local 

 interest in the District of Columbia. It also presents 

 evidence of the successful operation of the Home- 

 stead Act, under the provisions of which 1,160,533 

 acres of the public lands were entered during the last 

 fiscal year more than one-fourth of the whole num. 

 ber of" acres sold or otherwise disposed of during that 

 period. It is estimated that the receipts derived from 

 this source are sufficient to cover the expenses inci- 

 dent to the survey and disposal of the lands entered 

 under this act, and that payments in cash to the ex- 

 tent of from forty to fifty per cent, will be made by 

 settlers, who may thus at any time acquire title be- 

 fore the expiration of the period at which it would 

 otherwise vest. The homestead policy was estab- 

 lished only after long and earnest resistance; ex- 

 perience proves its wisdom. The lands, in the hands 

 of industrious settlers, whose labor creates wealth and 

 contributes to the public resources, are worth more 

 to the United States than if they had been reserved 

 as a solitude for future purchasers. 



The lamentable events of the last four years, and 

 the sacrifices made by the gallant men of our army 

 and navy, have swelled the .records of the Pension . 

 Bureau to an unprecedented extent. On the 30th 

 day of June last, the total number of pensioners was 

 85,98(>, requiring for their annual pay, exclusive of 

 expenses, the sum of $8,023,445. The number of ap- 

 plications that have been allowed since that date will 

 require a large increase of this amount for the next 

 fiscal year. The means for the payment of the sti- 

 pends due, under existing laws, to our disabled sol- 

 diers and sailors, and to the families of such as have 

 Eerished in the service of the country, will no doubt 

 e cheerfully and promptly granted. A grateful peo- 

 ple will not hesitate to sanction any measures having 

 for their object the relief of soldiers mutilated and 

 families made fatherless in the efforts to preserve our 

 national existence. 



The report of the Postmaster-General presents an 

 encouraging exhibit of the operations of the Post- 

 Office Department during the year. The revenues 

 of the past year from the loyal States alone exceeded 

 the maximum annual receipts from the States pre- 

 vious to the rebellion in the sum of $6,038,091 ; and 

 the annual average increase of revenue during the 

 last four years, compared with the revenues of the 

 four years immediately preceding the rebellion, was 

 $3,533,845. The revenues of the last fiscal year 

 amounted to $14,588,158, and the expenditures to 

 $13,694,728, leaving a surplus of receipts over expen- 

 ditures of $861,430. Progress has been made in re- 

 storing the postal service in the Southern States. 

 The views presented by the Postmaster-General 

 against the policy of granting subsidies to ocean mail 

 steamship lines upon established routes, and in favor 

 of continuing the present system, which limits the 

 compensation for ocean service to the postage earn- 

 ings, are recommended to the careful consideration 

 of Congress. 



It appears, from the report of the Secretary of the 

 Navy, that while, at the commencement of the pres- 

 ent year, there were in commission 530 vessels of all 

 classes and descriptions, armed with 3,000 guns and 

 manned by 51,000 men j the number of vessels at 

 present in commission is 117, with 830 guns and 

 12,128 men. By this prompt reduction of the naval 

 forces the expenses of the Government have been 

 largely diminished, and a number of vessels, pur- 

 chased for naval purposes from the merchant marine, 

 hare been returned to the peaceful pursuits of com- 

 merce. Since the suppression of active hostilities 

 our foreign squadrons have been reestablished, and 

 consist nt' vessels much more efficient than those em- 

 ployed on similar service previous to the rebellion. 



The suggestion for the enlargement of the navy yards, 

 and especially for the establishment of one in fresh 

 ^yater for iron-clad vessels, is deserving of considera- 

 tion, as is also the recommendation for a different 

 location and more ample grounds for the Naval 

 Academy. 



In the report of the Secretary of War, a general 

 summary is given of the military campaigns of 1864 

 and 1865, ending in the suppression of armed resist- 

 ance to the national authority in the insurgent States. 

 The operations of the general administrative Bureaus 

 of the War Department during the past year are de- 

 tailed, and an estimate made of the appropriations 

 that will be required for military purposes in the fis- 

 cal year commencing the 30th day of June, 1 866. The 

 national military force on the 1st of May, 1865, num- 

 bered 1,000,516 men. It is proposed to reduce the 

 military establishment to a peace footing, compre- 

 hending fifty thousand troops of all arms, organized 

 so as to admit of an enlargement by filling up the 

 ranks to eighty-two thousand six hundred, if the cir- 

 cumstances of the country should require an augmen- 

 tation of the army. The volunteer force has already 

 been reduced by the discharge from service of over 

 eight hundred thousand troops, and the Department 

 is proceeding rapidly in the work of further reduc- 

 tion. The war estimates are reduced from $516,240,- 

 131 to $33,814,461, which amount, in the opinion of 

 the Department, is adequate for a peace establish- 

 ment. The measures of retrenchment in each Bureau 

 and branch of the service exhibit a diligent economy 

 worthy of commendation. Reference is also made in 

 the report to the necessity of providing for a uniform 

 militia system, and to the propriety of making suit- 

 able provision for wounded and disabled officers and 

 soldiers. 



The revenue system of the country is a subject of 

 vital interest to its honor and prosperity, and should 

 command the earnest consideration of Congress. The 

 Secretary of the Treasury will lay before you a full 

 and detailed report of the receipts and disbursements 

 of the last fiscal year, of the first quarter of the pres- 

 ent fiscal year, of the probable receipts and expendi- 

 tures for the other three quarters, and the estimates 

 for the year following the 30th of June, 1866. I 

 might content myself with a reference to that report, 

 in which you will find all the information required for 

 your deliberations and decision. But the paramount 

 importance of the subject so presses itself on my own 

 mind, that I cannot but lay before you my views of 

 the measures which are required for the good char- 

 acter, and I might also say, for the existence of 

 this people. The life of a republic lies certainly in 

 the energy, virtue, and intelligence of its citizens ; 

 but it is equally *rue that a good revenue system is 

 the life of an organized government. I meet you at 

 a time when the nation has voluntary burdened it- 

 self with a debt unprecedented in our annals. Vast 

 as is its amount, it fades away into nothing when 

 compared with the countless blessings that will be 

 conferred upon our country and upon man by the 

 preservation of the nation's life. Now, on the first 

 occasion of the meeting of Congress since the return 

 of peace, it is of the utmost importance to inaugurate 

 a just policy, which shall at once be put in motion, 

 and which shall commend itself to those who come 

 after us for its continuance. We must aim at nothing 

 less than the complete effacement of the financial 

 evils that necessarily followed a state of civil war. 

 We must endeavor to apply the earliest remedy to 

 the deranged state of the currency, and not shrink 

 from devising a policy which, without being oppress- 

 ive to the people, shall immediately begin to effect a 

 reduction of the debt, and, if persisted in, discharge 

 it fully within a definitely fixed number of years. 



It is our first duty to prepare in earnest for our re- 

 covery from the ever-increasing evils of an irre- 

 deemable currency, without a sudden revulsion, and 

 yet without untimely procrastination. For that end, 

 we must, each in our respective positions, prepare 



