610 



PUBLIC DOCUMENTS. 



engaged, for some time to come, with great national 

 questions. It was intended, by the organization of the 

 court of claims, mainly to remove this branch of busi- 

 ness from the halls of Congress ; but while the court 

 has proved to be an effective and valuable means of 

 investigation, it in great degree fails to effect the ob- 

 ject of its creation, for want of power to make its 

 judgments final. 



Fully aware of the delicacy, not to say the danger, 

 of the subject, I commend to your careful consideration 

 whether this power of making judgments final may not 

 properly be given to the court, reserving the right of 

 appeal on questions of law to the Supreme Court, with 

 such other provisions as experience may have shown 

 to be necessary. 



I ask attention to the report of the Postmaster-Gen- 

 eral, the following being a summary statement of the 

 condition of the department : 



The revenue from all sources during the fiscal year 

 ending June 30, 1861, including the annual permanent 

 appropriation of seven hundred thousand dollars for 

 the transportation of " free mail matter," was nine mill- 

 ion forty-nine thousand two hundred and ninety-six 

 dollars and forty cents, being about two per cent, less 

 than the revenue for 1860. 



The expenditures were thirteen million six hundred 

 and six thousand seven hundred and fifty-nine dollars 

 and eleven cents,, showing a decrease of more than 

 eight per cent, as compared with those of the previous 

 year, and leaving an excess of expenditure over the 

 revenue for the last fiscal year of four million five 

 hundred and fifty-seven thousand four hundred and 

 sixty-two dollars and seventy-one cents. 



The gross revenue for the year ending June 30, 1863, 

 is estimated at an increase of four per cent, on that of 

 1861, making eight million six hundred and eighty- 

 three thousand dollars, to which should be added the 

 earnings of the department in carrying free matter,viz. : 

 seven hundred thousand dollars, making nine million 

 three hundred and eighty-three thousand dollars. 



The total expenditures for 1863 are estimated at 

 twelve million five hundred and twenty-eight thou- 

 sand dollars, leaving an estimated deficiency of three 

 million one hundred and forty-live thousand dollars to 

 be supplied from the Treasury, in addition to the per- 

 manent appropriation. 



The present insurrection shows, I think, that the 

 extension of this district across the Potomac River, at 

 the time of establishing the capital here, was eminently 

 wise, and consequently that the relinquishment of that 

 portion of it which lies within the State of Virginia 

 was unwise and dangerous. I submit for your consid- 

 eration the expediency of regaining that part of the 

 district, and the restoration of the original boundaries 

 thereof, through negotiations with the State of Vir- 

 ginia. 



The report of the Secretary of the Interior, with the 

 accompanying documents, exhibits the condition of the 

 several branches of the public business pertaining to 

 that department. The depressing influences of the 

 insurrection have been especially felt in the operations 

 of the Patent and General Land Offices. The cash re- 

 ceipts from the sales of public lands during the past 

 year have exceeded the expenses of our land system 

 only about two hundred thousand dollars. The" sales 

 have been entirely suspended in the Southern States, 

 while the interruptions to the business of the country, 

 and the diversion of large numbers of men from labor 

 to military service, have obstructed settlements in the 

 new States and Territories of the Northwest. 



The receipts of the Patent Office have declined in 

 nine months about one hundred thousand dollars, ren- 

 dering a large reduction of the force employed neces- 

 sary to make it self-sustaining. 



The demands upon the Pension Office will be largely 

 increased by the insurrection. Numerous applications 

 for pensions, based upon the casualties of the existing 

 war, have already been made. There is reason to be- 

 lieve that many who are now upon the pension rolls, 

 and in receipt of the bounty of the Government, are in 

 the ranks of the insurgent army, or giving them aid 



and comfort. The Secretary of the Interior has direct- 

 ed a suspension of the payment of the pensions of such 

 persons upon proof of their disloyalty. I recommend 

 that Congress authorize that otlicer to cause the names 

 of such persons to be stricken from the pension rolls. 



The relations of the Government with the Indian 

 tribes have been greatly disturbed by the insurrection, 

 especially in the Southern superintendency and in that 

 of New Mexico. The Indian country south of Kansas 

 is in the possession of insurgents from Texas and 

 Arkansas. The agents of the United States appointed 

 since the 4th of March for this superintendency have 

 been unable to reach their posts, while the most of 

 those who were in office before that time have espoused 

 the insurrectionary cause, and assume to exercise the 

 powers of agents by virtue of commissions from the 

 insurrectionists. It has been" stated in the public press 

 that a portion of those Indians have been organized as 

 a military force, and are attached to the army of the 

 insurgents. Although the Government has no official 

 information upon this subject, letters have been writ- 

 ten to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs by several 

 prominent chiefs, giving assurance of their loyalty to 

 the United States, and expressing a wish for the pres- 

 ence of Federal troops to protect them. It is believed 

 that upon the repossession of the country by the Fed- 

 eral forces the Indians will readily cease all hostile 

 demonstrations, and resume their former relations to 

 the Government. 



Agriculture, confessedly the largest interest of the 

 nation, has not a department, nor a bureau, but a 

 clerkship only, assigned to it in the Government. 

 While it is fortunate that this great interest is so inde- 

 pendent in its nature as to not have demanded and ex- 

 torted more from the Government, I respectfully ask 

 Congress to consider whether something more cannot 

 be given voluntarily with general advantage. 



Annual reports exhibiting the condition of our agri- 

 culture, commerce, and manufactures, would present 

 a fund of information of great practical value to the 

 country. While I make no suggestion as to details, I 

 venture the opinion that an agricultural and statistical 

 bureau might profitably be organized. 



The execution of the laws for the suppression of the 

 African slave trade has been confided to the Depart- 

 ment of the Interior. It is a subject of gratulation that 

 the efforts which have been made for the suppression 

 of this inhuman traffic have been recently attended 

 with unusual success. Five vessels being fitted out 

 for the slave trade have been seized and condemned. 

 Two mates of vessels engaged in the trade, and one 

 person in equipping a vessel as a slaver, have been 

 convicted and subjected to the penalty of fine and im- 

 prisonment, and one captain, taken with a cargo of 

 Africans on board his vessel, has been convicted of the 

 highest grade of offence under our laws, the punish- 

 ment of which is death. 



The Territories of Colorado, Dakotah, and Nevada, 

 created by the last Congress, have been organized, and ( 

 civil administration has been inaugurated therein un- 

 der auspices especially gratifying, when it is consid- 

 ered that the leaven of treason was found existing in 

 some of these new countries when the Federal officers 

 arrived there. 



The abundant natural resources of these Territories, 

 with the security and protection afforded by organized 

 government, will doubtless invite to them'a large im- 

 migration when peace shall restore the business of the 

 country to its accustomed channels. I submit the res- 

 olutions of the legislature of Colorado, which evidence 

 the patriotic spirit of the people of the Territory. So 

 far the authority of the United States has been upheld 

 in-all the Territories, as it is hoped it will be in the 

 future. I commend their interests and defence to the 

 enlightened and generous care of Congress. 



I recommend to the favorable consideration of Con- 

 gress the interests of the District of Columbia. The 

 insurrection has been the cause of much suffering and 

 sacrifice to its inhabitants, and as they have no repre- 

 sentative in Congress, that body should not overlook 

 their just claims upon the Government. 



