776 



UNITED STATES. 



martial. The number of deaths in the army 

 during the last fiscal year was 272, of which 

 193 were from disease and 79 from injuries. 



Trial of Gen. Swaim. Brig.-Gen. David G. 

 Swaim, Judge- Advocate-General of the Army, 

 was charged in April with having attempted 

 to defraud a banking firm in Washington by 

 transferring a certificate of deposit for the pur- 

 pose of having the amount of the deposit col- 

 lected by a third person through legal proceed- 

 ings after he had in fact withdrawn nearly the 

 whole amount. He was also accused of neg- 

 lect of duty in failing to report the conduct 

 of an officer who had duplicated his pay- 

 account. On the 22d of April a court of 

 inquiry was ordered to examine into these 

 charges, and it reported on the 10th of June 

 in favor of a trial of the accused by court- 

 martial. A court was appointed for the pur- 

 pose, and the trial began on the 10th of Sep- 

 tember, the formal charge being conduct 

 unbecoming an officer and a gentleman, and 

 neglect of duty, the facts being set forth in 

 several specifications. Early in the year 1885 

 the trial resulted in a substantiation of the 

 facts relating to the financial transaction, and 

 a conviction for the lower grade of offense, 

 " conduct to the prejudice of good order and 

 military discipline." Gen. Swaim was sen- 

 tenced to suspension from rank and duty for 

 twelve years, with a forfeiture of half his pay. 



Pensions* There were on the rolls of the 

 Pension-Office at the close of the fiscal year, 

 June 30, 322,756 pensioners, of whom 218,956 

 were classified as army invalids, 76,836 as 

 widows, minor children, and dependent rela- 

 tives; 2,616 navy invalids, 1,938 navy widows, 

 minor children, and dependent relatives; 8,- 

 898 survivors of the War of 1812, and 19,512 

 widows of those who served in that war. The 

 number of names added during the year pre- 

 ceding was 35,413, and the number dropped 

 16,315. The average annual value of pensions 

 was $106.75, and the aggregate annual value 

 of all pensions, $34,456,600. The amount paid 

 during the year was $56,908,597, of which 

 $23,413,815 was paid to 31,207 new applicants, 

 on arrears. The amount disbursed for pen- 

 sions since 1861 is $678,346,854.34. 



The Navy. The additions made to the navy 

 during the year consisted of the two unar- 

 mored steel cruisers constructed under the rec- 

 ommendations of the Naval Advisory Board, 

 the Atlanta and the Boston, and the dispatch- 

 steamer Dolphin. The cruisers are each 270 

 feet long, 42 feet beam, and 3,000 tons dis- 

 placement, and have protective decks and wa- 

 ter-tight compartments. The Dolphin is a 

 vessel of 1,500 tons. All are constructed with 

 a view to speed. A larger cruiser, the Chi- 

 cago, of 4,500 tons, was under contract, but 

 not completed at the close of the year. Ma- 

 chinery was in process of construction for the 

 double-turreted monitors Puritan, Terror, and 

 Amphitrite. The Advisory Board recommend- 

 ed the further construction of one cruiser of 



4,500 tons, one cruiser of 3,000 tons, one dis- 

 patch-vessel of 1,500 tons, two heavily armed 

 gunboats of 1,500 tons each, one light gunboat 

 of 750 tons, one steel ram, one cruising torpedo- 

 boat, two harbor torpedo-boats, and one ar- 

 inored vessel not exceeding 7,000 tons. The 

 Secretary of the Navy, in approving this sug- 

 gestion, recommended the construction of sev- 

 en modern cruisers annually for ten years, 

 the existing navy he said : 



It appears from the condition of the fleet that at the 

 end of fifteen years the only cruising-vessels of the 

 present list remaining will be three small iron vessels, 

 the Monocacy, Alert, and Kanger. The limitation 

 repairs of wooden vessels should continue at 20 p 

 cent, of their cost, as the department has for two years 

 earnestly advocated. The real explanation of the dis- 

 proportion between the expenditures and the resul' 

 accomplished in naval administration is to be found 

 the policy of attempting at great cost to rehabilit 

 worn-out structures under the name of repairs. ] 

 pair and reconstruction in the absence of a fixed Hi 

 are terms easily interchangeable, and the publish* 

 statements of expenditure under the first name dui' 

 many years show that it is only too apt to mean 

 second. The bureaus are unrestricted in their 

 penditures for repairs, except by the gross amount < 

 their annual appropriations. The practice of recoi 

 structing vessels under the name of repair is the onl 

 pretext upon which pur overgrown navy-yard estal 

 lishments could be justified, and it appears that h 

 stead of maintaining our vards for the advantage ai 

 benefit of pur ships, the ships have dragged out a pr 

 tracted existence for the benefit of the yards. 



Merchant Marine. The tonnage of merchant 

 vessels owned in the United States at the cl( 

 of the fiscal year 1884, according to the record* 

 of the Bureau of Navigation, was 4,271, 228'7( 

 tons. Of this amount 1,304,220-67 tons wer 

 in 2,127 vessels registered for the foreign trad< 

 and 2,967.008-09 in 22,055 vessels enrolled am 

 licensed for the coasting trade and fish eric 

 There was an increase of 2,126 tons in vessel 

 in the foreign trade and 33,616 tons in dome 

 trade. The number of American vessels bull 

 and commenced during the last fiscal year wj 

 1,190, having a gross tonnage of 225,514 and 

 net tonnage of 195,862-46. Of the merchan- 

 dise imported at seaboard, lake, and river ports 

 during the fiscal year 1884, an amount equal in 

 value to $152,201,729 was imported in Ameri- 

 can vessels, and in value to $526,379,213 ~ 

 foreign vessels. The merchandise exported ii 

 American vessels had a value of $112,520,723, 

 and the merchandise exported in foreign ves- 

 sels was valued at $667,739,872. Of the com- 

 bined imports and exports of merchandise, about 

 17-J per cent, was conveyed in American vessels 

 and about 78-J- per cent, in foreign vessels. 



The Indians. Little trouble was caused by 

 the Indians during the year. The policy of 

 educating their children and encouraging the 

 adoption of regular industries and civilized 

 habits was continued. Eighty - one boarding 

 schools, 76 day schools, and 6 industrial 

 schools are maintained on the reservations 

 under Government control, of which 5 board- 

 ing and 12 day schools were established during 

 the year. There are 23 schools maintained by 



